It has not yet been three months since ICANN 49 and already the GNSO community is in the final stages of preparations for the fiftieth ICANN Meeting. Despite the proximity of the two meetings, the London agenda is as packed as ever and so ICANN 50 is set to be an extremely busy and hopefully equally productive meeting for the GNSO.
Overall, the GNSO has over 60 meetings scheduled, the vast majority of which are public and participation from the wider ICANN community is strongly encouraged. Please note that if you won't be travelling to London you will be able to join through remote participation – available for all public meetings during ICANN 50. Whether you are in London or not, you should follow the GNSO twitter feed for all the latest updates.
As always, the GNSO starts its work two days before the official start of the ICANN Meeting, with its now traditional preparatory weekend session. With a combined 24 sessions scheduled for Saturday 21 June and Sunday 22 June, it promises to be a very busy start indeed. During the course of the weekend, the GNSO plans to meet with the ICANN President and CEO, the Sr. Advisor to the President on Strategy, and the GDD leadership team. There are also sessions scheduled with the various chairs of all on-going PDP and non-PDP working groups. In addition, time will be spent discussing ICANN's accountability and the Transition of the NTIA's Stewardship of the IANA Functions. Finally, on Sunday, the GNSO will also have their traditional meeting with the GAC. Please note that the GSNO Council leads the weekend session and all community members are strongly invited to take an active part in these discussions.
On Monday the GNSO will lead four public sessions, the most high profile being the ccNSO / GNSO Council Meeting. In addition, the Thick Whois Implementation Meeting and Cross-Community Working Group on Framework of CWG Operation Principles will also meet face-to-face; as will the IRTP Part D PDP Working Groupthat is in the process of completing its Final Report due to be submitted to the GNSO Council shortly after the London meeting.
Tuesday is probably the busiest day for the GNSO during ICANN 50 with thirteen public sessions. The four GNSO Stakeholder Groups meet among themselves and also with the ICANN Board. In addition, the five GNSO Constituencies hold their public meetings that day. For more details, please consult the public schedule, including information on remote participation.
On Wednesday the GNSO will come together for nine public sessions. The most important of these will be the GNSO Council Public Meeting, taking place from 13:00-15:00 in the main conference room Sandringham. The agenda and the tabled motions will be made available online, so please check these sites closer to the meeting. There are also four face-to-face meetings of different GNSO working groups, including the Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation Issues PDP WG. The new gTLD Applicants Group and the 2012 new gTLD Application Round Session are also meeting and please note that the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group will host a Privacy Discussion. This session will be of interest particularly to those concerned with issues of privacy, human rights, the public interest, and practical matters of application of data protection law in the ICANN ecosystem.
Thursday starts with an unusually early GNSO Wrap-Up Session, where the GNSO Council meets in public to reflect on the week in London and to plan its upcoming workload. Also that day the Data and Metrics for Policy Making WG will meet face-to-face. Although these are the only two public GNSO sessions of the day, Thursday still holds a number of very interesting sessions for the GNSO community. For example, the session on Enhancing ICANN Accountability and a two-hour session on the Transition of NTIA's Stewardship of the IANA Functions will certainly provide very interesting discussions. The day will end with the Public Forum and the Public Board Meeting and, finally, ICANN 50 will conclude with the traditional Wrap-Up Cocktail.
As you can see, it's going to be a busy week for the GNSO but of course we would not want it any other way. The GNSO, its Council, Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies are looking forward to a productive and engaging ICANN 50 and we all hope to see you in London!