<div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7">Hi Alan,</font><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7"><br></font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7">The two paragraphs of your thread has captured the reality of things as they currently are. From where I sit, and If I am to use this example, you are where you stay. That if you live, stay, walk,sleep, bath,eat and interact in a place perfumed with the yellow roses, when you come out you will smell just that! Thus ISOC smells US-centric because that is where it was born and raised. It can seldom be different because it is part of the culture </font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7"><br></font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7">I think with the outstanding work and reputation of Internet Society as a global "Internet" leader, it has earned it a space to rebrand as a diplomatic organization like the likes of UNDP, UNICEF, WTO etc. Maybe that can rid it of <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">the </span>US-centric style of managing and running things.</font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7"><br></font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><font color="#674ea7">On the issue of ISOC and ISOC Foundation acting like charity for Non US organizations. This is up for debate. There </font>has<font color="#674ea7"> been some </font>changes on for<font color="#674ea7"> example on the way you apply for beyond the net small grant, not sure </font><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large">about </span><font color="#674ea7">beyond the net Large grant. On the </font>net small,<font color="#674ea7"> that Tanzania Chapter applied</font><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large">d</span><font color="#674ea7"> recently from ISOC Foundation, the application has been made a lot thinner</font><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large">, less stringent </span><font color="#674ea7">! They </font>coming<font color="#674ea7"> down to almost zero<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">-</span>state</font><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large"></span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large"><font color="#674ea7"> of chapters feeling as</font></span><font color="#674ea7"> though they are applying for a grant from the Ford Foundation. On the other hand, I see issues </font>with the scope<font color="#674ea7"> of the ISOC Foundation<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">'s </span>work. But what is the original purpose of <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">establishing the </span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">ISOC </span>foundation? To advance the mission and core work </font><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(103,78,167)">of </span><font color="#674ea7">ISOC? Or be all over the place just like other foundations? <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">If you go to the foundation's website reads its mission and </span><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77)">contrast/compare with the conditions for applying for a $500,000 grant in SCILLS program ( see </span></font></font><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><a href="https://www.isocfoundation.org/grant-programme/scills-grant-programme/" target="_blank">https://www.isocfoundation.org/grant-programme/scills-grant-programme/</a><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)"> ) you will see things like climate change, entrepreneurship, agriculture, etc. If you read between lines you will realize that, although advancing the Internet is mentioned in the mix, it is not the main subject. It is not the real meat! Is this the main or core function of ISOC? This is in fact the intelligent departure from core ISOC's mission either by design or by erroneous US-centric thinking! Do not get me wrong I am not against spending money on climate action, agriculture, entrepreneurship, or innovation. The issue is the core business activities of ISOC! That the foundation needs to refocus its mind on the origin. But what could be the alternative to this? </span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">I will give an example. Last year Tanzania Chapter applied for Beyond the Net Large Grant from the foundation. We got "approved" for $30,000 to establish a Public Internet and Innovation Hub or Digital Transformation and Innovation Hub. The Hub is in its final stages to be open to the underserved urban community with the following services;</span></font></div><div dir="auto"><ol><li><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Community WiFi to the community.</span></font></li><li><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><span class="gmail_default" style="color:rgb(32,18,77)">Integrated Digital Literacy to youth and women( Digital skills, entrepreneurship, The project will offer the following service</span></font></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Use of unlicensed radios to provide Internet access to 5 schools, 1 health center, police station, primary court, 2 local government offices, and 1 vocational training college.</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Digital Community Library(local content+) and Resource Center.</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Innovation Space for Youth.</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">ICT/S.T.E.M(E) for Girls Program to address Digital Gender Gap</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Online Public Health Education for Students</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Reproductive Health Digital Gateway/Portal</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">IoT-based Solution for; (a) to measure climate change parameters for action-driven climate education to students. To use data they collect through this solution for logical understanding as to why they should plant and grow trees (b) to use the solution to measure and monitor parameters like feed time, oxygen levels, water contamination etc, to improve quantity and quality of produce. </span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Digitally enabled Health Checks Solution for Non Communicable Diseases.</span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Digital and Non Digital Outlet for Government Services </span></li><li><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">n...</span><span style="color:rgb(103,78,167);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large"></span></li></ol></div><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">This is what we can accomplish with the Hub- a spending of $30,000 by ISOC Foundation. It can be replicated anywhere. As you can see the investment is in its core activity( creating the Internet Infrastructure to provide public WiFi and Internet access to public schools and public underserved institutions like healthcare centers. What our project demonstrates is that the core infrastructure project such as this Hub can make other secondary areas such as Entrepreneurship, Innovation, etc can actually sit on top if. What this means then is that if ISOC decides to work with 100 chapters and raise $3 to invest in the core ISOC work such as this Hub, it will go a long way addressing the issue of connecting the unconnected. Diversification by the foundation to engage other sectors may sound good on paper but when it comes to the heart of the matters; the running of their program such as SCILLS make these grants a turf for the "Big League Boys" and this cycle returns them to where the discussion is hinged at the moment( ISOC being US-Centric and swimming in the same pool as Ford Foundation.</span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><font color="#20124d"><br></font></font></div><div dir="auto"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><font color="#20124d"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(32,18,77)">Final view: Foundations in America,Europe and elsewhere normally have their personal agenda and they normally have no constituencies to serve in the world. By this I mean they do not do something like chapters that have associated around a common platform with focus on a global agenda. That is why to get the Agenda through they prepare Grant Applications loaded with conditions and criteria to favour their agenda. However the position of ISOC Foundation in this kind of environment is different. The foundation already has the constituencies to serve( the chapters) and it has the global agenda " investing in Local Internet Infrastructure as the world's resource- connecting the unconnected". I wonder why the ISOC Foundation has to struggle to find new constituencies while they already have them(the chapters)! Unless of course there is an agenda that we are unaware of or it has simply begun to suffer from the Normal Western world Foundation Syndrom(NWFS). I hope this helps. Full stop!</span><br></font><br></font><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><font size="4" face="georgia, serif" color="#674ea7">On Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:05 AM</font> Alan Levin via Chapter-delegates <<a href="mailto:chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hi George, Veni,<div><br></div><div>You are correct, it is NOT the interest of the Chapters to reply. </div><div><br></div><div>It appears from Andrews reply that ISOC is, and always will be a USA centric organisation and the USA just has different laws to the rest of so it does not matter what we say.</div><div><br></div><div>ISOC global is acting like a charity for non-USA organisations and it has been given the license by the global netizens. This is why ISOC-ZA split from Internet South Africa. </div><div><br></div><div>I can also point out that we have an internet governance meltdown in my country. The .za domain name has ended the registry contract without a roadmap for a new registry operator and totally destabilised the cctld. Furthermore, as you know AfriNICs bank account has been frozen for months. When I asked ISOC global about this they said they will get "an action team" onto it... </div><div><br></div><div>I am so sorry but you have failed to establish "trust" from my perspective. Noone will provide you with decent replies in such a state.</div><div><br></div><div>Good Luck!</div><div><br></div><div>Alan</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Sep 28, 2021 at 1:49 AM George Sadowsky via Chapter-delegates <<a href="mailto:chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Hello, All,<br>
<br>
I'm pleased that our initial mail on the above subject asking chapter officers and members about their view of the future of ISOC is receiving a good response.<br>
<br>
However it has come to our attention that at least some chapters are holding back responses because some of the responses already provided and copied to the entire chapters list have been responded to in ways that they feel is inappropriate. In addition, it is our experience that in some cultures, responses may be muted for fear of offending recipients, however unintended to provoke a negative response they may be.<br>
<br>
We want to hear from everyone, and there is an easy way to solve the above problem. When you respond to us with your chapter's and members' opinions, simply write to only the two of us, and do not copy the chapter list. Our email addresses are:<br>
<br>
<<a href="mailto:george.sadowsky@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">george.sadowsky@gmail.com</a>><br>
<<a href="mailto:mshabbirawan@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">mshabbirawan@gmail.com</a>><br>
<br>
If you want your opinions heard --- which we surely hope that you do --- but do not want to be identified publicly with them, just tell us that. If you have specific questions or concerns, write to either or both or us, and we will help you in any way that we can.<br>
<br>
Please continue to share your opinions and suggestions with us. They are important.<br>
<br>
Best regards,<br>
<br>
George Sadowsky<br>
Muhammad Shabbir Awan <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed<br>
to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):<br>
<a href="https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login</a><br>
View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: <a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/</a><br>
<br>
</blockquote></div>
_______________________________________________<br>
As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed<br>
to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):<br>
<a href="https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login</a><br>
View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: <a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/<br></a><br>
</blockquote></div>
</div>
</div>