Hi Joly

> On Feb 29, 2016, at 21:12, Joly MacFie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> 
> On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 2:07 PM, Ayden Férdeline <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> I can't argue with the fact that ICANN's scope at the moment is narrower and is supposed to limit it to the technical matter of naming and numbering, but
> 
> ​This was Fadi's whole rationale for NMI - and ICANN's support of it - that there should be a multistakeholder forum for non​-ICANN issues, to prevent mission creep. Or at least that's my understanding. Why NMI and not IGF, well..

Actually no, NMI was never intended to serve as a multistakeholder forum for dialogue, but rather as a working space for sharing info and facilitating relationships, with particular attention to supporting developing countries.  Dogmatic counterfactuals aside, none of the NMI’s main activities in the inaugural phase that ends 30 June or expected activities for phase 1 from July are currently happening in the IGF. Anyone can look at the two websites and see what’s being done.

Having been involved in drafting both the IGF’s mandate and the NMI’s terms of reference, I’d have been delighted if the IGF had developed the institutional capacity to really fulfill its mandate and do more than hold meetings.  If this had happened, the sort of activities imagined for the NMI could have been done there. Alas, the IGF has not been allowed to do develop in this way.  There’s now some useful intercessional work by some dynamic coalitions as well as the recent production of a best practices handbook, and it’d be good to see if these can be built upon.  But in the meanwhile, it also was worth seeing what could be done to scale up new and complementary work the wasn’t under DESA’s thumb.  

If the some of the concepts are proven and the circumstances allow I’d be delighted if they could be incorporated into the IGF.   Indeed, I proposed making NMI a Dynamic Coalition where stuff could be incubated and maybe later taken on board by whomever is actually supposed to be in charge of such decisions at IGF (the MAG?  Chengetai? DESA?).  But it seems there’s a majority desire in NMI to keep it a free-standing thing that collaborates with IGF rather than being incorporated into the IGF.  We’ll see if CGI.br <http://cgi.br/> + new partners can make it work from July when ICANN and WEF step back.

Cheers

Bill