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CHAIR REPORT TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF

THE PACIFIC ISLANDS CHAPTER OF THE INTERNET SOCIETY (PICISOC)

9 September 2013

 

Kia orana

On behalf of the Board of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society, I would like to provide the following report on our activities during the year.

The report consists of the following sections:

  • Board members
  • Membership – with country breakdown
  • Regional /International Events the Board has attended
  • General Report
  • Proposed Activities for 2013-2014

1.       Board members

The Board for the 2012-2013 year and their assigned responsibilities were:

  • *Maureen Hilyard, Board Chair, ISOC ,ICANN and Regional Relationships
  • Ellen Strickland: Deputy Board Chair, Director of ByLaws
  • Emani Fakaotimanava-Lui: Board Secretary, Director of Business Plan and PICISOC Website Developments
  • Louise Nasak: Board Treasurer
  • *David Leeming: Board member, Director of Membership
  • Etuate Cocker: Board member, Director of PacINET and Research activities
  • *Andrew Molivurae: Board member, Director of SIGs

I would like to thank all the Board for sharing the load of responsibilities in what has been a very busy year. I would like to thank my colleagues, David and Andrew who did not stand in this last election, for their contribution to the Board during their multiple terms and hope that they will continue to support PICISOC in the future. At the time of writing this report, the successful candidates for the 2013 election had not been announced.

2.       Membership

David as our Membership Director has managed our membership roll and provided the Board with information and advice. The Pacific Islands is renown for their transient populations and PICISOC membership has been indicative of this with a cull of unknown addresses leading to a major drop in our membership from last year. However, we continue to attract new members and I am very appreciative of those who register from outside of the region and the support that they give to our email list.  I am often amazed at the wealth of expertise we have within our membership and I know many of our members are grateful for the information that is offered from others on the list – whether it is related to technical, policy or even just general news about IT and internet related matters.  This is what PICISOC is all about.  It is the sharing of knowledge with each other to build capacity across the region.

COUNTRY BREAK DOWN – 2012 figures compared with 2013  2012/2013  754/661
18/08/2013  2012/13
OCEANIA

633/443
American Samoa

12/12

 Micronesia

9/3

 PNG

72/65
*Australia

40/42

 *New Zealand

40/40

 Samoa

28/27
Christmas Is

1/1

 Niue

10/9

 Solomon Is

43/31
Cook Islands

15/14

 Northern Mariana Islands

2/1

 Tokelau

1/1
Fiji

220/191

 Palau

2/2

 Tonga

10/10
French Polynesia

3/3

 Nauru

8/8

 Tuvalu

15/9
Kiribati

33/19

 New Caledonia

22/15

 Vanuatu

42/33
Marshall Is

4/4
AFRICA

12/5

 NTH AMERICAN 46/40 ASIA 35/39
CARIBBEAN & STH AMERICA

4/5

 EUROPE 24/29  TOTAL: NON-PACIFIC 118

 

3.    Regional / International Events the Board has attended since AGM Nov 2012.

Event Where When Who
ICANN Beijing March 2013 Emani Fakaotimanawa-Lui, Maureen Hilyard (Pua Hunter)
Durban July 2013 Etuate Cocker, Ellen Strickland
IGF Regional APrIGF Seoul, Korea September 2013 Maureen H (Anonga Tisam, Gunela Astbrink, Dan McGarry)
NetHui, NZ July 2013 Ellen S, Emani F
Regional Training PacNOG August 2013 Etuate C
ISIF Awards Workshop July 2013 Emani F, Etuate C, (Anonga T)

 

4.       GENERAL REPORT 

In 2012, our objectives were:

  1. Locating a venue for PacINET 2013
  2. Relationship building with regional organisations within the Pacific region
  3. Continuing our engagement with international organisations (ICANN and ISOC)
  4. Focus on youth and women in ICT, research and special interest groups
  5. A review of our by-laws

 

Our achievements included:

4a. PacINET 

2013 – Tonga –  lead coordinators – Etuate Cocker, Ellen Strickland, Emani Fakaotimanava – Many thanks to the Tongan Coordinating Committee – the Ministry of Communication and Information.

2014 – A bid will be proposed by the Cook Islands Government (formerly held PacINET in 2008), other bids welcome.

Requirement for Board review of the expectations of PacINET by host county and use of event funding from ISOC (and ICANN)

4b. Relationship Building

Regionally, the PICISOC Board has made use of what few opportunities are provided to expand on our relationships with our members and with other organisations in the region.

  • The email list – during this term I have randomly selected and welcomed new members and invited them to participate on the email list. Many of them have taken advantage of this opening, and have been warmly welcomed into the fold by other more active list participants.
  • CROP – PICISOC was invited by USP to participate in CROP meetings to bring a perspective to regional discussions and ICT issues.
  • PICISOC website –  There was a major overhaul of the website thanks to Etuate and Emani. The addition of the ICANN section had provided more training support for members with regards to what ICANN does.
  • Pacific Plan Review –  Members contributed to a Board submission to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat seeking a regional IT organisation that consisted of Pacific IT-related organisations who could coordinate and support IT development within the Pacific.
  • Westpac Bank –  With no Board members in Fiji during this last term, accessing funds to coordinate the needs of PacINET and other events  created a frustrating situation for Board access.  The Board resolved to appoint two ad hoc Board members – Ian Thomson and Anju Mangal – to act on the Board’s behalf with regards to bank signatories.  There are still further issues which the Board must resolve to make it easier to access funds to run our PacINETs in different countries across the Pacific.
  • Pacific Internet Partners – The Board and members of PICISOC would be unable to attend national and regional events without the support of InternetNZ and PIP.  PICISOC is very grateful for the support of the donors who contribute to this fund to enable our members to participate in valuable workshops and conferences, particularly for PacINET – where other key sponsors have been ISOC and ICANN.

4c. Continuing engagement with regional organisations (ICANN and ISOC)

  • Maureen stood unsuccessfully for the Board of ISOC, but during the process was able to highlight major issues in the Pacific with regards to ISOC’s relationship with its dispersed membership and with regards to involvement at government level.  Along with Gunela Astbrink and Anonga Tisam, Maureen received an ISOC scholarship to attend the Asia Pacific Regional IGF in Seoul, Korea.  The IGF was also attended by Dan McGarry who was sponsored by PIPP, Vanuatu.
  • Maureen achieved the APRALO representative position on the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) of ICANN. Also during the Beijing ICANN meeting, she was the coordinator of the APRALO Showcase and coordinating the APRALO ALS capacity building programme in conjunction with Janice Lange and her Newcomers and Fellowship programme.  Emani, Ellen and Etuate were able to take advantage of sponsored attendance of ICANN meetings in Beijing and Durban. Emani was funded as an APRALO ALS to the Beijing meeting which was hosted byAPRALO. Etuate won an ICANN Fellowship to attend the Durban meeting.  Emani will attend the Buenos Aires meeting as a Fellow, and Maureen will take up her place on the ALAC at the same meeting.
  • Emani developed a one-stop-shop information section about ICANN, its various sections and what they do.  He also made sure that information on Pacific ALSes was up to date on the ICANN website
  • Ellen and David worked with Matt Ashtiani (ICANN staff) to act as election officer on behalf of PICISOC, to coordinate the voting for this year’s component of Board members. As a new system, there were a few issues to be ironed out but the elections were successful in that it is apparently that more members voted than in previous years (10% as opposed to 5% in the past)

4d. Focus on youth and women in ICT, research and special interest groups

  • The Board has been involved in developing relationships with research partners who will provide PICISOC with valuable information regarding a technological development in the Pacific. The Board contact is Etuate Cocker.

5. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR 2013-2014

  • Reorganise access to the PICISOC Bank account in Fiji
  • Reinforce regional partnerships – MOUs with regional organisations to strengthen ties and mutual relationships
  • Monitor research activities of ISIF applicants – assist wherever possible
  • Continue engagement with:
  • PICISOC member list, ISOC Chapter list, Asia Pacific Regional Bureau, regional and global INETs and IGF
  • ICANN – through APRALO, ALAC and GAC
  • Youth and Women in ICT
  • Special Interest Groups
  • Research and Development
  • Review of Board policies – PacINET , By-laws.