Page History

This proposal consists in the organization of a workshop at the 2017 IGF due to take place in Geneva from 18 to 21 December 2017 on a high interest topic in accordance with the IGF overall arching theme that is not yet defined. The topic will relate the end-users’ perspective in the global Internet ecosystem.

Requesting: Travel support for 5 AFRALO members.

AFRALO active participation in the 2017 African IGF is composed of:

• An AFRALO booth kept by AFRALO members with the AFRALO pop-up banner and AFRALO and ICANN outreach material
• A workshop on a topic addressing an African end-users’ concern to be chosen to match with the 2017 African IGF main theme which is not yet defined

Effectively participate in the African Internet Governance School that is held yearly by APC back to back with the African IGF. Our participation will ensure that the governance of the Internet unique Identifiers will be addressed as well as the governance of the usage of Internet.

Requesting:

Outreach material for ICANN and AFRALO to be used in the booth:

• USB flash disk containing All the beginner guides
• ICANN pins
• Printed graphics
• AFRALO and ICANN flyers

Etc.

Travel support for 5 AFRALO members

This proposal envisages organizing the Asia-Pacific Regional At-Large Organization  (APRALO) General Assembly (GA) – that is, bringing together one representative from each of the APRALO ALSes, as well as a selected representative for individual members, at a single location for a combination of strategic development, policy development, capacity building and outreach and engagement. The last APRALO GA was held in London in 2014.

The proposed date and location is specifically requested to be at ICANN 60 (Meeting C) scheduled to take place 28 October - 3 November 2017 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

This request for a APRALO General Assembly is in line with the timeline for RALO General Assemblies and the next At-Large Summit as developed by the ALAC. APRALO meetings at the requested General Assembly will focus on three specific components:

1. How to better engage our ALSs – also known within ICANN as “inreach” – in a candid examination of expectations, member engagement, program execution and community adhesion, we intend to deliver a one-day workshop intended to discover what needs to be done, both by ICANN and the APRALO community, to maximize volunteer participation, increase the ability to represent the best interests of end-users, as well as increase ICANN's “on the street” relevance.

2. Policy briefings on critical ICANN issues intended to ensure that APRALO ALS

representatives are adequately informed to educate their ALS memberships, and that they

are better able to channel bottom-up end-user perspectives and ideas into the At-Large

community’s policy debates.

3. Leadership training, intended to educate APRALO ALSes about the details of ICANN processes, and develop a clear understanding of its role in the broader Internet Governance Ecosystem. As an example, the current deluge of activity surrounding the Post transition of the IANA stewardship is mainly the realm of those who can follow it practically full-time, with multiple working groups and dozens (if not hundreds) of proposals in the air. It is our experience that many in the At-Large community do not understand much of what's going on or even the relevance. Awareness of both the processes and the path from idea to policy is a critical part of advancing the public interest within ICANN.

APRICOT, Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb 2018 – to enable at least 3 members from the APRALO Leadership Team to attend the AP* and APRICOT meetings in Kathmandu, Nepal, in Feb 2018 and future AP* and APRICOT meetings.

This proposal is to enable the APRALO leadership team to first of all request attendance of the AP* and APRICOT in Nepal in 2018, but secondly to request that this attendance be a recurring activity, in order for APRALO to continue to maintain the positive and productive relationships that the leadership team has built up over the years within the regional AP* community.
  AP* is a gathering of internet related organizations from the Asia Pacific region that meets in between the TRAINING AND EDUCATION programmes offered by APNIC, APIA and other organizations, and the APRICOT meeting itself which culminates in APNIC’s Annual General Meeting. The AP* meeting also gives the regional groups an opportunity not only to formally meet with the others but also to share information and to encourage greater coordination and collaboration. AP* includes: Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG); Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC); Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Name Forum (APTLD); Asia & Pacific Internet Association (APIA); Asia Pacific Advanced Network Consortium (APAN); Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO); Country Code Top Level (ccTLD) Domain Operators; Dot Asia; Internet Society (ISOC); and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN – represented by the APAC Hub). AP* also meets as part of APNIC’s second conference within the Asia Pacific region.

well as to connect with “down-under” ALS members and other ICANN related participants including Board members and other leaders from the ccNSO, GNSO and GAC.

At the Sri Lanka AP* meeting that Maureen co-chaired, Kaili Kan gave a well-received presentation on the status of internet development in China. The Leadership Team is currently preparing to attend the APRICOT2017 meeting in Ho Chi Minh City using CROPP initially but also self-funding to take advantage of the full AP* and APRICOT programme as well as its networking and engagement opportunities. All members of the team (Satish, Maureen and Ali) have been invited to participate in various sections of the programme during this week.

APRALO has greatly benefited from attending the AP* and APRICOT meetings. The regular contact with other AP* organizations throughout the weeks of the APRICOT meetings has helped us to build a profile for APRALO which is now acknowledged within the wider regional internet related community. Satish and Maureen have also enhanced this relationship by involving ourselves further on other AP committees, for example the APrIGF and the APSIG. Our attendance at APRICOT also enables us to give support for APNIC, APTLD and Dot Asia who also hold meetings at APRICOT, as our MOU partners, and we hope to create more partnerships over time.

APRALO would like to make this a regular opportunity to meet with other regional Internet-related organizations, especially those directly involved with Names and Numbers but more so to build relationships that will provide beneficial results for APRALO, for At-Large and ultimately ICANN.

India SIG proposal for 2017

This proposal is an organizing the Second India School of Internet Governance (inSIG 2017), tentatively just before ICANN60 meeting at Abu Dhabi.

InSIG2016, the first India School of Internet Governance (http://insig.in) was a very successful initiative organized just prior to ICANN56 at Hyderabad. Organized by two APRALO ALSes—ISOC-TRV and ISOC-Delhi—at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, (IIIT-H), the programme was supported by Government of India, ICANN, ISOC, APNIC and APSIG. The speakers for the programme were sourced largely from the ICANN60 community and included Members of the ICANN Board as well as eminent experts. There were around 45 students, including 15 international students, and the community feedback as well as formal feedback for the programme indicated a high degree of satisfaction.

The 2017 edition of inSIG also follows the basic model from 2016 (a mix of international and Indian participants, speakers from the IG community (particularly ICANN Board members and AC/SO leaders), and a 3-day programme at an eminent academic institution.

Compared to inSIG2016, the costs are bound to be higher as travel costs of speakers need to be paid. The number of speakers will be cut down from the figure of 25 to about 15, with some of them handling multiple sessions. Additional funding needs to be raised from existing partners to cover travel and accommodation costs (which was largely covered by ICANN60 in inSIG2016).

This request is to enable potential APRALO ambassadors from within the APRALO ranks to participate in the Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy, to enhance the potential for local community, as well as APRALO, outreach capacity regionally.

The first academy was organized jointly by the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) and ICANN, in partnership with regional organizations such as the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC), Internet Society (ISOC), DotAsia organization, and other members of the Asia Pacific Internet community. Many of these APIGA partners are already partners of APRALO. The program aims at nurturing the next generation of Internet leaders to be the region’s voice and preparing them to participate in the global multistakeholder Internet governance ecosystem.

Global IGF 2017

Continuing further with the successful previous IGF initiatives, the APRALO Leadership Team proposes participation of 3 members of its Leadership Team at the 2017 IGF.

The specific activities that would be carried out by the three-member Outreach Delegation, jointly and individually, are:

• Participate as APRALO resource persons in different workshops. For this, the team members would be registering themselves as Resource Persons in the IGF Resource Persons' Roster.
• Collaborate and support activities of other ALAC Members
• Explore, and if possible, plan and execute an At-Large Outreach event jointly with other RALOs present at Genva and local ALSes, if any, with Universities and other institutions. The objective of such an outreach process would be to introduce At-Large (and thereby, ICANN), and to stimulate growth and participation of local end-user communities in At-Large activities.

Although there are uncertainties arising out of the approval process of Workshops at IGF, going by past history it is likely that there would be workshops being organized by APRALO members (there were two such workshops last year and one the previous year). The Outreach Delegation would support these workshops.

• Assuming we have other RALO representatives available, consider creating an At-Large 'corner' in the ICANN booth to provide information on ALAC/At-Large, its role, reach and diversity to visitors
• As in the case of 2016, hold talks with AP regional organizations for specific regional collaborative programmes

The Twelfth Meeting of the annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF), under the revised mandate, is scheduled to take place in Geneva City, Switzerland, in December 2017. IGF is an open and public forum that brings interested participants from various stakeholder groups as equals, under a multistakeholder process. IGF focuses on public policy issues relating to the Internet.

IGF's open format allows anyone interested in Internet policy to participate. Consequently, it presents a unique opportunity for outreach as well as for networking and interacting with several global communities that are otherwise difficult to contact independently.

Several members of APRALO—including some of the members of the APRALO Leadership Team—have been actively participating in IGF over the years, and have been organizing workshops on different IG-related topics.

APRALO was able to send an official delegation to IGF 2015 held at João Pessoa, Brazil and IGF 2016 in Mexico with ICANN budget support. The initiative was very successful, and the APRALO team was able to extensively interact with members of APRALO, members of the Asia-Pacific Internet Governance community, members of other RALOs, ICANN community members, and the larger IGF Community. The APRALO team also supported the APRALO members in organizing their workshops.

As of now, neither the themes for IGF 2017 nor the Call for Proposals have been published. APRALO had discussed a plan to propose a Workshops, as soon as the call for proposals is announced.

Promote ICANN’s Role and Multistakeholder approach.

A workshop organized by EURALO on the “The Public Interest”. EURALO has been at the forefront of the discussions on the Public Interest in ALAC but also in ICANN, through its working group on the Public Interest and its involvement in the ICANN-wide public interest discussions.

This workshop at the Internet Governance Forum, Chaired by Wolf Ludwig, would explore the Public Interest in ICANN’s remit and compare it with other Multistakeholder systems and the Public Interest in wider Internet Governance. Representatives from the various stakeholder groups composing the Multistakeholder ecosystem will be invited to explain their perspective. The discussion of the Public Interest in ICANN’s remit would act as a starting point for a wider debate that touches on the broader Internet Ecosystem.

EURALO requests funding for 5 EURALO members to attend the ICANN-Studienkreis to take place on 24-25 August 2017 in Stockholm. The ICANN Studienkreis ("ICANN Study group") is an open network composed of experts in the Internet industry who are dedicated to organizing high-level expert seminars on issues regarding ICANN development and internet governance. Individuals and constituencies from the private sector, government, academic institutions, the civil society and the media participate in yearly conferences organized by ICANN Studienkreis.

ICANN Studienkreis focuses 100% on ICANN topics.

The ICANN Studienkreis is essentially attended by participants in ICANN’s ecosystem and includes influential participants. ICANN’s former President and CEO Fadi Chehadé has attended past ICANN Studienkreis, as the conference is directly related to ICANN activities. ICANN’s current President and CEO Göran Marby attended last year’s ICANN’s Studienkreis. Other speakers included several ICANN senior staff, Chairs of Supporting Organisations and Advisory Committees, as well as at least two ICANN Board members per meeting. Meeting these participants is an essential part of the experience the EURALO participants will have, an opportunity they will not have as easily in other fora.

To organize and deliver the first NORTH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF INTERNET GOVERNANCE at or before the ICANN 61 in March 2018. This would be a two-day Internet Governance capacity building event to expose approximately 200 individuals from different sectors in Puerto Rico. It will consist of 10 sessions covering topics that will be surveyed early in the year 2017 to determine the most important topics to be covered.

SUMMARY:

Production of independent, factual, end-user-targeted information regarding the worldwide use and administration of domain names, as well as other components of the ICANN functions. This program will identify and and deploy creative approaches to explaining difficult Internet concepts through the use of clear, colloquial language, using non-traditional media and presented in a light – humorous, if possible – tone.

RATIONALE:

As part of an attempt to block the IANA transition in late 2016, US Senator Ted Cruz, along with political collaborators and proxies, launched a global campaign of false information, conspiracy theories, and even personal attacks on the then-CEO of ICANN. With a communications strategy aimed at policy-makers, the domain industry and technically-savvy users, ICANN was ill-equipped to counter this. While Senator Cruz’s campaign to derail the transition within Congress did not succeed, the results were far closer than expected and trust for ICANN as an organization was diminished within the end-user population. Moreover. the polarization, inaccuracies and hostility created by the campaign have subsided but not been eliminated; they could be revived at any time, and their tone can easily be repeated by actors in other countries hostile to the ICANN multi-stakeholder model.

In a society that honors free speech, ICANN cannot simply wish away or ban that which is hostile or false. The answer to malicious and false information is to confront it with utility and fact. While such confrontation will not change the minds of those attacking ICANN and multi-stakeholderism for political ends, it may succeed in reaching the billions of neutral observers who, in the absence of truth and clarity, have only heard from the fear-mongers and conspiracy theorists.

Moreover, a number of examples exist that demonstrate the ability to present complex Internet issues in clear lay language, often using humor to help convey the message. Two examples:

• “John Oliver: Net Neutrality” (June 1 2014, HBO)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU
• “Adam Conover: The Terrifying Cost of ‘Free’ Websites” (Dec 7 2016, TruTV and collegehumor.com)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFX2P7JLwA

THE PROJECT:

Using a contest aimed at communications and visual arts students, we hope to find sources of independent, creative approaches to providing publicly-focused factual information through a variety of media (web, video podcasts, etc). An advisory committee will determine the priority topics and judge the winning proposals, a secretariat will create and publicize the contest, conduct supporting research/fact-checking, and oversee the execution and distribution of the final material.

The advisory committee is tentatively to be composed of:

• ICANN communications staff

• Expertise in video production
• Expertise in journalism
• Members of the ICANN At-Large Community
• Other expertise in Internet Governance

While the project (obviously) is counting on the support of ICANN and others, it is intentional that the media content produced as a result of the contest be independent and not official ICANN communications. Indeed, it is possible that some analysis and humor may not be totally in-line with ICANN messaging, but that is acceptable. What is most important is accuracy, relevance and understandability (and thus trustworthiness) by a maximum audience.

Global Indigenous Persons Mentorship Program

in support of Fellowships as proposed.

Assign Global Indigenous Fellowships

The work of Native Public Media, the proposer, includes the engagement of Tribal members into the policy-making and rulemaking processes of broadband and Internet policies.  The multi-pronged strategies of NPM include education, awareness building, and training of U.S. Tribal constituents on broadband deployment, broadband infrastructure funding, access, adoption, and use.  The participation of Fasthorse and Tinhorn in the Indigenous Fellowship program is just the beginning of greater engagement and consultation of U.S. Tribal Nations and other indigenous communities around the world in the ICANN multi-stakeholder model.  Often invisible, indigenous peoples have been at the heart of setting their own telecommunications destiny and the ICANN Fellowship opportunity supports and promotes indigenous self-determination in the Internet sphere.

In 2016, the first Indigenous Fellows, representing the North American Tribes of Hualapai, Arizona and Coure De’Alene, Idaho, attended ICANN 57 in India.  This first exposure of tribal community members to ICANN was not only eye-opening, it was life changing.  Valerie Fasthorse, is an experienced and veteran Internet Technology staffer for her Tribe (Coure De Alene) and previous to that in the U.S. armed forces.  Likewise, April Tinhorn, spent her early professional years working for the National Security Administration of the U.S. federal government and more recently as an IT specialist for Tribal clients through her personal business Tinhorn Consulting.  Both women, who may had great knowledge about Internet access, use, and adoption were able to build on that base by learning about ICANN’s Internet multi-stakeholder work that reaches across the globe directly to diverse end-users and governments. 

To make the most of the generous opportunity via ICANN, vested indigenous mentors is paramount in bridging the importance of ICANN’s work to that of indigenous communities around the world.  Mentors must be able to continue and bridge the work post ICANN Fellowship engagement if the program is to remain meaningful and relevant.

Requesting: Staff support, Meeting Room at ICANN Meeting and Travel support for four Indigenous Fellows and two indigenous mentors per conference @ three FY 2018 ICANN Conferences (4X3=12 Fellows):

1. Air Travel
2. Lodging
3. Meals
4. Passport/Visa
5. Ground transportation

ALS groups in Canada are thinly spread around the country. Within these groups, members are often also interacting at a distance. Under these circumstances, it becomes very hard to maintain cohesion within groups. This proposal suggests a train the trainers model of raising awareness/familiarity with videoconferencing tools to help groups communicate more effectively. For ALS to ALS communication, the Adobe Connect platform is already available to them, but apparently it is rarely used outside of ICANN scheduled meetings. For individual ALS groups, they may need to gain more familiarity with Skype, Zoom or other platforms to enable them to move information about ICANN and its activities to the edges. This proposal would begin by linking one individual from any interested ALS with a 2 hour training session during which they would learn about initiating and managing/chairing meetings using various videoconferencing tools.