Internet Society © 1992–2016

Tech Fellows to IETF 10-Year Programme Review

Toral Cowieson Senior Director, Internet Leadership Global Engagement

10 November 2016

Topics

•  Tech Fellows Programme Background

•  2016 Survey and Results

•  Return on Investment

•  Key Takeaways

•  Next Steps

Background

•  Programme started in 2006 to increase awareness of standards development processes where there was no understanding

•  In 2011, came under umbrella of newly-formed Internet Leadership team

•  In 2013, refined selection criteria— number of individuals who apply has gone from 8/fellowship slot to 12-14/fellowship slot; caliber of individuals has also increased

•  At each IETF meeting we send 12-17 individuals, 6/6 + model

•  193 individuals, total of 289 awards

•  2016 budget is $150k

Tech Fellows Data - 2006-2015

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Number of Annual Awards - New and Returning

0

50

100

150

200

250

Type of Award

New Returning 193 individuals, total of 289 awards

Tech Fellows Data - 2006-2015 (193 Individuals)

16%

84%

Gender Distribution

Female Male 0 20 40 60 80

Regional Participation

APAC LAC Africa Europe ME

The 2016 Survey & Analysis

•  This analysis is at the request of Board members and in addition to post-meeting surveys done after each IETF

•  Objectives

•  Assess promotion of IETF and open standards in broader communities; e.g., academic research and via remote hubs

•  Assess contributions to IETF and open standards development •  Evaluate engagement in other tech and policy discussions and with ISOC •  Review ROI

•  61 respondents (31%); another approx. 30 individuals are known to ISOC staff and are involved in tech standards and deployment

Survey Results

Industry & Age

54%

2%

26%

9% 5% 4%

Industry Affiliation

Academia eEntrepreneur

Eng/NetOp/ISP Government

Non-Profit Other

0

5.5

11

16.5

22

27.5

20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 50

Age Distribution of Respondents

Meetings Attended

67%

28%

5%

# of Meetings as ISOC Tech Fellow

1 2-4 5+

63% 21%

16%

# of Meetings on Own or by Employer

0 1-2 3+

Meetings Attended

67%

28%

5%

# of Meetings as ISOC Tech Fellow

1 2-4 5+

63% 21%

16%

# of Meetings on Own or by Employer

0 1-2 3+

Many of the repeat attendees post-awards are concentrated from 2-3 countries There may be an opportunity to support 1-time Fellows who have work to advance differently than current model

IETF Involvement

0 6 12 18 24 30

Mailing lists

Co-Author

Contributed to Draft RFC in progress

Not involved at all

Other

51 respondents self-reported contributions to 49 RFCs in total, including 7 co-authored RFCs

Other Engagement

0 10 20 30 40

Other Standards & Deployment Engagement

NOGs

IEEE

W3C

None

0 12.5 25 37.5 50

Individuals Participating in other Forums

ISOC Chapters

IGF

Nat'l IGFs

Regional IGFs

ITU-related

Ongoing Participation & Satisfaction

58%

32%

6%

0%

3%

Did the programme increase your participation?

Extremely

Generally

Neutral

Decreased

Not Applicable

80%

16%

3%

0%

How satisfied are you with the programme?

Extremely

Generally

Neutral

Dissatisfied

What’s the Return?

•  Original intent —Increase awareness in communities

•  Direct contributions to IETF

•  Partner value in increasing diversity

Return on Original Intent—Increase Awareness

•  Taught at my university, mentoring future participants (12+ respondents)

•  Distributed IETF Journal, Tao of IETF

•  Speak at regional conferences about IETF and how to get involved, including at NOG meetings

•  Participate and speak of IETF in other fora, including ICANN, IGF, IDN workshops, ministry meetings

•  Formation of Internet Club in Nigeria for high school and undergrad students

•  IEEE partnered with ISOC to run pilot IETF-IEEE 802 Fellows exchange programme; 2 cohorts, 4 meetings

•  Multiple requests for our selection criteria and processes

Return — Other Direct Contributions to IETF

•  Six former Indian Tech Fellows launched the Indian IETF Capacity Building effort in 2015, including securing money from the government to host a meeting and build an Indian Fellows programme and mentoring network

•  In LAC, many of former fellows have been involved in recruiting others and organizing local hubs for remote participation

•  Former Brazilian fellows launched professor-student Fellowships where they attend 6-9 meetings over 3 years

•  Driving implementation of IPv6 at university

Return— Partners

0

40000

80000

120000

160000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Core Funding

Sponsor - Core

Sponsor Additional

0

40000

80000

120000

160000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Core Funding

Sponsor - Core

Sponsor Additional

Return— Partners

Secured $743k in funding 2006-2016 Between 2011-2016, 60% total core budget was externally funded Breadth of partners seeking to increase participation from under-represented regions

IL-LAC

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

•  Contributions that happen to IETF are direct and indirect

•  Fellows represent new demographics of those still to come online by age, gender, AND region

•  Tech Fellows are amplifiers across tech and policy

•  The programme is a model for others

•  This is analysis to look at strategy going forward

•  2017 next steps include convening small team to:

•  Assess how we can engage former fellows as levers to advance ISOC priorities •  Refine programme

“Without being a fellow I wouldn't have been able to convince my employer of the importance and relevance of IETF…also the networks that you can create being a fellow are way bigger than attending on your own.” - Hugo Salgado

“Technically it was enriching…interesting part was policymaking which opened up a new window. Also came across various means to make Internet reach remote parts of world.” - Chetaj Harsha

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Thank you.

Toral Cowieson, Internet Leadership

Shout out to the following: Niel Harper Kellee Elkins

cowieson@isoc.org