ICANN is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016 Multistakeholder Ethos Award. This year, the community evaluation panel recognized two long-time members of the ICANN community: Chuck Gomes and Keith Davidson. The awards were presented at ICANN56 in Helsinki, Finland.
The Multistakeholder Ethos Award honors members of the ICANN community who have made outstanding contributions to ICANN's multistakeholder model of Internet governance. Chuck Gomes and Keith Davidson were selected from a list of 19 nominees as those who best demonstrated the spirit of collaboration with the aim of building consensus. These recipients have proven their dedication to ICANN's multistakeholder model through many years of active participation and leadership.
The community panel felt that each recipient met the award criteria in distinctive ways.
Chuck Gomes, based in North America, was recognized for his passionate advocacy of the multistakeholder model. On a day-to-day basis, he exhibits the qualities of a facilitator, collaborator and consensus builder, working beyond the boundaries of any constituency or stakeholder group. Gomes served as the first Chair of the Registry Stakeholders Group, and was instrumental in its development. He has volunteered his time and services to many working groups within the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), where he also served as GNSO Councilor, including terms as Chair and Vice Chair.
Most recently, Gomes contributed significantly to the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA) Stewardship Transition, acting as a liaison between the two cross-community working groups: CWG-Stewardship and CCWG-Accountability. He is the current Chair of the Next Generation Registration Directory Services Policy Development Process.
New Zealand's Keith Davidson is recognized for his many years of commitment to ICANN's multistakeholder model. Davidson served as Vice Chair of the Country Codes Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Council and Co-Chair of the ccNSO/Governmental Advisory Committee Liaison Group. Recently, he represented the ccNSO on the Meetings Strategy Working Group. Other leadership roles include acting as Chair of the Delegation and Redelegation Working Group and the Framework of Interpretation Working Group. Throughout, Davidson has demonstrated a commitment to consensus building and to ICANN's multistakeholder processes that is truly inspiring.
Davidson's influence has extended to the larger Internet ecosystem, particularly in New Zealand. Over many years, he acted as Director and Chair of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Name Association (APTLD), as the driving force behind the Pacific Internet Governance Forum, as trustee of the Internet Society and as President of InternetNZ.
Launched in 2014 at ICANN50 in London, the Multistakeholder Ethos Award recognizes ICANNparticipants who have invested in consensus-based solutions, acknowledged the importance of ICANN's multistakeholder model of Internet governance and contributed in a substantive way to the higher interests of ICANN's organization and community.
Timeline
Ethos Award 2016 Recipient(s) to be awarded at ICANN 56, Helsinki (27-30 June 2016)
Nomination Period: 10 December 2015 - 17 March 2016
Community Panelists to be appointed by SOs/ACs leaders by 11 January 2016
Overview & Background:
This award program seeks to recognize community members who have served in leadership roles in multiple ICANN working groups or committees and demonstrated collaboration with different supporting organizations and/or advisory committees.
ICANN hopes to acknowledge community participants who have (1) deeply invested in consensus-based solutions, (2) affirmed the importance of ICANN’s multistakeholder model for Internet governance, and (3) contributed in a substantive way to the higher interests of ICANN’s organization and its community.
Candidates for the award will demonstrate at least five years of participation in the ICANN community. A panel of community members is being convened to help review all nominations and determine the best candidates for the first awards. Recipients for this award will be evaluated by a community selection panel with four primary criteria in mind, using a point-based system:
- Demonstrated multistakeholder volunteer service via working groups or committees - Maximum of 10 points.
- Demonstrated spirit of collaboration through engagement with other community members with the aim of consensus building - Maximum of 10 points.
- Demonstrated facilitator of dialogue and open discussion in a fair, cordial and collegial manner - Maximum of 5 points.
- Demonstrated additional devotional factors exhibited by time spent supporting ICANN's multistakeholder model and its overall effectiveness - Maximum of 5 points.
Background:
ICANN’s distinctive multistakeholder model brings together community members with different backgrounds and interests to work towards a joint goal: to ensure the security and stability of the Internet’s unique identifier systems. Due to the presence of so many different opinions and interests within ICANN’s policy-making structure, courtesy and collaboration are key. The Multistakeholder Ethos Award recognizes those ICANN participants who have deeply invested in consensus-based solutions and in the importance of ICANN’s multistakeholder model to Internet governance.
Background Documentation:
