Arinola, Peter to lead selection committee @GNSO - ITREALMS

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The duo of Nigerians, Ms Arinola Akinyemi and Mr Peter Taiwo Akinremi has been selected to lead the Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) Standing Selection Committee (SSC) for the 2021-2022, reports ITREALMS.

Their emergence follows the December 16th GNSO Council meeting, in which the Council voted, as part of the Consent Agenda, to confirm the leadership team of the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC) for the 2021-2022 cycle.

Westlake Governance to conduct GNSO independent review

ITRealms:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Monday named Westlake Governance Limited to conduct an independent review of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), reports ITRealms.

This review, ITRealms gathered is part of ICANN's commitment to continuous improvement, accountability and transparency.

ITRealms notes that GNSO serves an important function as an organisation within the ICANN community responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs).

ITRealms recalled that the purpose of the review is to evaluate organizational effectiveness of the GNSO, acknowledge areas that are working well, identify areas that need improvement and propose needed changes. This review, like reviews of other structures within ICANN, is mandated by ICANN's Bylaws.

The GNSO Review, ICANN officials confirm would address the new, improved approach to conducting reviews. Stressing that the GNSO will be a protagonist in this inclusive process: in keeping with ICANN's bottom-up, multistakeholder approach, this review process will incorporate a "self-review" by the GNSO community and its direct involvement.

“An online survey will collect feedback from other ICANN structures and community members, the Board and staff. Westlake will collect both quantitative and qualitative data through various work methods to develop a sufficient basis for formulating findings and recommendations. The review will begin immediately and is expected to conclude in January 2015,” ICANN official told ITRealms.

The selection of an independent examiner was done in accordance with the process defined in SIC Systematization of Organizational Reviews Processes and involves organizational review staff and the Structural Improvements Committee of the Board.

“Seven proposals were carefully evaluated and the evaluation results and scores were presented for consideration and action by the ICANN Board Structural Improvements Committee. The selection criteria included: Knowledge and Expertise (including knowledge of ICANN), Qualifications of the Professional Team Assigned (including ability to act independently, without conflict of interest); Proposed Methodology; Ability to Deliver High Quality, Useful Report and Recommendations; and Costs.

Westlake Governance is a globally-focused, New Zealand-based consulting firm, serving clients from a wide cross-section of not-for-profit, commercial and government-owned sectors. The firm has performed reviews of ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC).

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Wednesday webinar on GNSO review process

ITRealms:

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) has concluded plans for a day web seminar (webinar) on Wednesday, 7 May 2014 to provide the GNSO community with information about the GNSO review process, collect feedback from the community and answer questions concerning this process, reports ITRealms

Also, ITRealms gathered that the webinar would be recorded and available for those who may not be able to join the session live.

The objective of the review as gathered by ITRealms is to examine organizational effectiveness of the GNSO, including its structure components, namely the GNSO Council, GNSO Working Groups, GNSO Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies.

Equally, the review would be tightly scoped based on objective and quantifiable criteria provided to the independent examiner.

The working methods are expected to include the examination of documentation, records and reports; outcomes from the 360 Assessment; and limited interviews.

The 360 Assessment is an online mechanism to collect and summarize feedback from members of the GNSO community — a "self-review" relative to objective and quantifiable criteria. Interested members of other ICANN organizations, Board and staff also may offer feedback. Relevant assessments of the Second Accountability and Transparency Review Team 1 regarding the GNSO policy development process will be factored into the review.

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Open House: GNSO secretariat takes on newcomers

ITRealms:

The Secretariat of the Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) at ICANN has scheduled to host its monthly open house session beginning from April 10, 2014 in addition to other eight sessions, reports ITRealms.

These monthly sessions, ITRealms gathered are for new GNSO working group (WG) participants to come together and discuss any questions they may have about GNSO Working Groups, procedures and/or processes.

The secretariat believes there is a lot of information to digest when one joins a GNSO Working Group and these monthly meetings are an opportunity for newcomers and more experienced participants to meet in an informal setting without the pressure of “real work” that needs be done.

According to the GNSO secretariat, the agenda is flexible, adding that Mikey O’Connor will be on hand with a standard set of materials if people would like to discuss them, which could be downloaded here.

They advised those who may like to review these document in advance of the meeting to reach out to the secretariat, insisting that should not feel constrained to the agenda.

“Feel free to submit questions, either in advance or at the beginning of the meeting, if there is a topic that you would like to explore in more depth. Providing useful answers to a wide range of questions is part of the reason why these meetings are being organized,” official said.

However, to allow for maximum participation in these calls, the proposed schedule is as follows: Thursday 10 April at 12.00 UTC; Thursday 1 May at 20.00 UTC; Thursday 5 June at 12.00 UTC; Thursday 3 July at 20.00 UTC; Thursday 7 August at 12.00 UTC ; Thursday 4 September at 20.00 UTC; Thursday 2 October at 12.00 UTC; Thursday 6 November at 20.00 UTC; Thursday 4 December at 12.00 UTC.

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NIRA congratulates Mrs. Uduma on retirement

Mrs. Mary Uduma with husband and NiRA board members

TheNigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) has congratulated its President, Mrs. Mary Nma Uduma for a successful retirement from the public service.

Worthy of note is that Mrs. Uduma who clocked 60 years of age last month, retired from the civil service as the Director, Customer Bureau Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

In a congratulatory message, the Vice President, Mr. Sunday Folayan rejoiced with Mrs. Uduma on behalf of the board and the entire members of NiRA, on her retirement and 60th birthday.

As said by him, Mrs. Uduma’s retirement was unblemished from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes," he said. Folayan noted that her active participation while in NCC were evident, especially in the Internet Governance space.

Specifically, he mentioned her key roles at the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), Generic Names Supporting Organisation (GNSO), Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO); all of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and most recently, her roles in DotAFRICA.

All these, he said, are worthy of commendation, even as the Vice President enjoined her to see her retirement from civil service as not being tired. "I wish you very many more years of active service to your Fatherland. Please don't be tired," he urged.

At a thanksgiving service and reception that held in Abuja, He appreciated the husband, Prince Uduma, for giving relevant support to his wife while at NCC and solicited continuous support even now that she would be much more active in the private sector.

The thanksgiving was attended by the NIRA Vice President, leading a delegation of the Executive Board and Management made up of the Treasurer, Mr. Bimbo Olayinka, Chairman, Publicity and Communication, Mr. Remmy Nweke, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Opeoluwa Odusan as well as Ms Ugo Akiri and Uchechi Odo, both of the NiRA secretariat.

 

Remmy Nweke

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