[CCWG-Accountability] Agenda for CCWG-Accountability on 30 December at 19:00 UTC

[Dr Eberhard W Lisse]

Dear co-chairs,

maybe we should introduce some required reading prior to allowing posting to the list.


el

Sent from Dr Lisse's iPad mini

> On Jan 4, 2015, at 17:31, Carrie <carriedev at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Please explain about your reference to a ten year lease on an unused building
> 
> What building
> Where building
> Why isn't it used
> How much is the monthly rent
>  
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Jan 4, 2015, at 9:30 AM, "Kieren McCarthy" <kierenmccarthy at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> Could I just throw an observation about the current setup in here, having watched ICANN both externally and internally (both community and corporation) for more than a decade.
>> 
>> We are taking the presumption that the Board is not only the group that ultimately makes the decisions but also the group that keeps the corporation in check on more everyday, operational matters.
>> 
>> I would argue that this approach consistently fails because the Board cannot be expected to see and follow everything. It is also ends up concentrating too much power and reliance on that power in too few hands.
>> 
>> It also provides opportunities for the Board to make bad decisions (like a 10-year lease on an unused building, or a investment strategy tied too closely to a failing stock market, or wage packages that are far too high, or expense accounts with no apparent limits, or an internet governance strategy that upsets the entire technical community, and so on).
>> 
>> Rather than focus solely on how to get the Board to listen more closely before making a decision (which is of course vital), we should also consider how to allow the community to assist in the running of ICANN. Rather than rely on the Board of a Corporation to do everything.
>> 
>> We should try to break down some of the Them vs Us attitude that exists within the corporation, which is behind many of the problems.
>> 
>> One of many ways to do this would be an improved information release policy with a staff-and-community committee in charge.
>> 
>> In fact, pulling staff more into the community by having joint committees (rather than have staff as secretaries) to solve corporate-specific issues should help break down barriers and build trust.
>> 
>> Opening up the current Board committees to community members would also help enormously. There is no real reason why it should only be staff and Board on these committees (I have sat on or in many of them and community members would have been useful many times).
>> 
>> There are lots of other possibilities but you get my general point. Let's open things up, ICANN is no longer under existential threat. It's time to reflect that and help it grow into what it should be.
>> 
>> 
>> Kieren
>> 
>> -
>> [sent through phone]
[...]
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