There are a variety of ways to become involved and to participate in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder, bottoms up, consensus driven model for policy development.
First, a community member may engage with the community by Making a Public Comment about any active issue being considered by the community or the organization. Comments may be shared during public forums at ICANN Public meetings, or via ICANN’s public comment platform.
Many in the community that voice their positions about issues via the Public Comment platform are responding to proposals developed by GNSO-chartered Working Groups. These Working Groups are formally chartered within the ICANN Structure to address policies and other issues facing the internet community and its stakeholders. They are made up of interested community volunteers with various types of interest and expertise (see Volunteers for a Working Group). One of many tools used by Working Groups are mailing lists that are publicly accessible. Community members can Follow Mailing Lists for the latest dialogue and deliberation of policy topics and activity.
For a face-to-face experience, thousands in the community meet three times a year at varying regions. Attending an ICANN Public Meeting is the best way to engage Internet and DNS stakeholders for collaborating on the latest issues, policy development, and operations of ICANN. Additionally, ICANN offers remote participants access to information and participation via the latest internet-based technologies to enable their participation.
ICANN is aware of the dynamic nature of the Internet and its substantial growth that connects to new people every day. New communities or groups of stakeholders who would like to be more actively represented within the ICANN structure can learn How to Form a New Constituency and increase representation within this multi-stakeholder model.
Use the links on this page to access more details about all these topics: