1. Briefing and Background Papers
GNSO Policy Briefs (formally known as GAC one-pagers)
GNSO support staff prepares these one-page briefing documents on a monthly basis. These serve to inform the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and all other interested parties about ongoing GNSO policy efforts and signal opportunities for community engagement.
The Projects List is a compilation of all active GNSO projects. It provides an easily digestible overview of the various efforts in one single document, gives relevant status updates, and it is updated on a monthly basis.
The Policy Update is a monthly publication prepared by ICANN policy staff. The Update focuses solely on relevant achievements and recent developments from each of ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees.
These briefings are detailed summary of the GNSO's ongoing Working and Discussion Groups. They are produced by ICANN Policy Support Staff in preparation for the ICANN meetings.
2. Project Websites
This staff-maintained page provides details of all ongoing GNSO efforts – you can also find links to completed and archived projects here. The individual project pages contain, in chronological order, all official documents and links of the respective effort including relevant GNSO Council motions, reports, and ICANN Board decisions.
The ICANN Community Wiki is an interactive work place for community members, observers and staff. Each GNSO working group has its own wiki space, serving as a central platform for agendas, membership records, working and background documents. Everybody can view the wiki pages, however, registration and group membership is required in most cases to provide comments and post document.
Each of the GNSO working groups maintains a dedicated mailing list. Membership is required to post to the lists. However, all communication is publically archived and anybody can access and follow submissions to the different email lists.
3. Interactive and Educational Material
The Policy Development Process Graphic
The GNSO's Policy Development Process (PDP) is the mechanism by which the GNSO generates consensus policy. Though a complex and sometimes lengthy process, it is open for anybody to participate and also provides opportunities for all interested parties to give feedback and submit comments at varies stages. GNSO staff has drawn up a simplified graphic to illustrate how a PDP works.
Joining a GNSO working group for the first time might be challenging due to the complexity of subjects, the multitude of acronyms and the elaborate processes. GNSO staff and community members provide a monthly webinar for all those who would like to learn about or refresh their knowledge of what is involved in serving on a GNSO working group. Each session allocates time for an open question and answer session. Newcomer webinars are open to everyone.
GNSO Learn
GNSO staff is currently cooperating with ICANN's Public Responsibility Department to develop a number of introductory presentations and online tools to facilitate the integration of newcomers to the policy development process – watch this space
Pre-ICANN Meeting Policy Webinars
In preparation of each ICANN Meeting, policy staff provides an interactive webinar, to give an overview of all ongoing efforts and projects of ICANN's different Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. These webinars are open to everybody and include question and answer sessions; active participation is encouraged.
On a regular basis members of the GNSO community use short video clips to present himself or herself and the Stakeholder Group or Constituency they represent. Also, the GNSO Council Chair provides video summaries following each ICANN Meeting. These videos are posted on the ICANN youtube channel and on the GNSO video page.
Other Relevant information
All GNSO policy development processes (PDPs) are conducted in a transparent and open fashion. At various stages public comments are invited to solicit input and feedback from interested parties to inform the relevant working groups and help move forward the respective PDP. Public comment periods are advertised on the ICANN website and they usually last 21 days, followed by a 21 day reply period.
The GNSO calendar serves as a planning tool and at the same time it is the central depository for all GNSO conference calls and meetings records. Transcripts and MP3 recordings from all meetings are made available and you can find links to motions and agendas for GNSO Council meetings here, too. The GNSO calendar is updated on a daily basis.
Resolutions Passed by GNSO Council
The Council is the body that coordinates the GNSO's policy development processes. It meets on a monthly basis either by telephone conference or face-to-face during ICANN meetings – anybody can listen to these sessions live via audiocast. The Council meetings are also recorded and transcribed (see GNSO calendar). All resolutions passed by the Council are listed chronologically on the GNSO website.