Today is my second day at Dakar, Senegal for ICANN 42. Yesterday I gave a presentation to the board about my induction and the way the office of the ombudsman is developing. It is intended that there be a review of the office in terms of the Accountancy and Transparency Review Team Final Report from June 2011, and we discussed the way in which this would commence. It is important that the structure and function of any organisation is reviewed at regular intervals, and the ombudsman is no exception. So I will be engaging with the board on the review process.
Today I gave a presentation to the newcomers called Ombudsman 101 which went down fairly well with some quite searching questions from the floor. This was followed by an interview with Momodou Jaiteh from Pan African Press which will be broadcast on Monday. Their site is http://www.panapress.com/ and a copy of the interview will be there tomorrow.
In addition there are some issues which I am investigating, which is giving me an interesting insight into the different views held by members of the ICANN community, which I am sure are in fact a strength of the organisation. The fact of vigorous debate is healthy. Of course once this becomes too divided, then the problem turns up on my desk! I continue to encourage people to come to my office (which is at room B9) where they can have a confidential discussion.