ATLAS II Sub-Working Group: ROI

Team Members of ATLAS II Return on Investment Group

		Region
Name	Office	AF	AP	EU	LA	NA
Cheryl Langdon-Orr	Chair		x
Anupam Agrawal	Member		X
Satish Babu	Member		X
Jordi Iparraguirre	Member			X
Dev Anand Teelucksingh	Member				X
Natalia Enciso	Member				X
Darlene Thompson	Member					X
Yrjö Lansipuro	Member			X

It is desirable that this team be 'Pan Regionally Representative if not absolutely balanced'... In other words we will need a minimum of 1 active contributor from each Region to the work of this team pre, peri and post ATLAS2 being held. However we will not be limited to any particular number of team members per Region and it is most desirable that individuals with specific experience and or training in "ROI Matters" contribute to the work. This team also welcomes observers and will conduct its work in a specific email list, in this wiki space (all list subscribed team members will have edit rights) and via teleconference/online chat as required...

Primary Initial Focus of this team will be to prepare a short general '(S)ROI to ICANN from ATLAS II' statement to accompany the documentation to the June Board meeting.

to this end we will probably hold a 90 min drafting of text call to prepare this statement early in the 1st week of the June for this Work Team Wiki and list work will be conducted prior to that and a doodle will be sent out as soon as practical

Our work will need to begin with establishing what we mean by the term 'Return on Investment' in the specific context of ATLAS2 as an investment in cash and resources terms of ICANN, and then specifically how this will be "measured" and what metrics (if any) applied...

To start of discussion (and comments are welcome below) I have reproduced a "standard" definition of ROI for us to analyse and discuss and some resource material links below...

i) extract from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnoninvestment.asp

Definition of 'Return On Investment - ROI'
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.

The return on investment formula:

In the above formula "gains from investment", refers to the proceeds obtained from selling the investment of interest. Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity.

In our context of course "proceeds" are not (necessarily) measurable in cash terms and this needs to be addressed as well as clearly declared in all reporting.

- We would be well advised to state what we are reporting on is more akin to a "Social Return on Investment or SROI"
- Can we establish a "common currency" of terms with the ICANN Strategic Planning Objectives (or other key focus, projects, and documentation)

What other issues can we identify? These (as developed and identified) should be listed here below as well as in any other work spaces...

PROPOSED /TEXT please edit in-line below... if you do then annotate your proposed text/changes with your initials e.g. (CLO), or in comments section at base of page...

ICANN ATLAS 2 Return On Investment (ROI) notes:

A short topic synopsis for inclusion in general information and application text:

The At-Large Community of ICANN via its accredited At-Large Structures and their sub unit Membership <insert link to 'what is an ALS etc., here> is tasked with bringing into ICANN's policies and practices a view point and opinion contribution which is reflective of 'acting in the best interests' of Internet End Users and Individual Domain Name Registrants. In other words to act as integration points between ICANN the entity and its structures, and the global community which is inclusive of those not as yet connected to the Internet.

To do this most effectively, and to have our At-Large Structures ( ALSes) act as a set of globally distributed, geopolitically diverse yet effective and equitably skilled 'community engagement points' it is desirable that each ALS have a shared or common understanding of ICANN, its structure and function, and of the expectations and opportunities afforded to an accredited ICANN – ALS; That there is understanding and effective communication between the At-Large Structures within and between the ICANN Geographic Regions and the Regional At-Large Organisations (RALOs); And that a strong sense of mutual understanding and trust is developed between all the ALSes and their Key Leadership, as well as with as many of the other parts of ICANN as possible.

As ICANN plans to strategically increase its commitments to global outreach and multiplies its presence around the world , and aims to “ensure more participatory global community input into its policy development and activities”, as well as further develops its commitment to multi stakeholderism and the protection of Registrant and Internet End Users Rights (the Public Interest) it is envisaged that utilization locally and regionally, of the effective, efficient, well prepared and enabled global network of local engagement points that our ALSes offers to ICANN will provide our rapidly internationalising organisation with a unique 'tool' and a leading edge.

ALAC and At-Large believe that the occasional coming together of representatives from our At-Large Structures in Regional General Assemblies and Global Summits is an effective and now proven mechanism of efficiently providing our 'edge community interfaces' (the At-Large Structures) with both capacity building and in-service training which results in desirable and most importantly measurable outcomes for ICANN that enhance its strategic plans and directions.

It is of course recognised easily if one looks at the incremental growth and frequency of ALAC and At-Large input into policy development (both in terms of direct involvement in policy development activities and discussion, as well as the lodgement of formal Statements and Public Comment' ) since the success of the 2009 At-Large Summit held in Mexico ( ATLAS I ) that over the last 4 years and punctuated by the undertakings and activities associated with the Affirmation of Commitments and the implementation of the recommendations from the ALAC Review, that ICANN, its Board and its AC/SO structures and stakeholders now have a greater claim than ever before that the provision in our multi stakeholder model of the opportunity for genuine 'bottom up' influence and effectiveness of input from a diverse sets of communities of interest is a unique and quality differentiator provided to ICANN by our At-Large Community and global yet geographically well balanced network of At-Large Structures. <insert link to map data>

A second At-Large Summit (ATLAS II) will have in our view many benefits to ICANN some such as the public relations value of being seen as an entity that is genuinely committed to the facilitation, development and strengthening of the 'grassroots' sectors of its organisation. As well as the opportunity for a public demonstration of how truly diverse and representationally effective ICANNs ALSes are as their representatives come together to discuss and engage with ICANNs stakeholders, Advisory Committees and Supporting Organisations in their work in its public meeting in London in June 2014, in debate and discussion of the main subjects and issues that are of concern to ICANN today.

ATLAS II will operate under an overarching theme identified to be of prime importance to ICANN and of interest to its stakeholders, and will we believe result in a further numerical growth of the number of ALSes and take us a step closer to our aim of having “at least one (1) ALS in each country”; It will however also empower the ALSes and their extensive memberships locally to “better serve ICANN purposes in the communities they represent” resulting in more diverse, fresh and numerous engagement with ICANNs formal activities processes and policy development. As well as of course dramatically increase and enhance ICANNs visibility globally, regionally and locally by the creation of nexus and opportunities that can aid the work of ICANNs Regional Global Partnership activities ad more generally in outreach, with creation of quality lead generation and relationship building activities as a result.

Description.	objective/measure.	notes.
VERY Rough listing of some measures PLEASE add MORE!	Need to split into social measures and traditional ROI's?
Greater global end use participation in Policy processes	Multi regional and increased participation in WG's; In response to call for (relevant) Public comments and similar fora
Specific quality leads and partnership opportunities followed up by GLobal Partnerships both regionally and globally.	Conversion of introduction / concept fora outcomes onto relationships and partnership opportunities
Achieve greater global / regional reach with additional active ALSes	An increase in x% (or actual number over a stated distribution?)	Ensure this is not achieved by additional ALSes in countries with already good (define) ALS representation