AT-LARGE GATEWAY
At-Large Regional Policy Engagement Program (ARPEP)
At-Large Review Implementation Plan Development
Page History
| Close Date | Statement Name | Status | Assignee(s) and | Call for Comments | Call for Comments Close | Vote Announcement | Vote Open | Vote Reminder | Vote Close | Date of Submission | Staff Contact and Email | Statement Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.11.2012 | ICANN Consolidated Meetings Strategy Proposal | In Progress | Tijani Ben Jemaa (AFRALO) | 05.11.2012 | 09.11.2012 | 05.11.2012 | 10.11.2012 | 14.11.2012 | 15.11.2012 | 16.11.2012 | Nick Tomasso nick.tomasso@icann.org | TBC |
| Comment/Reply Periods (*) | Important Information Links: | |||
| Comment Open: | 2 October 2012 | |||
| Comment Close: | 16 November 2012 | |||
| Close Time (UTC): | 23:59 | Public Comment Announcement | ||
| Reply Open: | 17 November 2012 | To Submit Your Comments (Forum) | ||
| Reply Close: | 7 December 2012 | View Comments Submitted | ||
| Close Time (UTC): | 23:59 | Report of Public Comments | ||
| Brief Overview | ||||
| Originating Organization: | ICANN Meeting Operations Department | |||
| Categories/Tags: |
| |||
| Purpose (Brief): | ICANN is opening a public comment forum for the ICANN Consolidated Meetings Strategy Proposal. Community members are asked to provide feedback on the proposal. | |||
| Current Status: | ICANN Consolidated Meetings Strategy Proposal open for public comment. | |||
| Next Steps: | Comments will be accepted in this forum and in continued interaction with the community and staff. Once the comment and reply periods have ended, ICANN will review community feedback and post an assessment of comments received. The Board Committee on Public Participation will then submit the proposal to the ICANN Board with its recommendation. | |||
| Staff Contact: | Nick Tomasso | Email: | nick.tomasso@icann.org | |
| Detailed Information | ||||
| Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose | ||||
| ICANN Meetings are an essential element of the ICANN multistakeholder model. It is essential that Meeting venues provide excellent facilities for community interaction. The purpose of the ICANN Consolidated Meetings Strategy is to ensure that the conference venues that offer the best facilities can be used. | ||||
| Section II: Background | ||||
| The topic of ICANN meeting structure, purpose, execution and locations is not a new one; it has been evolving since the early days of ICANN. Documentation regarding ICANN’s approach to its thrice a year meetings began in earnest with the Meeting White Paper posted by then Board member Susan Crawford in November 2006. The ICANN Meetings Reform Discussion Paper [PDF, 387 KB] published in 2008 continued the discussion, and it persists today. | ||||
| Section III: Document and Resource Links | ||||
| ICANN Consolidated Meetings Strategy Proposal [PDF, 284 KB] | ||||
| Section IV: Additional Information | ||||
| None | ||||
(*) Comments submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not guaranteed to be considered in any final summary, analysis, reporting, or decision-making that takes place once this period lapses.
FINAL DRAFT
The At-Large Advisory Committee understands the difficulties that the meeting staff encounters to find the right venue for the ICANN International meetings in some regions, especially because these meetings have been growing in size and scope. It welcomes the effort to review the current selection system.
As ICANN is a global organization and it is making huge efforts to become more international, the main objective to be considered in the review should be the inclusiveness: except for particular security cases, the ICANN meetings should be fully accessible to the whole Internet community from all countries of the world. Any new strategy that does not fulfill this requirement couldn’t be considered as an improvement of the system.
Therefore, the ALAC believes that easy VISA procurement to citizens of all countries should be the first criterion of the new strategy. The experience of refused Visas for Toronto was very painful for the ICANN community, especially those from the south. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) appears to have found ways to engage with host country candidates to accept special Visa arrangements for the IGF participants. As a global organization and through its relationship with governments, ICANN can do this as well.
The second very important element for the review is the quality of logistics in general, which includes the venue quality, accessibility, and closeness to various standing hotels and other facilities, as well as the safety and security of the venue.
Finally, the cost is to be considered for ICANN and its community: airfare, accommodation cost, and all other expenses should be reasonable. Multi-year contract with meeting facilities, such as hotel chains and other service providers may indeed reduce the overall cost.
The ALAC thinks that the new strategy should strive to keep the concept of holding meetings in the 5 regions as equally as possible, which demonstrate the ICANN commitment to diversity and its serious willing to attain the global outreach. Nevertheless, it does not consider harmful an unbalanced approach when it is justified on a case by case basis when the above criteria cannot be satisfied.
The At-Large Advisory Committee therefore strongly believes that the review should be based on the 3 mentioned criteria to result in a consolidated strategy that is in line with the new management objectives of internationalization and inclusiveness.Please click here to download a copy of the PDF below.
|
FIRST DRAFT
The At-Large Advisory Committee understands the difficulties that the meeting staff encounters to find the right venue for the ICANN International meetings in some regions, especially because these meetings have been growing in size and scope. It welcomes the effort to review the current selection system.
As ICANN is a global organization, and it is making huge efforts to become more international, the main objective to be considered in the review should be the inclusiveness: except for particular security cases, the ICANN meetings should be fully accessible to the whole Internet community from all countries of the world. Any new strategy that does not fulfill this requirement couldn’t be considered as an improvement of the system.
Therefore, The ALAC believes that easy visa procurement to all countries citizens should be the first criterion of the new strategy. The experience of Toronto was very painful for the ICANN community, especially those from the south. The IGF found a way to make to the host country candidate accept special visa arrangements for the IGF participants, which ICANN can do as well.
The second very important element for the review is the quality of service in general, which includes the venue quality, accessibility, and closeness to various standing hotels and other facilities, as well as the safety and security.
Lastly, the cost is to be considered for ICANN and its community: airfare, accommodation cost, and all other expenses should be reasonable. Multi-year contract with meeting facilities, such as hotel chains and other service providers may indeed reduce the overall cost.
The ALAC thinks that the new strategy should keep the concept of holding meetings in the 5 regions as much as possible equally. Nevertheless, it does not consider harmful an unbalanced approach when it is justified.
The At-Large Advisory Committee strongly believes that if the review should be based on the 3 mentioned criteria to result in a consolidated strategy that is in line with the new management objectives of internationalization and inclusiveness
