[Chapter-delegates] How can ISOC chapters help in thedevelopment of IP-based networks?

[Igor Mkrtumyan]

Thank you Bill! This letter is very useful for chapters.
Regards
Igor Mkrtumyan
ISOC Armenia 

-----Original Message-----
From: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org
[mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Bill Graham
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:58 PM
To: Fred Baker
Cc: Chapter Delegates
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] How can ISOC chapters help in
thedevelopment of IP-based networks?

All,

I don't feel it's appropriate for me to engage on some of the questions in
this thread re: what Chapters should and should not do.  But I want to
strongly agree with Fred's message here.  I also would like to draw your
attention to some of the work staff has been doing to try to nudge
discussions in the ITU away from an "us vs them" conversation, and in the
direction of "making the Internet work better and be more accessible for
more people."  To quote our working framing statement for ISOC involvement
with the ITU: 

"ISOC engages with the ITU in areas where it makes sense to support their
activities to advance the Internet, while working to create awareness of
different and complementary activities taking place in the Internet
ecosystem.  We are always working to ensure that the Internet ecosystem
continues to evolve to support a usable and useful open Internet."

As we pursue that goal, we have consistently for several years produced
briefing papers for governments, and as ITU Sector Members in the
Standardization and Development Sectors we have submitted them to the ITU as
official documents.  Some of them have been submitted several times, because
they are relevant to a number of the meetings, conferences, study groups,
working parties, ad hoc groups, etc., that have been created in the ITU.
You can find all of our work specifically developed for use in the ITU
context at the following URL:
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/community/itu.shtml>

Please note in particular the basic papers that have been translated into
all six United Nations languages, to ensure that they get maximum exposure
in the ITU, and among our Chapters and members who may wish to talk to their
national government officials involved in the ITU on Internet-related
topics.

In that respect, we also prepared for our membership a guide on to how to
reach out to government organizations responsible for their ITU activities.
that guide is available at:
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/governance/itu_forum_20080223.shtml>
before the 2009 World Telecom Policy Forum.  We provided a similar guide
with a brief discussion of issues before the last World Telecommunication
Standardization Assembly of 2008: A Members' Guide to Internet Society
Participation in the WTDC at
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/docs/wtdc_20100507.pdf>

That information remains valid today, and I hope it is useful.

While it is not linked directly from the ITU site, one of the documents that
several governments have told us is most useful is the Internet ecosystem
graphic, that has now been expanded by adding text that describes in detail
how the various parts of the ecosystem fit together.  
2 page Internet Ecosystem Graphic and Glossary
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/docs/factsheet_ecosystem_20090310.pdf>
Expanded full-text version
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/docs/internetmodel.pdf>

The full text version includes a section on the ITU that places it in
context.  In terms of "making the Internet work better and be more
accessible for more people", it is important to remember that while the
ITU's Plenipotentiary decision that Veni referred to will mean the ITU can
be expected to reach out more broadly to the Internet organizations, the ITU
is not one of the primary organizations that deals with Internet issues,
although it certainly has a role to play.  

For now and the foreseeable future, as shown in the Internet Ecosystem
documents referred to above, the Internet institutions are central and key
to the development of IP-based networks.  This has been one of the primary
areas of work for ISOC as an organization, and our activities are directed
to ensuring that the Internet and its organizations remain healthy and well
functioning.  The ITU footnote from the Plenipotentiary calls for
involvement "on the basis of reciprocity."  That is a key concept.

Until now, many of the ITU Member States have been inward looking.  That is
to say, they have worked to create bodies *within* the ITU that are supposed
to undertake work of various sorts on Internet-related issues and standards.
To participate in that work, the native Internet institutions have had to go
to the ITU's meetings to try to help shape the discussion in a way that at
least respects their own mandates.  A prime example of that is the joint
ITU-T and ITU-D Group on IPv6 
<http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/others/ipv6/Pages/default.aspx>.  

Member States are correct to be concerned that the transition from IPv4 to
IPv6 takes place, and no doubt have questions about the mechanisms for that
and a need for capacity-building and the sharing of best practices.  The
RIRs are the most appropriate place for that discussion, and most if not all
actively reach out to governments as well as the private sector and local
Internet communities.  One hopes that the Plenipotentiary will lead those
concerned, and the ITU itself, to participate in the RIRs' activity, rather
than creating a stand-alone group in the ITU, where the RIRs, ISOC, ICANN
and concerned governments and Sector Members feel a responsibility to
participate, to ensure that the discussion is fact-based and to help direct
on-going work in a positive direction.  (Another example of an ISOC paper
that was widely used and referred to by governments is the briefing paper "A
Fine Balance: Internet number resource distribution and de-centralisation",
which you can find at:
<http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/docs/address-allocation_200906.pdf>

As you know, on December 14, the UN held a consultation on "enhanced
cooperation."  I sought your views, and shared the ISOC contribution that we
provided to the UN in mid-November.  I requested, and got, a speaking slot
during the consultations.  Since then, the IAB asked me to make it clear
that I was speaking for them as well as ISOC at the event this week.  A
point I stressed in that speech was the need for governments and
intergovernmental organizations to recognize and participate in the native
Internet organizations:

"When speaking about Internet governance, it is vital that we cooperate in
an open and reciprocal way.  Enhanced cooperation should not mean just that
governments and intergovernmental organizations reach out and invite
stakeholders from the private sector, civil society and the academic and
technical community to come to their meetings.  It is equally important for
governments and intergovernmental organizations to recognize that many of
the relevant stakeholder groups have existing expert organizations with well
established and open processes already dealing with Internet issues, which
welcome all who want to participate.  Of course, some governments and
intergovernmental organizations already do take part - the issue is one of
enhancing the cooperation by learning to work together in the most
appropriate venues, in partnership."

That point seems particularly relevant to the discussion about what approach
ISOC (writ large) should take to involvement with Member States and the ITU
itself.

Bill