Accomplishments of the Internet Societal Task Force_2001

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Accomplishments of the Internet Societal Task Force

by Christine Maxwell, ISTF Chairperson

December 3rd 2001

SUMMARY

Task forces are not usually set up for durability over time, but to investigate something specific. (The IETF is

unusual in this regard. Its durability has more to do with its growing beyond the confines of the word taskforce in

its name but with which its work has now become synonymous.) The ISTFs mission as currently crafted, speaks of

setting out to Describe steps to assure that the "Internet is for everyone. I believe that ISTF in its present

iteration, is actually not set up in a way that it can effectively produce the necessary concrete results in accordance

with the descriptive part of its mission.

The idea behind the creation of ISTF is fundamentally important. ISOC certainly needs consistent, credible

published output in the societal arena that can stand the test of professional peer review. My personal

recommendation to the Board of ISOC is that it rethink how it should go about the process of publishing in the area

of societal issues.. ISTF is certainly functioning as a very active discussion forum. However, if ISOC needs itssocietal activity to bring more benefit to its members, business decision-makers in general and policy makers around

the world than debate on societal issues alone is not enough. ISOC should not be afraid to go back to the drawing

board and come up with an additional publishing solution.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The formation and stated goals and mission objectives of the ISTF

2. Processes employed by the ISTF

3. ISTF's accomplishments to date, including deliverables

4. Findings

5. Problems in growing ISTF

6. Recommendations

7. Conclusions

Appendixes:

A - Minutes of the ISOC Board of Trustees relating to ISTF's formation

B - Vint Cerfs ISTF presentation to the Board in 1999

C - ISTFs ISSG Steering Group Election

D - Media Coverage of ISTF/ Press Releases

E - Collaboration Target Information, including

List of Global Information Alliance NGO Members

F - ISTF Published Deliverables

G - Outcomes / Opinions of ISSG* - see this Link on the ISTF Web site.

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DISCUSSION

1. The formation and stated goals and mission objectives of the ISTF

FORMATION

In an effort to focus ISOC on societal issues and not just on the technical implications of the growth of the

Internet, Vint Cerf, Chairman of ISOC in June of 1998, proposed in June 1999 to the ISOC Board, the creation of

ISTF (Appendix B). In his proposal,

Mr. Cerf outlined ISTF as follows:

Parallel to IETF and IRTF Descriptive rather than prescriptive charter Organized with a chairperson, steering committee (initially appointed/approved by ISOC Board) and

working groups Most work done online with lists to encourage widespread participation.He further stated the following mission objectives:

Primary mission: Describe steps to assure that the "Internet is for everyone." Characterize and categorize social and economic issues associated with the growth and use of Internet Identify and describe local, regional and global conditions that help or hinder Internets availability and

use. Ensure that participation in ISTF is free and open to everyone, regardless of ISOC membership.

2. Processes employed by the ISTF

MISSION PATHWAYS

To reach the largest number of interested participants, ISTF work is largely conducted on discussion lists. In

addition, Working Groups focus on specific missions and stated deliverables. An annual ISTF member meeting is held

during the Internet Society's annual INET Conference, and additional in-person meetings among members take place

from time to time.




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Online Lists:

Main ISTF mailing list, including approximately 270 members to date

An Internet Societal Steering Group list, including 24 members

An ISTF Announce list

For the record: Here is a sample count of number of posts to the ISTF main list from some ISTF members between

the dates of November 2000 and October 2001

ISTF (from 12.01.00)

Christine 103

George 16

Pisante 24

Kritikos 135

wawa 98

Jonathan 161

Vint 170

Here is a sample count of number of posts to the ISSG list from some ISSG members between the dates of

November 2000 and October 2001

ISSG (from 12.01.00)

Christine 82

Pisante 14

Kritikos 36

Wawa 34

Jonathan 22

Vint 17

Working Groups set up to focus on specific objectives.

* istf-wg-public-software

istf-wg-research-policy

* istf-wg-priv-whitepaper




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* istf-wg-procedures

istf-task-artis

istf-wg-children-online

istf-wg-privsec

istf-wg-special-needs

istf-wg-website

3. ISTF's accomplishments to date, including deliverables

a.) ISTF's NGO Activities

ISTF contributed to a UNESCO white paper publication, prepared for UNESCO by ISOC. See

The existence of ISTF helped to provide the additional credibility ISOC needed to be granted official NGO

status from UNESCO. Seepress release: "UNESCO grants ISOC official NGO

Status

b.) ISTF was represented at a minimum of 12 workshops and panel presentations

as follows:

The following ISOC and ISTF members were invited speakers at the NewRopeans 2000 Congress, Paris,

March 2000. "Change, Technology & Complexity: Placing Human Beings at the Heart of 21st Century European

Society":

Mr. Mike Burks, ISTF , The Internet, catalyst of new types of social and professional organization

Mr. Jonathan ROBIN, Initial Chairman Privacy and security Working Group, Internet Societal Task Force(ISTF), Paris

'La protection des donnes prives est autant au coeur des proccupations du citoyen que l'exploitation de cesdernires constitue un cible prioritaire voire vital des acteurs conomiques'.

Workshops and panel presentation list Cont.

Mrs Marie-Anne Delahaut, Administrator ISOC (Internet Society) Wallonie, Advisor, Jules Destre Institute'L'Internet Society (ISOC): un moteur socital pour la valorisation de la diversit culturelle sur l'Internet

mondial' -

Mrs. Rosa Delgado, Director, Internet Industry Relations, Socit Internationale de TlcommunicationsAronautique, Suisse; Membre de l'Internet Society




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Chris Zelinski, Director, Health Information for Development Project, Internet Society, United Kingdom:'Ethics, Poverty and Information Acess in the Global Health Sector - Large-Scale Networking for Locally

Appropriate Content Delivery'

Christine Maxwell, Chairman ISTF, 'Information Rights for Cyberspace:The problems of forming information policy for the public sphere'

Christine Maxwell, in her capacity as Chair of ISTF and Trustee of ISOC, was invited to make the following

additional presentations:

III) "Defining cyberspace: Societal implications of IPv6,"First Monday & International Institute of InfonomicsConference on "New Definitions: Value, Community, Space, November 4-6, 2001, Heerlen/Maastricht, theNetherlands.

II) "IPv6 and Societal Implications."Presentation given at the WAP Forum, London, February 28th 2001.

IV) Chair of Media Session at: "The Internet, Possibilities & Limits:Europa Mundi Conference UNESCO,Santiago de Compostela, Spain, November 17th, 2000.

V) Presentation at "Globalization and Identity"Paris, 7th November 2000, As part of UNESCO's "Forum forthe Future" Program.

VI) Moderator, "Role of Public Authorities in Access to Information": Facilitating Access to Networks andServices. At UNESCO's InfoEthics 2000 Conference, 13-15th Paris, November 2000.

c.) ISTF staged eight INET 2000 activities, as follows

1.

Workshop: Implementing Accessibility in Large Organizations: Mark D. Urban, Michael Burks: In-depth hands-onpresentations for interested parties.

2. The Murcia Project: Digital Centre IT Research & Uses by and for people: Jose Luis Pardos SpanishAmbassador to Denmark

3. Governance Summit Panel: Global Cyberdemocracy? Civil Society participation in global policy (GS2)4. ISTFWorking Groups: Procedures & W.G.Outputs discussion.5. UNESCOs Role in the Use of Internet in development: public service in civil society: John Rose, Program. Sp.

Information Division UNESCO Anastasia Nakkazi, Sec. Gen. Uganda GC for UNESCO

6. Main ISTF Member Meeting7. Privacy & Development of the Public Space in Civil Society

BOF (Birds of a Feather) meetings ISTF members

d.) Collaborative partnerships were explored as follows:

Collaboration discussions with FID: International Federation for Informationand Documentation http://www.fid.nl

Collaboration discussions with IFLA: (The International Federation of LibraryAssociations and Institutions) (http://www.ifla.org)




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Collaboration Discussions with GIA- Global Information Alliance(See Appendix E) Creation of a Cyberspace Research Institute in collaboration with American

University, School of International Service, Washington DC.

Potential BenefitsBy partnering with these kinds of NGOs and high level institutions, ISTF would quickly be able to become a part ofan international approach to education, civil society, democratic participation, and social policy development for

cyberspace. Another key benefit to come out of establishing close ties with such entities, was the possibility ofattracting several thousand new ISOC members.

e.) ISSG has its first election professionally run as an online election. (See Appendix C)




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4. Findings

SOCIETAL USE OF THE INTERNET: DIVERSITY

Through discussions that have taken place both in person (at meetings) and online (on discussion lists), a common

theme emerged: There exists great diversity in the way people from different cultures and different societies use

the Internet. This diversity of usage leads to differing opinions as to how the Internet should be managed and insome cases controlled. This diversity of opinion touches every aspect of the use and management of the Internet,

from government control of the Internet to how the Internet can be used to disseminate information needed by

various segments of the world's population.

It is important to remember that this diversity highlights that fact that one opinion or another is neither right nor

wrong. Many of these ideas exist within the context of a society or culture, and within that context fit it purposesperfectly. Outside of the context, the idea may seem inappropriate or diametrically opposed to other ideas indifferent parts of the world.

With the mobility and exchange of the ideas now possible with the use of the Internet and all of its various

features, the challenge is to manage all of these different points of view without causing a major clash of ideas. Thetechniques needed to do this are just emerging. Being able to allow ideas to exist within a specific societal contextwhere appropriate, while synthesizing all the ideas into a set of techniques that will help to manage the worldwide

reach of the Internet, is a challenge that must be met and overcome.

This is an ongoing challenge that should be recognized by both the ISTF and the Internet Society. Both entities canplay complementary roles in developing the techniques and structure needed to meet this challenge.

Need to Strive to enhance ISTF credibility in the societal arena

Stated Need for ISOC to be represented at high level NGO meetings. Formulation of high level ISOC policy papers

in the societal arena is critical to enhancing ISOCs credibility in the policy area. This is the area that ISTF

functioning as a discussion forum, is just not set up to do.




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The difficulties facing ISOC and ISTF are, in equal measure, in the volunteer formulation of publishing quality

papers and reports. This was brought even more forcefully to my attention because of the extraordinary difficulty

experienced in finding enough high level expertise willing and available to help write ISOC's societal oriented

position paper on universal information access for UNESCO[1]. See.

Possible Solution

ISOC could look for the creation of an alliance with an academic institution of the highest repute. In that

context it woul also be a necessary prerequisite to establish a collaboration with an international expert in

Internet societal subject matter who could also act as a leader from that first academic institution. Once one

alliance could start to bear fruit, then other relationships and associations could be added. The key would be

to find the first viable relationship.

5.) Problems in Growing ISTF

i) Difficulties in Conceiving Ideas and Bringing them to Fruition inside ISTF

The Internet Societal Task Force is a very open activity of the Internet Society. It is a voluntary activity that

relies on the creative enthusiasm of its members to move its mission along. Anyone can come up with a good idea;

conceiving ideas and moving them along until they actually require decisions on the part of the Board of the Internet

Society is something that any of us can do. It takes a willingness to act on ideas and hard work to bring them to

fruition and to a point where they may need ISOC Board decision-making. Certain very vocal ISTF members have

"certainly exhibited the "not invented here syndrome", and at times has been obviously resentful of the ISOC yoke

also."




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ii) The Position of ISTF within ISOC

What certain members of ISTF may still need to come to grips with - is that unless or until the board decides to letISTF be independent of ISOC, ISTF is an activity of ISOC. It is ISOC that has the non-profit status and more than

10 years of history and credibility. It is ISOC that is known for its over 60 chapters around the world. It is ISOC

that was in position with the right credentials to apply for and obtain NGO status with UNESCO. ISTF was created

to be a societal activity of ISOC - not to run off by itself and try to disavow its ISOC parentage.

iii) Challenge of Raising for the Credibility ISTF

I firmly believed, and still do, that ISTF has to work to earn its credibility and visibility on a global stage. ISOC has

both a great challenge and an opportunity ahead of itself: to become as well known for doing good work in thesocietal policy arena as IETF has become in the standards arena for ISOC. ISTF can help it to get there over time.

iv) The Seeking of Support for Projects from Outside Institutions

The public airing of any research proposal seeking foundation funding, regardless of field, mission, or objectives,

would severely undermined any project's chances for funding, There has been a non understanding of the importance

of confidentiality inside the ISTF membership about this fact.

By custom, convention, and formally evolved procedures that date back more than a century, academic institutionsDO NOT develop initiatives such as institutes, centers, councils and other projects by publicly aired hearings.

Rather, these new bodies are created as the result of the initiative, expertise, and commitment of individual

scholars whose research has led them to identify a broader need for institution-building in the production of

research and policy in a particular field. The nature of the institution proposed must be appropriate to the

objectives pursued. Thereafter, funding is sought to develop the research agenda and projects outlined in the

proposal.




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v) Leadership of ISTF

Could a different leadership style have achieved more with ISTF as presently constituted?

There certainly are a number of ISTF members who think so. ISSG should be

able to make the choice of who it elects what ever happens.

The ISOC Board imposed choice of the ISTF Chairperson on the ISTF. This has been a very strong bone ofcontention inside the ISTFs own Steering Group. There is at this time a vote going on on the ISSG in regard to a

recommendation that the next Chair of ISTF be voted by the ISSG, with its choice going forward to the ISOC for

approval. The ISSG is also voting on whether to reduce the number of present Steering Group members from 24

members down to 6. The outcome of these votes will be reported to the ISOC board.

Primarily because this ISSG never had to take responsibility for appointing its leader, and because of its unwieldy

size (24 people) it has been bogged down in procedural discussions to such an extent, that this Chair found it

impossible to get much




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6. Recommendations

ISTF's Steering Group should definitely be allowed to vote its own Chairman from among its own members. Then the

Steering Group would have to take responsibility for its own leadership or lack thereof.

With a smaller Steering Group and with the ISSG voting for its own Chair, the ISSG might, be able to be effective

as a steering group. I think that ISTF if it continues as an activity of ISOC, should rethink its Mission to be in line

with what it actually is good at it is a good discussion forum. One in which there should no longer be an expectationthat it should also deliver white papers etc. If the ISSG agrees to refine its Mission to match what its actually

doing, then renaming itself into Internet Societal Forum might also be an appropriate conclusion to its Task Force

activities and be a new beginning for its discussion forum in the coming new year.

Focussing Future Societal Efforts on Targeted Objectives

Recommendations of targets for ISOC societal output would be:I) Policy Convergence: Encouraging Dialogue Between Policymakers

And Citizen Groups

Promote open and constructive dialogue between policymakers and citizen groups in a country. (Numerousexamples of this abound, such as the software lobbies of India and the educational lobbies in Australia.)

Examine publicly what are some ways of creating dialogue platforms between policymakers on the one hand andcitizen groups and entrepreneurs on the other?

Ensure that INET becomes one of the focal events where an international forum discusses this important Focus. Consider what other kinds of events, forums, media organizations, academic think tanks and NGOs can be

harnessed in this regard. How can Internet professionals from around the world engage in such debates?

Encourage and foster recognized professionals to take on leadership roles in getting ISOC's positions onsocietal issues into the media and public sphere.

Continue ISOC's involvement in societal issues, ensuring substantive support for its public issues. Continue themission outlined in a June 2001 press release: "to face new challenges and opportunities as a result of global

trends," expand the societys traditional, narrow focus on technical developments to promote "global development

and deployment of policies favoring open and equitable access to the Internet."

Include in ISOC's standard protocol that, every time it issues a statement supporting a particular standard,societal perspective should be included. As ISOC is coming out strongly in favor of IpV6 and is supporting a newcertification and training effort for the next generation Internet, it is essential that its societal voice be

incorporated into all these efforts.

II) Promote civil participation in decision-making and development of ipV6, and the advantages and significance of

an emerging "global civil society" as necessary to the process of technological and economic globalization. This not

only enlarges the sphere of voices but also could dramatically accelerate the expansion of knowledge networks and

information technology exploitation around the world. The critical limitations of the current Internet in terms of

address space, security and quality of service, are driving the effort to build robust and scalable foundations of the

New Internet. But the Next Generation Internet is about a lot more than just high-speed networks. It's no longerjust what the technology can do; it's what can be done with it.

III) Continue our efforts to expand our relationships with NGOs

ISOCs new NGO status within UNESCO will allow the Society to support the work of UNESCO with respect to the

social and democratic development of the Internet and new information technology.




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In particular, ISTF should consider focussing its societal discussions on issues like:

New thinking and innovative approaches to cyberspace development Proposals for innovative pilot projects to explore new educational and social applications of cyberspace to addressthe problems of poverty, information scarcity, and social barriers to participation

Collaboration programs to advance public awareness and public education on the social, cultural, and economicpotential of cyberspace

Proposals for concrete policy agendas for governmental action and for international policy




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What NGOs are expected to do?

If they are not consumer activists or corporations /environmentalists. If they are connected to some aspect ofexpertise., then they are expected to submit expert findings so that UNESCO can ground its own policies and

actions on facts and documented recommendations as they do not have the resources to conduct the research to

support their recommendations

How can we not only do that but do it well so that it makes a difference?We need to take a very proactive approach with other cyberspace initiatives and international organizations such as

the Digital Dialogue Initiative and the European Internet Foundation. We can do this by:

Discussing what should be a set of common standards (The European Commissionsactions for example, are binding on all member states).

Helping to be proactive in working our partnership with UNESCO so that the result moves

Formulating prototype policy agendas for governments to adopt with commonstandards

Provide better information to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)in implementing Treaties involving IP, .and signatories to these treaties about

the importance of the public domain as a key issue.

ISOC needs to use UNESCO as a very important global international forum for the discussion of the issues that go

to the heart of the mission of the Internet Society- using this relationship to test out other relationships with

additional major international bodies. ISTF can certainly help achieve that.

7. Conclusions

ISTF has definitely helped raise the consciousness and the external visibility of ISOC in regard to the importance

of societal issues and their policy implications. The amount of detail brought together in this Report is testament to

genuine long term efforts made by individuals in ISTF to achieve results against a backdrop of hostility from a small

group of members inside ISTF itself and both inertia and obstructionism coming from elements inside ISOC itself.

My personal recommendation now is that the ISOC Board ratify the results of the ISTF election once the results

are out. That it ask the new ISSG to study the election process that has just been used to elect the new ISSG and

Chair. That by end of first quarter 2002, send to the board any final revisions that the ISSG thinks should be made

to the process. Then the Board can be asked to ratify it at that time.

I believe that the ISTF does function as a viable discussion forum. If ISTF can revise its Mission statement to

reflect that reality then I think that would be best for ISTF and ISOC . As I said at the beginning of this Report,

Task Forces usually have a short term life ISTF might want to become the Internet Societal Discussion Forum:

to more accurately describe its activities. There is virtually no brand awareness around the name ISTF today

outside of ISOC and ISTF. This is a point that the new Chair of ISTF should be asked to consider and discuss with

its members.

Finally I believe very strongly that ISOC needs to come up with another solution to enable professional peer

reviewed publishing of societal issues to occur under its Policy Umbrella. This is the part that just has not been

working inside ISTF really because ISTF is just not set up to produce those kinds of published outcomes. ISTF canof course contribute its thinking and individuals can certainly come forth to write White papers etc.- but we should

no longer expect papers to be produced out of open discussion forums.




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It has been an honor to serve as Chairman of ISTF. I know its been a challenge. I have done my best at all times, but

certainly recognize that best can never be good enough when we stair in the face of all the profound societal

challenges in the world today. The Internet has an extraordinary role to play ISTF can and should be allowed to

continue to do its part to help the Internet be for Everyone.

2001 has seen profound changes in the world. I believe that ISTF must also have the courage to make structural

changes to its Mission statement, to enable it to develop its credibility and have more successful outcomes in the

coming years.




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Appendix A

ISOC Board Approval of ISTF

The following is from the minutes of meeting 17, San Jose, June 1999

13. ISTF Proposal

The Chairman of the Board, Vint Cerf, proposed to the Board that the Internet Society create a task force to study

the societal impact of the Internet. The proposal envisaged the creation of a body parallel to the IETF and IRTF,

and use a prescriptive rather than descriptive charter to examine societal impacts of the Internet.

The body is proposed to have a chairperson, a steering committee initially appointed or approved by the ISOC Board

as an enabling measure, and the creation of various working groups. The primary purpose of this task force would be

to describe steps that would assure that the Internet is for everyone, and examine the various social and economic

aspects of this objective. Potential outputs of the ISTF were proposed to include white papers, educational

initiatives, conference tracks and workshops. The medium term of the ISTF may offer a mechanism for broadening

the relevance of ISOC to a larger potential membership constituency.

The Board unanimously approved the proposal to authorize the creation of an Internet Societal Task Force.

Resolution 99-13: Internet Societal Task Force.

-----------------------------------------------------------

RESOLVED, that the Board authorizes the President of ISOC to take necessary steps to create an Internet

Societal Task Force as an ISOC initiative.




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APPENDIX B

Vint Cerfs ISTF Presentation given to the Board of ISOC

Internet Societal Task Force

(ISTF)Vint CerfJune 1999

Internet is for Everyone...Backgroundu Internet is having a palpable social and economic impact around the world.u Policy issues are becoming as important as technical ones

u Sascha Ignjatovic proposed the creation of a task force oriented toward societal issues and concerns in

ISOC Members discussion list. Very positive response.Humble Beginningsu ISOC and its members cannot solve all the problems of use and remove all the barriers to the spread of

Internetu But, we can help those who CAN solve the problems to understand what solutions are possible and what

barriers remain to be eliminatedBasic ISTF Proposal

u Parallel to IETF and IRTFu Descriptive rather than prescriptive charteru Organized with a chairperson, steering committee (initially appointed/approved by ISOC Board) and working

groups.u Most work done online with lists to encourage widespread participationObjectives of ISTFu Primary purpose: to describe steps to assure Internet is for everyone

u Characterize and categorize social and economic issues associated with the growth and use of Internetu Identify and describe local, regional and global conditions that help or hinder Internets availability and useExample Topicsu Accessibility (social, economic, regulatory, physical barriers to use of Internet)u Education (uses of Internet at all levels, barriers to be overcome, teacher training, classroom access,

home access)Example topicsu Economics: Characterize and compare economic conditions and how they correlate with Internet penetration

rates




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u Regulation: Characterize and compare regulatory postures and their effect on the spread of Internet

u Taxation: examine and analyze problems associated with Internet taxesExamples of ISTF Worku White papers on topics - similar in spirit to RFC seriesu Local educational initiatives, possibly in conjunction with chaptersu Contributions to INETs, organization of sessionsu Organizing workshops and special topic seminarsNext Stepsu ISOC Board approval to initiate ISTFu Appointment of a chairperson by Boardu Chairperson appoints an initial Steering Committeeu Creation of email list for ISTF general discussion group - open to everyone, not only ISOC members (this

is ready)Vints email

[email protected] Stepsu Steering committee develops guidelines for creation of working groupsu Steering committee approves working group and chairpersons, creation of lists for each working group.

u Steering committee develops procedures for populating steering group (possibly use IETF model)Medium Term Issuesu ISTF role in stimulating growth of membership in ISOCu Methods for propagating results of ISTF worku Analysis of support staff requirements (do we need a secretariat?)




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APPENDIX C

Internet Societal Task Force Conducted First Global Online Election within

the Internet Society, Using election.com[2] to

Elect its Steering Committee Members via an online process.

Of this effort, Vint Cerf was quoted as saying:

Online voting is consistent with our mission of fostering the widespread adoption of technology to benefit people

around the world, said Vint Cerf, Founding Chairman and Trustee of the Internet Society. election.comhas provenhow Internet voting can help make elections more accessible and efficient, especially for international organizations

like ours with members around the world. Im pleased that the Internet Society is practicing what it promotes bychoosing election.comto conduct one of its own elections.




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Contact: Mlanie Blanchardelection.com

+33-1-58-17-06-54

[email protected]

Christine Maxwell, Chairman

ISTF

+33-4-42-66-80-30

[email protected]

Internet Societal Task Force Conducts First Global Online Election Using election.com

Tech Advocacy Group Elects Steering Committee Members Online

Paris, France, December XX, 2000 election.com, the leading global Internet election company, and the Internet

Societal Task Force (ISTF,) the international organization for open development and widespread Internet usage

around the world, today declared the success of their all-Internet election to select new members for the Internet

Societal Steering Group (ISSG).

Online voting is consistent with our mission of fostering the widespread adoption of technology to benefit people

around the world, said Vint Cerf, Founding Chairman and Trustee of the Internet Society. election.comhas provenhow Internet voting can help make elections more accessible and efficient, especially for international organizations

like ours with members around the world.

Im pleased that the Internet Society is practicing what it promotes bychoosing election.comto conduct one of its own elections.

To accommodate voters from six different continents, members were able to cast their votes over a six-day,

twenty-four hour time period, beginning on November 13. ITSF members received their secret PIN numbers andpasswords via email prior to the extended voting period. Voters logged on to the secure election.comsite, and afterauthentication, selected 24 of the 40 candidates on the ballot. The election concluded on November 19, with theselection of the new ISSG members (see www.itsf.org for official election results).

"The first online ISSG election was an unquestionable success," said Christine Maxwell, the new Chairman of the

ISTF and Trustee of the Internet Society. The ISSG members enjoyed the convenience of being able to voteonline for their steering committee members and election.comsmanagement was flawless. The election process wasexpeditious and efficient from start to finish.

Last October, election.com conducted the Board of Directors election for the International Corporation for the

Assignment of Names and Numbers (ICANN.) In this historic online vote, ICANNs At-Large Members chose fiveDirectors for the ICANN board in one of the worlds largest all-Internet votes to date.




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With the ISSG election, election.com has demonstrated again that online voting is the best tool to flawlessly

manage a worldwide election, said Rgis Jamin, Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa. We hope theInternet Society and ISTF members will encourage


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