The AfriNIC Inertia -- Simply Embarrassing

[Clement Dzidonu <dzidonu at ghana.com>]

Hello All!

1. The new Board of Trustees (BOT) of AfriNIC  was reconstituted in  May
2001 at the Accra meeting along with a number of Committees each tasks
with specific responsibilities and deliverables with a specific time
frame. One of these is the Business/Finance Committee  tasked to develop
the AfriNIC Business Plan.

2. At a Montevideo  ICANN meeting  a member of the BOT  make a
presentation ( to the African-ICANN group) on behalf of the
Business/Finance Committee to the effect that progress is being made as
per the development of the Business Plan and that it has been decided to
hire a Business Manager first before finalizing the Plan…The suggestion 
being that the Business Manager will flesh-out  the Plan. 

3. What some of us want to know is: what progress has been made since
May 2001…if that does not translate into finalizing the details of the
Plan … something some of us felt is so simple and straightforward that
it can be written within a week or two..and certainly not in months.. ?

4. Certainly, a Business Plan for AfriNIC --- a small organizational
set-up for that matter should not require that much work…that will
necessitate the need to first engage a Business Manager (a process which
is also taking its own long 'sweet' time) before putting it together.

5.  Another unnecessary impediment --- that is log-jamming the entire
AfriNIC process is this sequential notion that 'something-got-to-happen
before something happens' In other words, things are not going to be
done in parallel if need be. For example, at the Montevideo meeting we
were told that, the process to choosing  hostmaster candidates (for the
RIPE incubation activity) cannot take place until the Business Plan is
in place and the Business Plan cannot be finalized, until a Business
Manager is engaged to develop the Plan….And we wait and wait forever
while the world move on.  

6. Some of us see no reason why key activities cannot be carried out in
parallel. For example, the parameters relating to the RIPE incubator
activity are clear, … we know the number of candidates to send…and 
funding I guess is not a problem....  so why do we need to get a
Business Plan and for that matter a Business Manager before proceeding
with this activity? 

7. Do we really need a Business Plan to chart out how to locate and
select the candidates…?  Do we in all honesty need a Business Manager to
develop the Business Plan and manage the training aspects of the
incubator process..?  I could very well remember at the Marina del Rey
meeting in November last year, we were told that plans are at advanced
stage to go ahead with sending candidates to RIPE for training. Well!!
we are still struck here…no action for almost a year…

8. There is no doubt that… the AfriNIC process is just not moving
despite the good intentions. There is that feeling at the grass-root
level that the BOT and its Committees are either not functioning,
inactive or simply moving too slow for comfort… Yes!!  It is true that
we are all busy people, volunteering our time to kick-start AfriNIC, but
it must be said that once you elect to be on a Board or a Committee to
represent people, those you represent has the right to demand that
promised 
services are delivered.  

9. We need to make a move and we suggest to make a move now on the
Business Plan (I noticed Business/Finance Committee's  new timeline
indicating that a DRAFT should at long last  be expected by 4 October
2001).  

10 Frankly, because some of us cannot wait any longer, a Working draft
(Plan V.0)  has been prepared and has been circulating for some time
now. This draft is being commented on and fleshed out at the grass-root
level and we understand a copy passed on to the BOT Chairman has been
circulated to the BOT members…  We can put the FINAL Plan (not a draft) 
together in  a couple of days by we all contributing to fleshing out
what is already on the Table. This will  certainly speed up an already
unduly delayed process…

11. Simply put… our inertia is becoming legendry and frankly
embarrassing.

Best rgds

Clement


*******************************************
Prof. Clement Dzidonu
President & CEO
International Institute for 
Information Technology (INIIT)
P.O Box AN-19782
Accra-North, Ghana

Tel. 233-21-246200
Mobile: 024-280079
Fax  233-21-763062
*******************************************

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