Summary Record of 48th meeting of the Executive Committee – 11 May 2021

May 26, 2021 | Meeting Summary Records, Reports and Meeting Minutes

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

48th meeting of the Executive Committee

11 May 2021

Summary Record

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 48th meeting on 11 May 2021. The meeting took place in a virtual setting with the following participants: Markus Kummer (Chair), Wisdom Donkor, Joyce Chen, Chris Mondini, Nigel Hickson, Brian Cute, Jimson Olufuye; IGFSA Secretariat: Jennifer Chung. A quorum was established for the meeting, with seven of the eight Executive Committee members taking part in the call.

 

  1. The agenda for the meeting and the minutes of the 47th meeting were adopted with no objections.

 

IGF updates

  1. Joyce Chen gave an update on the IGF 2021 preparations. She noted that the call for workshop proposals is open until 26 May https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2021-call-for-session-proposals, and sessions will be held in a hybrid format (online/onsite).  There are two main focus areas: one being issues driven, the second being outcomes based.  There will also be four cross-cutting emerging issues which will be discussions based (similar to previous IGF sessions).

 

  1. There was some discussion and clarification on what “outcomes” means in this context. It was noted that the MAG has not defined this; some consider this to mean recommendations that are community-driven or best practices. It was further noted that the MAG will discuss this further during the workshop evaluation stage.

 

  1. Additional general IGF updates were shared. The MAG working group for strategy and strengthening is active and planning a survey. The BPFs and Policy Network have started work as well. The UN tech envoy’s office has published a new website: un.org/techenvoy, and there is a new Coalition for Digital Environment (CODES), under UNDP, UNEP.

Tribute to Makane

  1. Jimson Olufuye gave an update regarding the tribute to Makane Faye organized by UNECA, and the ITU community in Africa. It was attended by more than 200 attendees.  Jimson shared the tribute speech he delivered.  He mentioned that there will be a website (UNECA), an award for youth (African IGF) and a building to be named in Makane’s honour.

 

  1. The Chair noted that the traditional mourning period has been observed. The Executive Committee came to consensus regarding filling Makane Faye’s seat on the Executive Committee and have decided to keep the seat open until the next IGFSA General Assembly.

Fundraising

  1. The Chair noted that the ICANN funding is currently still in progress and the NRO will take a decision on IGFSA support during their next meeting (May 25).

 

  1. Brian Cute gave an update regarding outreach with Registrars. He reported that he has spoken with the PIR DNS Abuse Institute and there is broad interest in DNS Abuse issues. Engaging with the industry players (Registries and Registrars) is a good approach. He further noted that only a small number of registrars engage with ICANN and there is interest in seeing outcomes. The value for the registries and registrars to engage with IGF community is on the ‘how’: “What does education in the processes look like?”.  The Chair added that the Dynamic Coalition on DNS issues and be a starting point to take up the DNS Abuse item.

 

  1. Regarding further outreach, Brian noted that there is a call scheduled to discuss strategy on how to engage with the BC, and will coordinate with Jimson Olufuye.

 

  1. The Secretariat clarified some IGFSA funding procedures. Once requests are open again, IGFSA will be assessing requests individually (budget based), also in coordination with IGF Secretariat to ensure funding is spread across NRIs.

 

  1. AOB
    The Secretariat gave a short update on newsletter – there is a video interview segment planned for the donor spotlight (ICANN) for the first issue, and the EC spotlight will be dedicated to the tribute to Makane Faye.

 

  1. Wisdom Donkor gave a brief update on call with GODAN. The Secretariat shared a brief framework on how IGFSA may collaborate with GODAN:

 

  1. Webinar for IG introduction/topic of interest for the GODAN network (can be ongoing)
  2. GODAN to join as an organization member/organizational donor of IGFSA and also for their organizational network to consider joining
  3. Areas for GODAN to showcase their work to a wider/different audience at the IGF
  4. GODAN to be featured in our spotlights/communications to membership
  1. Next call: Tuesday 25 May, 13:00 UTC