[ALAC] Document for discussion during Friday's ALS Expectations session

Maureen Hilyard maureen.hilyard at gmail.com
Wed Nov 2 22:19:53 UTC 2016


Hi Alan et al

As you know I too have been following discussions about the expectations of
ALSes and although I agree with 90% of what you are saying, I think we have
to look at what ALSes are and do on the ground in their place of origin,
many of whom in developing countries like my own.

An analysis of ALS members's skills may reveal some important information
about EU ALSes who have been formed with large numbers of skilled and
knowledgably like-minded individuals who have wide experience about the
internet, and CAN contribute ably to discussions about how it works.
However that same analysis may not be appropriately applied to ALSes in
developing countries such as in my region (the Pacific Islands).

In my ALS, although there are a half a dozen information systems graduates
among our members (in a country with a population of 14,000, many graduates
leave the island for better opportunities overseas), many of the others
within our group are those for whom the internet is still a mystery. For
them, the internet is a work tool they use for inputting and getting emails
and other work-based information. The cost of internet in the Pacific is
beyond the means of many to connect it to their homes, therefore they do
not enjoy the pleasure of browsing and experiencing what else the internet
may have to offer. To expect them to contribute to a PDP about the domain
name system and how it works is beyond their readiness.

The focus of my ALS is capacity building within our own community about its
more technical side. It is a slow knowledge-building process, and for many
of our members, much of it is still over their heads. My Cook Islands GAC
colleague, Pua Hunter, and I help build their understanding by providing
small snippets of information at a time about our involvements within ICANN
and through gradual introductions to APRALO, APAC and APTLD, and other
internet related regional organisations. Increasingly we are using social
media for mobiles, so that Facebook has become a more appropriate and
effective web presence for ALS members than a website which was an earlier
ALS expectation.

Eventually, we'd like to create more ALSes in our region, but this will
require INDIVIDUALS doing the legwork and first of all informing people
within their communities. For these ALSes you may only get one or two
people contributing until others get up to speed, and this may take some
time as we build competency, understanding and interest.

I would like to draw the attention of the ALAC and At-Large members to the
GAC's HIT session on ICANN and Underserved Regions (on Monday @ 5pm HYD
time). ICANN cannot impose a one-size-fits-all model onto all ALSes and all
RALOs. If we want to reach the next 3 billion, our expectations of current
ALSes and the individuals within them who are already engaged, have to
allow for different models of engagement. What these models are, is the
issue.

Maureen
(Pacific Islands)

On Wed, Nov 2, 2016 at 4:47 PM, Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca>
wrote:

> Over the last months I have done a lot of thinking and talking about how
> to make ALSes effective - specifically to set reasonable expectations that
> will allow At-Large and its ALSes to be critical and useful parts of the
> ICANN ecosystem.
>
> Please find attached an analysis of where I think we are today, why we are
> here, and how we should move forward.
>
> I believe that we need a realistic plan and we should not just wait for
> the independent review to tell us what to do.
>
> Alan
> _______________________________________________
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> ALAC at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac
>
> At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org
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>
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