[chapter-delegates] Important ISOC Request

Sun Feb 13 17:19:54 PST 2005

To All:

If you ask for our support, you have it. If you want my opinion. Here it is:

While the discussion concerning the tsunami crisis and how to respond was
occurring, the only board members who posted comments were the Chapter
representatives. We did not hear from anyone on the Board. My letter to Lynn
asking for ISOC to place an aid banner went unanswered but, not unheeded as
I noticed that a few days later the ad was placed on the ISOC homepage. I,
too, prefer action over just words although a few words would have notified
us that ISOC was moving to respond to the terrible impact of the tsunamis
and the massive loss of lives.

Now we receive this item that we are being asked to endorse. Well you have
my commitment to present it at the next Executive Council of the Internet
Society of Puerto Rico with my full endorsement.

Now does this item mean that ISOC responded to the tragedy? Does this mean
that we did all we could to mobilize support within our means? Do the
chapter delegates and members of those countries feel the support? Did we
make a difference and are we now making a difference?

Did our response provide any guide to action to anyone? Did our response
increase our credibility and influence within the global internet community?

Independent of the merits of the system as proposed, the principal issue we
are failing to understand is that we face a leadership crisis; a crisis that
places us in the too little, too late, analysis-paralysis conundrum. 

During the exchange of emails in this space, various views were presented by
the chapter representatives. The debate showed that we had widely divergent
views on ISOC and what role it should play if any at all. I believe that we
need to look around us and realize that much has changed since 1991-2. We
cannot be focused exclusively on standards or interpreting the world through
standards that we help set through the IETF. It is as if we were reaching
for a magic wand or the marching band leader waving a baton while the band
moves and marches in another direction.

My search through the Internet brought forward a world of people actively
working to share information, provide resources and move quickly in response
to one of the greatest human tragedies in recent memory. I discovered the
work of Andy Carvin and the Digital Divide Network just to name one. Their
outstanding work during and after the tsunami shows what a group of Internet
savvy people can do when they work together and are motivated by the desire
to make a difference. These people did not sit back and ponder their
limitations; instead they dove in to do whatever they could to help at the
moment and continue to do so this day. 

I ask myself, if I were in one of the affected countries, whose
recommendations and whose ideas for the future would I listen to today?
Would it be those who reached out and placed new tools and applied what they
knew to help us? 

Did we, as ISOC, learn anything? Are we closer to each other and bonded
because we can recognize with pride and respect an organization that stands
for both long term solutions and mobilizes its resources however meager in
timely response as events unfold? 

I ask myself these questions everyday. We need to come to a consensus soon
for as we debate these items the world is shifting very rapidly. Our voices
do not reach those whom we do not listen to; we lose influence with those
with whom we do not connect with. It is a difficult balancing act. But true
leaders always find a way to be present, to show up in ways that open up the
boundless imaginations of the creative and inspire to action the many who
are most willing to serve.

With deepest respect,
Ramón Morales
Chairman
Internet Society of Puerto Rico

-----Original Message-----
From: David McAuley [mailto:mcauley at isoc.org] 
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 10:39 AM
To: 'Gene Gaines'; 'Brian E Carpenter (IBM)'; 'Fred Baker'
Cc: chapter-delegates at lists.isoc.org
Subject: RE: [chapter-delegates] Important ISOC Request

Gene, 

I think this is a step in a continuum. I know that the very active
discussion regarding the tsunami disaster has been closely followed and has
helped inform this and, I assume, other steps that others may take. As for
the affected countries, this call affects all countries - it is forward
looking, embracing any emergency. 

This appears a positive step that was sent to the Chapters to include them
and ask them to consider in the endorsement gathering process. It need not
be the only action taken in this context. 

David

David McAuley
Membership Director
Internet Society
703-326-9880, ext 104
703-963-5887 (mobile)
mcauley at isoc.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Gene Gaines [mailto:gene.gaines at gainesgroup.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 5:41 PM
To: Brian E Carpenter (IBM); Fred Baker; David McAuley
Cc: chapter-delegates at lists.isoc.org
Subject: Re: [chapter-delegates] Important ISOC Request

Brian, David,

Of course, this step was taken after consultation with
ISOC members and ISOC chapters in the affected countries?

?

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines at gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia USA

On Friday, February 11, 2005, 4:18:15 PM, David wrote:

> SUPPORT THE PUBLIC WARNING NETWORK CHALLENGE

>  

> Dear Chapter Delegates:

>  

> As you have seen, the entire world has been active in
> sending relief and support to the South and Southeast Asian
> areas so disastrously struck by the late December Tsunami.
> Once immediate life support activities were well underway,
> thoughts then turned to ways to minimize the impact of such
> events in future. And that is where our community can play
> such a vital role. 

>  

> ISOC Chapters have been actively and creatively discussing
> ways in which the ISOC community can help in the search for
> solutions to such natural disasters. The natural role that the
> Internet can play in disseminating information has quickly
> become a point of focus ? the use of the Internet to
> instantaneously and widely spread detailed and comprehensive
> warnings. One important effort in that respect has been
> initiated by ISOC?s Chairman, Fred Baker, and a former ISOC
> Chairman, Brian Carpenter, who together submitted an Internet
> Draft for consideration to the IETF ? it is entitled 
> Structure of an International Emergency Alert System and can
> be found at the following URL:
> http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-baker-alert-system-00.txt.

>  

> Because the Internet will play a significant role in the
> efficient distribution of these time-critical alerts, the
> Internet Society (ISOC) has launched the 'Public Warning
> Network Challenge' - a call for collaborative action in order
> to make such public warning systems a reality.

>  

> "We encourage all our members, whether corporations or
> non-profit organisations to endorse the 'Public Warning
> Network Challenge' by indicating how they are able to
> collaborate on this important goal," said Lynn St.Amour,
> President and CEO of the Internet Society. "This is an
> excellent opportunity to show how diverse organisations and
> entities, supported by the Internet, can work together to
> bring the benefits of the Internet to people everywhere." 

>  

> We encourage you to disseminate this information to your
> members and to alert other organizations which you know and
> which may have a particular interest in this area. 

>  

> We invite endorsements from organizations across the
> world.  Your help is needed now. For more information, see:
> http://www.isoc.org/challenge/index.php

>  

> Best regards,

>  

> David McAuley

> Membership Director

> Internet Society

> 703-326-9880, ext 104

> 703-963-5887 (mobile)

> mcauley at isoc.org

>  

-- 

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