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By Dave Kissoondoyal, Member of the At-Large Advisory Committee

As the next element of consultation on the Strategic Plan, ICANN invites comments from the community on a first draft of the plan based on material presented to the community at the Seoul meeting. In particular, ICANN is seeking the views of the community on the following issues:

• What should be the three to five year high level strategic objectives for each of the four areas of work?
• What would be the specific metrics for each of the four areas of work?

The draft Strategic Plan for 2010- 2013 has been posted on the ICANN website at http://www.icann.org/en/strategic-plan/strategic-plan-2010-2013-01dec09-en.pdf

The four areas of work mentioned in the plan are as follows:

1. Preserve DNS stability and security
2. Promote competition, trust, choice and innovation
3. Excel in IANA and other core operations
4. Contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system

AFRALO thinks that together with key routine activities, new actions must be must be undertaken in each of the work area to make the strategy “action-oriented”

1. Preserve DNS stability and security

AFRALO acknowledges that the stability and security of the DNS is an important element for ICANN and the global internet users. Therefore we think that ICANN should prioritise the support for the implementation of DNSSEC.

AFRALO also supports ICANN’s initiative to work in partnership with other organizations to develop a conceptual model for a DNS collaborative security response system.

ICANN’s initiatives such as training for ccTLD operators are highly commended by AFRALO.

AFRALO argues that ICANN should come up with a plan for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity for its own operations.

2. Promote competition, trust, choice and innovation

AFRALO argues that in line with one of ICANN’s core values, which is introducing and promoting competition in the registration of domain names where practicable and beneficial in the public interest, ICANN should make the application fee for new domain names within the reach of each individual alike. Levying high application fees creates the disparity between the have and have-not’s. We urge ICANN to review its application policy.

We note the positive step taken by ICANN to promote the IDNs

AFRALO believes that there is no better way to promote trust, choice and innovation without public at large involvement. There AFRALO supports ICANN’s initiative to enhance the participation of the public in general through its At-Large structures.

3. Excel in IANA and other core operations

AFRALO take positive note of the fact that ICANN will make a significant investment in upgrading the IANA function.
AFRALO is of the opinion that there will be numerous changes in the years to come with the number of gTLD increasing, the implementation of DNSSEC, the advent of IDNs and the migration to IPv6. Therefore it is important that ICANN stays on top of this and monitors the scaling of the root system.

4. Contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system

To shape a healthy Internet eco-system, it is important that ICANN promotes a secure, open, accessible, evolved and developed Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world. Through the DNS and the IANA functions, ICANN can influence the maintenance of an open, secure and accessible Internet. Hence ICANN should facilitate an open development of standards, protocols, administration, and the technical infrastructure of the Internet. ICANN should support education in developing countries specifically, and wherever the need exists. It should provide management and coordination for initiatives and outreach efforts in humanitarian, educational, societal, and other contexts.

Through the Affirmation of Commitment that was signed in 2009, ICANN has build-up tremendous goodwill. AFRALO commends ICANN’s decision for honouring the obligations from the Affirmation of Commitment by implementing community reviews and initiating impact reporting on all major decisions.

As a strong multi-stakeholder organization, ICANN participates actively in debates on Internet Governance. AFRALO believes that due to its long standing history of good governance of the Domain Name System, ICANN should take a further leading role in the Internet Governance Forum and other multi-stakeholder initiatives related to the Internet and the Domain Name System.
ICANN has been of no reproach in terms of accountability and transparency. AFRALO requests ICANN to continue on the same path to maintain the high level of accountability and transparency. ICANN should continue to provide the Internal dashboard as at http://forms.icann.org/idashboard/public/

Bridging the Digital Divide

The Digital Divide is a social issue referring to the differing amount of information between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not have access. Less developed countries especially those in Africa are disadvantaged due to the digital divide. Since ICANN has an annual funding of $64 million, some of the funding should be allocated for initiatives to bridge the digital divide.

Comments:

Hello Dave et all,
The Document looks good, just one concern with your last paragraph:-

> The Digital Divide is a social issue referring to the differing....................

I think social issues in a society (even those affecting Internet Connectivity) are outside the purview of the ICANN. I could be missing something here, but asking the ICANN to even put them into consideration would be naive.

Regards,
Douglas Onyango

contributed by Douglas Onyango

Thank you Dave for your effort.

I read your document, and will comment it as soon as I finish the outreach project document that I have to post today.

Have a nice Sunday

Tijani BEN JEMAA

contributed by Tijani Ben Jemaa

Dave,

I think this is a good document and, IMHO, it reflects the main AFRALO
concerns. I have just added some minor editing.

We will need to have it in French too.

Good job !!!

Bon week end

Fatimata

Suggested edits:

1. Change last paragraph of the introduction to:
"AFRALO thinks that together with key routine activities, new actions must be undertaken in each of the work area to make the strategy “action-oriented”"

2. Under point 4 "Contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system", change "education" to "capacity building initiatives"

3. Change the last paragraph of the document "Bridging the Digital Divide" to:
"The Digital Divide is a social issue referring to the differing opportunities offered to those who have access to the Internet versus those who do not have access to it. Less developed countries especially those in Africa are disadvantaged due to the digital divide. Since ICANN has an annual funding of $64 million, some of the funding should be allocated to initiatives to bridge the digital divide."

_contributed by Fatimata Seye Sylla

I agree with Douglas that Digital Divide issues are out of scope for ICANN, however, we should encourage initiatives like the ICANN Fellowships. Increased capacity building around Internet Governance issues is in scope for ICANN, and this can be encouraged in the statement.

contributed by guest@socialtext.net on 2010-01-11 12:05:29 GMT

Dave and all,

This is my proposal which is the originaql Dave document modified according to my point of view.

Tijani

As the next element of consultation on the Strategic Plan, ICANN invites comments from the community on a first draft of the plan based on material presented to the community at the Seoul meeting. In particular, ICANN is seeking the views of the community on the following issues:
• What should be the three to five year high level strategic objectives for each of the four areas of work?
• What would be the specific metrics for each of the four areas of work?
The draft Strategic Plan for 2010- 2013 has been posted on the ICANN website at http://www.icann.org/en/strategic-plan/strategic-plan-2010-2013-01dec09-en.pdf
The four areas of work mentioned in the plan are as follows:
1. Preserve DNS stability and security
2. Promote competition, trust, choice and innovation
3. Excel in IANA and other core operations
4. Contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system
AFRALO thinks that together with key routine activities, new actions must be undertaken in each of the work area to make the strategy “action-oriented”
1. Preserve DNS stability and security
AFRALO acknowledges that the stability and security of the DNS is an important element for ICANN and the global internet users. Therefore we think that ICANN should prioritise the support for the implementation of DNSSEC.
AFRALO also supports ICANN’s initiative to work in partnership with other organizations to develop a conceptual model for a DNS collaborative security response system.
ICANN’s initiatives such as training for ccTLD operators are highly commended by AFRALO.
AFRALO argues that ICANN should come up with a plan for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity for its own operations.
2. Promote competition, trust, choice and innovation
AFRALO argues that in line with one of ICANN’s core values, which is introducing and promoting competition in the registration of domain names where practicable and beneficial in the public interest, ICANN should make the application fee for new Top Level Domains within the reach of each individual alike. Levying high application fees creates the disparity between the have and have-not’s. Therefore, we urge ICANN to review the applicant guide book to reflect the almost unanimous wish regarding the application fees expressed in all public comments on the previous versions, and in the Working Group 3 (at-large summit, Mexico) report approved by ALAC.
We note the positive step taken by ICANN to promote the IDNs
AFRALO supports the efforts of ICANN for a soft migration from IPV4 to IPV6 for a sufficient address space. These efforts should include specific outreach programs towards developing countries to make this migration as normal as possible without prejudice for the existing IPV4 addresses.
AFRALO believes that there is no better way to promote trust, choice and innovation than public at large involvement. There AFRALO supports ICANN’s initiative to enhance the participation of the public in general through its At-Large structures.

3. Excel in IANA and other core operations
AFRALO take positive note of the fact that ICANN will make a significant investment in upgrading the IANA function.
AFRALO is of the opinion that there will be numerous changes in the years to come with the number of gTLD increasing, the implementation of DNSSEC, the advent of IDNs and the migration to IPv6. Therefore it is important that ICANN stays on top of this and monitors the scaling of the root system.
4. Contribute to shaping a healthy Internet eco-system
To shape a healthy Internet eco-system, it is important that ICANN promotes a secure, open, accessible, evolved and developed Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world. Through the DNS and the IANA functions, ICANN can influence the maintenance of an open, secure and accessible Internet. Hence ICANN should facilitate an open development of standards, protocols, administration, and the technical infrastructure of the Internet. ICANN should support education in developing countries specifically, and wherever the need exists. It should provide management and coordination for initiatives and outreach efforts to make the voice of all the community heard.
The Digital Divide is a social issue referring to the differing amount of information and knowledge between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not have access. Less developed countries especially those in Africa are disadvantaged due to the digital divide. ICANN should allocate some of the funding for initiatives to bridge the digital divide.
Through the Affirmation of Commitment that was signed in 2009, ICANN has build-up tremendous goodwill. AFRALO commends ICANN’s decision for honouring the obligations from the Affirmation of Commitment by implementing community reviews and initiating impact reporting on all major decisions.
As a strong multi-stakeholder organization, ICANN participates actively in debates on Internet Governance. AFRALO believes that due to its long standing history of good governance of the Domain Name System, ICANN should take a further leading role in the Internet Governance Forum and other multi-stakeholder initiatives related to the Internet and the Domain Name System.
AFRALO acknowledges the accountability and transparency in the ICANN process, and requests it to continue on the same path to maintain the high level of accountability and transparency. ICANN should continue to provide the Internal dashboard as at http://forms.icann.org/idashboard/public/