Monday, 7 March

At-Large Leadership Welcome to ICANN73

• An overview of the At-Large sessions was provided. 
• JZ provided a review of the At-Large ICANN73 Talking Points. 

• No Actions Noted

Tuesday, 8 March

Board Meeting with the ALAC

• Topic 1: Volunteer Retention
  • ALAC suggested the establishment of indicators for ICANN volunteers
  • Board noted the significant efforts and activities to volunteer engagement and retention. Also noted the number of languages of interpretation offered. Highlighted regional meeting rotation to engage with regions. Acknowledged the concept the indicators is of interesting and asked ALAC to contribute additional information on their ideas. 
  • The Board also raised the issue of retention and also how to show achievement of volunteers. 
  • The Board raised how we measure trust that volunteers are being appreciated.  
  • The Board encouraged to continue to engage with new people. Need to steer away from the narrative that volunteers are not appreciated given the number of activities in place to engage and recognize them. 
  • AG noted the difference between volunteers who are at ICANN because they are paid or further their career as opposed to those who are purely volunteer. 
  • MM stated that she likes idea of indicators to show trust. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, there are processes that exist that we could look at. 
• Topic 2 - Improving Policy Development Processes
  • Holistic Review
  • Board noted that the terms of reference are being developed. 
  • Board noted limited resources. Let us find the solution together. 
  • Board commented that it takes the input of volunteers and paid contributors equally. 
  • SB noted ABRs - some are not further along. 
  • JZ noted need for policy staff support. 
  • DO commented that there are generally 5 FTEs and that there is a need to elevate the policy support position. Also noted on re-structuring of At-Large support. 
  • JZ welcomed the comments. 
• Topic 3: Importance to At-Large of the Prioritization Activity
  • CLO gave an overview of the ALAC Prioritisation Assessment Tool (APAT) Review. 

• No Actions Noted

NARALO Monthly Meeting - Blockchain, NFTs, and Decentralized Domains - What is the impact on end-users, internet security and stability, and ICANN?

Wednesday, 9 March

NARALO held a session with a presentation on "Blockchain, NFTs, and Decentralized Domains - What is the impact on end-users, internet security and stability, and ICANN?"

• The Panelist were Tom Barrett (encirca.com [encirca.com]) and Jeff Neuman (jjnsolutions.com [jjnsolutions.com]). They presented an overview of NFTs and decentralized domain names and discussed the implications for end-users, internet security, and stability, and ICANN.
• The panelists addressed the question , “How does this impact the Internet and what role should ICANN have vis-a-vis these decentralized domain names?”
• The emergence of Blockchain technology which has spawned countless DNS variants along with new top-level domain namespaces and alternative roots.  They noted that all of this activity is happening outside of ICANN's oversight and regulatory framework. 
• The implications on ICANN of a "decentralized" web were analyzed. Speakers explained that this Decentralized Web is unlikely to be regulated by ICANN. It is Anonymous, no Whois, no zone files, no consensus policies, no accredited contracted parties that could enforce consensus policies.
• There will be no Unified Alternative root. There are duplicate alternative TLDs.
• It is expected that the root will double the size by 2030.
• Digital wallet apps may simply ignore new ICANN TLDs.

At-Large Policy Session 2: Prioritisation Framework: ALAC Prioritisation Assessment Tool (APAT) Review 

Thursday, 10 March