[council] Help Build The New GNSO

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org]

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09jan09-en.htm
Help Build The New GNSO

Volunteers Are Now Being Accepted To Join Work Teams That Will Develop GNSO 
Improvement Implementation Plans

9 January 2009

The GNSO is creating five new Work Teams to be the incubators through which 
implementation plans for ICANN Board approved GNSO improvement recommendations 
can be developed and proposed by members of the ICANN community. Each Work Team 
will be made up of community volunteers who have interest in and expertise in 
one of five main focus areas: 

Constituency/Stakeholder Group Operations 
GNSO Operations 
New Working Group Model. 
New GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) 
Community Communications and Coordination 
We encourage you to participate in one of the Work Teams. 

If you do have an interest in participating, please send a message to 
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxx indicating which Work Team you want to join. Please 
include in the message your name, affiliation (constituency or individual), 
company/organization, position/title, email address, time zone, telephone 
numbers, and describe your specific interest (professional and/or personal) in 
joining the team. All personal information will be kept confidential. 

The Work Teams are open to all interested volunteers. Work Team meeting times 
will probably overlap, so please consider joining only one Work Team.

Background information and the scope of each newly chartered team are 
summarized below. 

Background Information 

The ICANN Board announced sweeping recommendations for improving the GNSO last 
June at their meeting in Paris. The implementation work of the GNSO 
Improvements effort is underway and there are many exciting opportunities 
available for ICANN community input and support to help achieve the goals and 
objectives adopted by the Board. The effort is progressing on four parallel 
tracks: 

The GNSO Council is working to develop the transition to a newly structured 
GNSO Council by June 2009. 
Existing GNSO constituencies are preparing to submit their re-confirmations to 
the ICANN Board. 
New Stakeholder Groups are developing petitions and charters for ICANN Board 
recognition, and 
The GNSO is creating five special Work Teams to develop specific proposals, 
processes and mechanisms for implementing the ICANN Board's Recommendations. 
All four areas require significant investments of time and brainpower from 
members of the ICANN community, but the Work Team efforts, in particular, need 
an infusion of enthusiasm, passion, expertise and fresh ideas from the entire 
community to move the implementation forward. 

Scope of the Work Teams

Constituency Operations Team (COT) 

This team will develop guidelines and mechanisms to help GNSO constituencies 
and stakeholder groups operate in ways that ensure transparency, accountability 
and accessibility, including outreach efforts to encourage broader 
participation within the GNSO by explaining the added value of membership in 
these groups. 

In its Paris recommendations, the Board directed GNSO constituencies to develop 
participation rules and operating procedures that set certain minimum standards 
regarding transparency and accountability. The Board emphasized that criteria 
for participation in any ICANN constituency should be objective, clearly 
stated, and standardized. In addition, the Board directed constituencies to 
develop global, targeted outreach programs aimed at increasing participation 
and interest in the GNSO policy process, including information on the option to 
self-form new constituencies. 

Some of the specific recommendations approved by the Board include: 

Develop a global outreach program to broaden participation in current 
constituencies. 
Enhance existing constituencies by developing recommendations on the following: 
Develop a set of top-level participation guidelines based on the principles as 
defined in the GNSO recommendations, while recognizing differences between 
constituencies and that one size may not fit all constituencies; and 

Develop a "tool kit" of basic administrative, operational and technical 
services available to all constituencies 

Please refer to the draft COT Charter for more information: 
https://st.icann.org/icann-osc/index.cgi?constituency_operations_team. 

Communication and Coordination Team (CCT) 

This team will develop tools for increased communication effectiveness and 
efficiency within the GNSO and improve GNSO communication and coordination with 
other ICANN structures, including members of the ICANN Board, other Supporting 
Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs). 

The Board stated that the Council as well as the GNSO constituencies should 
consider additional ways in which the GNSO can further improve communication, 
cooperation and coordination with other ICANN structures. The Board added that 
there should be more frequent contact and communication between the GNSO 
Council, GNSO constituencies and the members the Council elects to the Board, 
and among the Chairs of the GNSO, other Supporting Organizations and Advisory 
Committees especially in advance of each ICANN Meeting. 

Some of the specific recommendations approved by the Board include: 

Improve the GNSO's: 

Web site 
Document management capacity 
Ability to solicit meaningful public comments on its work 
Coordination with other ICANN structures. 
Please refer to the draft CCT Charter for more information: 
https://st.icann.org/icann-osc/index.cgi?osc_communications_team. 

GNSO Council Operations Team (GCOT) 

This work team will develop any changes needed to the Council's operational 
procedures and role in response to the Board approved GNSO structure including 
determining what steps are needed to establish the role of the Council as a 
"strategic manager of the policy process" and preparing clear rules for the 
establishment of new constituencies within stakeholder groups, while 
recognizing that differences exist between stakeholder groups and 
constituencies. 

The Board recommended that the Council move away from being a legislative body 
concerned primarily with voting towards becoming a strategic entity focused on 
overseeing and managing Working Groups, which will be primarily engaged in 
developing policy for the GNSO. The Council should adopt term limits and 
implement a training and development curriculum for its members. 

The Board endorsed a new bicameral voting structure for the newly reorganized 
Council comprised of four broad stakeholder groups. It authorized the 
establishment of a "contracted party house" (made up of registry and registrar 
stakeholder group representatives) and a second "non-contracted party house" 
(made up of commercial and non-commercial stakeholder group representatives) 
and set parameters for their respective compositions. The Board also approved 
the presence of a voting Nominating Committee Appointee (NCA) in each house and 
subsequently authorized a third Council-level non-voting appointee. The Board 
also approved a methodology for the GNSO Council to select a Chair and approved 
various voting thresholds recommended by the community. 

Some of the specific recommendations approved by the Board include: 

Determine what steps are needed to establish the role of the Council as a 
"strategic manager of the policy process." 
Define and develop scope and responsibilities of any other standing 
"committees" as recommended by the BGC WG (those suggested to date: committee 
to analyze trends; committee to benchmark policy implementation) 
Develop "Statement of Interest" and "Declaration of Interest" forms. 
Develop curriculum for training Council members, constituents, facilitators and 
others. 
Prepare clear rules for the establishment of new constituencies within 
stakeholder groups, while recognizing that differences exist between 
stakeholder groups and constituencies. 
Review and recommend amendments as appropriate regarding methods for 
encouraging, promoting and introducing new constituencies, while recognizing 
that differences exist between stakeholder groups and constituencies. 
Please refer to the draft GCOT Charter for more information: 
https://st.icann.org/icann-osc/index.cgi?gnso_operations_team. 

Working Group Model Team (WGMT) 

This team will collaborate to develop a new Working Group model for GNSO policy 
development and decision making. 

The ICANN Board recommended that Working Groups become the focal point for GNSO 
policy development to enhance the process by making it more inclusive and 
representative, and, ultimately, more effective and efficient. The Board noted 
that this approach can be a more constructive way of establishing areas of 
agreement than task forces, where membership is limited and discussion can 
become polarized along constituency lines. Working Groups also enable key 
parties to become involved in the beginning and work together to address 
complex and/or controversial issues. Appointing skilled chairs and drafters, as 
well as proper scoping of the Working Group's objectives, will be integral 
parts of a successful model. The Board urged that steps be taken immediately to 
move to a Working Group model for future policy development work, developing 
appropriate operating principles, rules and procedures that can draw upon 
expertise gained from other organization's successful policy development 
efforts, as appropriate. 

Please refer to the draft WGMT Charter for more information: 
https://st.icann.org/gnso_transition/index.cgi?pdp_team. 

Policy Development Process (PDP) Team (PDPT) 

This team will work to develop a more efficient and effective policy 
development process for the GNSO community. 

The Board emphasized that the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) needs to be 
revised to make it more effective and responsive to ICANN's policy development 
needs. It should be brought in-line with the time and effort actually required 
to develop policy and made consistent with ICANN's existing contracts 
(including, but not limited to, clarifying the appropriate scope of GNSO 
"consensus policy" development). 

The Board stated that, while the procedure for developing "consensus policies" 
will need to continue to be established by the Bylaws as long as required by 
ICANN's contracts, the GNSO Council and Staff should develop and propose new 
PDP rules for the Board's consideration and approval that contain more 
flexibility. The new rules should emphasize the importance of the preparation 
that must be done before launch of a Working Group or other activity, such as 
public discussion, fact-finding, and expert research in order to properly 
define the scope, objective and schedule for a specific policy development 
goal, and the development of metrics for measuring success. 

Please refer to the draft PDPT Charter for more information: 
https://st.icann.org/gnso_transition/index.cgi?pdp_team

For additional information about the GNSO Improvements Implementation process 
please consult the GNSO Improvements Information Page at 
http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements/

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org