[discuss] Academic sector appointments to the 1net steering committee

Mon Dec 23 19:13:46 UTC 2013

On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 7:30 PM, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

>  Seun:
>
>
>
> No Giganet member from Africa volunteered for the task. I suspect no one
> from Giganet (certainly not me) would object if a suitable academic
> candidate from Africa, not a member of Giganet, surfaced and asked to be
> considered. Suitability, I would insist, involves more than simply being
> from Africa however. They have to know what is going on, be reasonably
> familiar with the network of people involved in IG, aware of the diverse
> positions.
>

This is the point and where we may always have some lapses. What is it that
is going on that you think the Africa community may not know. Even if there
are some experience that Africa does not have, shouldn’t that be the
expected, afterall Africa is the most recent continent that got exposed to
Internet so yes there may be some learning to do, however it does not mean
there ain't knowledge that can be contributed otherwise Nii will not be
recognised by ICANN, Nnenna will not be spotted by web foundation, and even
the current leader(administrative)  of 1net (Adiel) will not be assigned
this role.

> So if you or anyone has specific recommendations to make, and that
> person(s) wants to be considered, I’d be happy to take this back to the
> GigaNet steering committee for modification. Unlike our friends in the ICC,
> we’re not too proud to make improvements in our work.
>
>
>
Was the call for volunteer shared with the academic communities in Africa
OR just within Giganet?. I believe there are Academias who will definitely
be interested and willing to serve if they are aware of this early enough
and if they understood the nominating process. However, I am still
wondering the role of GigaNet steering committee in this selection
process....

>  Regarding volunteering, we made a point of noting that this 1net
> coordinating committee was not going to be a cute little feather one can
> put in one’s resume, but was going to be a lot of work that would not be
> related to the things academics specialize in: substantive proposals,
> scholarship, research or teaching; it would, instead, be a lot of email
> traffic and tedious reviewing of candidates for other positions that the
> 1net group will appoint and a lot of struggling and discussions to reach
> consensus among a large group. Possibly the low number of volunteers
> reflected a realistic attitude toward the nature of the committee.
>
>
>
Again this is not rocket science and if those on the list have flesh and
blood then anyone who is willing from any part of the continent can do
this. I don't want to think you are insinuating Africa will not be able to
catch up because of the traffic demands? that should be the least of the
reason and infact no reason at all. Yes Africa is still lagging behind with
other part continents in relation to bandwidth, however its not as bad as
not been able to handle non-relatime communications. There will ofcourse be
low response if the information does not get to the right community list,
its not an indication of access to Internet.

>  As for why Giganet, I would say, what other academic organization is
> focused on Internet governance, is aware of what is happening, and is ready
> to respond to the need in the time frame required? I doubt you can find
> any.
>
>
>
Just because Giganet is based on IG does not mean that it be used as an
umbrella for all especially as it does not have its representation in most
of the continent(Definitely not Africa). Also noting says that it must be
an IG based organisation that provides nominees. There are research
education networks which are continental based that can do the same and if
an IG based organisation must do the presentation then it should be an
organisation that has connection with relevant sectors. Just like DIPLO has
great link with the civil society community and does a good job at ensuring
good civil society representation in 1Net

>  Regarding US-centric, tosh! only one of the people on that list actually
> lives in the US, and he is an Indian native. Only one is a US citizen. One
> other has a temporary job affiliations to a US institution, but has strong
> ties to Tunisia as a result of his research. This is a highly transnational
> group, and scholarship and academia is one of the most globalized arenas.
>
>
>
You have mentioned 3 out of 5 that has strong US affiliation, so how many
do we have left ;) Nevertheless i am not all about the numbers, but about
fair representation.

Cheers!

>
>
>
>
> *From:* Seun Ojedeji [mailto:seun.ojedeji at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, December 23, 2013 1:10 PM
> *To:* Milton L Mueller
> *Cc:* adiel at afrinic.net; discuss at 1net.org
> *Subject:* Re: [discuss] Academic sector appointments to the 1net
> steering committee
>
>
>
> Hello Milton,
>
>
>
> I don't understand what is going on here. How can we say we are looking to
> have a more inclusive internet Governance(through 1Net) and yet its
> committee representation does not reflect such. If there are 5 people to be
> nominated doesn’t it naturally determine the region for representation.
> What happened to Africa institution as this list does not seem to represent
> them in anyway? what is the process taken to come up with these names? and
> why is it giganet that is leading in this?
>
> On a lighter note, i have observe and almost convinced that it seem
> representation in 1net is still very much US centric(Yet to be convinced
> otherwise).
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 5:42 PM, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:
>
>  Giganet is the Global Internet Governance Academic Network. Its members
> span many disciplines, from computer science to political science, and are
> all actively engaged in research and teaching on Internet governance.
>
>
>
> We initiated a nominations process around December 5 and after some
> discussion on the list and among the organization’s Steering Committee, the
> following 5 names are being sent to 1net for the Academic positions on the
> 1net steering committee
>
>
>
> Angela Daly (Australia)
> Ramesh Subramanian (India/USA)
> Stefania Milan (Italy, NL)
> William Drake (USA, CH)
> Ben Wagner (DE, UK, USA)
>
>
>
> Milton Mueller
>
> Chair, GigaNet Steering Committee
>
> Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
>
> http://faculty.ischool.syr.edu/mueller/
>
>
>
>
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>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> *Seun Ojedeji, Federal University Oye-Ekiti web:      *
> *http://www.fuoye.edu.ng <http://www.fuoye.edu.ng> **Mobile:
> +2348035233535 <%2B2348035233535>*
> *alt email: <http://goog_1872880453>seun.ojedeji at fuoye.edu.ng
> <seun.ojedeji at fuoye.edu.ng>*
>
>
>

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Seun Ojedeji,Federal University Oye-Ekitiweb:      http://www.fuoye.edu.ng
<http://www.fuoye.edu.ng> Mobile: +2348035233535**alt email:
<http://goog_1872880453>seun.ojedeji at fuoye.edu.ng
<seun.ojedeji at fuoye.edu.ng>*
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