John,
Good summary.
I would add a "steep learning-curve" to start participating. It takes
time to get conformable in participating in mailing list and reviewing drafts
for I think two reasons. One is to get know how the IETF works, and another to
catch-up in knowing the topic in relation with other WG participants.
About the remote hub I think it would be good to give it a try.
Regards,
as
On 27 May 2013, at 02:52, John Levine wrote:
> I think this is a summary of the issues people have mentioned that
> discourage participation from LDCs, in rough order of importance.
>
> * People aren't aware the IETF exists, or what it does, or that it has
> an open participation model
>
> * People don't read and write English well enough to be comfortable
> participating
>
> * People are unaccustomed to and perhaps uncomfortable expressing
> overt disagreement
>
> * People don't think they have anything to contribute to an organization
> that is mostly people from rich countries
>
> * People don't have adequate Internet access for mail, or to use the
> remote participation tools
>
> I have to say that I don't see one or two meetings in South America
> addressing any of these. Given that the incremental cost to the
> participants, compared to meeting in North America, would likely be on
> the order of a million dollars, it seems to me very likely that there
> are better ways to spend the money.
>
> For example, if language and net access is a problem, it might be
> interesting to set up a remote participation center in B.A. during one
> of the North American meetings (it's one time zone off from Toronto)
> with screens and cameras, paid interpreters, and a few volunteers to
> help explain what's going on.
>
> R's,
> John
>
>
>
