[AfriNIC-rpd] Call for Comments: Implementation Analysis and Recommendations on the Policy Development Process - AFPUB-2010-GEN-005

Wed Feb 2 13:43:34 UTC 2011

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to get your comments about implementing the new PDP
proposal. Here is the analysis and our recommendations:

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Implementation Analysis of  the  AfriNIC Policy Development Process
<http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2010-GEN-005.htm>

1 Purpose of this Document

On the 11th of November 2010, the AfriNIC community was notified that
the policy proposal “Policy Development in AfriNIC Service Region“ had
been approved by the board. The proposal which went into effect during
AfriNIC-13 in Johannesburg has two implicit and one explicit  goals that
are framed in terms of weaknesses in the previous policy development
process (http://www.afrinic.net/docs/policies/AFPUB-2008-GEN-001.htm).
These are as follows:

a. Provide a mechanism for dealing with disputes in the process.

b. Document the procedures used as well as the approval and
implementation of a policy

c. Give the same weight/significance to comments on a proposal made
online as to those made at at a public policy meeting in the
determination of consensus.

The purpose of this document is to provide an analysis of the
implementation details with a view to putting in place the required
structures demanded by the policy, clarifying roles and responsibilities
and laying out what actions are still left for the full implementation
of the policy,

2. Definitions

2.1 The Resources Policy Development (RPD) mailing list: This is the
primary tool used in discussing policy proposals.

2.2 AfriNIC Ltd: This is the legal entity that runs the day to day
operations associated with managing Internet Number resources in the
African region.

2.2 The Policy Development Working Group (PDWG): Anyone who either
through the rpd mailing list or a face-to-face meeting, takes part in
discussing a policy proposal.

2.3 The PDWG Chairs: There are two individuals selected from the
community who are responsible for performing the administrative
functions of the PDWG.

2.4 Public Policy Meeting: A meeting organised by AfriNIC ltd where
members of the community meet face to face to deliberate on Internet
Number Resource policies for the AfriNIC region. With respect to policy,
the following events typically occur at a public policy meeting:

a. Elections of PDWG chairs.

b. Seeking consensus on a policy proposal that has been discussed on the
mailing list for at least four weeks.

2.5 Terms of the PDWG Chairs: The terms of the PDWG chairs are
(a) Staggered
(b) Two years long
(c) Start at the earliest on the first day of a public policy meeting.
(d) End no later than the last day of the public policy meeting.

2.5 Appeal Committee: A commitee appointed by AfriNIC board which
resolves conflicts that can not be resolved otherwise by a discussion
between the aggrieved party and the PDWG or its chairs.

3.0 Policy Requirements

(a) Policy to take effect at the first public policy meeting.

(b) PDWG Chair terms: Two (2) staggered terms as specified in 2.5 above.

(c) Make available online draft versions of proposals.

(d) For a proposal to be discussed at a public meeting, it must have
been online for at least four (4) weeks.

(e) A proposal cannot be modified within one (1)week of a public policy
meeting at which it is going to be deliberated upon.

(f) The agenda of the public policy meeting must be announced on the
mailing list at least two (2) weeks in advance.

(g) The Last Call period shall be at least two (2) weeks in duration.

(i) A proposal must be be implemented within six (6) months of the last
call unless a waiver is requested.

(j) An appeal against the decisions/actions of the chairs can only be
filled if it is supported by three (3) members of the PDWG who have
participated in the discussions. It must be filled within two (2) weeks
of the offending action/decision.

4.0 Timelines

Taking “D” as the date on which a public policy meeting starts, the
policy prescribes the following:

(a) D - 1 week  : Deadline for making any changes to a policy proposal.

(b) D - 2 weeks: Deadline for announcing the agenda of the public policy
meeting.

(c) D - 4 weeks : Duration for which a proposal must have been discussed
on the mailing list before it can be put on the agenda of the next
public policy meeting.

(d) D + 3 weeks: Deadline for the chairs to publish the minutes of
proceedings of the last public policy meeting.

(e) Two (2) weeks: Minimum duration of Last Call period. Time limit for
appealing a decision or action of the chairs.

(f) Six (6) months: Time after last call during which a proposal that
has reached consensus must both be ratified by the board and implemented
by AfriNIC Ltd unless a waiver is requested.

(g) One (1) calendar year :  Duration after which if the board does not
ratify a proposal, it expires.

6.0 Potential Issues and Recommendations for Full Implementation

(a) Elections as the mechanism for selection of PDWG Chairs: The policy
does not explicitly state how the PDWG chairs shall be ‘chosen’ from the
PDWG. I

Recommendation: Elections should be the mechanism for making the choice
as they most align with the principles of openness, transparency and
fairness. The first such election shall take place during AfriNIC-14 and
in line with section 4 paragraph 3 of the policy, one of the chairs will
be for a one  (1)year term and the other for a two (2) year term.
Subsequently each year, there will be an election to elect one chair for
a two (2) year term.

(b) Term of the current interim PDWG: The board communique on the 24th
of November 2010 [1]  that initially ratified and implemented this
proposal puts the term limit of the interim PDWG chairs to either (6)
months or the until AfriNIC-14 which one occurs earlier. There is a need
to clarify exactly when (start or end) this term ends as well as put in
place a smooth transition to the elected co-chairs. Note that elections
take place place on the second or third day of the plenary and if the
current chairs’ term ends at the start of the meeting, then we will have
to resort to another short term of volunteers to handle the policy
discussions at AfriNIC-14

Recommendation: The board will official clarify the term of the current
PDWG chairs includes conducting policy deliberations at AfriNIC-14 and
that they will work with the elected co-chairs until after the last
call, when the chairs write their report to the board. This will give
the elected chairs a chance to learn from the current chairs and ensure
a smooth transition process.

(c) Mechanism for replacing a chair who is unable to serve their term:
Clarifications need to be made as to what mechanisms should be
instituted. As currently spelt int he policy, this mechanism is passive
and may constitute an inefficiency in the entire PDP

Recommendations: In the event that a chair can no longer serve their
full term, they notify the mailing list and the remaining chair should
call for nominations from the community (mailing list and/or
participants at a public policy meeting.) to replace the out-going chair
who shall then serve the remainder of the term until elections are due.

(d) Administrative and logistical support provided by AfriNIC ltd to
facilitate the process: This shall take the form of the following:

 #Provide and maintain a mailing list for Policy Development Working
Group discussions as well as public archives on it.

 #Provide and maintain a section on AfriNIC’s website with all proposals
and existing policies

 #Organise at least two public policy meetings annually.

 #Provide technologies to enable people who can not make it to a meeting
take part in the deliberations (streaming audio, chat rooms, remote
presentation software)

 #Taking and publishing online the minutes of public policy meetings

 #Provide and maintain collaborative software to facilitate the work of
the PDWG chairs.

 #Organise all logistics for election of chairs.

(e) Waiver for implementing a proposal within six (6) months of last
call: Considering that a the board has to ratify a proposal before it
can be implemented, this prescription calls for both ratification and
implementation within six months unless a waiver has been requested. Who
requests the waiver is not specified by the policy.

Recommendation: Staff analyses and comments of policy proposals must
first clearly indicate timelines for the ratification of the proposal.
If that duration exceeds six months, then the  policy liaison shall send
a request to the chairs who will call for a waiver.

(f) Appeal Committee : The policy depends on an appeal committee as the
body that resolves conflicts that can not be resolved otherwise, apart
from saying the committee is appointed by the board, it doesn’t go into
specifics.

Recommendation: In the event of a conflict that can not be resolved with
the chairs or with the PDWG, the complainant shall send their appeal in
the form of an email to policy-submission [at] afrinic [dot]  net. The
email must mention the names and email addresses of three (3) persons
who support it. The AfriNIC policy liaison shall contact the supporters
to verify their support for the appeal, then send the appeal to the
board which will appoint an Appeal committee and give them the task of
resolving the issue. The term of the committee shall end once the issue
has been resolved and they shall submit their final findings(including
proposal for resolution) and decision to the  board which then publishes
it on rpd mailing list.

(g) The Recall Committee : The policy depends on a Recall committee as
the body that investigates justification for recall of a chair. The
specifics of how the recall committee comes about are not detailed in
the policy.

Proposal: Any individual wishing to to request the recall of a chair
shall do so by sending their Request for Recall to policy-submission
[at] afrinic [dot]  net. The email must mention the names  and email
addresses of five (5) members of the PDWG who support it. The AfriNIC
policy liaison shall contact the supporters to verify their support for
the recall request, then forward the request to  the board which will
appoint a Recall  committee and give them the task of resolving the
issue. The term of the committee shall end once the issue has been
resolved and they shall submit their final findings(including proposal
for resolution) and decision to the  board which then publishes it on
rpd mailing list.

5.0 Conclusion

The only goal that is explicitly satisfied by this policy is the first
one -       “a. Provide a mechanism for dealing with disputes in the
process.“. The other two implicit goals are not directly addressed in
the policy.

The objective to document the procedure shall be achieved by the
following communications:

i. AfriNIC Policy Liaison will ensure that all versions of policy
proposals and their event histories are available online.

ii. The proposal authors shall ensure that they include a “Changelog”
section to updated drafts as specified in the template of “How to
Propose a Policy”. The log shall include for each change, the change it
self and reason for the change.

iii. When requested by the chairs, AfriNIC shall provide Analyses and
Staff comments of a policy proposal which shall be posted to the rpd
mailing list.

iv. The PDWG chairs shall send a report of the outcomes of policy
deliberations after each public policy meeting to the rpd mailing list.
After the last call, their report to the board will also be made public
by posting it to the website.

v. Minutes of the public policy meeting shall be posted to the website.

vi. The board’s decision on the policy proposals recommended by the
board shall be posted to the rpd mailing list.

The other two objectives of ensuring equity of comments made on the
mailing list to those made in person at face to face meeting shall be up
to the chairs process in conducting the face to face deliberations.

Appendix:

ToR of PDWG Chairs

Here is a list of some of the specific tasks that are expected of the
chairs:

- Creating reports (summaries) of mailing list discussions in
preparation for face
to face meetings.

- Chairing the meeting sessions and declaring consensus.

- Creating post-meeting policy report and posting to the mailing list.

- Sending notifications of Last Call [Chairs]

- Writing report to the board [Chairs]

- Evaluating emergencies that necessitate varying the process [Chairs]

  References

  [1] https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2010/001165.html  - Board
communique implementing the current PDP proposal.

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Mukom Akong T.
www.afrinic.net | p: +230 403 5100   |   f: +230 466 6758
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