thanks for this extensive update and your leadership on this topic.

the key distinction i’ve been trying to make, in many fora, is the two really different kinds of work that happen within the GNSO. they are:

- SG/Constituency — stakeholder-focused homes for participants in the GNSO. these organizations are the focal point for outreach, the “staircase of engagement.” this is where new people are welcomed, acquire the skills and knowledge they need to effectively participate in and lead working groups and in turn help others join the process. these are “functions” - they last forever and continuously improve their work.

- Working Groups and the PDP — policy/issue focused “projects” that have a beginning, middle and end. in my view these working groups are the “customers” of the SG/Constituencies and they look to the SG/Constituencies for effective participants in the PDPs we supervise.

the point i’ve been trying to make to the MSI folks, and others, is that the needs of those two parts of the GNSO mission are *really different* and introducing changes without a clear understanding of that difference can lead to a tremendous tangle. i am quite relaxed, in fact enthusiastic, about some of the recommendations when i stand with my Constituency-member hat on. i think a lot of the things described in the report would be tremendously helpful to us in the ISPCP. i’m much more cautious about some of these ideas in the PDP context — the notion of “crowdsourced” PDPs makes my blood run cold.

clearly these are only my ideas and they undoubtedly need refinement — but i think if we can continue to inform this effort with ideas like those, we stand a chance of getting a lot of good ideas from it. i think that we the Council, as the stewards of the PDP, need to keep a close eye on improving the pool of *qualified* participants in working groups, and not accidentally causing more harm than good.

my two cents. thanks again Jonathan, a really helpful post.

On Mar 5, 2014, at 5:11 AM, Jonathan Robinson <jrobinson@afilias.info> wrote:

All,

In discussion with Beth Novek and colleagues from the Governance Lab last week, a suggestion emerged that we could potentially narrow down the list of MSI Panel proposals for more detailed discussion.

It is not yet 100% clear to me as to whether or not we will be able to meet with one or more of the team from the Gov Lab in Singapore but it seems likely and, in any event, it’s useful to consider how we might respond to the output of the panel, in particular where it seems to link most closely with our own work. We discussed condensing their work into a most relevant sub-set for further discussion

From their perspective and having made themselves aware of the work of the GNSO, the suggested sub-set (from them) for further condensation is as follows:
1.       Move from "Stakeholder" engagement to Global Engagement: http://bit.ly/1k7FDNj
2.       Use expert networking: http://bit.ly/1lof1c5
3.       Get Broad-based input/crowdsource at each stage of decision-making: http://bit.ly/1czpNXn
4.       Use Open Data and open contracting: http://bit.ly/1jcv3Rt
5.       Experiment with Innovative Voting Techniques: http://bit.ly/1nwta2H
6.       Impose Rotating Term Limits: http://bit.ly/1nUmkEr
I also talked with the Gov Lab people about considering the above proposals through a (non-exhaustive) list of criteria as follows:

A.      Is the proposal relevant to us?
B.      Is it currently applicable to our work?
C.      How could the proposal be modified/amended/advanced to be applicable or more applicable to our work?
D.      How might we pilot/test these proposals in order to determine whether and how the proposal could be a useful amendment or reform for ICANN?

None of this pre-supposes that this work was commissioned, initiated or executed in a way which we consider optimal.
It simply takes a “we are where we are” view of the work and recognises that we have the opportunity to potentially engage with the team that undertook the work.

In addition, we will still have the opportunity to provide formal public comment on this and engage through any other applicable forums at the ICANN meeting in Singapore.

Thoughts or input welcome.

Jonathan

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