Re: [council] DNSO Elected Board Members

[Richard Lindsay <richard@interq.ad.jp>]

Dennis, colleagues,

Just a couple comments on this to wrap up my Monday
evening...  While I welcome any discussions about what kind
of people we want on the board, realistically there is still much
to do, and not much time.  I am not convinced that discussing
this on a telephone conference call would be effective.  I think
email might be more appropriate as it would give us time to
think about this very important issue and share our thoughts.
Especially for non-native English speakers, email is a better
avenue I think.

Another preface, I would hope that all of us already have some
pretty firm ideas of the kind of person they want serving as
DNSO ICANN board members.  If someone still believes they want a
constituency born and focussed board member, I doubt we
could change their minds now anyway :-)   So here are some
thoughts:

I certainly agree we don't want our DNSO ICANN Board members
carrying a single constituency agenda, however I certainly don't
mind if they are a members of a constituency.  I do believe that
they should be from the DNSO however, and the DNSO should feel
comfortable with their Board members.

I believe our Board members should have integrity more than
anything, although of course experience in policy issues, and
an ability to defend one's ideas are also necessary.  I would
prefer our board members to be mature and confident, while
not being overbearing or egotistical.

However senior the Board members we chose, I think they
should have a healthy relationship with the Internet.  That is,
they should be heavy users, be accustomed to getting 500 to
1000 emails a day and not be bothered.  They should be able to
adapt to new technologies and new ways of doing business such
that they can participate electronically, and feel at ease.

I also feel our board members should speak more than
one language, be able to write their own html pages, and
understand how DNS works...  but there won't be a test
so I can live without these requirements :-)

I think for the at large ICANN Board members, we can have
senior policy members who may not be as close to the
Internet but have experience in leadership and international
policy making groups.  However, primarily, I believe we should
fulfill our role as the Domain Name Supporting Organization,
so our Board members should be very comfortable hanging out
in the General Assembly during the coffee breaks...

> I feel that we need ICANN Board members who do not come from a single
> constituency or carry a constituency agenda.  I think we need senior people
> with a proven record of dealing with high level policy issues who will be
> able to debate the issues (advised by the DNSO through briefing papers and
> discussions), and make objective decisions.

Actually the DNSO should be advising all  ICANN board members,
at least that is what we are supposed to be doing.

> That's why I have nominated Carl Bildt for election.

I have heard some very good things about Carl Bildt in the
past couple days, although I do not know of him personally.
I would like to know if he has any experience related to
Domain Name issues specifically, also I don't believe he
has accepted the nomination yet.

> I would like to have a discussion about this on the NC - to help us inform
> ourselves about who we should elect.

I would be very interested in hearing everyone's opinions as well.
I agree with Dennis that we should start discussing this, I think
email is a suitable way to do so.  Any thoughts?

Regards,
Richard
--
_/_/_/interQ Incorporated
_/_/_/System Division
_/_/_/Director and General Manager
_/_/_/Richard A. S. Lindsay