• Accept As-Is
• Accept With modification
• Reject

Rationale:

MK: Accept as-is (although note should be taken of potential budget implications of additional translation / interpretation mechanisms)

-GNSO PDP Manual recommends (but does not mandate) translating Executive Summaries of Issue/Initial/Final Reports into UN6; GNSO website has Google Translate tool
-Language Services team has undergone expansion and is implementing process/operational improvements, which may be applicable.

-At-Large/ALAC pilot to use scribes for select meetings

-AdobeConnect Event Module functionality can be used to promote an event and offer translations in select languages provided sufficient notice and cost/benefit considerations.  Tracking available to measure participation and survey questions can be used during the call to gauge usefulness.

11

Paul Diaz

gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group

(Support) The goal behind this recommendation is good. If financial resources and volunteer resourses were unlimited, it would be easy to fulfill this recommendation. Unfortunately, they are not, so this recommendation needs to be balanced with that in mind. In addition to procuring direct translation services, ways should be explored to use SG and Constituency language expertise to fulfill this recommendation. ICANN has come a long way in providing non-English support, but is the community prepared to devote a large share of the annual budget for translation services? How would we measure the ROI, especially considering text translations do not appear to significantly increase the volume of non-English public comments?

48

Osvaldo Novoa

ISPCP

(Support) It would enhance the chance of success if ICANN helped to facilitate interaction with relevant organisations (such as African ISP Associations). Currently the CROPP program is often seen as a barrier to such interaction due to the restriction on regional wide activitity only. Key Working Group outputs are already in multiple language, but there needs to be a way fo interim work products to be in multiple languages too. Also, there needs to be a way for Working Group chairs to be trained in sensitivity to the language needs of people who do not have English as a first language.

109

Rudi Vansnick

NPOC

We agree on the majority of the recommendations, especially those emphasizing efforts for better and greater outreach to, and enabling participation of, volunteers in the policy work.

171

Laura Covington, J. Scott Evans, Marie Pattullo

Business Constituency

We agree that we could explore and implement ways to engage more deeply with community members whose first language is other than English, as a means to overcoming language barriers.

203

Stephanie Perrin

NCUC/NCSG

We need more simultaneous translation.  That is the easiest and most effective way to overcome this barrier, but it is extraordinarily resource intensive.  Do we even know what the ranking of most common languages is?

244

Greg Shatan

IPC

(Support) Translation and publication of Initial and Final Reports, as well as additional Working Group materials in the five other official U.N. languages would be a meaningful starting point.

282

Amr Elsadr

This is indeed a challenge that needs to be overcome if true global multicultural representation on GNSO WGs is to be achieved.

318

Olivier Crepin-Leblond

ALAC

(Support) The ALAC supports this with the following recommendation: Although ICANN’s primary working language is English, to generate a large amount of engagement, interpretation of GNSO meetings and calls will ultimately be needed. Due to the lack of available interpretation in the past, the ALAC's Regional At-Large Organisations (RALOs) experienced a strain on participation, similar to the strains that SGs and Cs are experiencing at present. Interpretation is mandatory in some regions. We also encourage the GNSO to consider forming non-English language Working Groups or sub-groups where there is sufficient interest. ICANN Community leaders who are native speakers of non-English languages may lead those Working Groups. Transcript of discussion in English and the Working Groups’ respective working languages will be provided to help the wider Community and the general public keep track of their activities.

363

Michele Neylon, https://buenosaires53.icann.org/en/schedule/sun-gnso-working/transcript-gnso-review-21jun15-en

GNSO Working Session

The language issues are very, very real but there’s a trade-off there. I mean there’s a massive cost associated with that. I mean, if you want to look at providing real time, interpreting services, real-time translation, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, that not only involves a massive cost, it also involves massive logistics.  And at some point you may need to kind of say well hold on a second. You know, does that really need to happen for every single thing? But how do you actually decide?

369

Maria, https://buenosaires53.icann.org/en/schedule/sun-gnso-working/transcript-gnso-review-21jun15-en

GNSO Working Session

Just a few words on language. I think that you have touched on a very important point. It’s necessary to have translation. I know that ALAC has developed a very consistent approach to translation, and I think that this is equally or even more important when we are thinking about policy-making. The documents, the main documents that we’re going to vote and the calls, they should be translated. We have a lot of people in our communities in NCUC that we had this meeting yesterday, and there were people that could not participate effectively because they only speak Spanish. So we had to translate ourselves because we did not have translation available. So there is a lot of people that are interested and they won’t be able to participate. And the negative effect is also the opposite. When I’m here, my mind is set to English. I was going to give an - I gave an interview to the fellowship program and I was asked by staff, “Can’t you speak in Portuguese?” And I said, “I’m sorry, I can’t because all the vocabulary and all the words, they come to my mind in English now because I’m sort of into the process, and how do I translate this to my community back?” So this creates a problem to me as well. If I had access to the knowledge and to the vocabulary at least in Spanish it would make it easier for me to convey the message back. So I really think that this is a very important point.