[ALAC] ALAC/At-Large Improvements Project -- important update
Jean-Jacques SUBRENAT
jjs.global at gmail.com
Mon Oct 10 02:22:39 UTC 2011
Hello Olivier, Evan,
the question is not just about choosing "phase" or "milestone": it should be
about the way ALAC considers its role within ICANN. Let me offer a few
thoughts:
1) When to publish? It is common sense that the Final Report should be
completed before publication. However, 2 separate things should be
considered here:
* The legal or formal aspect: General Counsel's office (GCO) is right, and
common sense would also have it that a report be considered "final" when all
pending matters have been brought to a close.
* But more importantly, there is a "political" aspect as well: ALAC should
assert itself according to its own assessment of ICANN's overall situation,
and not only in reaction to the ALAC Review WG recommendations or GCO's
advice on timing. Thus, we should determine if and whether there is a need
to call the Board's and our community's attention to progress already made,
challenges ahead, and our timeline.
2) "Phase" or "milestone"? We need to take a wider and longer-term view of
things. Yes, At-Large has come a long way from (unfairly) perceived
irrelevance to being a natural partner. And yes, this progress has been
achieved by sending the right type of signals (advice requested from ALAC is
provided in a more professional and timely way, better coordination now
between different elements of At-Large...). So I would suggest that if we
want to send something to the Board now, we should do so by placing our
current work in perspective: step 1 was the ALAC Review WG's
recommendations, step 2 entailed implementing what could be done quickly,
step 3 was taking stock of the ATRT's additional layer of recommendations,
step 4 is where we are at now, and step 5 will be the Final Report. The
advantage of this (truthful) presentation is that we show we have the bigger
picture in mind, and that we're already at step 4 out of 5. If necessary, we
should also point out that, several years after the Board Review WG
recommendations (e.g. compensation for Directors), some of those latter have
still not been implemented either, so we're on an equal footing, and will
not accept people in glass houses throwing stones at us (ALAC members all
reside in yurts, so there's no risk). IT's high time that the famed
multi-stakeholder model, which implies equality, be more thoroughly
implemented within ICANN's ACs and SOs, so that advice from ALAC will be
considered equivalent to what comes, say, from the GAC.
3) Make the best use of ICANN-42 in Dakar. From Dakar onwards, the Board
will go into "sorry I can't look at that now we've got to implement new
gTLDs and search for the next CEO" mode. So Dakar is our last chance in 2011
to really get the Board's attention. But what message do we want to deliver?
IMO, we should use the joint breakfast opportunity to
* Demonstrate that ALAC, though determined to carry out ongoing obligations
(implementing the Improvement recommendations, churning out reactive
advice), is now sufficiently autonomous in its thinking to have its own,
dynamic agenda (how we expect ALAC's advice to be acted upon by the Board;
also, I'd be glad to say a few words about our FCWG)
* Offer to each member of the Board a 2-page résumé of where ALAC stands now
(we're at step 4 out of 5, what else we do, how we are now organized). The
idea is that each individual member of the Board should take away from our
breakfast, a sense that ALAC has indeed matured, and is worthy of being
heeded.
Regards,
Jean-Jacques.
From: Olivier CREPIN-LEBLOND <ocl at gih.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:35:39 +0200
To: Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org>
Cc: ALAC Working List <alac at atlarge-lists.icann.org>
Subject: Re: [ALAC] ALAC/At-Large Improvements Project -- important update
> Hello Evan,
>
> thanks for your kind suggestion. However, I believe that we are not
> actually at "phase one" of the At-Large Improvements. The whole process
> started with the external review report, a few years ago -- and I am not
> sure what phase we are in since I've not tracked exactly what
> constitutes a "phase".
> "Phase one" would convey the wrong idea that we're actually at the very
> beginning of the process when we're actually closer to its conclusion.
> IMHO "Milestone" is more neutral.
> Warm regards,
>
> Olivier
>
> On 09/10/2011 23:02, Evan Leibovitch wrote :
>>
>> Just one suggestion.
>>
>> Perhaps, rather than calling this an interim or milestone report, the
>> one we submit could be called "phase one". This brings across the
>> point that some of the Improvements have been completed and some are
>> still in progress.
>>
>> A milestone or interim report
>> suggests that none of what was started had been completed. This way we
>> can say that "phase one" (which includes the bylaw revisions) had been
>> completed.
>>
>> Comments?
>>
>> - Evan (on my mobile)
>>
>> On Oct 9, 2011 12:53 PM, "Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond" <ocl at gih.com
>> <mailto:ocl at gih.com>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear ALAC members,
>>
>> I want to inform you of some changes to the Improvements report
>> based on
>> information Heidi and Seth received. After consulting with ICANN
>> Legal,
>> it has been suggested that the only "final report" appropriate for
>> Board
>> approval would come once the ALAC can report having implemented
>> *all* the
>> recommendations of the ALAC Review WG.
>>
>> At this stage, however, we could report that the ALAC has completed a
>> substantial amount of ALAC Improvements work, including developing
>> specific proposals for the implementation of the ALAC Review WG
>> recommendations. Consequently, it was suggested that the current
>> status
>> report which need only be submitted by staff (not by the ALAC)
>> not be
>> called a ³final report²¹; we are thinking of calling it the
>> "ALAC/At-Large
>> Improvements Project Milestone Report."
>>
>> Still, an endorsement of this Milestone Report by the ALAC would
>> send a
>> strong message to the Board. So I have instructed Staff to start a
>> vote
>> endorsing the report on Sunday.
>>
>> The next steps in the At-Large Improvements Project will be for
>> the ALAC
>> to discuss the implementation of the remaining ALAC Review
>> recommendations and WT proposals in Dakar, including allocating
>> them to
>> existing At-Large Working Groups, creating timelines for their
>> completion, and determining potential resource implications.
>>
>> I would like to be able to submit these details to the Board as
>> soon as
>> practical but hopefully no later than the meeting in Costa Rica (11-16
>> March 2012). The ALAC could then aim to submit the actual final Final
>> Report -- marking the completion of the implementation of all
>> Improvements recommendations -- to the Board in Prague (24-28 June
>> 2012).
>>
>> Comments/Questions are welcome.
>>
>> Seth and others are working to convert the report into a "Milestone"
>> report as we speak.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Olivier Crépin-Leblond
>> ALAC Chair
>>
>>
>>
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)
>>
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>> LAC%29>
>>
>
> --
> Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
> http://www.gih.com/ocl.html
>
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