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 > > >