[NA-Discuss] [At-Large] Post-Paris Review

[Roberto Gaetano]

Izumi AIZU wrote:

> Well, so what,,, yes. I would rather like to have a clear 
> policy on "conflict of interest" for all officers of ICANN, 
> including Board members and GNSO council, than just targeting 
> the ALAC travel funding. Of course, ALAC also should have the 
> conflict of interest policy and its enforcement.

I am not under the impression that it is the ALAC travel funding that is
targeted. For sure, the ALAC Summit (that I personally endorse, support, and
look forward to) is making some eyebrows rise, considering the impact on the
budget.
However, I believe that the key issue is to have a fair policy by which
ICANN does not finance folks who would have participated anyway, paid by
their employers (or supporters, or lobbying groups, or whatever). We will
never be able to have a perfect mechanism by which we can flag each
individual asking for funding as "deserving" or "not-deserving" the funding:
it might in the end cost more to do proper and thorough due diligence than
to apply looser criteria. However, one principle has to be kept as a key
issue: transparency. I think (and I am talking in my personal capacity, not
as a Board member) that the names of the people whose travel (or other
expenditure) is funded by ICANN should be public, possibly with a short
sentence explaining in what capacity the individual is funded. The amount of
the funding should not be disclosed, though, simply because while there is a
"need to know" who is being funded, and why, there is no "need to know" how
much the real cost is. Public scrutiny should be directed to the principles
governing the policy, not the accounting details.

I fully understand Izumi's concerns about cultural differences, but we have
to establish some basic principles for transparency and accountability,
failing which we might expose the organization (and ourselves) not only to
heavy criticism, but to suspicion of dealing with funding in a way that is
not compliant with the expoused principles.

Cheers,
Roberto
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