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1. OUR QUESTIONS TO THE BOARD

(Maureen) A Third Team (ATRT3) has been established to conduct another review of ICANN's Accountability and Transparency.  Following the adoption of the ATRT2 report in Buenos Aires in 2015, the Board implemented a plan that covered the 12 recommendations under 8 headings. Among these were Recommendation #6: GAC Operations and Interactions and #, Multilingualism and 

Item 6.6 of the GAC Operations and Interactions section, it states as an implementation goal: To Increase support and resource commitments of government to the GAC with specific deliverables that would  identify and implement initiatives to remove barriers to participation; and to improve GAC procedures to ensure more efficient, transparent and inclusive decision-making.  While this implemented item was checked off as having been achieved, I have to note that both the ALAC and the GAC have since raised this issue of barriers to effective participation again to the Board itself and we are grateful for the support that the Board has demonstrated for this concern, We would like some assurance that the Board will support our joint efforts to work with the Information Transparency Initiative in order to help to ensure Inclusive, Informed and Meaningful Participation at ICANN for both the ALAC and the GAC by further implementing the recommendations of the ATRT2, as well as our own recommendation in our latest submission on the Finance Operating Plan.and Budget. 

Also of concern is Item #8: To support public participation, the Board should review the capacity of the language services department versus the community need for the service using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and make relevant adjustments such as improving translation quality and timeliness and interpretation quality. ICANN should implement continuous improvement of translation and interpretation services including benchmarking of procedures used by international organizations such as the United Nations.  While there was major prioritisation of this project for the APAC region during ATRT2, there were major gaps on the achievement area of this implementation work.  There was also no mention of another RALO which has experienced major email translation issues for years, which has created major blocks in communication between the two key partners of this particular region. Until the Board prioritises the technical and communication issues for LACRALO, all the good work that has gone into the region will be lost and ICANN will have to start all over again. 

While Board priorities are not generally mentioned to the rank and file of At-Large, we have noted this in our submissions, as it is important that we understand what priorities the Board has so that we too can support those areas and incorporate them into our own strategic planning as well.  Not only are these important issues for At-Large we believe they are also important for ICANN. they both related to partnerships, both within ICANN but meaningful to us as an advisory organisation within ICANN to work with another Advisory Committee, and also to strengthen a Regional At-Large Organisation, so that we can get better participation from the members within it into our policy development and advice work that is what At-Large needs in order to raise the diversity of the languages contributing to our policy discussions.

1. We've all seen an increase in the use of alternatives internet "identities," whether as simple as using Facebook, Flickr, Opentable, etc. as a substitute for a website or building a site with a free service such as wordpress.com and wix.com. Further, evolution of search engine design are allowing for more content based searching, rendering second level domains less and less relevant. What is the Board's view(s) of the implications on the budget, and perhaps on ICANN priorities?  What impacts do those challenges have on the role(s) that ALAC can play? (Holly)

2. The Subsequent Procedures working group is doing yeoman's work to try and address all of the issues raised during the 2012 round but seems to be operating with an unjustified sense of urgency. There is a lot to be done prior to any subsequent rounds and if we learned anything from the 2012 round, it was don't drive off a cliff while building your airplane. Is all the pressure from those whose business is domains or are there other considerations such as the budget that are driving this sense of urgency? (Jonathan)

3. Also on Subsequent Procedures, we were asked recently to comment on a proposal to have a brand round before anything else. On the surface, this seems innocuous and a benefit to the bottom line but given the failure to successfully engage both communities and under-served regions in the 2012 round, a "brand" round could easily become a "land grab" in which loosely held "brands" are used to scoop up all manner of strings without the possibility of contention from communities and the developing world.  If "priority" should be given to anyone it seems those would be good candidates. How do we reconcile what seems to be a simple request with the complexity of engaging the broader internet community? (Jonathan)

4. The ALAC/At-Large community has the privilege to try and represent the interest of end users, the majority of whom are not registrants. Ironically, all parties focused on those non-registrant end users (i.e., GAC and SSAC) are advisory committees and, as such, are faced with peculiar challenges in the context of GNSO PDPs. In most instances, the lines drawn are not so bright but in the case of the EPDP on GDPR compliance, those non-registrant end users were given very little consideration. We are aware that the NCSG is operating from a principled, more ideological, position and that the contracted parties are potentially facing an extremely complex patchwork of privacy regimes and liability. However, we remain convinced that 3rd party access to registrant data is imperative to law enforcement, research and consumer protection in its many forms. The ALAC/At-Large community are aware of efforts by ICANN.org to take on some of the liability otherwise faced by contracted parties. Can you help us understand the likelihood of that outcome or any other efforts to ensure that the many do not suffer for the needs of the few? (Jonathan)

The following suggestions for the Board are not expected before the ALAC f2f meeting with the Board during ICANN64: (Holly)  What is the Board's view(s) on the challenges of the increasing use of social media as alternative electronic communications paths for business as well as the community - on the budget, and perhaps on ICANN priorities.  What impacts do those challenges have on the role(s) that ALAC can play?

2.a Suggestions for the Board - to help them with the implementation of their new plans for 2021-25 Strategic Plan, FY20 Budget, 2year Budget planning, ICANN governance model 

(Marita) Could the Board initiate special communications fora to ensure that the community is aware of any developments early on and has the opportunity to offer advice at early stages.

2.b Suggestions for ICANN Org - to aid the Board in their tasks above. 

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3. How can ICANN improve trust and collaboration with its external allies and partners?

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ICANN64 ICANN Board Chairman Questions

1.  What does the Board see as the main achievements at ICANN64?

2.  Could you please discuss the Board's priorities for 2019? In particular, we would be interested in hearing about the plans for the Governance project.

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ICANN64 ICANN CEO Questions

1. How does ICANN Org aim to address criticisms that the multi-stakeholder model is not only ineffective and inefficient but also costly in terms of timeliness and funding?

2. What does ICANN Org see as the main achievements at ICANN64? What are the key priorities as we head into ICANN65?

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ICANN64 ccNSO Questions

1. The ccNSO have asked for a general overview of At-Large and our priorities for 2019 
2. Giovanni Seppia who is the Head of their Strategic Operations WG will explain the ccNSO priorities for 2019
3. Some discussion perhaps on progress with their Organisational Review? 

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