Andres Piazza: So, first of all, we have the roll call in the agenda. We have some people that have sent their apologies. We have Sergio Salinas (ph). I don't know if there's anybody else. Very well.So let's continue then. So, this is in regards to the-- We have the action items. Let's see. Can you help me with that issue in regards to the action items because there was a teleconference, I know, that I was not able to attend?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. This is Dev. Okay, there were three action items. I don't know. I'm trying to bring that up.The first action item related to the-- I'm sorry. Let me bring this up. Okay, yes. This is regarding whether we should endorse NARALO's draft statement regarding the reduction-- the potential-- the reduction of the size of the ALAC delegates from five to three. I believe what has happened is that ALAC is now, and, I guess, Heidi, you can confirm if this is correct or not, that ALAC will be looking at adopting NARALO's draft statement in full. I don't believe there were any further changes to the statement.
Heidi Ullrich: Yes. This is Heidi. The ALAC has approved the statement on the NomComm, which was taken-- derived from the NARALO statement. And that has passed.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: That's correct. Thank you. Thank you, Heidi.The second action item, suggestions of documents to be included in the At-Large starter pack. The idea of a starter pack was to help when a new ALS joins. The starter pack will help them familiarize themselves with At-Large activities and how they can engage with the rest of the community.
The key suggestion that Carlton suggested is sound. Essentially, there is the LACRALO MOU with ICANN, the LACRALO rules of procedure, the ICANN bylaws, the ALAC bylaws, and the ALAC rules of procedure. I fully agree with this. I think what I'm discovering more, though, is that-- I think there needs to be some sort of cover document that kind of links all of this together here. I say that because, on our LACRALO page at LACRALO.org, the link that takes you to - How do I get involved and the basic information where it just refers to the information on how do you become an At-Large structure and how to participate-- how to register the At-Large structure-- I think there has to be some sort of overview, some sort of document that provides an introduction. Okay, welcome to LACRALO. Here's how you participate. You're automatically added to these two mailing lists - the LACRALO discuss, the ALAC announce, and so forth. And then there are briefing sessions, there are this, there are that. Something of that nature, because I think, without that, I think potential At-Large structures will be-- well, I would say possibly overwhelmed by how ICANN policy work takes place. I don't know, Andres, if anybody sent something directly to you regarding the starter pack.
Andres Piazza: No. No one has sent me anything. So, you know, I'm checking at this moment everything that I have. I mean I did make some comments to Carlton, and I'm going through that at this moment. And I'm also looking at the Skype channel at Carlton's contribution. And I'm seeing that there is only one contribution-- that I don't see this.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. That is the only comment. Yes. That is the comment. That's right. This is Dev. Yes, that's the comment I received also from Carlton on the wiki itself.
Andres Piazza: And so, as I was saying-- This is Andres. The only contribution that I see here is the documents but also the statement by Carlton. And I just posted this to the chat. But we did not receive anything for December 10. That is the date that we had convened on originally. And there's nothing there so far. But I do agree completely with what you just said (unintelligible).
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay.
Andres Piazza: What is the other action item, Dev? Or there is more for this?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: I think I wanted to make an attempt to create a welcome letter that brings all of these different things together - the MOU, that kind of background information together. I would like-- I will be sending that-- I would like to put that as an action item and just ask if anybody else wants to help me with that.
I just posted something on the Skype chat. I'll use the contents of that Webpage that I have done for
my At-Large structure as a starting point to try to bring this-- to bring this letter, that welcome letter, together.
Andres Piazza: Well, Dev, that's very complete information. So we definitely need to have some sort of a link for this information. And I, obviously, promised to personally get involved in this activity as well, says Andres, specifically, as well, in the outreach issue.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. This is Dev. I think yes because I think this will also help in our outreach and try to make sense-- more persons aware of what is happening in regards to policy (unintelligible). It could also be used for that type of outreach, definitely (inaudible).
Interpreter: Dev, I'm sorry. Could you just repeat that one second? I'm sorry. He was speaking at the same time as you, so it got a bit tough.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Sorry. I was just saying, Andres, I agree with you because such a document, I think, really will help our outreach for introducing persons to the whole idea about that they can participate in ICANN policy, and here's how-- and get them motivated to join-- to become an At-Large structure or to join At-Large structures and participate in LACRALO. So I agree with you fully. That's it.
Interpreter: Thank you, Dev.
Andres Piazza: So, then these are the action items. I do have a question on the second action item.
Interpreter: Give me a moment.
Heidi Ullrich: Dev, we have Teresa (ph) on the call now.
Andres Piazza: In regards to the second action item that you mentioned, in the time span, because we just received this contribution from Carlton-- So, I want to know if it would be possible to have another contribution or what it is that we can work on.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. Well, I will post something. This is Dev. I will post something to the list regarding this action item. And I'll put a link also to that welcome letter as well as I start drafting it so that people can continue to see work on it. But this is Dev again. I think, though, that Heidi has something to say.
Heidi Ullrich: Yes. Hi. We have Teresa Sweinhart (ph) on the call today, who will be discussing the strategic plan for 2010 to 2013. So she has a very limited time today. So I would like to request that she begin her presentation as soon as possible.
Teresa Sweinhart: Heidi, however it works to fit into the agenda. I'm sorry I was late.
Heidi Ullrich: Oh, no problem.
Teresa Sweinhart: Okay. Thank you. Whenever we can fit it on the agenda.
Andres Piazza: From Andres' point of view: It is definitely a very important point in the agenda item today, so whenever you see fit, we can go ahead and start with that.
Heidi Ullrich: Okay. So, again, this is Teresa Sweinhart. She's vice president global and strategic partnership, and she is working on this strategic planning development. So, again, her presentation is located in the ability connect (ph) chat room for this call.
Teresa Sweinhart: Wow. It's in Spanish too. Imagine that. Brilliant. Should I go ahead and get started? That sounds good.
Interpreter: And just from the interpreter's point of view, when you're going to talk about names, companies, or anything like that, just go slowly because I have to start from the end, just to make it easier and not miss that piece. Thank you.
Teresa Sweinhart: Fantastic. I think for the benefit, also, of the interpreter, I'll use the slides as the premise and just do a short introduction prior to that where we are on the timeline. So, the concept and the direction of this draft strategic planning process for ICANN has been somewhat different than ones in the past, as you'll notice from the brevity and more strategic focus of it than we've had in prior years.
The objective here is to, and this was also discussed at the ICANN meeting in Seoul during a public session, and we didn't have an opportunity to brief the ALAC and the RALOs. So we appreciate this opportunity. The objective in this strategic planning cycle is really to take a look at what are the high-level areas of strategic focus for the organization.
So, if we go to the next slide, we will see a sort of larger mission statement, which is at the top, and then four categories which are seen as high-level categories of strategic focus for the organization. And the concept behind this is to really consolidate some of the thinking and the strategic focus areas, identify under those what are some strategic objectives that would be examples of deliverables within that focus area. And you'll see those in the first row, underneath the four boxes.
And the reason that those objectives are put into brackets is that we are trying to get feedback as to whether those are the right kind of objectives under the strategic focus areas. These will be different than what are in the rows beneath that, some of it which is ongoing community work, which many of you are involved with and that's work already underway; projects-- strategic projects that are already underway; and staff work that is already underway.
So let me give an example. If you go to the third box, you have excel IANA and other core operations. Well, what would a strategic objective look like for that sort of focus area? Would it be a flawless (ph) IANA operations? Would it be improved resiliency? Would it be high levels of customer satisfaction? And those are the questions we're putting out for feedback. Are these the right kinds of objectives for three to five years out?
Under this, you'll see things that fit already into that area of work - monitoring the performance under strategic projects, IANA infrastructure upgrades and strengthening international operations and presence to give our core operations global dimension to it. Or, under staff work, the continuous board support that we do; that would be a cooperation area - support services, financial operations, things of that sort.
So, when we're looking for feedback on this sort of draft consultation time, it's really-- the feedback we're looking for is: Are the strategic objectives under these four areas the right ones? And, in particular, what I welcome from the discussions here is the global perspective. Are these the right ones from that perspective? And then, under additional feedback that's being looked for is: What are the potential metrics for measuring these kinds of performances? We're trying to get creative input on to that.
So what we've done is, from that sort of one-page, big picture of what a strategic plan will look like-- and we're seeking to keep it at a high level, on one page, so there's a very good sense and understanding of the multitude of facets for the organization and what's involved in the strategic focus areas and the objectives and then what's reflected in already ongoing work, which will then also come across in the operational planning cycle there.
The other factor that we're trying to capture in the strategic planning process is that-- We have the focus area, so we have preserved the (unintelligible) and security or trust in choice or contribute to a healthy internet ecosystem, which includes internet governance discussions. In thinking about this planning cycle a little bit differently-- In test planning cycles we've identified maybe maintaining a multi-stakeholder model as a strategic plan item. But, in reality, those are things that cut across all of ICANN's work.
And so you'll notice in the bottom there's five what we call enablers that all of ICANN's work should be from a multi-stakeholder standpoint. We should always be defending that model. It's always collaborative; that means also working with partner organizations and with stakeholders in the respective communities. International - it should always be international in scope. It should be transparent and accountable. And so the objective of putting those items and those enablers at the bottom is really that those are things that should be across the entire organization and just part of incorporating into the workload.
If you go to the next slide-- I don't know how to do that, myself. We then start to drill down in this draft on the more detailed discussion of: What does the first focus area mean? So what does preserve the (unintelligible) and security mean? And then elaborating a little bit more in the text-- so moving from a one-pager the whole concept to a more detailed discussion of each of the four categories and providing that greater, detailed work. And this will be elaborated upon based on the community input that we receive.
And then, when it comes down to the details of staff work, that work will be reflected much more in the operational part of the planning process because that will be considered part of the ongoing work.
We put these drafts out for public consultations in early December-- actually, earlier than that, at the end of November. And we anticipate the consultation on this to go through-- I believe it's the 21st of January.
In addition to input on this actual draft, we're also doing a survey, which I would really encourage everybody to participate in. And you can find that, likewise, on the Website. And that survey is intended as additional input into the process. It's not the final, defining factor, but it's additional input into the process. In that survey, you'll see about 19 different areas of work that many in the community and on the board and in discussions have raised as items that ICANN should focus on. What we're seeking to do here in this survey is identify and get some feedback on: Are they of extreme importance, of high importance, moderate importance, low importance, not at all, or completely outside ICANN's mission? And we'll use that input as part of the input into finalizing the draft strategic plan before it goes up to the board.
I think I've covered the main areas here of this draft. Maybe now is a good opportunity to take questions for anything that I haven't covered or missed.
Andres Piazza: This is Andres Piazza from LACRALO. And welcome, first of all. How are you?
Teresa Steinhart: Good. Good. Thanks.
Andres Piazza: So, the fourth column, to contribute to a healthy internet ecosystem, we think that, you know, regards to the consensus and the (unintelligible) information not only in LACRALO but within At-Large-- I think that it's something that can be important, and it's a strategy that at some point could work. A lot of these concepts have been identified mainly because it's important not only for the work of the community but also-- I think that, so far, we've also had a successful participation in regards to the subject.
Now, nevertheless, in regards to the certain thing of regional participation, I think that that is an issue that needs to be given a lot of priority, mainly in capacity-building because there are a lot of people that do want to participate. You know there are people that are not able to participate because of lack of means. There are a citizen issues that need to be considered. But it's definitely something that we need to work on and not only to be able to engage support as well.
Interpreter: And that was it for the statement.
Teresa Steinhart: That's very, very helpful. I think it would be very helpful to formally provide that input into the comment process as well. And I can certainly bring it back, but I always feel it's more important to provide it through the public comment process. So what we'll be doing is compiling all of that feedback and then reiterating and adjusting the feedback. So, for example, feedback of this sort may look at, then, when we go to the text itself on elaborating on this area-- that the feedback from LACRALO or from whichever constituency it may be or non-constituency, in the case that, let's say, there is feedback from entities that are not part of a constituency, to identify this has a very high priority. I'm always very appreciative of the-- Well, given the area of work that I do with the organization and, obviously, for the organization, the importance (unintelligible) of the global work, obviously, and making sure that our operations and our core operations are scaling in a global way that's functional.
So that feedback is very helpful, and I would very strongly encourage submitting that feedback through the consultation process, which, again, will go through-- I believe it's about the 20th of January.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev.
Interpreter: And now Mr. Carlos Aguirre does want to say something. Did you--?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: No. Let Carlos go first, and then I will.
Carlos Aguirre: And, first of all, I'm very grateful for being here, and I want to join what's just said. You know, capacity-building is definitely a very, very important issue. And it's something that we need to pay attention to because it has to do with broadcast of the entity and because it's a way for the community to know that the organization. And it will encourage the community to participate, and that's very important.
But this will only happen through the broadcast of the organization. So that is something that we have to pay close attention to. There is many events that have taken place. There is one that took place in Argentina where, with some national organization, at least within our ISOC Argentine charter, we carried out a conference. I title it-- It was named "Internet from the Future." And ICANN did participate in that. And, in fact, they paid for the participation of some of the speakers and being in Argentina.
Now, nevertheless, though, being in Argentina, the president at the time and the president of the ALAC who were in Argentina, they were not allowed to speak. And that was felt within the community because, you know, we go back to this - we're going to talk about an internet from the future-- we need to consider, really, ways on how to bridge that gap-- to be able to engage more participation.
Interpreter: And that was the end of that statement.
Teresa Steinhart: Thank you.
Interpreter: Dev, did you want to say something?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. This is Dev. Thank you. A question regarding the four areas of focus. First of all, I have to say this is a different approach than trying to just provide a big, long, dry document. You know, a long document is just a lot of reading. Obviously, it's a very good approach.
Under the strategic objectives-- I mean, I think I know what these things mean, but I'm not too sure. For example, under "promote competition, trust, choice, and innovation," a strategic objective is seeing everyone connected. What exactly does "everyone connected" mean? I didn't see a breakdown, like one line as to what that meant in the further slides. Or is it in another document?
Teresa Steinhart: No. It's actually not been elaborated on. It's intended to mean the importance of maintaining a single internet-- that, as we are promoting competition, trust, choice, and innovation, that we maintain the ability for everybody to be connected. So we implement the work, for example, that was being done and is being done on implementation of IDNs and the work on other areas-- that as that work-- One of the strategic objectives and any of the work that falls under that category should always be to ensure that people can be connected through the internet.
Of course, one of the high-level objectives of the organization is the coordination of the domain name system for a global public benefit, so for a global benefit but, as we go to these areas, also making sure that we implement that in some of our core areas and our thinking. That's one of the objectives as well.
But it may mean things to different people, and it may not be the right terminology. That's where we would very much like some feedback of, you know, what do community members feel would be the right kind of strategic objective under that. Have we captured three to five appropriate strategic objectives under that category or not? If these are the right sort of ways to capture them, does that make sense? Or, if not, could you please give suggestions on what some other ones might be?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: And that's the reason why it's in brackets-- so that's subject to change (ph)?
Teresa Steinhart: Correct. That's exactly right. Absolutely. That section in particular is in brackets because that was not something that we had included when we did the presentations and some of the discussions in Seoul. But, based on some feedback that we were getting from the discussions in Seoul, we realized that much of the feedback was, well - Actually, we've identified the work areas and the project areas, but what's the actual objective under that category? What are we trying to achieve as an organization, and what should we be trying to achieve?
So, for example, under "contribute to shaping a healthy internet ecosystem," people may agree or disagree, but one of the strategic objectives should probably be ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice at the table, making sure that they can participate, making sure that things are accountable, making sure that there is the contribution towards this healthy internet ecosystem as one that continues to seek and ensure one, unified, global internet.
But, again, we put those in brackets because, obviously, there's probably other ideas, and incorporating those would be very good.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev again. The survey-- All right. I remember when the CEO, Rod Beckstrom, was discussing the strategic plan. Is this the same survey? In other words, if you filled out the survey then, do I need to do the survey again-- this second survey? Is it the same survey, or is it a second survey, I should say?
Teresa Steinhart: It's somewhat different. Well, no; we wanted-- No. The survey we did in Seoul was a trial run. If you've done that survey, we have that information already. But we've updated the survey based on some feedback that we got, including feedback that we got that the categories-- that we hadn't put in enough categories. So, I think, in this survey we did in Seoul, we had three categories - important, moderate, or not. But we hadn't put in the category of not within ICANN's mission or scales within the level of importance. And so this is a new survey. People should feel free to participate in this one. But, if you don't want to, no worries. We still have the information from the other one. So it's really your option. And, again, this is just one part of the contribution. It won't be the defining factor.
Interpreter: And a question from Spanish. I'm so sorry. What language is this survey in?
Teresa Steinhart: The survey should be in multiple languages, and I will need to check on that-- whether we've posted the other languages yet or not. My apologies. I don't have that information off the top of my head.
Interpreter: Very well, and thank you so much for that. And I would like a point clarified, please.
Teresa Steinhart: Um-hum (affirmative).
Andres Piazza: We share that strategic mission, obviously, in regards to the IDNs and how this is affected. But, you know, our region is not as affected by those issues. And so this is why maybe that really would not be the focus of what we need for our participation or, let's say, our role as representatives for the users.
Teresa Steinhart: Right.
Unidentified Participant: So, things like the new gTLDs-- these are things that we do believe have a bit more importance in our region. I mean, you know, it's true that some issues that are now part of our focus-- that we don't agree that they should be part of the objectives, of course. But, you know, I definitely have to fill this survey as well, and I will obviously post what my contribution is, of course.
Interpreter: And that was the end of that statement.
Teresa Steinhart: That would be very helpful because we certainly appreciate that there are some issues that are more important for some regions than for other regions. And getting that feedback is very helpful.
And I just checked-- my understanding is from this-- I just checked with the folks at the office, and my understanding is that the survey and the announcements are translated. So, if that's not the case, I would ask Heidi to just let me know if people don't find that.
Heidi Ullrich: Okay. I will get back to you on that. Thank you.
Teresa Steinhart: Yeah. It should be translated is my understanding.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev. Just one other question or comment. So what exactly-? After the deadline in January, what happens next? Is there going to be a second document showing how, okay, based on this, this is how we're going to implement- this is how staff plans-- ICANN and ICANN staff plan to implement these objectives, because I'm seeing in the slides here about details of staff (unintelligible) provided in the final plan.
Teresa Steinhart: Right. Much of the current staff work and the work that's going on is already reflected in the operational plan that exists from the last pulse (ph) of the budget cycle. I think, as I mentioned at the beginning, this strategic plan is intended to be much more of a high-level strategic plan and ensuring that there's agreement on these areas. And, as we know, on the community work and on some of the projects-- strategic projects and staff work, much of that is ongoing already-- various things of that.
So, what we're looking for in the draft that will be provided to the board for approval is really the four focus areas, the matrix and potential measurements for performance against those, as well as whether the strategic objectives are the right ones and then, based on feedback coming in through the process, fleshing out whether there's any disagreement or whether we've missed anything in relation to the ongoing work areas. And the intention is that feedback we get we'll then consolidate and strengthen the high-level strategic plan, so what you're seeing here, and flesh out the pages that follow that in each of the categories and that much of the ongoing work, whether it's staff work or community work that's already underway, is reflected in more of the operational plan.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. Thanks.
Teresa Steinhart: It's a bit of a different approach this year, but the intention is really to get the more strategic focus on the document.
Any other questions I can answer?
Interpreter: No. Nothing from Spanish.
Heidi Ullrich: Thank you very much, Teresa. I think that was a very productive presentation and question period. So I think that was very useful to the members of LACRALO. Thank you.
Teresa Steinhart: If there's any further questions or anything I can do, please just let Heidi know or myself, and I'm happy to get answers to you.
Heidi Ullrich: All right. Thank you very much for your time.
Teresa Steinhart: Thanks.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Thanks again.
Interpreter: And, thank you, Teresa. Good-bye from Spanish.
Andres Piazza: Very well. I think that this was definitely a very, very informative session. I think that this was very, very productive. But, you know, I definitely want to hear your opinions, many of you present here in the teleconference and, also, as well, a lot of the members and users because, you know, as we said, it's very important also to know if any of you have anything else to say or anything else to contribute, especially in regards to the objectives. It's very important to really bring this up in the open consultation period or in the teleconference today as well.
Interpreter: And Carlos is going to say something.
Carlos Aguirre: Yes, Andres. I think that it's true that I think that we as a region need to really come up with a response. We need to grow. And so, because we need to continue growing, we need to show that we are growing by participating in this and showing our opinion. I know that somebody had committed themselves to work in regards to this subject of participation. I don't know what has been done so far. But I think that that is extremely, extremely important.
So, basically, I think that, once again, we as a region, we need to now issue our response and present what our priority is because there are many issues that need to be dealt with, obviously. You know, because there are many issues, such as the IDNS, for example, that is not necessarily related to us. So, you know, obviously, we need to bring up the subjects that are important to us. So, once again, our region needs to reaffirm itself and reassert itself in presenting their own response. And so, you, as Andres, as the president of our region, this is something that really, really needs to be voiced out, so we can continue working on the objectives that are necessary for us.
Interpreter: Who else just joined? Somebody else just joined Spanish, by the way, guys. And we have our friend (ph) from Brazil. And they're not saying anything so far.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev.
Interpreter: Now they're speaking again. Sorry, Dev.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Go ahead.
Unidentified Participant: Now, personally, I think that, as, you know, the representatives for the users, I think that we do need continue representing them by actually voicing what they need. And so it's definitely great to see that we seem to be on the way to this.
Interpreter: Okay, Dev, I think now you can go.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Oh, this is Dev. I agree with Carlos that we need to, I think, really look at a strategic plan and look at the survey and at least share that with everybody else here, because-- and see if we can get to a common position. I think there's going to be a community call-- I see on the agenda page, anyway-- sometime in mid-January. Is that correct, Heidi or Matthias?
Heidi Ullrich: I'm sorry. I was-- We're dealing with trying to get the Spanish survey. So, could you repeat that, please?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Sorry. No problem. Well, I saw on the agenda that there will be a community call briefing session on the strategic plan.
Heidi Ullrich: Yes. That's correct. That will be in early January. And we are hoping to have Kevin Wilson and also Teresa again for discussion. And Matthias can add more on how the RALOs are being asked to contribute. So if we could have Matthias speak to that, please?
Interpreter: Jose Luis (ph) would like to say something. Are you guys okay with Jose Luis speaking?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yeah.
Jose Luis: Okay. And thank you so much. You know, there's an important issue. I think that, you know, there needs to be priorities that need to be set in place. But we need to realize that, you know, the final, final goal is the internet user. And so, as their representatives, we need to be in the-- not only capacity but to be opening up to be able to deal with any subjects at whatever time that these are presented-- maybe not change priorities but maybe have a more open criteria.
You know, in regards to really making an emphasis on the voice of the user, I definitely think that that is important. You know, it's something that we've spoken about many, many times. I do think that we are on the same wavelength because, you know, our ultimate goal is to represent the voice of the user.
Interpreter: Now, Matthias was going to tell us in a moment how the RALOs could contribute to this. Matthias-- Is he on the line?
Unidentified Participant: You know Carlton is not on the teleconference. But I do want to take this moment to congratulate Heidi, and Matthias as well, who were just promoted, respectively. And we definitely, first of all, send you a very cordial greeting and congratulate you both on this promotion.
Heidi Ullrich: Thank you very much. And, Matthias will speak as the manager of the RALOs now.
Matthias Langenegger: So, now this is not a plan, but this is more a suggestion that I made to the other RALOs. Since we do have a call in January, we will at the time discuss ALAC's and At-Large position on the strategic plan. So what I suggest each of you in your RALOs-- you discuss this amongst yourselves. You discuss this within your region and then maybe send a representative, either the chair or anybody from the region-- send a delegate from the region in that call which will take place in January in order to really set forth what the region's opinion is, because it's very important to hear what the region believes, because, you know, they will obviously take into consideration what the consensus is from the five regions.
Andres Piazza: Thank you, Matthias. It will definitely be very necessary to do this. I definitely commit myself with my participation in that teleconference. But the more delegates we have, the better that will be. And, obviously, we will be discussing this internally, of course.
Now, as you guys know, at the same time, we are in a very festive season, at least in some of our regions. So I think it will be very interesting to not only get a lot of the suggestions from a lot of our members and to really come up with something very strong and poignant for that.
Anybody else want to say something?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev. Just say-- Okay, I think that, definitely, yes, we need to contribute. And we need to have something in place-- our opinions in time for the community call, mid-January 2010. So I will, if Andres agrees-- I will put that also as an action item, because I think we really do need to have what our ideas are for the region and for ICANN for the strategic plan by then. It's critical.
Andres Piazza: Definitely. Definitely, Dev. That needs to be an action item. And I will personally also engage myself in this matter as well. And I do want to add, in today's agenda, not only did we have the mention of this presentation and the document but also the support documents. And it's a lot of documents. So a lot of these have been translated. So it's definitely very, very important to read and to go through all this material before, of course, forming an opinion and then to be able to get to that point where we're able to consolidate our opinions. And it will also be very useful, as well, for us as a RALO. I think that, you know, it will be very important to consolidate this as well.
So let's go ahead and continue. May we continue with the agenda then?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev. Yes. I think we should. Yes.
Heidi Ullrich: Wow, a lot of Cs (ph).
Andres Piazza: So I sent to the list, of course, in Spanish because it would have taken me too long in English, now, on December 7-- I know that it was at 5:00 in the morning. And, during the morning, we did have a conference committee call on At-Large. There were about 25 of us that participated in this committee call. And there are-- How do I say this? There was a summary that was made of this. And there were many issues that were brought up. So I would definitely like to know what you guys think about this summary that was sent to the list or if anybody has anything to say. So I'd like to hear a bit more from you guys in regards to that matter.
And, of course, Carlton, who's been a very, very involved member-- So, if any of you have something to say, we definitely welcome that.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. This is Dev.
Interpreter: Oh, I'm sorry. One second. And somebody's asking a question.
Unidentified Participant: To clarify about this document that was sent on December 7 after the end of the teleconference, what are you asking us to do?
Andres Piazza: I'd like your opinion on the summary - on the election model, for example, which was a very, very important issue, what your preference is, the different alternatives to choose-- you know there were five (ph) alternatives before. You know that there were five LACRALO presidents and then 50 ALAC members. You know Carlton stated that this needed to be a vote that could be a bit more free. In my opinion, that was not necessarily--
Unidentified Participant: I understand what the discussion issue is, Andres, but, in general, I think that we the members will agree that to diversify is something that is going to make things very complicated, mainly when it comes to participation. You know, it's not that we are against democracy and transparency, of course, but I mean, at the same time, this is why we have representatives. I mean this is why each RALO has their own representative. I mean this is why we have you or, at some point, we'll choose another representative. But, you know, we need to always be heard as one voice. I mean, I think that we've already elected-- We are engaged in other processes. More diversity, for the moment-- I don't think that that is necessary unless there is a special circumstance that should arise for a specific subject. I mean, you know, we have to be practical.
Andres Piazza: And thank you for that contribution. So the last paragraph of that that I sent you, I think, explains it very well. So I think that we definitely need to start a discussion through the wiki, so we can really have more of a clear opinion of where we stand. Sylvia was there. I know that Carlton was there. Dev, I know that you were there, as well, as representatives of the region. And I think that there were other people that were there as well. So I don't know if anybody else would like to say something else. I mean, do you guys think it's possible to make something like that happen? Sylvia, what do you think?
Interpreter: So, Sylvia first and then Carlos.
Sylvia: What I wanted to say-- I think Jose Luis definitely summarized what you sent to us that day on December 7. I think that it's not a matter of, you know-- It's not that we want to be too democratic. But the regions and the RALOs already decided who their representatives are. I think that, if this is open to every member of the community, it will be very disastrous and very unorganized, because, as it is, we have difficulty with communication and with participation.
Carlos Aguirre: So, if that option is chosen of the 20, I think that at this point it's the best that we have. And
nobody, I think, can say that the users are not represented. You know, it's a shame that Carlton's not here, but, you know, this thing about the free vote-- We spoke about this issue as well at the teleconference in Seoul. And this does not mean that, you know, we do not convey to the RALO what we are saying. And it's not that the RALO is not going to be able to give us our opinion. It's not even about that to you or to Carlton. I mean, it is possible to do always. But, you know, I think that, at this point, the five representatives that were in the teleconference (unintelligible) members and the other members of the RALO-- I think that we all agree with our position at this point.
Andres Piazza: So this is why it is important that I hear all of your opinions in regards to this issue. I
definitely need your impression on this issue. And I'm glad that everybody's already participating. And I definitely agree with Jose Luis and with Sylvia in their opinion. I mean, you're asking us if the region is in agreement with this issue and if we are going to engage in this proposal.
Carlos Aguirre: Like I said, I definitely think that we are in a good position now with the 20 votes that we have. We have our representatives already. I know that Sylvia and I are respective representatives of ALSs. And, you know, the idea at this point is to always know what the ALSs want. But, you know, it's important, obviously, for the ALSs to ratify, as well, what it is that they want. And, otherwise, time will tell.
Andres Piazza: But, yes, Carlos, definitely I think that we are in agreement with that point. If nobody else wants to say something, I think that we will continue. So I think that we've been clear about our position.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev.
Interpreter: Okay, Dev, let me go ahead and tell them that you want to speak.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Sure.
Interpreter: It's that they were speaking at the same time. Just one second.
Andres Piazza: I mean, (unintelligible) to just make sure that the ALSs manifest themselves-- that we are ready to really present our statement when we get to Nairobi. You know, this mail that I sent on the 7th, it's something that I really wanted to start a discussion as soon as possible. And the mail definitely, definitely states, you know, everything that was said and what our position was at the time. And, you know, we obviously don't have too much time either.
Interpreter: Dev, Jose is going to go first, and then you're going to go. Okay? I'll let you know when.
Jose Luis: And so, just one issue here. How is this process managed in regards to the discussion-- in regards to these different options, I mean? You know, these were options that were presented in that specific order. But, you know, if there's going to be, let's say, negotiation that is going to eventually come up, how is that going to be dealt with? So, really, it's a matter of everybody presenting their reasons and to let us know what their opinion is.
Andres Piazza: No, no. That's a good proposal as well. Carlos or Sylvia, do you have something to say about that?
Sylvia Herlein Leite: Well, I definitely think that our communications go to the list, and it's open to everybody. And everyone is aware that we are in the process of discussing this issue, especially because Andres did present this summary the day right after that teleconference. What we could do is do something beyond that. I don't know if you guys propose something, maybe send an e-mail individually. I don't even know if we have enough time for that. But this has already been posted on the list, so if someone wants to volunteer to make this more in detail--
I mean, Carlos, I don't know what you think about this, because what Jose Luis said is very, very important. You know it's true all of the members of the region-- we have the option of the 20 points, and everybody agrees with the representation that these 20 votes provide to us. And it's a vision that has been since taken forth. So, you know, I don't have-- I don't know what other options we could propose for this. But, as you guys know, on the 22nd, we have to be sending a small draft related to this. Right, so it's not Tuesday (ph).
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. Thank you. Just to say that the discussion last week, Monday, was a very interesting discussion, actually, because I think-- I mean, I didn't realize the complexity of all of these options here. And I think the transcript of the session is on the wiki. So I think I would encourage everybody to take a read of it and/or listen to the meeting again because there's a lot of different nuances, I would say, between the different systems. And I'm hearing from this that the consensus is that, really, the decision should be that-- because what was discussed was some sort of hybrid model. I think Tricia Driggs (ph) would initially propose that at the teleconference. And the hybrid model means that, in one form, you can potentially have all the At-Large structures voting, and there is the second round-- in case there is any no-clear majority, have a second round. So I really think people should take a read of the transcript and, at least, do some research on the different ideas behind single trans-verbal (ph) votes and first-past-the-post (ph) voting systems. It's quite subtle there.
So that's really my key point there.
Obviously, though, you want to make sure that-- The fairness of the vote is critical. I mean, we want to ensure that the person that is elected to be on the ICANN board has been-- does have the support of the electorate. And the electorate is not just from the region; it's from the global At-Large. So I encourage people to study that. And I know that we are short for time, so, indeed, let's get some more comments on the discussion on the mailing list. That's it.
Heidi Ullrich: This is Heidi. If I may just add to what Dev was saying?
Interpreter: Go ahead, Heidi.
Heidi Ullrich: Thank you. Again, Dev, thank you very much. That was a very useful discussion on the various voting system options being discussed at the moment. And, in addition, Sylvia is correct that the 22nd of December ALAC meeting will be discussing the white paper. And, actually, the process that was agreed after the call on the 7th of December was that there would be a subcommittee formed consisting of the ALAC representatives and the RALO chairs to draft a white paper-- What has been decided will be that there will be an outlying of this white paper discussed on the 22nd. So, again, your point on the system-- If you could get those in to your ALAC and chairs-- representatives-- That would be very useful if we could do that prior to the 22nd of December. But there will be opportunity for further discussion early in the next year. Thank you.
Andres Piazza: And thank you for clarifying this. Maybe it had not been clear. So, again, next Tuesday in the ALAC teleconference, that's really where we need to present our position. That is undeniably important.
Should we continue?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. This is Dev here.
Interpreter: Sorry. Give me a moment.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: No, no. If he's going, then--
Andres Piazza: Some of the staff members already presented a lot of the links on the wiki. Also, the vertical process was discussed on the list. And, in both cases, ALAC has had to assert their position. So I think that we're a bit late. I think that, at this point, we need to-- Definitely, we have about 15 to 20 minutes to finish the teleconference, and we do have other issues to deal with. So at this point, it's just important to get your opinions. I think that ALAC has already asserted themselves. You know the council region (ph) has so definitely unanimously passed the statement and the vertical process issue as well.
So now let's go to the next section.
Interpreter: Sylvia is going to say something.
Sylvia Herlein Leite: So the only thing that I can tell you guys now is that, when we did the vote, I definitely respected the comments not only in regards to vertical integration but the CCIS as well. But, from what I saw, the majority of the ALAC members definitely agreed with this. I don't know if this was 100% definitely supporting this because there are definitely subjects that have been treated previously, especially a lot of the issues that we presented that were actually taken into consideration. So there wasn't much to discuss at the time. Could you just give us a bit more of a summary on that?
Unidentified Participant: I know that Alejandro Piconta (ph) send an e-mail, and I know that a lot of these documents, as well, were already posted as well. I know that there were eight or nine responses in regards to this issue by some of the members. So that is definitely something that I do want to deal with. You know, there are other proposals that I do want to deal with later. But, you know, the issue of a policy (ph) for 2008 (ph) will be important.
Interpreter: And I'm so sorry. Give me a moment here. Somebody is speaking. I can't hear them very well.
Carlos Aguirre: So, once again, at some point I do want to deal with the issue of diversity but in regards to participation and in regards to ICANN and what that's going to do for our plan for 2010, because, really, it's a continuation of what we started in Mexico. I know it's a lot of work, and I definitely want all of you to work with me on this. I know that this is a very important issue. ICANN and us have not really considered the issue of participation as a priority, but that is something that needs to be giving higher importance at this point. I do realize that it's a process. It's a matter of capacity-building and working on that. But, you know, the only way this will happen will be not only through broadcasting, through promotion. So this is an issue that we should give a major priority in the major policy because whoever's able to do it will be able to do it but based on the encouragement that we have been seeking so far. So I just want everybody to be more involved and more engaged, especially within this workgroup. So I definitely think that it's very important to really deal with this issue and give it a lot more priority. And we definitely need more than a week for that.
Unidentified Participant: Yes, Carlos. Thank you. I was definitely part of this group in Mexico, and I definitely am committed to work with this group. This is a very important subject. You know, it's definitely one of those critical subjects that we've been dealing with for a while, and it's definitely something that we need to work on, especially for what we want to do for this upcoming year and what we want to accomplish as are RALO. We can, at some point, make this the main priority. But, you know, it's definitely important because, ultimately, it's a matter of representing the users. You know, there's been a lot of sacrifices that have been done, and we've traveled to many places. It's definitely, definitely true that we've been able to reestablish our position, and it's something that we've committed ourselves quite a lot. And it's definitely one of the issues that we've been able to work on a lot more because we have given it priority.
Interpreter: Anything from English? No.
Andres Piazza: So, otherwise, we continue with the agenda. Okay. So, Fatima (ph), you're one of the only two members for the outreach. If you could talk to us a bit about this for the LACRALO brochure.
Interpreter: And, Fatima, I'm sorry. Carlos wanted to say something previously. I'm sorry. Fatima said something about tonight's dinner, and everybody heard her.
Fatima: So, now, getting to the issue, we've been able to work together, Sergio and myself. We did a very, very good job. We created a project of transmission. It's very complete. It's already ready to be presented to the list. I don't have the format just yet in order to post it. Now, on the 23rd of November, I definitely sent a mail in the list and not only to the list but to the regions to give us there a opinion on what they thought about LACRALO. Many of you have heard about the vertical integration. And so, getting back to this opinion, that is the only thing that I'm actually missing at this point (ph) because we definitely need to know what the region thinks of LACRALO. And that is the one thing that we're missing in order to finish the work on that committee. So, as long as we get the opinion of some of the members, that will be perfect to finish this document.
Andres Piazza: Thank you, Fatima.
Unidentified Participant: There is an article that I definitely wrote and that I posted at some point. So, you know, to those of you who have not contributed at this point, if you could just send me one sentence what your opinion is on LACRALO, because the subject of transmission has a lot to do with-- well, we've broken them out before - participation and the fact that we need to give priority to participation, especially when it comes to capacity-building. So those of us here present in the teleconference are part of it, but you know it's important to engage those on the list.
Interpreter: And, I'm sorry. Give me one second. There's horrible interference.
Andres Piazza: Okay, so, getting back to the subject, in conclusion, I think that we are on our way, and it's very important to continue in this direction, says Andres.
Now, we've spoken about the letter, and that is something that is going to be very important as well. We definitely need to get translation of the other documents to really consolidate all this together and continue working on this. I think that, you know, to be able to engage the participation is not only sending it on the list but finding other ways to get in contact with them to be able to get their opinions. So I know that you guys are working very hard on this.
Interpreter: I'm sorry. Give me one second. I apologize. Unfortunately, their connection is really bad. So it's my fault sometimes, and I can't understand a lot of what they're saying. So, if I can understand, I can interpret. So give me a moment.
Heidi Ullrich: Dev, I've asked Matthias to follow up on this because I'm not quite clear on their work in this working group, one. Or is this a LACRALO effort within the area of participation and engagement?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: I know. Well, that's why I wanted to ask them and point them to the dashboard.
Interpreter: And now Fatima is going to speak. Give me-- like I said, I'm sorry about today. There's horrible interference. A lot of them are on cell phones. Okay, Fatima is going to speak again.
Fatima: So, when we worked for this project, and, mind you, this is the LACRALO brochure, by the way-- There's a mail address that many-- I know many RALOs have. I know a special mail address. So is it possible for us to have a mail address that is created to be able to include in the brochure? And, guys, just so you know in English, this was update on the development of the LACRALO brochure.
Heidi Ullrich: Yeah, no. We get it.
Interpreter: Right. So what Fatima was talking about is that the work that they've been doing, and the last thing that they said, was that they were-- they have posted something on the list where they want a contribution on what the members' opinion was on LACRALO and to at least get one sentence related to this. Unfortunately, after that, Andres gave a whole big statement that I couldn't quite well hear. And for that I'm very, very sorry.
Heidi Ullrich: Now it all--
Interpreter: Now does it make sense?
Heidi Ullrich: Yes.
Interpreter: Great. Okay. Good.
Heidi Ullrich: Thank you. Okay, clear Dev?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: I think so. I think I will just take the time to read, digest, and re-read this (inaudible).
Heidi Ullrich: Okay. Apparently, someone is speaking to a baby on the other line.
Interpreter: Now somebody else is going to speak. And Antonio would like to, as well, participate and say something.
Antonio: I'd just like to make a quick contribution.
Interpreter: Please go ahead. And Jose Luis is very sorry; he'll just have (ph) to leave the meeting.
Jose Luis: But I am definitely very, very grateful to be working with you.
Interpreter: So now Antonio is going to say something.
Antonio: So, two issues that are very important. A few minutes ago I wrote on the chat. First of all, my interest in working with Carlos' group, I think, is very, very important. You know, we've been working very hard these last five years in relation to what Fatima is doing. I think that it's important to do something that goes beyond the creation of a brochure. It's more creating a strategy, a plan of action. So in the different size of organizations that we work with, as well as academic events, as well as government events, technology events, it would be important to try to engage them to be able to not only expose not only what we do with LACRALO but what we do in ICANN as well and, as well, to be able to invite other organizations that can participate with us because that's also going to be very important within our participation issue.
Interpreter: Antonio (ph) would now like to say something.
Antonio: And I do want to comment in regards to that. Now, as you do know that (unintelligible) has a lot of academic participation within Latin America, and we are developing at this point how to not only work with Internet of Colombia and with your organization as well in order to be able to carry these things out. I would like for Matthias, who's in line with us-- you know that I had participation, and academic participation, and it was merely, strictly academic a few days ago in Bolivia in a forum about government and, as well as, internet law. And so, you know, I asked them to give me one minute to give them a PowerPoint (ph) presentation, and they actually said that I couldn't because, it's funny, we're trying to diffuse (ph) and transmit ICANN organization. And, when I asked for the authorization, and, even though we are recognized members of the ICANN committee, we were not allowed to present a PowerPoint academic presentation in regards to the mission of the organization. And I thought that this was extremely serious. And I definitely want to leave a record of this in this meeting because, you know, if ICANN talks about transmittal and it talks about participation-- How is it possible that we're able to do this if we're not even allowed to do this-- you know, because a lot of our ALSs are doing this as volunteers. If we are representing somebody that does not want to be represented, it makes the job a lot more difficult.
And let me add something to that because it's very important. You know, in November, through remote participation, we participated with Rasa (ph) Internet, and we were able to meet a lot of the people in the organizations that work with ICANN who work within the internet governance forum. And it's a forum that calls out. So we thought that it would be pertinent and necessary to continue insisting that our region and that our countries are able to be more informed of all these subjects. A few weeks ago I had a government session, and this was more related to internet governance, and, to my surprise, a lot of people in a lot of organizations I know here in Colombia are not very aware of this. So we formed the internet governance group here in Colombia, and we think that that is something we need to work on as well. Also invite experts. And I definitely think that, you know, on your agenda the issue of internet governance is something that needs to be included because it's something that's going to be highly developed in the years to come.
Interpreter: And Fatima wants to say something about this. Go ahead, Fatima, please. Well, (Unintelligible) is going to speak first, and then Fatima.
Unidentified Participant: Same thing, just to touch base on what Carlos said. I have nothing to say. What you just said is definitely, definitely serious and appalling that we are not able to present something in regards to ICANN, especially where we have the opportunity to because teleconferences are one thing, but you know, a lot of these forums are also extremely important. And we need to be allowed at some point to be able to broadcast and make a reality of our contribution.
Now, at this point, I think that it's important to really reinforce the issue of capacity-building and take advantage that we do have a lot of experts in a lot of the subjects related to our organization. And I know that there's a lot of events that take place. And it would just be a shame not to be able to take advantage of a lot of these events and experts in order to really start the broadcasting-- the transmission of what our organization does and the work that we do as well.
Interpreter: Thank you, (Unintelligible). Fatima?
Fatima: I just wanted to-- In the teleconference when we spoke about the brochure, and I hope this was clear, ICANN had said that they were going to give us these brochures to contribute in the transmission in every event that each ALS is going to contribute. It maybe even something small for now. I think it's a beginning. But it's definitely something very, very important. And that's just something that I wanted to clarify.
Unidentified Participant: I definitely agree with you, Fatima.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev.
Interpreter: Yes, Dev. Let me go ahead and tell them you have something to say. One second. And so just Antonio-- One second, Dev, because he's still speaking.
Unidentified Participant: I'd just like to invite Antonio to work together now with what Fatima and Sergio are doing because that would be very important.
Antonio: Very gladly. Very gladly. Here we generate and we share information permanently. And I definitely want to congratulate all of you because I see that a lot of you are on Facebook and doing permanent contributions. And I think that is our responsibility and the responsibility that we have here in Latin America because we are the ones that are not only participating but also generating. Fatima I will be working--
Go ahead, Dev.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. Thank you. Regarding the brochure, okay, although I know that that section about the-- the section in the brochure where there are supposed to be comments about LACRALO, like a one-line statement, is it possible for you to send a draft on to the list, whatever form you've done it? Or, if you want to put it as a Google Doc. I mean I would like to take a look at it and see.
And just so-- That's all.
Unidentified Participant: And, this week, what we will be doing-- we'll be sending on the list. We just needed the opinions of the members and what they think of LACRALO, and that's the one thing that we don't have yet. You want to see it before that's posted? Is that what you mean, Dev?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: I wouldn't mind seeing it. Yeah. I think just to look-- I would like to see it. It would not hurt. I'll put it to you that way. And I think persons could then look at it and see - Well, hey, we can make corrections or suggestions or whatever or approve.
Unidentified Participant: And so, Dev, what Fatima will do then-- She will send you a copy of that before it's posted to the list if you'd like.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. Very well. But I just also want to say that time-- I mean, we're now going long on time here. And we have, I think, several updates (ph). Unfortunately, I don't think we even have time to go to policy discussion because I'm sure the translator probably was not anticipating this long conference.
Interpreter: Dev, you're so considerate, I have to say.
Heidi Ullrich: We've informed Andres. And, Dev, thank you very much. Perhaps (inaudible) to the other items can be brought over to the next--
Interpreter: Okay.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: So I suggest, then, we just simply look at the updates then instead of the policy discussion because I don't know if we have time to-- or options four and five. I don't think we have time to even discuss it in detail, unfortunately. So I think we should just do option six.
Unidentified Participant: Okay. And so thank you so much, Antonio, for that last contribution. And, as you know, we want to contribute as much as possible, mainly because we all have that one goal in common, which is to increase participation and which is the transmission of our mission. So LACRALO's future for 2010-- I know that a couple of years ago I proposed the creation of more officers. So, I think that at this point I'd like to come up with more subjects and more things to grow as an organization. I know that until, Dev, you and I had a discussion on how to come up with-- other ways to grow as an organization and how to improve participation--
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Yes. This is Dev. Well, one of the things I was trying to do, and I've posted it up for comment, is the idea of this LACRALO dashboard to try to summarize-- sort of like give a glance of what's happening in LACRALO at a glance. I posted it to the Skype chat already.
Interpreter: Okay. And he's talking about that just now, actually.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Great.
Unidentified Participant: So, getting back to this issue, I know that a lot of the members of the board are very much involved with the At-Large community. You see on this board that there are links for ALAC, for example, and a lot of the activities that are going on. You'll see, for example, a lot of the links for EURALO there. So a lot of these people are people that are very, very involved.
Heidi Ullrich: Maya (ph), we're talking about the LACRALO dashboard.
Interpreter: Okay, because he's talking about-- Give me a moment. He's talking about--
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: I know. It seems a little--
Heidi Ullrich: Yeah, we're--
Interpreter: Yeah. Okay. Give me one second.
Heidi Ullrich: I think that came wrong-- came through--
Interpreter: Yes. You know what? Yeah, because he's talking about a discussion that you guys in Seoul-- about how to come up with new ways to grow the organization for the future to come and, you know, how to delegate responsibilities to the members in this process. Okay, Dev, what is it that you have to say in regards to this model?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. One of the things regarding this-- I know we're short on time here. The dashboard, if you have a way to take a look at it, I've tried to break down several things both from the ICANN policy side and on the LACRALO side of things. We have action items, which are action items that we should be working on. We have the ICANN policy issues, which shows the policy issues from the official ALAC-- well, the official At-Large policy advice development schedule, and also the policy issues (unintelligible) comments from the ICANN Website. And this is like dynamically upread (ph) from the various-- from the two sites.
What I've also done is also-- and this comes back to the idea of that participation or lack thereof. I've also started adding-- I did a next tab about the At-Large structures, the countries in the LACRALO region, which-- And what's really interesting, I think, is the country breakdowns. In the country breakdowns, we can see where, out of the 33 countries, we only have 13 countries with the At-Large structures in LACRALO. So, in a way, we have like 20 countries with no At-Large structures. And this country breakdown shows the number of countries which doesn't have any At-Large structures. And I've also included, because I know ccTLD issues are important and also for our upcoming At-Large structure ccNSO survey that should be coming out next-- well, next year, I've also done breakdowns showing combinations thereof.
So I think also, going back to this thing about participation and so forth, well, the country breakdown can, I think, show the two (ph) to sort of like, okay, here's how we can plan our outreach because, out of these 20 countries with no At-Large structures, our goal or task for LACRALO is to try to identify suitable structures in those countries and get them to join-- to, well, be accredited by the At-Large structure and, thereby, join LACRALO.
So that's really one of the key things here. And, like I said, because there's a lot of policy work, there's lots of briefing sessions. And, again, it's important for all the At-Large persons here on the teleconference and LACRALO to really keep aware. We didn't have a chance to discuss the policy issues, but there's been lots of discussions. There was a community call on new gTLDs this month. Last Monday was the At-Large director process. There was also a conference-- just so many that I, myself, am not following them. Oh, yes - private proxy services. I think that was it. Yes. Domain names who are just using private proxy services-- I mean, that's an action item from the end there (ph) because, in that session, I think Patrick suggested that we need to get RALO input regarding privacy issues regarding who is with regards to the domain names. So that's another something that also needs to be documented and worked on.
So I will just-- again, I know we are very long on time here. I don't know if anyone has anything to say about the dashboard and what we can do on our way forward. That's it.
Andres Piazza: First of all, Dev, you really deserve an applause for that--
Interpreter: Sorry. They heard me say it in English.
Andres Piazza: So, yes. You really deserve an applause for that dashboard, Dev, says Andres.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Thanks.
Andres Piazza: So I think that today we are at a good moment to close the teleconference, unless Antonio has anything else to say.
Antonio: No. I just wanted to add something related to the ALS participation. The one thing I insist on, in spite of the fact that there are a credit and ALSs, they do not participate. And I do think that is worrisome that these do not participate. So then the work and the responsibility falls on the ones that do participate. That's first.
Second of all, the new ALSs, and this is something that's going to happen, they do not have any information on what they're supposed to do. You know, what are the subjects that are being worked on?
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: This is Dev.
Interpreter: Yes, Dev. One second. As soon as he's done, I will-- So sorry.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: All right.
Antonio: So these are issues that we definitely need to solve. So, again, if a new ALS has been accredited-- and those of us that have more time and experience, we should maybe be their mentors in a way to teach them and explain to them the work and how we do things. It's also important to have meetings not only at a LACRALO level but also meetings within the countries to talk about issues that are pertinent to the country itself.
Unidentified Participant: Thank you, Antonio.
Interpreter: And so Fatima, and then, Dev, you go.
Fatima: What Antonio just said in regards to the ALSs that become new members-- First of all, Dev, congratulations because I think that what you just did is something that is going to help that situation.
And, in regards to the e-mail for LARALO (ph), that's something very important that we need as well.
Interpreter: Okay, Dev. Now you can go.
Dev Anand Teelucksingh: Okay. No problem. Thanks. I agree with Antonio that, yes-- and I think Heidi has posted something in the chat room-- Thanks, Heidi-- regarding what AFRALO has done regarding participation criteria. And I think this is probably something in line-- in combination with that welcome letter for At-Large structures. And, also, I think this document-- some form of this document should be worked on and re-posted to the list and, at least, sent to everybody to ensure that - Hey, this is how you can participate, because, rather than just passively receiving all this information, I think one goal here is to have everybody's comment on issues or ask questions about issues even, even if they don't understand it. Raise questions. So I think this participation document-- thanks,
Heidi-- is a good idea to document for LACRALO.
Andres Piazza: Okay. We close the session then? Okay. So, thank you, all of you, for this teleconference. It was extremely productive. I wish you all a very, very happy new year. I know that 2009 was a bit turbulent at first, but we've definitely done a lot this year. And in 2010 I do hope that it's just as productive. And I'm definitely very, very happy, and greetings to all of you. And I look forward to speaking to all of you in the next teleconference.
Heidi Ullrich: Gracias, Maya.
Interpreter: Always a pleasure. And Ilen (ph) does want to say one final thing.
Ilen: I definitely add myself to your end-of-the-year comment, wishing all of you a lot of wellbeing and a lot of success and definitely asking all of you for the support that we need for the University of (Unintelligible). We are this point creating a Ph.D. on internet governance. And so we'd like your contribution on that. So this is done in the month of June. And thank you. I'm sorry not Ph.D. forum (ph). But thank you, everybody. And that is all.
Interpreter: And thank you, everybody. And thank you, guys, in English for being so understanding today. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Heidi Ullrich: You too. Thank you.
Interpreter: Bye-bye. Take care.
