[governance] Reviving IGC: Merging Bestbits in, IGF Day zero event and other subjects

[Sheetal Kumar]

Dear all,

I agree that it is easy to join IGC if you sign up to the Charter. It's
indeed pretty straightforward. However, what I don't understand is the
disregard for a process that has been ongoing for months, about a large and
until recently active splinter group of IGC (namely, Bestbits) which has
since agreed to close and its members who are not already part of IGC 'join
IGC'. Bestbits was not just a mailing list, it had an active membership, it
had a functioning website, it had a steering group, it used to coordinate,
and more. It also had its own membership of the CSCG and used to convene an
event before the global IGF. And now it is closing. Who knows how many
people who have been part of that discussion or at least following on
Bestbits who are not on IGC would like to be part of the IGC elections?
Whether its semantic or not to call it a 'merger', the point remains that
this has been a discussion for a few months that should, IMHO, have an
impact on when to hold the IGC elections. They don't have to, but I think
it makes sense for them to considering the history of IGC and Bestbits (as
a splinter group of IGC). Also, I'm not saying this because I want to run
for any elections necessarily, I've only ever been interested a discussion
towards a more impactful and coordinated civil society in this space. It
just seems to make sense not to disregard that Bestbits discussion and to
take decisions with the Bestbits discussion in mind (again, because of the
history of the connection between Bestbits and IGC).

I've looked at the IGC Charter and it says "Voting process: Each person who
is subscribed to the list at least two (2) months before the election will
be given a voter account".

So, even if Bestbits members who are not part of IGC joined then they
couldn't vote right away. Shouldn't we wait for 2-3 months? If there is a
time sensitive reason not to, that would be good to discuss.

For clarity, revising the IGC charter was only ever an idea, its not been
agreed to anywhere by anyone. It's just something to discuss, further down
the line. Perhaps.

Best
Sheetal

On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 at 12:40, Nnenna Nwakanma <governance at lists.riseup.net>
wrote:

> I think we can pull off an IGC elections by  Berlin IGF.
> Joining the IGC from BB  should not be  "a process".
>
> Once an individual decides that it is worth it.. it only takes a click to
> accept the charter and be added to the mailing list.
>
> My 2 cents
>
> Nnenna
>
> On Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 11:36 AM Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh at hserus.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Much to my surprise I agree with Parminder.  If Bestbits is to be wound
>> up, so be it.
>>
>>
>>
>> After which, those from Bestbits who wish to caucus in the IGC please
>> subscribe to the list and do so.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *<governance-request at lists.riseup.net> on behalf of parminder <
>> parminder at itforchange.net>
>> *Reply to: *parminder <parminder at itforchange.net>
>> *Date: *Wednesday, 17 July 2019 at 4:50 pm
>> *To: *Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com>, Sheetal Kumar <
>> sheetal at gp-digital.org>
>> *Cc: *"ian.peter at ianpeter.com" <ian.peter at ianpeter.com>, "Salanieta T.
>> Tamanikaiwaimaro" <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>, governance <
>> governance at lists.riseup.net>
>> *Subject: *Re: [governance] Reviving IGC: Merging Bestbits in, IGF Day
>> zero event and other subjects
>>
>>
>>
>> On 17/07/19 3:25 PM, Arsène Tungali wrote:
>>
>> Good point, Sheetal and I agree with you.
>>
>>
>>
>> I had briefly discussed the election issue with Bruna during the last
>>
>> ICANN meeting and we agreed that the best time to conduct co-co
>>
>> elections is right after the merger step is completed, the new charter
>>
>> has been adopted and we have a unified list. I am sure Bruna was
>>
>> planning to report this to the list at some point, but here you are.
>>
>> Arsene
>>
>> I am not sure what you mean about a unified list...
>>
>> There is a clear, and rather easy, way to join the IGC, and it is up to
>> to those in Bestbits and not already in IGC to take that route if they want
>> to. Meanwhile we do welcome all civil society members adhering to iGC's
>> charter (rather than insisting for, unclear and unstated reasons, to modify
>> it).
>>
>> And there is really no merger involved here, even if people loosely use
>> that language .
>>
>> I remain astonished about the repeated talk about a new IGC charter,
>> especially as an already decided thing! What exactly are you talking about.
>>
>> And I am further pained for you, being still perhaps an IGC
>> co-coordinator, not at all responding to my clear email about how this
>> elist is the primary work place for the IGC, and also an ex-coordinator's
>> assent tp the sentiment.
>>
>>
>>
>> I would suggest we all plan to attend the call and agree on next steps.
>>
>> You can make whatever calls and agree on whatever steps you have you may
>> wish to -- that is no part of IGC's procedure, and would have no meaning or
>> consequence for it.
>>
>> regards
>>
>> parminder
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Arsene
>>
>>
>>
>> 2019-07-17 11:44 UTC+02:00, Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org> <sheetal at gp-digital.org>:
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>>
>>
>> While the closure of Bestbits is an internal matter for Bestbits, we have
>>
>> agreed for it to be closed and so I'd say any IGC conversations need to
>>
>> take that into account. We're at that point where the closure has been
>>
>> agreed but there are still people on Bestbits who are not on IGC but likely
>>
>> will sign up to be part of the discussions soon.
>>
>>
>>
>> As such, shouldn't we wait for those from Bestbits who want to join to join
>>
>> and we can then get the IGC coordinator elections going? The call to agree
>>
>> next steps and make sure everyone is on the same page is going to be w/c
>>
>> August 5.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best
>>
>> Sheetal
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 at 06:29, ian.peter at ianpeter.com
>>
>> <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> <ian.peter at ianpeter.com>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Bruna,
>>
>>
>>
>> On a more substantive matter -
>>
>>
>>
>> Can you also advise us on how progress is going as regards getting the
>>
>> IGC
>>
>> Coordinator elections (which were due last January) underway? On June 26
>>
>> you advised the list that you. would be talking to Arsene and would get
>>
>> back to the list ASAP.  Do you have an update?
>>
>>
>>
>> Ian Peter
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------ Original Message ------
>>
>> From: "Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro" <governance at lists.riseup.net> <governance at lists.riseup.net>
>>
>> To: "Parminder" <parminder at itforchange.net> <parminder at itforchange.net>
>>
>> Cc: "governance" <governance at lists.riseup.net> <governance at lists.riseup.net>
>>
>> Sent: 17/07/2019 2:14:13 PM
>>
>> Subject: Re: [governance] Reviving IGC: Merging Bestbits in, IGF Day zero
>>
>> event and other subjects
>>
>>
>>
>> Agree with Parminder.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 17 Jul 2019, 5:11 am parminder, <parminder at itforchange.net> <parminder at itforchange.net>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> HI Bruna/ All
>>
>>
>>
>> Good morning to all!
>>
>>
>>
>> Bestbits' merging into the IGC is their internal matter.
>>
>>
>>
>> As for a day zero event at the IGF for the IGC, when do you plan it...
>>
>> Just Net Coalition has an event post lunch on day zero, and please
>>
>> ensure
>>
>> that these do not clash. Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>> While as a secondary or adjunct method call based discussions can be
>>
>> done
>>
>> among however wishes to do so, the charter clearly says that the main
>>
>> and
>>
>> authoritative space of IGC's work will be this e-list, which I request
>>
>> everyone's attention to.
>>
>>
>>
>> thanks and best regards
>>
>>
>>
>> parminder
>>
>> On 17/07/19 7:32 AM, Bruna Martins dos Santos (via governance Mailing
>>
>> List) wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear IGC members,
>>
>>
>>
>> As some of you might be aware, there has been some discussions around
>>
>> the
>>
>> merger of BestBits and IGC going on for the past months.
>>
>>
>>
>> Back in Tunis, @RightsCon <rightscon at accessnow.org> <rightscon at accessnow.org>, some of us convened
>>
>> to discuss further steps for Civil Society Coordination and that also
>>
>> entailed the merger debate. The summary of the discussion, as well as
>>
>> the
>>
>> decision on closing BestBits can all be found at the BestBits list
>>
>> <http://lists.bestbits.net/arc/bestbits/2019-07/msg00001.html> <http://lists.bestbits.net/arc/bestbits/2019-07/msg00001.html>.
>>
>>
>>
>> Past this moment, theres a need to arrange a call to discuss our next
>>
>> steps, including a Day Zero Event at the IGF, later in November. Another
>>
>> agenda items are also reviving the IGC website, IGC co-coordinators
>>
>> elections and our charter. Additionally to IGC related subjects, there
>>
>> is
>>
>> also the need to discuss a proper closure for BestBits, as well as
>>
>> proper
>>
>> outreach in a transparent way and the possibility for members to join
>>
>> IGC.
>>
>>
>>
>> For this reason, @Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org> <sheetal at gp-digital.org> created this
>>
>> doodle for all interested members to indicate their availability for the
>>
>> call: https://doodle.com/poll/fy4mgf68qehhhh26
>>
>> <https://doodle.com/poll/fy4mgf68qehhhh26> <https://doodle.com/poll/fy4mgf68qehhhh26>
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Bruna Martins dos Santos *
>>
>>
>>
>> Skype ID: bruna.martinsantos
>>
>> @boomartins
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Sheetal Kumar*
>>
>> Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
>>
>> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
>>
>> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
>>
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-- 


*Sheetal Kumar*
Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603 DD7F
E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
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