Staff Introduction
Olivier Crépin-Leblond, Chair of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), originally composed this Statement [PDF, 102 KB], based on the recordings and meeting notes of the following:
- The 16 August 2011 ALAC Executive Committee Teleconference.
- The 23 August 2011 ALAC Teleconference, when Kurt Pritz was invited to speak to the ALAC. The matter yielded a 30+ minute discussion with the ALAC on this subject.
- The 25 August 2011 ALAC Executive Committee Teleconference, following-up on the ALAC call.
Prior to those calls, the ALAC had been asked to familiarize themselves with the contents of the plan.
The At-Large staff created a wiki workspace on 23 August 2011. This was updated on 28 August 2011 and a final call for comments was circulated to the At-Large community.
On 29 August 2011, Olivier Crépin-Leblond, incorporated the final comments received from the community – based on the At-Large comments both entered onto the wiki workspace and received by email. The resulting statement is presented here.
On 29 August 2011, Olivier Crépin-Leblond requested that the At-Large staff begin a five-day ALAC vote on this statement.
On the same day, this ALAC Statement was transmitted to the public comment process, with a copy to the ICANN staff member responsible for thispublic comment topic, with a note saying that the document was currently undergoing ALAC ratification.
The ALAC appreciates the opportunity to provide input about the formulation of the 2012-2015 ICANN Strategic Plan.
On the whole the ALAC has seen a significant improvement in the formulation of the plan itself, and is pleased about the early involvement of all of ICANN’s communities. It is therefore supportive in general of the new timetable and the new format. It is definitely supportive of early involvement for our At-Large Community in the overall planning process. That said, it also believes that some improvements are still possible, especially in regards to a few specifics related to the At-Large Community.
Division into sub-categories
Whilst the ALAC appreciates that for the sake of clarity, the plan was divided amongst 7+1 categories, there is a concern that this might restrict input from Advisory Committees such as the ALAC. Indeed, some categories which the ALAC champions, such as Outreach, would not fit in a single category: in this example, it would fit in (3) the multi-stakeholder model, as a foundation piece of the multi-stakeholder model, but it also would fit into item (6) competition and consumer trust. In the case of consumer trust, the ICANN classification appears to point at only the new gTLD process, whilst the ALAC we would be aiming at a much broader view for all of ICANN’s activities, including its structure, processes and actions. For the ALAC, this includes outreach and initiating and funding programs to search for more input from the edges of the multi-stakeholder model, all in the public interest.
Timing
Several of our Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) have expressed concerns with regards to timing of the Strategic Plan framework consultations. On the plan itself, the timeline was reassuring when looking at it during the Singapore meeting, since it was scheduled as taking place from July to September. However, when it came down to implementation and for the consultation to take place, the commenting period was instead 29 July to 29 August. In the Asia Pacific region APRALO, this timing took place after the July APRALO meeting and before next APRALO meeting. As a result, input from APRALO was made much harder. In the European EURALO region, the summer period is one traditionally used for lengthy holidays. It would have therefore been more reassuring to have a 40-45 day comment period bearing in mind the lower availability of community members at that period of the year.
Matching of Strategic and Operation plans
While the ALAC broadly supports the high standards set by the Strategic Plan, some of our members are concerned by what they perceive as a discrepancy between it and the Operational Plan based upon it. These members have noted that previous versions of ICANN's Strategic Plan have been poorly implemented, especially in fields related to public outreach and protection.
For example: metrics with regards to globalization, outreach, specifically in developing economies, inclusiveness, diversity etc. Whilst the ALAC understands that ICANN is developing such metrics, it points out that a significant effort will need to be made to track such shortfalls and that corrective action be taken. As the part of ICANN which acts in the best interests of the Internet Users and thanks to its extensive geographic diversity and reach, the ALAC would like to extend its willingness to help locate what these shortfalls are with regards to users and looks forward to continue the dialogue with the Board and with ICANN Lead Staff to help in areas that it would be able to contribute to.
As a conclusion, the ALAC is looking forward to continue its involvement with the Strategic Planning Process but needs to point out that even more work needs to be done to extend the capability of input into the hands of the At-Large Structures and the users in those structures. It is the ability to collect significant input from the edges that will bring real accountability, transparency and legitimacy to the organization as a whole.
