[Chapter-delegates] Fwd: Proposed agenda for ISOC CEO and ISOC UK England Leadership Team meeting - 20 Feb 2024
Winthrop Yu
w.yu at gmx.net
Fri Feb 9 20:04:54 PST 2024
Thank you for this Olivier. Indeed, Chapters would be interested in the topics
you raise.
I have no additional topics (yours are quite comprehensive), just a few
comments, if i may:
> Topic 1: CEO renewal
> 1.3 Is there an already existing process in place for the search of the next CEO?
Ah yes, i recently re-shared ISOC's farewell post to Lynn, it's been 10 years.
> 1.4 In the current climate of Government regulation worldwide would you agree
> that people with known close ties to governments should be excluded from being
> candidates as they are unlikely to inspire confidence in ISOC's independence
> in representative roles other than purely secretariat?
We tend to focus negatively almost exclusively on Governments (holy shades of
WCIT), should there also be caution with regard to ties with the Private Sector?
That is -- shouldn't we be wary of and avoid, revolving door,
i-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine favor-peddling, secret deals behind closed
doors, and such?
Anent that, this would certainly be helpful:
> b. the list of qualities required in the next CEO?
> (as is already common process in other I* organisations?)
> ISOC's intentions on formation of the Foundation was to establish a separate
> Board and governance for the Foundation. It was proposed that the current
> arrangement of ISOC trustees also all being Foundation Trustees as only viable
> as a stop gap. The evolution of the governance of the Foundation appears to
> have stalled since the attempted sale of PIR.
> 2.2 What processes to involve the broader community are being undertaken?
+1
> 3.2.1.1 What kind of threats are in the cross-wires of this action item?
> Threats from UN? Globally? Individual Governments (at national level)?
> Regionally (for example European Commission)? Private Sector (for example
> Network Neutrality or consolidation of Internet resources and monopolies)?
> There number of threats to the Internet are numerous.
Yes, we should no longer be silent about threats from Private Sector actors,
e.g. Network Neutrality, Big Tech, Privacy (and soon AI?)
> 3.2.3 Is ISOC planning to reinvigorate the I* and working with the Internet
> technical community as a whole to mitigate these challenges?
+1
> 4.2.1 Does ISOC have a rulebook regarding engagement relating to Internet
> policy and advocacy in countries where there is a local Chapter?
> 4.2.2 How does ISOC align itself with the positions taken by a local chapter
> in a specific territory when ISOC in intervening directly in that territory?
> For example, your visit in the UK is triggered by your participation at a
> conference. How will you align your narrative with the Chapter's narrative?
+1
Again, thank you Olivier and hoping to hear of developments/answers,
WYn
PH
On 9 Feb 2024 10:31 PM, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via Chapter-delegates wrote:
> Dear Chapter Leaders,
>
> the UK England Chapter of the Internet Society has been kindly invited to meet
> the ISOC CEO Andrew Sullivan during his visit in London later this month. We
> have put together an agenda which you will see below. If we have any time
> remaining in our meeting we would be happy to add other topics of interest to
> Chapters - thus please email me if you would like to propose additional topics.
>
> We'll report back to Chapters on matters that might have a wider Chapters
> interest after our meeting.
> Kindest regards,
>
> Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
> ISOC UK England Chair
>
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject: Proposed agenda for ISOC CEO and ISOC UK England Leadership Team
> meeting - 20 Feb 2024
> Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 15:20:15 +0100
> From: Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com>
> To: Andrew Sullivan <sullivan at isoc.org>
> CC: ISOC England <contact at isoc-e.org>
>
> Dear Andrew,
>
> thank your for inviting us to meet you on Tuesday 20 February 2024. Matthew
> Shears, Steve Karmeinski and I look forward to welcome you in London.
>
> In order to prepare for the discussion, our Leadership Team has put together a
> number of questions which you will find listed below. These should be treated
> as the topics we would like to discuss during our meeting. We'll share these
> with other Chapter Leaders, asking if they have any further questions/topics
> which we might wish to add to our agenda, time-permitting.
>
> In order to put some structure in our discussions, there are four main section
> topics:
>
> 1. CEO renewal
> 2. Internet Society Foundation
> 3. ISOC's future
> 4. Operational Issues
>
> We look forward to an open discussion on all four topics. If you have
> additional topics for discussion please share them with us ahead of our meeting.
>
> Topic 1: CEO renewal
>
> Given the need to expand the global reputation and footprint of the Internet
> Society, the search for the next CEO should respect the processes set in the
> past as well as well accepted good practise
> found in other important Internet organisations.
>
> This process should be tasked by the BoT to improve awareness and engagement
> of the global communities in the Internet Society and its operations and
> ensure to the community that basic principles of good governance including
> transparency are evident.
>
> We therefore have the following questions relating to the topic of CEO renewal:
>
> 1.1 Do you already know if the Board going to renew your contract?
>
> 1.2 If not when will process for the CEO search be started?
>
> 1.3 Is there an already existing process in place for the search of the next CEO?
> 1.3.1 if yes, then is it based on the last search for ISOC CEO which used a
> global selection process open to qualification by non-US residents?
> 1.3.2 if no, then will the community be asked for:
> a. best practices relating to the actual search for a CEO?
> b. the list of qualities required in the next CEO?
> (as is already common process in other I* organisations?)
>
> 1.4 In the current climate of Government regulation worldwide would you agree
> that people with known close ties to governments should be excluded from being
> candidates as they are unlikely to inspire confidence in ISOC's independence
> in representative roles other than purely secretariat?
>
> 1.5 Currently the Board Succession Planning Committee is made of:
> Ramanou Biaou - Chapters
> Luis Martinez - Chapters
> Brian Haberman - IETF
> Ted Hardie - Organisation
> Barry Leiba - Organisation
> Robert Pepper - Organisation
> Andrew Sullivan - Ex-Officio
>
> This, if it is indeed the next CEO Search Committee, appears unbalanced
> between Chapters, IETF and Organisation members? Wouldn't good practise mean
> balancing this out by having two members from each IETF, Chapters and
> Organisation?
>
> 1.6 Will the whole Board interview candidates or will it just be the Board
> Succession Planning Committee?
>
> 1.7 Will the whole Board be voting on the final candidate(s), given that this
> has been a vital task of the Board in past CEO selections? The whole board
> consists of: 4 Chapter Trustees, 4 Org Trustees and 4 IETF Trustees (plus a
> nominated trustee) and each of them has one equal vote.
>
>
> Topic 2: Internet Society Foundation
>
> ISOC's intentions on formation of the Foundation was to establish a separate
> Board and governance for the Foundation. It was proposed that the current
> arrangement of ISOC trustees also all being Foundation Trustees as only viable
> as a stop gap. The evolution of the governance of the Foundation appears to
> have stalled since the attempted sale of PIR.
>
> Given that the current arrangement causes a serious conflict of interest
> between the organisations:
>
> 2.1 What are the current steps being made to move this along? When will a new
> Board be selected?
>
> 2.2 What processes to involve the broader community are being undertaken?
>
>
> Topic 3: ISOC's future
>
> It is notable that in relation to other Internet organisations referred to as
> I* including IETF, ICANN, IAB, Regional Internet Registries. ISOC alone today
> has no operational responsibilities for Internet resources, networks, or
> governance communities. This has frequently led to comments by operators in
> those communities to ask "What is the point of ISOC"?
>
> 3.1 What is the Point of ISOC today and into the next five years in the CEO's
> view?
> 3.1.1 Is there a 5 year strategic plan in place?
>
> 3.2 2024 Action Plan
> https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2024-Action-Plan-EN.pdf
>
>
> Focussing on two topics:
> 3.2.1 countering Internet threats
> 3.2.1.1 What kind of threats are in the cross-wires of this action item?
> Threats from UN? Globally? Individual Governments (at national level)?
> Regionally (for example European Commission)? Private Sector (for example
> Network Neutrality or consolidation of Internet resources and monopolies)?
> There number of threats to the Internet are numerous.
> 3.2.1.2 At what "layer" are these threats mostly going to be?
> 3.2.1.3 How are these threats going to be decided? Which threat is "more
> important"? Which threat has priority?
>
> 3.2.2 defending the Internet in the UN.
> This outward facing element of ISOC's advocacy has been missing in the past
> and it would be good to understand what this will comprise, particularly w/r/t
> IG.
> Could you please elaborate on what processes will be followed? IGF? WSIS? UNGA
> (with the UN Digital Cooperation Forum)? ECOSOC? UNESCO?
>
> 3.2.3 Is ISOC planning to reinvigorate the I* and working with the Internet
> technical community as a whole to mitigate these challenges?
>
> 3.3 ISOC Financials
> https://www.internetsociety.org/about-internet-society/organization-reports/#financial-reports
>
> 2022 Financial Statements show the Internet Society making a loss for that year.
>
> 3.3.1 Is there oversight and reporting that is specific to keeping track of
> the proportion of .org revenues being spent on internal administration and
> staff compared to funding community works?
> The annual financial statements do not show this.
> 3.3.2 With other I* organisations providing detailed information about the
> management of their projects as well as per department cross-referencing, is
> ISOC prepared to rise up to the levels of transparency that are now expected
> in public benefit entities and to produce an annual financial report that
> provides more information than its minimal published financial statement?
> 3.3.3 Is ISOC ready to publish its financials on multi-year projects including
> its forecasts going forward? Scrutiny of Form 990 appears to show random
> continuity year on year and there is no way to find out what is happening?
>
> 3.4 MANRS
> ISOC made a total divestment of its MANRS project to a US not-for-profit, The
> Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) which has foundational links to the City Police in
> UK and other similar agencies.
>
> 3.4.1 Why was this divestiture effected given that this was a successful
> project which comforted the ISOC brand as being pertinent?
>
> 3.4.2 Was a risk assessment done prior to moving MANRS elsewhere to an
> organisation so close to law enforcement as to ensuring that the Internet
> Society goals and principles in this important area remain at the top of the
> routing security agenda?
>
> 3.4.3 By what criteria was the GCA chosen as an suitable organisation to run
> the MANRS project? Were there conditions imposed on Goals?
>
> 3.4.4 Are there Performance Agreements (SLAs) in place for the ongoing
> conditional funding of the GCA?
> 3.4.4.1 If yes, are there clauses to cancel the GCA Secretarial and
> Operational duties, should it fail in its SLAs?
>
> 3.5 Concept of the Internet Society holding network related patents
>
> In a recent conversation on the Internet History Mailing List, Karl Auerbach
> proposed that ISOC or the IETF established an arm that could accept and hold
> network related patents and issue licenses (for reasonable low fees and
> non-discriminatory terms). Vint Cerf replied that he liked the idea and that
> the concept of ISOC being compensated for doing so could ease its challenge
> demonstrating the level of public support it has (the so-called IRS Public
> Support Test) that requires it to show that at least 1/3 of its income comes
> from a broad range of public sources.
> Would you consider this as a potential responsibility to evolve ISOC?
>
>
> Topic 4: Operational Issues
>
> 4.1 New Chapter Membership Administration System
>
> After more than one month in existence it is clear that the new Chapter
> Membership Administration System is failing to achieve the functions it was
> meant to achieve:
> a. emailing members
> b. hosting fora for community discussions like the Chapter Advisory Council
> discussions and other fora
>
> To-date the failure of the emailing system is such that even ISOC Staff have
> been unable to use it for any campaign whatsoever.
> The discussion fora are completely empty. The porting of old discussions has
> lost all formatting, attached documents etc. Functions like the emailing of
> the fora discussions are non existent.
> The system appears to require lots of pre-established templates none of which
> are available.
> The list of problems is too long to list here but the result is a loss of
> community history as well as a complete hindrance on membership management at
> Chapter level. ISOC is without a communications tool - a tool that should have
> been at the centre of its operations and that has failed to deliver.
>
> 4.1.1 What is ISOC planning to do to fix this serious problem?
> 4.1.2 How long will it take to fix?
> 4.1.3 If the system is "born dead" would ISOC consider finding an alternative
> system and dropping the current system on the basis that it is a failure and
> immediately proposing an alternative?
>
> 4.2 Relationship between Chapters and HQ in matters of national importance
>
> 4.2.1 Does ISOC have a rulebook regarding engagement relating to Internet
> policy and advocacy in countries where there is a local Chapter?
> 4.2.2 How does ISOC align itself with the positions taken by a local chapter
> in a specific territory when ISOC in intervening directly in that territory?
> For example, your visit in the UK is triggered by your participation at a
> conference. How will you align your narrative with the Chapter's narrative?
>
> --- end of agenda ---
>
> Thank you for considering these topics. We look forward to a fruitful meeting
> with you.
> Safe travels,
>
> Olivier Crépin-Leblond, PhD
> ISOC UK England Chair
> _______________________________________________
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/private/chapter-delegates/attachments/20240210/df0b4fe5/attachment.htm>
More information about the Chapter-delegates
mailing list