[At-Large] ALAC and AtLarge and france at large

[Izumi AIZU]

I like to point out that web tools will not provide "fair representation"
globally.

There are many areas and regions where still access is
a big problem, many are using only dial-ups and they are expensive.
Norbert Klein from Cambodia has always pointed out this issue.
I am now working on the remote island and mountain areas access
problem both home in Japan and to some degree for Nepal.

So when "massive" campaign is employed, they are usually voices
from developed regions with good connectivity, yet other people will be
very much left out.

I am in favor of using web tools, however, to be a good reference
tool and out-reach means. They can be a good complementary
tool, but not a simple alternative to the ALS/RALO/ALAC process
per se. I hope people all agree with this.

Of course, current ALAC-RALO-ALS framework is not perfect
and does not solve the access issue, but we have to be very
cafeful.

One of the reasons why the current structure was proposed was
the reflection of the "global" election where some countries
such as mine, Japan, seemed to dominate the regional membership
since the government and industry effectively organized the
targeted campaign and there was no means to stop that that time.

AND also after the AtLarge Directors were elected from five regions,
most of them lost contact with the consituencies, or the very people
who  voted and elected them, since
a) ICANN destroyed all the memebrship data and communication
means,
b) most, if not all, directors didn't or couldn't maintain the
communication with the consituencies constantly,
and
c) there were no effective mechanism to guarantee that within ICANN

So there was some empahsis on "informed participation" than
"mechanical representation" at that time.

I do not intend to say "keep the status quo" at all, but while AtLarge
or ALAC is under the review now, I think it might be good to take
some old lessons from the past to create the new future.

best,

izumi


2008/6/9 Dominik Filipp <dominik.filipp at dsoft.sk>:
> Agreed.
>
> Dominik
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Evan Leibovitch [mailto:evan at telly.org]
> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 5:10 PM
> To: Dominik Filipp
> Cc: jam at jacquelinemorris.com; At-Large Worldwide
> Subject: Re: [At-Large] ALAC and AtLarge and france at large
>
> Dominik Filipp wrote:
>> Try to see the positives. I wouldn't see it that dramatically. Access
>> to the Internet, regular or on occasion, is available in many many
>> countries. And the other means are by no means excluded.
>>
> IMO, At-Large is essentially the global community of "users of the
> Internet". As such, most people who would have an interest in ICANN, one
> would think, would at very least have Internet access.
>
> Improving IT literacy and giving people access to the Internet are
> extremely important issues, but outside the bounds of ICANN. It just
> strikes me as simple logic that someone without access to the Internet
> is likely not interested in -- and may be incapable of really
> understanding -- the controversies of its management.
>
> For that reason I would agree with Dominik that online surveys are an
> effective -- and certainly a cost effective -- manner to receive input
> from large numbers of community members who are at least Internet-aware.
> The main flaw with this tactic is that it is passive: surveys cannot
> solicit opinion, they can only wait for opinion to come to them. Left
> alone and unsupported, surveys only attract the brash and self-assured,
> which biases the results. For this reason IMO online surveys need to be
> accompanied by grassroots (ALS) support and publicity, to encourage
> people to understand the questions being surveyed and to participate.
>
> Such a combination, IMO, is hard to surpass in potential reach and cost
> effectiveness. It may not be the only solution, but it is to me the best
> one when resources are limited and the audience can be presumed to at
> least be aware enough to operate the survey.
>
> - Evan
>
>
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