RALO Requests for Funding to support an Outreach Activity

Travel and accommodation support to attend the Asia Pacific Regional IGF, Youth IGF and Pacific IGF to be jointly held on Vanuatu 13-16 August 2018.

I drove to the train station and took the express train to Montreal, roughly 5 hours on Thursday night,  I discovered i had a flat tire a couple of hours before my train at 5 30.  needed to rush and have it repaired and back on the car to drive to the station for the train.  

Event was a full day.  Didn't stay for the cocktail party due to departure time of the train. 

No information booth for ICANN at the event.   Registration was 200 but  after lunch it was more like 100 in the room

Full slate of speakers on DNS .  Very technical sessions,  Didn't laugh at the jokes, they were too many insider jokes for me.  Pleasantly surprised to see Steve Crocker. He is writing a book on the early years on the Internet. Very busy guy, looks good, doesn't miss the board.  

Great opportunity to interface with the folks,  most of which were IETF people from outside of North America which added the session on to their IETF meetings. 

All the valuable slides were photographed and shared with the online Adobe session and ATLARGE

1.  Pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/glennmcknight/albums/72157693203985620 [flickr.com]

160 pictures

All the speakers

Tweeted the entire morning 

Photos of  ISOC Quebec and  ICANN Staff

Distributed to Shelly Robinson for monthly newsletter

Sent to staff including Chris Modini

2. Video 

No video 

3. Promotion 

NARALO brochures 

Need generic Atlarge business cards 

Will followup on some leads

Glenn McKnight

NARALO Secretariat.

Trip to ICANN Studienkreis

Date: 30-31 August 2018

The local RALO Outreach Plan has been mentioning ICANN Studienkreis for several years. Each time the use of additional budget request process was explained as this is a major local event that is sponsored by ICANN. The additional budget request was never granted, thus no end user representative was ever supported for this meeting. Alarmingly, ICANN Studienkreis has taken place for over 15 years, with a very low turn-out of end user representatives. Since the event is by invitation only and an invitation was received by EURALO, this was an opportunity to seize.

EURALO Chair Olivier Crépin-Leblond made the trip to Tallinn. Hotel accommodation was sponsored by the Studienkreis organisers, thus only travel support was needed.

The two day meeting had a stellar line-up of speakers introducing topics which were then discussed around the table. ICANN CEO Göran Marby led a discussion on how the ICANN Multistakeholder Model needed to evolve to take into account national and regional legal initiatives. Other topics of note focussed on ICANN's new role in the global Internet governance ecosystem, the lessons learned on Next Generation TLDs, the GDPR challenge in the next generation WHOIS, as well as the Future of root governance and ICANN, stability in cyberspace & Internet governance 2020. A session was also led by ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby, that addressed Issues, problems and solutions relating to ICANN's structure, strategy and mission.

From the line-up of participants, it was clear that whilst some civil society participants were already present around the table, an At-Large voice defending the interests of end users had been missing until this year. Olivier Crépin-Leblond took part in the discussion of each topic, taking his responses from experience with past ALAC Statements and positions. Surprisingly, most of the ALAC's positions were found to be in-line with many of the points made by other participants who expressed their surprise that the ALAC had developed such positions, although these are clearly accessible on the ALAC's Web Site. Considering the make-up of the participants around the table which included both contracted parties and non-contracted parties, it was surprising to note that the great majority of participants were not eager to rush into another round of new gTLDs. On the other hand, compliance with GDPR by reducing the amount of information made available about domain registrants in the WHOIS database was supported to an extent that brought discomfort for the At-Large and technical participants.

All in all, this meeting is an important multi-stakeholder meeting that unites European key Stakeholders around the discussion table and it was important that EURALO could have a representative in attendance. Outreach was made to the handful of people that Olivier did not already know well, such as Marina Kaljurand, Chair of the Global Commission on Stability in Cyberspace, former Estonian Foreign Minister, and Alexander Klimburg, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, who is the Director of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) Initiative. As a result of this meeting, the EURALO Chair was invited to speak at the GCSC's event at the 13th Global IGF that took place in Paris in November 2018.

The GCSC will also have its meeting in Kobe, back to back with the ICANN meeting and this opens the door for further collaboration with EURALO and with the ALAC.

Request Form

Trip to Brussels CENTR General Assembly

Date: 10 October 2018

The CENTR General Assembly took place in Brussels on 10 October 2018. EURALO was invited to attend in order to support its application to become an Observer Member of the organisation. The local RALO Outreach Plan specifically mentions enhancing of relations with the European Top Level Domain organization CENTR. Following discussions between the EURALO Chair and CENTR General Manager Peter van Roste, the first step to a MoU was decided that EURALO should apply as an Observer to CENTR. Support of this application at the CENTR AGM was needed. Other Observer members of CENTR include the European Commission, the Internet Society, RIPE NCC, OARC etc.

Christopher Wilkinson lives locally in Belgium and needed minimal support in order to spend the night in a hotel close to the CENTR offices in order to attend the AGM which started early in the morning. Christopher therefore attended the meeting on behalf of EURALO. Unfortunately the meeting's flow was delayed due to unforeseen events that were not related to EURALO's application. By the time the meeting reached its end, the Chair was unable to address EURALO's application. As a result, whilst Christopher Wilkinson's attendance was well acknowledged, CENTR was unable to ratify EURALO's application for Observer member. The EURALO Chair received an apology from CENTR General Manager a few days after the meeting, with the invitation to have the ratification of Observer membership taking place at the next CENTR meeting in Bordeaux, on 21st March 2019. However, Christopher Wilkinson's attendance at the AGM was beneficial in that it opened the road to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between CENTR and EURALO which was signed in a ceremony that took place at the 13th Global IGF that took place in Paris in November 2018.

The recommendation that came out of this process is that EURALO would need to send a representative to the CENTR Bordeaux meeting on 21st March 2019.

Our At-Large structure, ISOC Morocco will organize the National Internet Day in Morocco: on the theme: "Protection of Personal Data: current situation and perspective".

The event will take place on December 08, 2018 in Fez.

This theme represents an important issue for both Morocco and the African region.
The objective is to highlight the implications and consequences on the processes of companies, organizations and end-users in the areas of privacy, security and the protection of citizens' personal data.

Report

Funding to support event registration at $145 and round trip airfare from Toronto to Charlotte, NC $437.00

Full participation in the Digital Inclusion Conference, networking with potential ALS from US and Canadian non profits

InterAmerican University, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Report:

Fall in love with Internet - 2019

The Internet Society, Puerto Rico Chapter (ISOCPR - a NARALO ALS) in collaboration with the Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS- a NARALO ALS) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), celebrated on February 15 the event “Fall in love with Internet”.

The objective of the activity was to understand in detail the Internet and its ecosystem. Also, to explain the participants how they can have an active voice in the governance processes. We wanted to invite the audience to know the importance of accessibility when we use content on the web and how to make efficient use of the resources available online.

Mr. Norberto Cruz Cordova, ISOCPR President, was the master of Ceremonies for the event and offered an introduction on the importance of the Internet. The activity began with the official welcome from Dr. Miguel Vélez Rubio, interim Rector of the University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus, venue of the event.

The presentations began with a holistic view of the Internet ecosystem presented by Engineer Eduardo Díaz, Board Member of the Puerto Rico chapter and NARALO Chair.

On the other hand, Rodrigo de La Parra, Vice president for ICANN stakeholders for Latin America and the Caribbean explained to the audience the importance of an active role in the organization of the development and governance of the Internet.

Nancy Quiros, Chapter Development Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean of ISOC, also addressed the audience. Mrs. Quiros explained IOSC plans for 2019. And José "Manolo" Álvarez talked about web accessibility and the importance of the Internet. It is important to mention that "Manolo" is visually impaired. He, and I should add here that he did this by himself and without any external help,  prepared and presented his presentation using accessibility technologies. During his presentation he demonstrated the importance of developing web pages for people that are visually impaired.

Professor Alfredo Calderón and ISOCPR Board Member addressed the audience by briefing the takeaways of each presentation and promoting educational exchange. The executive director of HETS, Yubelkys Montalvo highlighted the different services that the organization has for the university community.

The activity was a success. Approximately 100 people participated in the event and 10% became members of our ALS that day. There was a wide presence of professors, academics, professionals of technology areas and students.

Local production and distribution of AFRALO brochures (1000 copies in English and a major Nigerian language) for the 2019 Nigeria

DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) and Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable in Lagos, Nigeria.

See: Report 

NIGERIA
Digital Sense Forum Series 2019

AFRALO Brochure Yoruba version 

Alfredo Calderon

Funding to cover the registration fees at the Net INCLUSION 2019 Conference

At NET Inclusion 2019, 369 total registrants this year.  Video recordings of all plenaries and the break-out sessions on the Livestream stage are available on the Net Inclusion 2019 page. Many of the speakers uploaded their slides to Sched  Some sessions did not use slides.  

The fourth Annual National Digital Inclusion Alliance (better known as Net Inclusion) was held April 1 - 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina with an attendance of individuals from 32 states in the USA, and representation from Canada, Washington, DC and for the first time from Puerto Rico and Belgium. A detailed agenda is available at - https://www.digitalinclusion.org/netinclusion2019/ [digitalinclusion.org]

The NDIA is an alliance among leaders of local government, community organizations, public libraries, housing authorities and other institutions committed to reducing digital disparities among its community members.  To improve the daily lives of all community members, the organization calls for widespread and actionable digital inclusion public policies that reflect what experience has taught.

The intention of distributing pamphlets of NARALO among individuals that when approached seem interested in the mission and activities were accomplished. However, it is recommended to have active participation in this type of event to continue engaging more end-users and policymakers in ICANN's' mission.

I had the opportunity to engage with technical and professional organizations with a complete ignorance of ICANN and the work done  Some, showed great interest in getting involved as 'individual members' These will need some follow-up which is now ongoing through social media and direct email messages  Some representatives of non-profit organizations will seek engaging, as expected, with a special focus in NCUC or NPOC constituencies. 

Special outreach was done to native Americans (tribal organizations) in Arizona, Texas, and Kentucky and to organizations that were aligned to the ICANN mission. Including Library systems in under-served regions with a special interest in understanding the multistakeholder model, as an approach to better engage more partners in their decision-making process. However, it was made clear that for their type of organization, timely manner decisions are very important, and the multistakeholder model might not fit all.

As part of the Conference, I participated in a Pre-Conference full-day of events. A detailed agenda followed is available at - https://netinclusion2019.sched.com/alfredocalderon/print.

In the morning I attended the pre-conference workshop on ' Federal Policy's Impact on Local Digital Inclusion: Current and Potential Agency Policies and Legislation'. This 3-hour workshop covered topics related to dealing with Broadband and the Digital Divide in the context of 1) increasing access, 2) local, state and national government awareness of the lack of broadband in specific communities, 3) how to better train individuals in the importance and usage of broadband, 4) how to become the 'voice' of the under-served and under-represented communities (indigenous and/or native Americans), 4) opportunities through coalitions to increase adoption, among others. I had active participation in this workshop using Puerto Rico's recovery process after the hurricane's Irma and Maria, and the resilient plan to increase engagement and adoption of a secure and renovated Broadband infrastructure.

During this pre-conference workshop, I had the opportunity to get a grasp of what different states in the USA are doing to deal with 'Net Neutrality' This is not within the mission of ICANN but impacts the future adoption of broadband if appropriate actions in the USA are not taken. Most of the participants in this workshop were not aware of what ICANN is and how they could get involved in Policy through there organizations or as individuals Thus, I could sense the need to do more outreach and engagement through ALs to increase awareness of the work NARALO and ICANN does.

In the afternoon of the pre-Conference activities, I had the opportunity to visit a Public Housing complex, where the community has designed and implemented: 1) a Connect Home program where after a six-week, (2 hours per week) literacy training an individual is given a laptop and a hotspot with a limited data plan to access Broadband Internet, 2) a Digital Inclusion Institute at a High School where digital literacy classes for six weeks, and upon graduation parents earn a laptop refurbished by scholars, and an unlimited  untethered hotspot, and 3) a program that trains and employs up to 12 high school students as computer technicians to refurbish and re-image decommissioned corporate laptops through the E2D (Eliminate the Digital Divide) Technology Academy (for Workforce Development and Digital Literacy Education) giving the school population with direct exposure to all sectors of the IT Industry through extensive digital literacy education.
My main observation after the day is the lack of information on the organizations that deal with policy development from the end-user perspective Most individuals that I exchange information with see only the Governmental Branch as policymakers.

The Conference started on April 2 with close to 300 participants from the 350 affiliates in 41 states and the US Virgin Islands, and as previously mentioned participants from Belgium and Puerto Rico. The morning started off with a representative of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology providing a status of how North Carolina is dealing with Digital Inclusion. The 'Digital Inclusion for People with disabilities' session provided an up-to-date on the assistance to the differently abled that need to acquire knowledge of accessibility hardware and software in addition to training strategies  The main focus theme was: What resources are available to support increasing digital access and skills of the differently abled? This session brought to mind the efforts that ICANN and NARALO should engage in to meet the needs of end-users with certain limitations when Policy Advice is provided.

'How Broadband Adoption Affects Community Prosperity and Opportunity' was pertinent to the work ongoing in a group of volunteers ongoing in Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico Broadband Task Force (PRBT). This group seeks to increase broadband adoption with affordable access to all.  In conjunction with the Internet Society Puerto Rico Chapter (an ALS affiliated to NARALO) we seek partnerships to increase awareness of the strong links of Broadband adoption to economic outcomes for community residents as well as businesses. Emphasis was given on the fact that 'disparities in broadband adoption widen the inequalities that have become apparent across regions and communities in the U.S. and all over the World. It is clear that digital inclusion is a necessary part of policy solutions for narrowing place - based gaps in economic opportunities. The role of NARALO is obvious when engaging end-users in better understanding the scope of policy advice when the Supporting Organizations work identify issues that need attention.
A session on 'New Tools and Materials for Digital Literacy Training and Assessment' followed by a session on 'Infrastructure Projects that Include Affordability, Digital Literacy, and Public Access' raised in my mind How is ICANN and NARALO increasing its' educational resources to reach those end-users that do not understand their rights and important 'voice in policy advice' within the Internet ecosystem and its' multistakeholder model It is obvious that some sectors are not represented.  In the case of the USA and Canada the 'Indigenous and Native Americans' and the low-income population as well as 'under-served communities' around the World.

On April 3, the 'Advocating for Smart Cities that Benefit Everyone' focused on the efforts to address the barriers disadvantaged community members have to participate in smart city projects
This day was focused on updates to various advocacy on a policy that the NDIA is promoting, especially the 'Digital Equity Act' that would promote and encourage states to create digital equity plans for the competitive implementation grants.

Lighting rounds where done during both days and in 4-minute interventions (7 individuals per session) presented their initiatives.  Most were based on 1) refurbishing donated laptops, 2) digital literacy training, and 3) increasing broadband adoption through more awareness of various government-funded programs.

As part of the follow-up strategy, invitations to NARALO monthly calls will be sent.  This will give interested parties an idea of the issues discussed.  Having had a conversation with individuals I have an idea of the content that might be pertinent to them and serve as an engagement tool.
As a new affiliate individual member of NDIA I will use its communication platform to engage with its members sharing relevant resources from NARALO and ICANN
Some of the participants of the 4th NDIA conference are also volunteers in some SO/AC constituencies and we had a chance to share some ideas.

The fact that I am bilingual gave me an additional advantage since some affiliate members and organizations represent Latinos within their respective communities.


It is worth sending someone to continue engaging with this organization on an annual basis. The event will take place in Portland, Oregon, April 7 - 9, 2020.

I take this opportunity to thank NARALO for approving my proposal to participate in this Net Inclusion 2019 Conference and covering with NARALO Discretionary Funds the Registration Fee and the CROP Fund for travel and Hotel expenses.

My session on Internet Governance had a committed audience despite it being located in a conference room down a service corridor. Many people at the conference had not idea about ICANN and about Internet Governance so promotion was essential.  People are very interested in Data Security and there are multiple sessions on this topic. People in my session were engaged and asked questions about ICANN, about the Who Is Process, about GTLDs, about Internet Governance.  Passed out NARALO Mailcards to everyone and to others I met. There was no table to put out leaflets so I carried them with me where ever I went. Many people said they were interested in finding out more about At Large and NARALO and so hope we get some new ALSes or Individual Members. Also explained about At Large to businesses in other constituencies.  There were people there from Consumer Organizations and all sorts of other Non-profits.

Next year they will be in Baltimore so perhaps ICANN GSE could go up and present or do a demo.

Presentations can be found here, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jNw6j3_ZS3wslRpbANOQjGXqEOC0nYuJuEs-1TFmH_I/edit

Each session has a collaborative document where speakers post all info and any resources.

Travel to CENTR AGM

Funding to attend IGF Toronto  Feb 27, 2019 

No

(Exception made)

Funding to support catering and material for the ONLY ICANN 64 Read-Out in Spanish in the NARALO region.

ICANN 64 Read-Out 

The Internet Society Chapter of Puerto Rico (ISOCPR) in collaboration with the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico (CIAPR, in Spanish), dot PR and Chris Mondini, ICANN VP Global Engagement, held the second Read Out in Spanish after an ICANN #64 meeting . Sharing with the audience online and in the venue were, Norberto Cruz (ISOC Puerto Rico President), Eduardo Díaz (NARALO Chair), Pablo Rodriquez (ccNSO), Javier Rúa-Jovet (ALAC), and Alfredo Calderon (ALAC representative in the Fellowship Selection Committee and co-Chair of At Large Capacity Building Working Group) . The president of the Internet Society Chapter of Puerto Rico, Norberto Cruz gave a welcome message to the audience. A vivid exchange of ideas were discussed with the twenty individuals participating, online and onsite.

A video of the presentation by Chris Mondini is available at ISOCPR-Youtube [youtu.be] . Picture can be found HERE [flickr.com]. The main topics covered include:

• EPDP and GDPR
• Subsequent Procedures and Rights Protection (gTLDs)
• Auction Proceeds
• Strategic Planning
• Fellowship, NextGen and Newcomers Programs

The audience represented different sectors of our community (academia, NGO, and civil society) interested in learning more about ICANN and the issues discussed during ICANN64 in Kobe, Japan. During the Q&A segment, interest on how to better get involved in ICANN was the main theme. The way ICANN uses the 'multistakeholder model' to reach consensus and develop policy raised interest and various examples were mentioned to illustrate the Policy Development Process (PDP).

Funding for a pre-ICANN 65 outreach session at the Ottawa, Canada

Readout ICANN65 (pre) - agenda.pdf

Readout ICANN65 (pre) - report[1] - Moll.pdf

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