[council] Selection of Integration Panel for the IDN Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR)

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-06sep13-en.htm
Selection of Integration Panel for the IDN Root Zone Label Generation Rules 
(LGR)
6 September 2013

ICANN is pleased to announce that the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) 
Variant Top Level Domain (TLD) Program has completed the selection of the 
Integration Panel for the IDN Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR). We 
received many applications from well-qualified individuals and we thank all the 
applicants for their interest in the IDN Variant TLD Program. The Integration 
Panel is a vital component in the implementation of the Procedure to Develop 
and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA 
Labels<http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds/draft-lgr-procedure-20mar13-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 1.39 MB] (the Procedure), and its success depends on having Integration 
Panel members with the right skills to perform the substantive work.

The Procedure defines a two-pass process for the creation of IDN label 
generation rules (LGR) for the root zone. These rules are used to determine 
sets of potential "variants" of a given label that may be afforded specific 
treatment in the various root zone processes.

ICANN published the Call for Subject Matter Experts for IDN Root Zone LGR 
Integration Panel and Advisors to All 
Panels<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-06jun13-en.htm>
 on 6 June 2013. In response, ICANN received 22 eligible submissions and 
utilized the following selection process:

 1.  ICANN reviewed the candidates' submissions against the predefined 
criteria. The selection criteria were shared with the candidates and candidates 
were given the opportunity to provide any additional information in support of 
their candidature:
    *   The selection criteria for members of the Integration Panel included at 
least one area of primary expertise in Unicode, Linguistics and Writing 
Systems, Domain Name System (DNS) and IDNA.
    *   The selection process also took into account secondary experience the 
candidates had in those same areas of expertise.
    *   In addition, the selection criteria required demonstrable ability and 
experience to perform systematic and detailed analysis of large data sets and 
to produce accurate and comprehensive results, have prior work experience, and 
demonstrated ability to advocate positions and build group consensus.
 2.  Each selection criterion was assigned a score. The evaluation team ranked 
each candidate's submission in relation to the selection criteria. The process 
allowed the evaluation team to identify the candidates who best satisfied the 
selection criteria.
 3.  Based on the scores for each of the candidates, the evaluation team 
arrived at a list of the most suitable candidates. For each area of expertise, 
the evaluation team reviewed the top candidates and made the final selection 
based on the aggregate expertise of the panel to ensure that all areas had 
appropriate representation.

Selected panel members are listed below:

 *   Marc Blanchet
 *   Asmus Freytag
 *   Michel Suignard
 *   Nicholas Ostler
 *   Wil Tan

Integration Panel members are expected to serve an initial term through June 
2014. Responsibilities of the Integration Panel members are stated in the 
Procedure and the call for subject matter 
experts<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-06jun13-en.htm>.
 The decisions by the integration Panel are required to be unanimous.

Expert advisors are available to the Integration Panel to aid its 
deliberations. These advisors aid the Integration Panel by lending their 
subject matter expertise, based on specific requests from the Panel. Using the 
same selection criteria as used for Panel members, the following advisor has 
been selected:

 *   Michael Everson

The selected Advisor will serve an initial term through June 2014. Additional 
advisors may be added at a later time as requested by the Panel and as 
specified in the Procedure.

The Integration Panel will undertake the work through periodic conference calls 
and face-to-face meetings. The first face-to-face meeting is planned for early 
October 2013. Initial work includes preparing the maximal set of code points 
and default whole label variant evaluation rules for the root zone. This will 
serve as a starting point for the community Generation Panels, the second part 
in the two-pass process.

For more information on the IDN Variant TLD Program, please visit 
http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds.

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