Executive Director's Report to Council 26/10/00

The four weeks since the last Council meeting comprise:

1. A week 'off'
2. A week at NetForum
3. One and a half weeks in office
4. This week preparing for Council Meeting

The bulk of my report has gone direct to the Admin Committee which reports later this meeting.

1. The Week Off

Over the course of the week I did not pick up ISOCNZ email as our ISP managed to set up a hack which allowed an autoreply from my alias. I did, however, do three pieces of business on behalf of the Society.

• In Morrinsville, where a new branch of SeniorNet has been established, I addressed a small gathering comprised mainly of their Executive Committee. I spoke on the work of the Society and gave a precis on the situation and development of ICANN. I have been invited to present to the whole organisation once they open their new premises. I will be following up with the National Executive as SeniorNet has now grown to a membership of 14,000.
• In Auckland I did a live interview with .nzoom, TV One's Internet division on ISOCNZ's lobbying activities in relation of 0867. This forms a part of their series on the Telecommunications Inquiry, and is on their website at http://technology.nzoom.com/communications/story.html#story_inquiry.inc
• During the time in Auckland I had the opportunity to meet informally with our Communications Consultants and was able to take advantage of the opportunity to meet Paul Brislen of IDG face to face for the first time.

2. NetForum

• I reported briefly to the Council on our first jointly run Conference with UniForum and copy that report below. The Admin Committee will bring the issue forward for Council consideration. NetForum went well, though the numbers were significantly down on last year's UniForum Conference (we didn't have a Conference last year so no basis for comparison). Our Administration Manager Beverley Irvine is now working on financial report and will have this for next Council meeting. On the other hand, ISOCNZ gained roughly 30 new members from the exercise.
• Very few ISOCNZ members who were not already members of UniForum attended, but those who did contributed well. Richard Bourne delivered the presentation on e-Democracy as Mark Harris couldn't attend and this generated good feedback and discussion.
• Prashanta Mukherjee's paper on e-business was well received and recorded by Radio NZ with an interview afterwards. David Farrar followed with 'NZ Government and the Internet' and I heard positive feedback from that also. My presentation on ICANN generated a lot of interest - standard response was along the lines of 'all this is going on and nobody knows!', so we can hope for more interest in this area. I also filled in on the ThinkQuest paper as Wayne is currently unable to act as National Co-ordinator and we have a group of volunteers for involvement as coaches, promoters and the like. I also filled in for Frank March on the GAC (Government Advisory Committee to ICANN) perspective (went and changed my shirt first to ensure everyone knew I wasn't me anymore!!). I'd say this was the least successful session as I felt I had to be very cautious in drawing clear boundaries when I spoke - Frank, was sorely missed!!
• I also 'facilitated' two BOF's (Bird's of a Feather) the first on ISOCNZ which the group up and ran with, in particular supporting the rebranding discussion initiated by Richard Bourne. The ICANN BOF was cancelled as only I turned up!
• Howard Frederick delivered the closing session which was very professional and which generated much discussion - I watched a lot of heads nodding in agreement as he went through the challenges NZ faces if it is to move ahead into the Knowledge Economy and take its place at the center of the world stage.
• Chris Streatfield was active in discussions and ably flew the ISOCNZ flag. There were many other ISOCNZ members present (e.g. Don Neal, Lin Nah) but they were there primarily as UniForum people. In the end, much of the credit for the smooth running of the event goes to Beverley, and had we been involved earlier I am sure numbers would have been higher from our "camp".
• The clear point which arose from discussions afterwards was the need for ISOCNZ to have more high level speakers, and also to run very targeted tutorials for ISOCNZ members as this is what draws the UniForum people. I suggested that a DNSSEC and an mDNS session would be of value, and committed to canvassing Council, in the first instance, on ideas for next year as June will be with us very shortly.
• I accepted a nomination to the UniForum Board on the basis that having a direct line of communication from the start for planning would be useful. First outcome is the next Conference will be lower North Island - looking at Masterton, Wellington, and Palmerston North.

3. "In the Office" Activities

• I met with Ruth MacEachern of LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) about their draft Position Paper "E-Citizens, e-business, and e-government" . This document (Council only until approved for release by LIANZA Approved for release to members 27/10/00) is shortly to be presented to government and they are looking for comment. The purpose of the paper is to suggest the basis for a National Information Policy for New Zealand which they define it thus:
  Definition: National Information Policy addresses strategic issues to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to access and utilise a nation's knowledge wealth in a way that will enhance the social, political and economic well being of that country. It states the government position on the creation, management and use of information, and sets direction for government action in support of the strategic goals. (In the LIANZA Journal October 2000)
  I believe the Society should look at commenting upon all relevant sections of the paper.
• eMSA - I met with Keith Norris, the Chief Executive of the NZ Direct Marketing Association and his assistant Sylvia Devlin. The DMA has produced a draft "Self Regulation of eMarketing in New Zealand" which is a Code of Practice for e-marketers. They asked that I comment in the light of our experience with the Internet Code of Practice
• . govt.nz Conference - Peter Dengate Thrush is chairing this Conference in December and has kindly offered me his complimentary registration to attend.
• e-Summit follow-up - Victoria University invited me to attend an "Information Policy Summit" as a follow-up to the government's November e-Commerce Summit in Auckland. As we are not sending an official representative to the government's Summit, I have accepted the invitation.
• The Hon Paul Swain has followed up on his intention to write to all ISP's asking why they have not signed the Internet Code of Practice. I am currently working through the logistics with MED on how to get the letter from the Minister out to the ISP's most effectively.
• In the meantime, I have ceased to moderate any of the lists because of uncertainty about Council policy following the latest discussions about who should take responsibility. I have suggested to the MEP Convenor that the lists be encouraged to elect their own moderator or moderators. I seek Council affirmation that this is acceptable.
• Online Subscription - the online subscription for new memberships is now live. Amex will be available also from Monday (they wouldn't approve the Amex usage until the site was live). We will move next to get renewal of subscriptions online as well. The cost implications have been reported to the Admin Committee.
• Planning for the ICANN Outreach Pacific Seminar Tour is proceeding

4. ACTION ITEMS STATUS

Sue Leader
Executive Director

© 2000 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 25 October 2000