The Africa study was conducted using an e-mail survey and a comprehensive questionnaire, using e-mail as well as direct interviews (see Appendix 4).
The e-mail survey received a response from 99.87% of these respondents were South Africans, which roughly correlates to the numbers of Internet users on the continent. We feel that, since there were 130 African voters in the election, of which 26 were respondents to the survey, the results of the survey are significant. Measuring the response rate to the questionnaire in quantitative terms, one can conclude that it was not all that encouraging. However, all of those who responded appropriately addressed all the questions, and from this point of view, the information gathered is of high quality and has been taken to be representative of the target audience of the exercise. We summarize below our key observations.
The e-mail survey form was circulated to the At-Large Membership (ATM) candidates, key influencers, and e-mail lists for IOZ (Internet Organizations of South Africa) and Afrik-IT (African IT professionals working across the continent). The results are tabulated in Appendix 4, together with a further quantitative analysis.
It should be recognized that, due to the method of dissemination, the survey was inevitably biased towards people with some professional involvement in the information and communications technology industry. Such individuals are more likely to have an interest and knowledge of 'how the Internet works' than would "common" users, and are more likely to be members of e-mail discussion lists and have regular access to the Internet and, by extension, such surveys.
Internet access in Africa is uneven, both geographically and across various socioeconomic groups. South Africa has disproportionately high penetration of Internet connectivity in Africa, accounting for 67% of the dial-up Internet connections on the continent. Today, all African countries (including South Africa) have relatively low Internet penetration in comparison with the developed world. At the time of the ICANN At-Large elections last fall, only 0.3% of the African population had dial-up Internet access. One reason for this is the retarded development of telecommunications infrastructure in Africa. Most telecom services are delivered by state monopolies, resulting in poor service and high user costs.
The history of truly democratic elections in Africa is relatively recent and shallow, in comparison with the United States and Europe. Throughout much of Africa, traditional tribal structures and loyalty to traditional authority still form a deep cultural inclination. However, most people involved with Internet functionality are likely to be among the better educated, which consequently leads to a better appreciation of democratic process. This was evident in the way that the ALM participated in the election process in Africa. In many respects, such factors overwhelm the nuances of the ALM election process within the African context.
In this section we review the ALM recruitment drive and outreach program in the African region, and the subsequent election of the ALM Directors. We also examine some of the problems encountered by the African regional Group of the Membership Implementation Task Force (MITF) as well as some of the lessons learnt from the process.
The ALM recruitment drive and outreach program was coordinated by the African Group of the MITF. The Group carried out a number of tasks, including:
A number of methods were used to facilitate the recruitment drive and the outreach program, including:
A number of ISPs were also contacted (via messages posted on their web sites) and encouraged to join the recruitment drive. Some of these ISPs went so far as to directly contact their subscribers by e-mails, encouraging them to join the ALM and promote the ICANN concept.
A turning point in the pre-election phase was when Pierre Dandjinou, a member of the MITF-Africa (and now a member of the ICANN At-Large study group), made the first announcement of the ALM elections at the AfriNIC and Afnog meetings in Cape Town in mid-May 2000. It was through this announcement, to a very small group, that the elections became more widely known across the region. A look at the number of registrants for the election demonstrates that more could have been done in a timelier manner to obtain better representation from large Internet user populations other than Ghana and Benin. Interview respondents did cite this as an example of why the ALM is needed to increase the transparency and legitimacy of ICANN.
Various channels were used to make the event more widely known. Media exposure in two widely distributed South African national publications (Financial Mail and Weekly Mail and Guardian) helped somewhat to increase the number of registrants. In addition, once the registrations were closed and the nominees announced, various Internet Network providers made efforts to enable higher visibility of ICANN and its functions. The only South African network to refuse endorsement was the South African government-controlled telecommunications company, Telkom, which stated that this was for political reasons. Unlike the Japanese and the Brazilian governments, the South African government did not support its candidates for the election for undisclosed reasons.
The African ALM recruitment and outreach program encountered a number of problems. These included organizational difficulties, especially in the area of establishing reliable and effective channels for information dissemination and communication. Also problematic was the lack of resources to facilitate the implementation of the recruitment drive and outreach program. The MITF was made up of volunteers using their own resources, with no funding from ICANN to support their activities. Another problem area was the time constraint. Insufficient time was given to effectively carry out the recruitment drive and outreach program as well as the voter education and dialog process. The language barrier also made communication more difficult.
The MITF-Africa also faced a general problem of apathy and lack of interest on all matters relating to ICANN. Very few people knew what ICANN is all about, and of those who knew about the organization, not many were anxious to get involved in its processes. This made the task of undertaking the ALM recruitment drive and outreach program all the more difficult.
The At-Large recruitment drive prior to the election managed to recruit 792 individuals. Of these, 315 activated their membership, and only 120 actually voted. Although these numbers correlate roughly with the percentages in North American region, it may be deduced that the importance and standing of ICANN in Africa is unrealized or considered to be irrelevant.
| Global registrations | 158,593 |
| African registrations | 787 |
| Africa % of global | 0.50% |
Though the membership recruitment drive was declared an overwhelming success when judged on the basis of the worldwide results, a different picture emerged when viewed within the context of the African region. The recruitment drive in the region did not yield high numeric results.
However, if one compares the number of ALM from Africa with the number of hosts carrying African ccTLDs, there is some correlation. This is the most objective means of measuring Internet usage on the continent, but it does have its weaknesses, as we can expect that there are many hosts in Africa carrying gTLDs.
| Internet hosts (Global vs. Africa) | Jan-00 | Jan-01 |
|---|---|---|
| Global hosts | 72,398,092 | 109,574,429 |
| SA % of global | 0.23% | 0.17% |
| Africa % of global | 0.26% | 0.20% |
This shows some correlation between Internet usage in Africa and the numbers of the ALM.
It could be argued that: the recruitment exercise was more successful in some countries than others. For example, of the 787 applications for membership, South Africa registered 201 applicants, followed by Ghana with 112, then Benin (48), Senegal (41), Egypt (34), Madagascar (31), Morocco (27) and Niger (27), Kenya (21), Mauritania (20).
These 10 countries accounted for close to 80% of the total number of applicants. With an additional 8 African countries recording between 10 and 20 applicants, the vast majority of countries recorded a single digit number of applicants, with some of them registering only one applicant. Finally, eight of the fifty-four countries in Africa did not have a single ALM registration.
The relatively high number of applicants from South Africa can be explained by the fact that the country has the highest number of Internet subscribers on the continent. No South Africans participated in the MITF.
One can to some extent attribute the unusually high number of applicants from Ghana and Benin (where there were more ALM registrations than there are hosts using those ccTLDs) to the fact that these countries have MITF-Africa members whose personal initiative to recruit locally had some impact. In the case of Ghana, a local ISP played an active role in the public education and mobilization exercise.
Of the 787 applicants from the African region, only 315 (40%) activated their membership. The gender composition of the activated members was 34 female (11%), 261 male (83%) and 20 did not specify.
| Global activations | 76,183 |
| African activations | 315 |
| Africa % of global | 0.41% |
If one compares this figure with the ratio of hosts using African ccTLDs, Africa's activation percentage was in line with the rest of the world.
The table below, reproduced from ICANN's Election Data Site, indicates that the majority of the 315 African ALM members who activated their membership learned about the ICANN ALM and the election process by way of electronic mail. These could be people reached directly by the MITF-Africa and others by way of targeted e-mails, or by way of announcements on specific African-interest lists.
| Media | Number |
|---|---|
| At Work | 53 |
| Banner Advertisement | 1 |
| 94 | |
| Friend/Acquaintance | 65 |
| Newspaper/Magazine | 15 |
| Other | 13 |
| Print Media | 1 |
| Search Engine | 1 |
| Website | 45 |
| No response | 27 |
The above data also indicates that a reasonable number of people found out about the process from friends and acquaintances. In fact, combining the number for those who learned about the process at work (which in itself, is also another type of personal contact) with those who were informed by friends and acquaintances, it is obvious that person-to-person contacts ranks as the highest means by which people in the African region were informed about the ALM election process. It is possible that some of these contacts were made by e-mail.
It is interesting to note that the Web as a medium for the recruitment drive and outreach program ranks third, with about 45 out of the 315 activated voters learning about the process via web sites. This means that only about 15% of the eligible voters learned about the ICANN ALM and the election process via the Web. This figure is an interesting one, considering that one needed to have an access to the Web to be able to vote in the ALM election.
Also, although MITF-Africa made an effort to use the newspapers and the print media as a means for reaching a greater portion of the African public, the evidence shows that not many of those who might have read about the process in the papers went ahead and registered. This may be because the vast majority of people with access to print media don't also have access to the Internet. Even some of those with general Internet access may not have Web access, or they cannot afford the cost of staying on the Web and carrying out the registration process.
It is clear that the Web-based online registration and voting was not the most appropriate for regions like Africa, where poor Internet connectivity and high 'out of pocket cost' for Web access is the norm. In Africa, the majority of people with access to an Internet connection (who are not necessarily subscribers, e.g. those using Internet cafes for access) use only e-mail. Most Internet users do not own a computer; they either rely on Internet cafes, their employer's system or - as in the case of college students - the computer system of their institution. Because they do not own the access equipment, they do not have prolonged access to enable them to browse the Web or carry out a Web-based transaction like ALM registration or voting. The majority of these people - many of whom may have free e-mail addresses - therefore most often use the Internet mainly for e-mail.
Another lesson learned from the ALM recruitment drive and outreach program is the lack of knowledge within the African Internet community and the public on matters relating to ICANN. Most people, including long-time users of the Internet, have not heard of ICANN; the few who had come across the name remain in the dark about how it works, and for what purpose or role. ICANN should therefore have done more to educate the Internet community about its role, structure and process long before it embarked on the ALM process. Although the ALM process did play some educational role, more should have been done in advance of the election.
At least within the context of Africa and other "low-Internet-usage" regions, there is a need in the future for ICANN to increase its public education and awareness initiatives. ICANN should not rely on the fact that close to 160,000 people accessed its web site to complete ALM forms, as an indication of a worldwide knowledge of its existence and process. Clearly this knowledge was not evenly distributed across all regions.
Most of the respondents felt that the self-nomination process was fair and transparent. There was, however, some disagreement on the degree of fairness and the transparency of the procedure used by the Nominating Committee of ICANN to nominate the two candidates for the African region. Some people were not aware of the criteria and the procedure used by the Nominating Committee, and they therefore could not regard the candidate nomination process as transparent. In the words of one respondent: ". . .the two-way candidate nomination did not appear transparent to people, as there was suspicion as to ICANN staff's willingness to 'coach' a few candidates. . ."
The technical problems associated with late registrations were publicly debated, and ICANN's credibility (as well as the election's legitimacy) was tainted. Specifically in South Africa, discussions were extensive in both the national and local communities.
The late posting (and, in some cases, complete non-delivery) of PIN numbers was disastrous. This problem was especially acute in Africa; it may have been less so in regions where there was earlier and more robust ICANN participation. It was also noted by many respondents that the guidelines regarding the date for final activation of one's membership were hidden or not obvious, and that this additional voting requirement compounded the postal problems. A number of comments were made that this step unnecessarily complicated the process.
The majority of respondents felt that the Web-based membership application procedure excluded those without Web-access from the process. In the words of one respondent:
Overall, the campaign was generally successful. The minimum threshold for self-nominated candidacy was appropriate and the candidates participated in the ICANN forums.
While a number of respondents felt there was enough time to get acquainted with the candidates, some felt there was an element of time constraint, and that some of the candidates did not show enough commitment in responding to the questions posed by the ALMs during the campaign. In the words of one of the respondents: ". . . the process was interesting. . .Not sure it was a problem of ICANN but I found that at first there was not much info about the candidates. They were a little slow at providing information, especially about why they should be elected. . ."
On the whole, it was felt that not many people participated in the online forum for one reason or another. This lack of interest in the online candidate dialogue session does not help the awareness situation, given that some of the candidates were not known outside their countries. It could be that this was part of the reason that less than 50% of the eligible voters actually casting their vote. This low final turnout could also have been due to the lengthy and complicated process, which drained the voters of energy required to complete the entire process.
On whether the online dialog phase - designed to facilitate interaction with the candidates during the campaign process - was informative, some felt that the it was, while others said that the dialog session was short and not as useful as they would have liked. Some were of the view that ICANN should, in the future, find ways of making the dialog phase more instantaneous, through chat sessions or other ways in addition to e-mail and web-based methods.
Respondents were asked to comment on the adequacy and informative character of the voter education exercise prior to the actual election. A number were of the view that the process had some inherent problems: for example, there was too much information to absorb and act on in a short period of time. In the view of one of these respondents: ". . .I struggled a bit. Too much information on things I didn't really need to know, and not nearly enough simplicity on the things I did want to know. . ."
Some, however, were of the opposite view. They thought that the voter education exercise was fine but limited in scope, as there were no appropriate channels for relaying the information in Africa.
A number of recommendations were made to improve the process in the future. For example, one suggestion was that local media and other channels should be used to facilitate the voter education exercise.
Of the 315 members who activated their membership, only 130 cast their vote. This figure represents less than 41% of the eligible voters and less than 16.5% of the original number of 787 applicants.
| Global votes 34,035 |
| African Votes 130 |
| Africa % of global 0.38% |
130 votes represents 0.0054% of the dial-up user population (similar to that of the North American region). We can therefore deduce that, although the number of ALM in Africa is numerically low, they are not disproportionately low in comparison with other regions.
The vast majority of the respondents felt that not many people understood the rules and the procedures governing the membership registration and election process. Some attributed this to the newness of ICANN itself, but also to the confusing nature of those rules and procedures.
Some comments:
Some respondents were more specific: in their view, people were required to learn about ICANN, its process, functions and the whole business of the concept behind the ALM and the election of the Directors in a short period of time. The language problem was also singled out as one of the possible problem areas. A number of people were of the view that the rules and the procedures were not translated into other languages in a timely manner. This situation put the non-English speaking ALMs in Africa at a disadvantage. For example, in Africa there are four main language zones: English, French, Arabic and Portuguese. While the rules and the procedure were eventually translated into French and Arabic, they were never translated into Portuguese.
Overall, and with the exception of the technical problems, the election system was found to be appropriate. However, the use of Web-based voting does reduce or even eliminate the ability for individuals in a number of African countries to vote. It is commonly thought that an e-mail option is needed, although there are no answers to how this can be done with secure authentication, such as is offered through the Web.
Due to the fact that less than 50% of eligible, registered voters cast their vote, respondents were asked to comment on whether the Web-based voting process excluded some eligible voters without Web-access from participation in the voting process.
The majority of respondents were of the view that the Web-based voting process did in fact exclude people without Web-access. In the words of one respondent: ". . . the web-based voting was not at all suited for Africa. So, it is quite certain that some eligible voters had been excluded. . ."
A number of respondents also cited a lack of clarity about the ultimate purpose of the ALM elections. In the view of one of these respondents: ". . .the purpose of the election of the Directors was not clear at the time of voting and is still not clear. . . . Nor is the role of the ALM in the management of ICANN."
Overall, the ICANN At-Large elections proved to be a success. African At-Large members and the Internet community do want to vote in direct elections for ICANN Board representatives.
However, several problems need to be looked at:
There is a general lack of awareness of ICANN, and much more is therefore needed in the areas of outreach and education. The ALM recruitment drive and outreach program did have a positive impact, but did not change the general situation appreciably. The MITF-Africa on the whole faced a general problem of apathy and lack of interest within the Africa region on all matters relating to ICANN. Very few people knew what ICANN is all about. Most people, including long-time users of the Internet had not heard of ICANN; many of the ones who had heard of it remain in the dark about its role, structure and process. ICANN should do more to educate the Internet community about these aspects of its mission and operation. ICANN should not use the fact that close to 160,000 people completed the ALM forms on its web site as an indication of adequate awareness on a global level. A broader global communication strategy needs to be developed. People need to know more about ICANN, and efforts have to be made to make information available in all major official languages of African countries. Relevant material with regional specificity must be developed.
The perceived "under-representation" of the African region will have a negative impact on Africa's involvement in the ICANN process, structure and governance in the future, if steps are not taken to get more Africans involved and interested in ICANN.
Africa does have special requirements, and as such it needs representation in all of the various ICANN bodies. Most people regard the self-nomination process as fair and transparent. But there was some disagreement on the degree of fairness and the transparency of the procedure used by ICANN's Nominating Committee to nominate the two candidates for the African region. Another option is to only have self-nominations. This will also reduce the complexity of the process. In addition to At-Large Directors, an At-Large Advisory Committee is regarded as one of the most appropriate "representational model" to ensure public representation and participation within the ICANN structure.
If the authentication process continues to utilize snail mail, more time must be allowed for letters to arrive at their African destinations. The Web-based online registration and voting procedure is not appropriate for regions like Africa, with poor Internet connectivity and high "out-of-pocket cost" for the average subscriber linking to the Web.
It was also felt that not many people participated in the online candidate forum for one reason or another, and that this lack of interest does not help awareness, given that some candidates were not known outside their countries. ICANN should assist in various ways to make the online dialog phase - which facilitates interaction with the candidates during the campaign process - more instantaneous, through chat sessions or other ways, as well as the use of e-mail and Web-based methods.
The vast majority of respondents felt that not many people understood the rules and procedures governing the election process, including membership application, membership activation to qualify for voting, and the voting process itself. The step for activations was particularly troubling and deemed unnecessary. The consensus was that the election process must be simplified.
A number of respondents suggested the need for more outreach programs in the African region to encourage and facilitate active participation in the ICANN process. People need to know more about ICANN, and efforts have to be made to make information available in all major official languages of African countries.
Others also recommended more voter education about the specific role of the ALM and the Directors elected by the ALM. Another suggestion was to facilitate decentralization, to ensure that regional specificities are addressed before reaching any consensus on a global level.
Regarding the specification problem of membership activation, one respondent suggested: ". . . It may be a better idea to try and allow people to receive an e-mail with an activation code. Could help with the slow snail mail problem. This does not necessarily have to be a totally automated process. It could be done where the information is verified by computer and then put in a waiting queue for human verification and then the code could be allocated. The other [possibility] may be to have an e-mail ballot system as well. . . ." Yet, we recognize that this needs close examination for potential fraud and authentication problems.
| 2.2. Regional Reports | 2.2.2. Asia and Pacific Region |
© 2001 NAISProject.org
Privacy Policy
webmaster@naisproject.org