With the Joint SO/AC New gTLD Applicant Support Working Group (JAS WG) having recently submitted its Final Report to its chartering organizations, it is a good time to review the significant contribution made by At-Large members to this project.
The At-Large JAS WG Final Report Workspace contains the JAS WG Final Report and offers members of the At-Large community the opportunity to make comments.
The Final Report
The JAS WG recently submitted its eagerly awaited Final Report. This represented the culmination of the WG's efforts to develop a sustainable approach to providing financial and non-financial support to needy parties applying for Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) in ICANN's New gTLD Program.
Within the Final Report's recommendations, it explains:
- What types of support should be offered;
- Who should be approved to receive support; and
- How candidates for support should be evaluated.
At-Large Participation
From the WG's first meeting on 29 April 2010, At-Large members have played a central role in its efforts, helping the WG stay on track and successfully complete its mandate. Thirteen of the WG's members come from At-Large, including one of the current WG co-chairs, Carlton Samuels, a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Islands Regional At-Large Organization (LACRALO) and the ALAC Rapporteur.
These At-Large members worked diligently earlier this year in preparing the WG's Second Milestone Report [PDF, 282 KB], submitted in May 2011 to At-Large and the GNSO, the WG's two chartering organizations.
More recently, the JAS WG's At-Large members worked tirelessly – along with their GNSO and unaffiliated colleagues – to prepare the WG's Final Report. The members backed a staff proposal to add separate drafting sessions to the WG's regular two meetings each week. Consequently, the WG often met four times a week to prepare this Report, in addition to the long hours spent hammering out its final recommendations by e-mail and Skype.
As the Final Report deadline grew closer, the ALAC Chair and JAS WG member, Olivier Crépin-Leblond, requested that ICANN increase the WG's staff support, in order to help the WG complete the Report on time. In response, five new staff members were brought onboard, including two members of ICANN's Policy team dedicated to helping the WG in its actual drafting.
With the help of At-Large, the WG/staff collaboration on this Final Report was a success. The Report was submitted to At-Large and the GNSO in time to be reviewed in September and, if approved, to be submitted for Board consideration in Dakar.