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Final Proposal as approved by the Board

Continue to look for opportunities to utilize and develop the skills of At-Large support staff while ensuring that the positions taken by At-Large represent solely those of users. Ensure that the volunteer community has sufficient support services so as to best utilize their volunteer time. This may require a shift or development of skills among At-Large Staff as well as additional staff.

Prioritization

3:3:2 (High resource needs : High risk : 2nd priority)

ARIWG comments

The At-Large Review Implementation, in particular issue 2, emphasizes the need for an increased focus on At-Large policy advice development, including ensuring the process and content is clear, understandable and representative of the perspective of the At-Large community, consisting of both At-Large Structure (ALS) members and At-Large individuals.

To ensure that community involvement and policy advice development achieve the aims of the ARI, there will need to be a renewed emphasis on all aspects of At-Large policy development. This includes, as a priority, greater understanding of the policy being discussed and its potential impact on Internet end users; increased engagement from all levels of At-Large membership, from ALS and unaffiliated members to At-Large leadership; as well as communication of the policy being discussed and ALAC statements to At-Large members and the broader ICANN community.This communication will include innovative use of the At-Large website, wiki, teleconferences, At-Large mailing lists, social media channels and other means of ensuring the bi-directional flow of information between the regions and the ALAC.

It is expected that the growth in At-Large membership, from the current of 232 ALSes will steady or decrease as new ALS obligations are introduced and that there will be a significant increase from the current, nearly 100 individuals within the five regional At-Large organizations (RALOs), will occur. Thus, there is a  need for increased attention to encourage engagement, develop the required policy skills, and monitor the role of ALS and unaffiliated members within the At-Large policy advice development process.

At-Large staff will play a crucial element in both the areas covering  deeper and broader support of the At-Large policy advice development and member management.  Current At-Large staff support, consists of 5 Full Time Employees (FTEs) and two half-time professional service contractors. Each member of the At-Large support staff is fully focused on their support responsibilities and have reached the limit of their bandwidth.

It is clear to the members of the ARIWG that the equivalent of at least one FTE with relevant policy, technical and membership skills will be needed to ensure the successful implementation of the aims and objectives of the ARI.

Status of improvement effort / staff lead

Contingent on available resourcing being made available / Heidi Ullrich is staff lead with Evin Erdoğdu and Silvia Vivanco.

Activities, if any, on which implementation is dependent, or that are dependent on implementation of this recommendation

To expand existing Policy Staff work to include policy support and member management.

Who will implement the recommendation: ICANN community, ICANN Board, ICANN Organization, other?

The ICANN Board and ICANN Organization through the approval and implementation of the resource request with input from At-Large leadership.

Anticipated resource requirements (FTEs, tools)

At least one FTE equivalent, to focus on Policy support and Member Management. This addition might be a staged increase as the workload requires.

Expected budget implications

Funding for at least additional one FTE equivalent no later than in FY20 budget. A staged approach might be acceptable depending on budget availability.

Proposed implementation steps:

Staffing requests will be dependent on and driven by the other tasks within the ARI.

Metrics

1. Sourcing suitable staff support

2. Review with the volunteer community  that it has sufficient support services, after  implementation.

3. Development of skills among At-Large Staff as well as additional staff.

How long will it take to implement this plan?

Once FTE equivalent staffing exists for Policy Support and Member Management work then staff can begin full implementation and work on key ARI issue areas.