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The Working Group has determined that a detailed description of the process flow, metrics and procedures for determining whether an application meets the criteria (as described in Part 3 above) is to be produced in a separate document that, when completed, will serve as an Appendix to this Report. Discussion and modifications of this document are ongoing -- 

A) Does the Applicant and Application pass our criteria test for support ?

A1) Application reviewed for group public interest criteria – Q: Do they fit the criteria? (Y/N)

Support by and/or for distinct cultural, linguistic and ethnic communities

or

Service in an under-served language, the presence of which on the Internet has been limited (for both 1. and 2. the social benefit of the Application is obvious but this is not the case for 3., 4. and 5. Therefore applications falling under 3., 4. and 5. must also elaborate on their social benefit to the specific demographics with which they relate)

or

Operation in an emerging market or nation

or

Sponsored by non-profit, civil society and non-governmental organizations

or

Operated by local entrepreneur, in those geographic areas where market constraints make normal business operations more difficult

Although not part of the required criteria as expressed above, the WG also agreed that other forms of social benefit (including but not limited to: increasing skills; investment in the skills base of a target community; fostering gender balance and presence of minorities; positive contribution to regional or national economies) could be considered if required.

AND

A2) Application reviewed for financial criteria (where financial/technical support is requested) Q: Based on the criteria above, do the applicants asking for financial support qualify as "needy"?  (Y/N)

A.2.1) Audited financial reports and bank statements of the Applicant and its partners for at least the immediate past three years; 
and/or (a mix of and and or because the Applicant may fall into one category and its partners may fall into another, treat each separately and use the requisite check depending on the number of years established) OR

A.2.1) Audited financial reports, bank statements and constituent endorsements of the Applicant and its partners for the years the Applicant and its partners have been in existence if not in existence for 3 or more years; 

and

A2.2.2) Proof that they have or have the ability to raise 50% of the reduced fee provided  by ICANN;

to propose criteria for technical support

And

A2.2.3) Proof that they can fund insurance to cover the Financial Continued Operation Instrument Obligation; 

or

A2.2.3) Proof that they can fund the reduced Financial Continued Operation Instrument Obligation for 6-12 months; to confirm this is ALREADY IN THE DAG?
or 

A2.2.3) Proof that they can fund the lowered or eliminated Financial Continued Operation Instrument Obligation being part of a shared risk pool; 

AND

A3) What about non-eligible/brands/public-private applicants which include but aren't dominated by government?

A3.1) Self-declaration that the Applicant does not fall within the list of Applicants Not entitled to receive support and the Applicant has no disabilities or self-defeating liabilities that would prevent them from reaping the benefits of our support (detailed in S.2.3 above)

Must fit in the criteria above, GAC WG will assist in applying the criteria for Governments and the WG will review if this is appropriate.

B) Application is forwarded to normal gTLD process for other evaluation

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\[FOR THE GROUP TO DECIDE\]

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is required and this is set out in Part 3. When an application meets these criteria the following steps are taken in parallel with the DAG process and -

1. the Applicant enters the DAG process (is registered in the TAS and pays the $5,000 deposit; the Application is checked for completeness; IF the above is ok and there is no anticipated contention the Application then progresses to being posted, Objection period, Background Screening, IE results posted)

2. An Audit is done on the Application, Applicant and its partners to ensure it is still  eligible/needy. During the Needy application process and at certain points of the DAG we perform this Audit (Part 3) to ensure the Applicant is still  eligible or needy. Suggest that this occurs upon initial evaluation of the Applicant, and if the Applicant is approved Needy in the DAG process just after the IE results are posted, and repeated just after there is no string contention.

3. If so, then the Application progresses in the DAG through Objections phase... String Contention

4. IF the above is ok and there is no string contention then an Audit is done on the Applicant and its partners to ensure it is still financially eligible/needy; \[If there is a string contention then ? let it go through normal ICANN channels\]

5. If so, then the Application progresses to Contract execution, Pre-delegation check and Delegation.

6. Sunset Period (see S.2.10 Proposed constraints on Aid in the Milestone Report) whereby an agreed cut off of 5 years after which no further support will be offered

7. If the new gTLD is granted the applicant will fall under the safeguards provided by ICANN for all gTLD operators but we should ensure that needy applicants are aware of these requirements and are able to fulfil them. 

NOTE the Applicant is only assessed for the duration of our support. If at any stage during the Support Development Program Evaluation Process or the new gTLD process, in particular during the Audit-

• the Applicant does not give information of the Application, itself and/or its partners when requested;
• the Application's, Applicant’s and/or its partners’ financial and other circumstances change so that they are no longer eligible/needy;
• the Applicant withholds information about the Applicant, itself and/or its partners regarding its financial and other circumstances; or
• it is discovered that the Application, Applicant and/or its partners are no longer eligible/needy

Then Support may stop in two ways
1. Discharged- Aid stops upon notification to the Applicant and the Applicant and/or its partners may have to repay some or all of the funds already spent on the application. The Applicant may proceed with the Application at this point at its own cost.
2. Revoked or cancelled- used in cases where the Applicant was wrongly granted support (for example granted support as a result of giving false information about finances), the Applicant and/or its partners will have to pay all the funds already spent on the application and the application will be revoked/discarded at that point     

The WG had full consensus that there should be repayment in success cases and successful applicants would agree to repay/rebate application subsides into a sustainable revolving fund to support the future applications. Repayment is dependent on the gTLD Operator's financial success and takes the form of either 

• a capital contribution or lump sum; or
• an income contribution or annual instalment of until a lump sum is repaid; or

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E. IF the above is ok and there is no string contention then an Audit is done on the Applicant and its partners to ensure it is still financially eligible/needy; \[If there is a string contention then ? let it go through normal ICANN channels\]

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NOTE If at any stage during the Support Development Program Evaluation Process or the new gTLD process, in particular during the Audit-

• the Applicant does not give information of the Application, itself and/or its partners when requested;
• the Application's, Applicant’s and/or its partners’ financial and other circumstances change so that they are no longer eligible/needy;
• the Applicant withholds information about the Applicant, itself and/or its partners regarding its financial and other circumstances; or
• it is discovered that the Application, Applicant and/or its partners are no longer eligible/needy

Then Support may stop in two ways
1. Discharged- Aid stops upon notification to the Applicant and the Applicant and/or its partners may have to repay some or all of the funds already spent on the application. The Applicant may proceed with the Application at this point at its own cost.
2. Revoked or cancelled- used in cases where the Applicant was wrongly granted support (for example granted support as a result of giving false information about finances), the Applicant and/or its partners will have to pay all the funds already spent on the application and the application will be revoked/discarded at that point     

H) If application is successful and if financial/technical support is offered, application is reviewed annually

The WG had full consensus that there should be repayment in success cases and successful applicants would agree to repay/rebate application subsides into a sustainable revolving fund to support the future applications

Q: Is the applicant financially successful?  Can they repay the assistance?

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\[TO BE DECIDED BY GROUP\]

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A gTLD operator is placed in one of three categories\- great success \[ US$xxx\], moderate success \[US$xx\], fair success \[US$x\]

Q: What is the process for this repayment?

Repayment takes the form of  

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  for gTLD operators in the great success bracket\- a capital contribution or lump sum of \[US$  \]

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  for gTLD operators in the moderate success bracket\- an income contribution or annual instalment of \[US$  \] until a lump sum of \[US$  \] is repaid

• for gTLD operators in the fair success bracket- repayment of the full or a percentage of the reduced base cost fee expended by the Support Development Program Program.