[Advisors] CIRA elections and msg to Kevin

[Thompson, Darlene]

I like it - well worded, Marita!

D

Darlene A. Thompson
CAP Administrator
N-CAP/Department of Education
P.O. Box 1000, Station 910
Iqaluit, NU  X0A 0H0
Phone:  (867) 975-5631
Fax:  (867) 975-5610
dthompson@gov.nu.ca
________________________________________
From: advisors-admin@tc.ca [advisors-admin@tc.ca] on behalf of Marita Moll =
[mmoll@ca.inter.net]
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 11:11 AM
To: TC Advisors
Subject: [Advisors] CIRA elections and msg to Kevin

Hello all.  The member candidates list for the CIRA elections has now been =
posted ( https://elections.cira.ca/2012/membernominees/list/en ) -- and, oh=
 boy, it's full of much higher profile people than last year -- not the lea=
st of which -- Michael Geist! -- whose proposals, of course, are excellent.=
 If I was a betting person, I'd say Geist (who has already been a 2 term di=
rector) will win handily without our support.

I think it is still in our benefit to support Kevin who will still have a l=
ot of supporters following him from the last round.  I think of it as prepa=
ring the ground for the next round.  I have prepared the following from the=
 suggestions provided on the list re: this topic.  Please let me know if th=
is reflects, in a bare bones fashion (cause there is no point in getting to=
o detailed) the essence of that discussion.


Message to Kevin re: platform suggestions for CIRA elections


Participants in the Canadian Internet Forum expressed that need to explore =
and articulate the public interest in the future development and use of the=
 Internet in Canada. In order to do this, CIRA must move beyond its traditi=
onal role of supporting the technical and commercial well-being of the Inte=
rnet in Canada. It will require a reconsideration of its institutional desi=
gn and processes. This should begin with a full and open examination of how=
 such a public resource is managed in other jurisdictions.


Since it currently manages a substantial public resource, CIRA should use m=
ore of these resources to pro-actively support communities attempting to op=
timize the economic and social utility of networks. For example, CIRA could=
 champion community owned broadband initiatives as a way to engage with com=
munities who are actively seeking to control their communications resources=
. There are a number of communities that have already taken on this role an=
d others that are seeking to do so. CIRA should provide a forum for discuss=
ion of such activities and assistance in helping them implement their goals=
.

CIRA should also earmark more of the surplus from domain name registration =
fees, etc. to support community based digital literacy programs. Given that=
 many community access sites have been abandoned by the recent cancellation=
 of the federal Community Access Program and are struggling to survive, CIR=
A could investigate ways to reestablish support for this inexpensive but hu=
gely effective community program

(1) http://cira.ca/assets/Documents/Publications/wp-InternetCIF-CanadaFutur=
e.pdf


Marita