[council] with reference to Agenda item 6: Initial discussion - developing a GNSO Policy Strategy for 2010.
Hi,
People may have noticed this item in the agenda, without much
explanation. Here is some background.
My thought is get the conversation started on how the GNSO and the
GNSO Council develop the required Policy Strategy. In suggesting
this, I am not suggesting that the current council should determine
the future strategy or the priorities within that strategy. Rather I
am proposing that it is time for the constituencies (past, present and
interest groups) and community to start developing the ground work so
that the new Council, once seated can begin to focus on Policy work.
I quite specifically did not call this bluesky, because we did one of
those a year ago, and I still shutter at the enormity, complexity and
randomness of the list we derived. Rather I think this council needs
to figure out how to get the process started in the community.
The question might come as to why start now? I have several reasons
for thinking it may be time to start:
- It has been on our todo list for a long time, I just kept putting it
off until the major council tasks in the
restructuring and reorganization were done. I think we are almost
there now.
- the BCG recommendations approved by the Board included this in the
initial tasks as can be seen in some of the quotes I have included
from the REPORT OF THE
BOARD GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE GNSO REVIEW WORKING GROUP ON GNSO
IMPROVEMENTS.
Another issue may concern the legitimacy of this council, that is
nearing the end of its term, setting the agenda for future policy work
work. I tend to see the effort more as one that set the stage with a
way to organize, the constituencies, the candidate constituencies and
the community and start gathering the information needed to start
discussion in earnest in Seoul and continue thereafter.
thanks
a.
Some Background info from
REPORT OF THE BOARD GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE GNSO REVIEW WORKING GROUP ON
GNSO IMPROVEMENTS.
2.2.1 LSE Review Recommendation
9. Develop and publish annually a two-year GNSO Policy Development
Plan that
dovetails with ICANN’s budget and strategic planning.
Page 24
It would also be helpful for the PDP process to align better with
ICANN’s strategic plan
and operations plan, as was proposed in LSE Rec. #9. Recommendation #9
suggested
that the GNSO publish annually a “Policy Development Plan” for current
and upcoming
work.
Indeed, it is important across the entire ICANN community that
projects and
resource allocations are better aligned with strategic objectives.
ICANN has a well
developed planning process, with a three year Strategic Plan that is
reviewed and updated
annually and an annual Operating Plan. As the GNSO Council’s policy
development
work is such a critical part of ICANN’s function, it is important that
there be a strong
nexus between the work plan of the GNSO Council and the ICANN planning
process.
We therefore recommend that the Council, GNSO constituencies and staff
execute,
within six months, a more formal “Policy Development Plan” that is
linked to ICANN’s
overall strategic plan, but at the same time is sufficiently flexible
to accommodate
changes in priority determined by rapid evolution in the DNS
marketplace and
unexpected initiatives (e.g., the use of a wildcard by a Registry).
Page 26
The PDP should be better aligned with ICANN’s strategic plan and
operations plan.
A formal Policy Development Plan should be linked to ICANN’s overall
strategic
plan, but at the same time should be sufficiently flexible to
accommodate changes in
priority determined by rapid evolution in the DNS marketplace and
unexpected
initiatives.
Page 26
(i) The Council, constituencies and staff to execute, within six
months, a more
formal “Policy Development Plan” that is linked to ICANN’s overall
strategic
plan, but at the same time is sufficiently flexible to accommodate
changes in
priority (establishing the above-described implementation team for that
purpose); and
27
(ii) Staff to propose, within six months, metrics that can bring the
PDP more in
sync with ICANN’s planning.
Page 27
Third, the amount of
time and energy that the Council has devoted to task forces, whether
in terms of
establishing them, overseeing their work, or debating their
conclusions, has left
insufficient time for the Council to focus on what is perhaps its most
important function –
setting the overall strategy for managing policy development by the
GNSO Council.
Page 30
In addition, the Council could analyze trends and changes in the gTLD
arena and, as a
consequence, provide advice on the use of ICANN resources affecting
the gTLD name
space. The Council could begin a constructive dialogue with a broad
range of Internet
stakeholders in order to fully understand DNS-related technologies,
trends, and markets.
This knowledge can help the Council set the appropriate strategic
vision and direction for
gTLD policy development, as well as coordinate the process in a
meaningful way. Given
that there is significant expertise reflected among the GNSO
constituencies, the
constituencies should also be invited to participate and contribute to
the Council’s overall
analysis of trends and changes in the gTLD arena
Page 37
Proposed Action Item: The Board requests:
(i) The Council and constituencies to participate fully in the ICANN
planning process, including providing a three year view (for the
Strategic
Plan) and an annual plan