[kictanet] Nothing like free dinner

Wed Mar 10 12:29:12 EAT 2010

Wamuyu,

I want to believe you and Tim are both right  about Kenyan involvement in the ICANN process.  You could be right in that very few KENYAN voices are being heard and this could be because for most Kenyans this is their 1st ICANN Meeting - and one must learn their environment before engaging their mouths.

However, Tim is also right in that the ICANN meeting has many parallel programs (away from the main hall) that are technical and very engaging. I have found many Kenyans enjoying their time in these other forums that are equally important but less visible (glamorous?)

That said, it may be good that next time(maybe it was done), the core Kenyan team (KENIC, CCK, Gov?) would elicit Kenyan positions on various issues and strategically plant some Kenyans in the "crowd" to present those views when the ICANN board/councils open the floor for discussions. Methinks that that is what other countries, business communities and other stakeholders do.

Like today I was shocked to hear a verbal submission from the guys who want to run something called the dot.gay domain...Needless to say I couldnt contribute because I was simply undergoing some cultural-shock just by staring at THIS guy and not hearing what he was saying (but that's a story for another day ;-) Yeah, looks like the internet is not just about wires and cables...

walu.

--- On Wed, 3/10/10, Wamuyu Gatheru <wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

From: Wamuyu Gatheru <wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Nothing like free dinner
To: jwalu at yahoo.com
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 12:41 PM

Tim, please substantiate. Yesterday I was at the county code NSO meeting, than later at the commercial actors meeting and finally at the GAC/ICANN board meetings. No Kenyan spoke at the first two meetings (if they were present). Alice and Michael (CCK) made an important intervention on the distraction and unfairness to Kenya of the security hollabalu - but no one else was around to support them in defending Kenya. Note also that this was the meeting where the ICANN board was trying once more to conclude the EOI issue on generic TLDs - businesses from developed countries can barely wait for this decision to be made.

Actually, I think the weak Kenyan engagement is genuine and not one that we should necessarily be defensive about. Am new to ICANN and if I had not made the decision to attend the meeting a little while ago, I would never have understood its agenda and whats at stake. Those who have been involved in ICANN longer may have points to contribute on increasing Kenya's involvement.

regards, Wamuyu

From: McTim <dogwallah at gmail.com>
To: Wamuyu Gatheru <wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Tue, 9 March, 2010 23:30:56
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Nothing like free dinner

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 11:08 PM, Wamuyu Gatheru <wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> nothing to do with Kenya. There must be good reasons why European, American,
> Asian and Australian businesspeople and their governments have hyper
> involvement while their Kenyan hosts are minding their shugulis...?

Are we attending different
 meetings?

I've been in a dozen meetings, and their have always been Kenyans in
each one, many of them actively participating.

-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A
route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel

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