[Icann-aswg] Re: Your contribution to the Africa Strategy document

[George Sadowsky]

Dear Pierre,

Thanks for send me this, and soliciting my comments on the results of the ASWG.  I'd like to make a number of points.

I agree with the objectives of the ASWG.  While ICANN is not a development agency, what it does and how it does it clearly has an effect on development.  Our most important goal  -- without which no other makes any sense  -- is the continued security and stability of the Internet.  Within that goal, assistance efforts to developing regions is very important.  This linkage should be exploited by the program in bringing significant additional technical and policy assistance to Africa.

While the working group is expected to complete its work by the Toronto meeting next month, I hope that there will be some continuation through an oversight/advisory group for the foreseeable future.  IMO, ICANN would benefit from some continuing assessment and opinion regarding the success of whatever efforts are put into place.  Changing circumstances imply that the program should evolve to best meet regional and national needs.

I think that your identification of your main stakeholders is correct.  However, I'd push the interpretation a little further.  In terms of long run public interest, eery potential registrant of a domain name is a stakeholder in what we do and how well we do it.  In the long run, that will include the majority of Internet users, a very large stakeholder population indeed.

Your research questions are relevant.  I would ground them in a larger setting of how the INternet and ICTs in general can be used to effectively further economic and social development in Africa, i.e. making the Internet and ICT the means, and the development goals the ends.  I suspect that you are implicitly doing this in your thinking, but doing it explicitly allows you to identify overall needs and how the various organizations that have the capacity to help can do so, or might be approached to do so.

Your methodology and process seems straightforward, and I'd like to add a perspective.  I was struck by how useful our one hour meeting was in Dakar between the Board and Adiel and Mouhamet.  This was the first time in my ICANN experience that the Board listened to an informal presentation of regional needs by representatives of the region.  The discussion was direct and informative, and dispelled some of the inaccurate perceptions that were held by some.  I think that we need to have meetings like this periodically so that we stay informed of each others' option and that our decisions are made on the basis of hearing the real needs from the bottom up.

Your draft strategy matrix and SWOT analysis are very detailed, and I simply cannot type fast enough to record all of my reactions.  I will say this:  The strategy matrix is the key to your program, and I hope there's a lot of discussion about (and that I am part of that discussion).  The SWOT analysis is most useful to those who do the analysis; reading it, I find myself nodding to almost all of it, but not getting excited about it  -- whereas the strategy and proposed activities are things to get excited about.  I hope that there will be discussion around it in Toronto and elsewhere.

There is one very important theme that I can sense that runs through the strategy. It is that this is a strategy designed from the bottom up, that reflects the real needs of the continent because it is written by people in the continent who are knowledgeable regarding their problems.  Some of you know that I was against the JAS effort almost from the beginning, and your strategy document made me realize why that it was for the most part a top down program,  with a domain name industry based for the most part in developed countries telling people in developing regions what would be good for them.  

I'm not opposed to the growth of registries in developing countries, but as I argued when I voted against the new gTLD resolution in part because of the inclusion of the JAS program, developing regions need a balanced mix of assistance, not just new gTLDs. The people who supported the JAS program were surely well-meaning, but they were naïve, even those who had been involved in development.  n contrast, the strategy that you are in the process of shaping will respond in that balanced way to needs, is likely to offer a number of ways in which sustainable progress will be made.  In the long run, I am sure that there will be gTLD registries in Africa, and they will rely on a more sustainable base of both infrastructure and more widespread knowledge. 

I enjoyed going through the facts and figures presentation.  Some of you may know that John Mack and I tried to convince our National Science Foundation to fund a project in 2004-5 to extend broadband Internet2-style networking to Senegal and Ghana so that we could build research and education networks in those countries linking universities and research organizations.  We were not able to convince them to approve the project, because one of the major costs was the SAT-3 circuit cost to Portugal, leaving insufficient funds for significant national build-outs.  At the time SAT-3 was a monopoly and charged very high pries.  I'm glad to see that the monopoly is broken and that there is now both significant competition in the submarine cable market as well as increasing interior penetration of capacity.

I hope that the above comments and reflections will be of use to you.  There is a lot to be done.  Your timeline is good as far as it goes,but the real work starts later.  I wish you luck, and I hope to involve myself in ways that are helpful.

Best regards,

George

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On Sep 13, 2012, at 7:13 AM, Dandjinou Pierre wrote:

> Dear Mike and George,
> 
> I hope this finds you well!
> 
> As you know, the Icann Africa Strategy working group (ASWG) which was
> set up after the meeting in Prague has convened in Mauritius to
> brainstorm on best ways of delivering the draft strategy document
> requested by the CEO of ICANN.
> 
> The working group has now posted its working documents on the afrinic
> website (www.afrinic.net) and have opened up a 15 days comment  period
> to further engage with the community.
> 
> The Working group values your interest and contributions to the
> Internet development in Africa, and would like to acknowledge any
> comments, recommendations you would like to share on the Icann Africa
> strategy.
> 
> Many thanks in advance and warmest regards
> 
> Pierre Dandjinou
> On behalf on the ASWG
> 
> -- 
> Pierre Dandjinou
> Cotonou - 229 90 087784 / 66566610
> Dakar 221 77 639 30 41
> www.scg.bj
> skype : sagbo1953



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