The Translation and Transliteration of Contact Information (T/T) Implementation Review Team (IRT) is convened to assist and ICANN staff in implementing Final Recommendations that were developed by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) T/T PDP Working Group, adopted  by the GNSO Council on 24 June 2015 and adopted on 28 September 2015 by the ICANN Board.

The T/T IRT will operate in accordance with principles set forth in the GNSO Policy & Implementation Working Group's Final Report.

IRT Purpose

The T/T IRT is convened to assist staff in developing the implementation details for the T/T Final Report to ensure the implementation conforms to the intent of the Final Recommendations.

The IRT is not a policymaking body. If any policy issues arise during the implementation of this program, these must be referred to the GNSO for resolution and/or input.

Implementation Project Scope

The T/T Implementation project will implement all Final Recommendations approved by the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board.

IRT Volunteer Expectations, Obligations

• IRT volunteers must be familiar with the deliberations of the T/T PDP Working Group and the text of the Final Recommendations.
• IRT volunteers must have a statement of interest on file with ICANN and keep that document up-to-date.
• IRT volunteers should be able to attend the majority of IRT meetings (and plan to actively participate). Care will be taken to schedule IRT meetings that are at a time that is convenient for the majority of volunteers. If needed, the IRT will adopt a rotating meeting time schedule to ensure that times are not consistently inconvenient for IRT members due to their geographic location.
• IRT volunteers shall not use the IRT as a mechanism to attempt to reopen policy issues that were resolved during policy development.
• IRT volunteers must raise issues/ask questions on specific topics as those topics are raised and within deadlines set by ICANN staff.

Obligations of ICANN Staff

• Staff must provide regular updates to the IRT on the status of the implementation and conduct appropriate outreach to the IRT at critical milestones (in some cases, the broader community should also be notified).
• At a minimum, staff will publish:
  • An implementation status page on ICANN.org that contains a summary of the project, primary tasks, percent complete and expected delivery dates.
  • An update on the project to the GNSO Project list.
• Staff must set clear deadlines for IRT feedback on documents and implementation plans and send documents to the IRT in a timely manner to ensure sufficient time for IRT review.
• Staff must schedule IRT meetings in a timely manner and must distribute a meeting agenda and related materials at least 24 hours before the meeting.

IRT Procedures

• The GNSO Council is expected to designate a liaison to the IRT to ensure a direct link to the GNSO Council, if needed.
• There is an assumption that the IRT will operate transparently, with a publicly archived mailing list and recordings of all IRT calls.
• The GDD project manager will run all IRT calls and meetings.
• If there is a lack of participation by IRT members, resulting in meetings being canceled and/or decisions being postponed, the GDD project manager is expected to explore and respond to possible underlying reasons for lack of participation. However, should the lack of participation be reasonably deemed to be the result of IRT members seeing no specific need to attend the calls as they are content with the direction the implementation is going, ICANN staff can continue with the proposed implementation plan as long as: 1) a notice to this effect is sent to the IRT; and 2) regular meetings are held and regular updates are provided for the public record, including on decisions being taken, on the mailing list and deadlines for input are clearly communicated.
• In the event of disagreement between ICANN staff and the IRT or any of its members on the implementation approach proposed by ICANN staff, the GDD project manager, in consultation with the GNSO Council liaison, if appropriate, shall exercise all reasonable efforts to resolve the disagreement. Should the disagreement prove irreconcilable despite such efforts, the GNSO Council liaison in consultation with the IRT is expected to make an assessment as to the level of consensus within the IRT on whether to raise the issue with the GNSO Council for consideration, using the standard decision making methodology outlined in the GNSO Working Group Guidelines. If the GNSO Council liaison makes the determination that there is consensus for such consideration, the liaison will inform the GNSO Council accordingly which will deliberate on the issue and then make a determination on how to proceed which could include, for example, the initiation of a GGP, a PDP or further guidance to the IRT and/or GDD staff on how to proceed.
• Any IRT member that believes that his/her contributions are being systematically ignored or discounted or wants to appeal a decision of the IRT or GDD Staff should first discuss the circumstances with the GNSO Council liaison to the IRT. In the event that the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the IRT member should request an opportunity to discuss the situation with the Chair of the GNSO Council or their designated representative. In addition, an IRT member always has the option to involve the ombudsman (see https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accountability/ombudsmanen for further details).
• IRT deliberations should not be used as a tool to reopen a previously explored policy issue only because a constituency or stakeholder group was not satisfied with the outcome of a previously held process on the same policy issue, unless the circumstances have changed and/or new information is available.