[Chapter-delegates] Fwd: Proposed agenda for ISOC CEO and ISOC UK England Leadership Team meeting - 20 Feb 2024

[Hervé Hounzandji]

Hello Olivier and thanks very much.

+1  (Benin Chapter)

Can we join the meeting remotely?

Warm regards


Le sam. 10 févr. 2024 à 05:05, Winthrop Yu via Chapter-delegates <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> a écrit :

> 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> <ocl at gih.com>
> To:     Andrew Sullivan <sullivan at isoc.org> <sullivan at isoc.org>
> CC:     ISOC England <contact at isoc-e.org> <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
> _______________________________________________
>
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-- 
Hervé HOUNZANDJI
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