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

Wed Feb 9 12:46:53 UTC 2011

Mukom, All,

I have a few comments:

1. It has been recommended already that this policy needs a flow chart to clearly show 
the process flow for policies being processed by the PDP. As you may recall, a draft 
diagram or flow chart was started but it needs significant revision.

I would like to recommend that AfriNIC Ltd completes this task and publish a flow chart 
to assist the community in the implementation of the PDP policy, especially in the light 
of the many issues that have been raised in this analysis.

2. I have made specific comments and suggestions on items in their respective locations 
here below.

Regards,

Paulos
======================
Dr Paulos B Nyirenda
NIC.MW & .mw ccTLD
http://www.registrar.mw

On 2 Feb 2011 at 17:43, Mukom Akong T. wrote:

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

unless a revised copy is submitted

> 
> 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

# Facilitating meetings of the PDPWG chairs including taking minutes and processing of 
other documentation as needed by the chairs.

>  #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]

Need for mechanism to resolve conflicts among chairs in their decisions such as in (i) 
declaring consensus (ii) Evaluating emergencies etc

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

Regards,

Paulos
======================
Dr Paulos B Nyirenda
NIC.MW & .mw ccTLD
http://www.registrar.mw

> 
> 
> 
> 
> --.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.--.-
> -.--.--.--.--.--.--.--
> Mukom Akong T.
> www.afrinic.net | p: +230 403 5100   |   f: +230 466 6758
> Skype/Twitter: perfexcellent   | LinkedIn: mu.linkedin.com/in/perfexcellent
> 
> "When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the
> hours turns to music."
> 
>                                                 - Kahlil Gibran
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