Post ICANN58 Meeting Report of the At-Large Community
What Happened at ICANN58?
At ICANN58, the At-Large Community held 26 sessions to discuss priority topics impacting the community, particularly its ongoing organizational review. At-Large members engaged with the independent examiner ITEMS and other ICANN stakeholders, including the ICANN Board, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), to discuss ITEMS’ research findings and proposed recommendations. The ALAC and RALOs also made significant progress in finalizing their responses to the draft report to be submitted to the ICANN public comment.
The At-Large Community leveraged ICANN58 to discuss ICANN policy issues and exchange views with other stakeholders. Topics included the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) Work Stream 2 (WS2) Subgroup issues, Guidelines for the Extended Process Similarity Review Panel (EPSRP) for the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) Fast Track Process, and the Competition, Consumer Trust, Consumer Choice (CCT) Review.
The Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) held various activities to enhance engagement. In particular, the European Regional At-Large Organization held its General Assembly (GA), a joint session with the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC), and a topical discussion about end users’ role in ICANN. Many At-Large Structures (ALSes) and newcomers actively participated in these sessions. With the support from ICANN staff, At-Large members effectively leveraged the ICANN booth to promote the work of the community among NextGen students and ICANN Fellows.
Next Steps
In the week following the ICANN58, the ALAC and RALOs will finalize their collective responses to the At-Large Review Draft Report. After consulting with the wider At-Large Community, the ALAC and RALOs will submit their statements to the ICANN Public Comment and conduct ratification vote(s) after 24 March. At-Large members are also encouraged to submit their individual responses to the Public Comment.
In ICANN58, the ALS Criteria and Expectations taskforce made headway on its communications plan that aims to improve the tools and processes to ensure full engagement of ALS members in ICANN activities. After socializing this plan among RALOs and attaining commitments for implementation, the ALAC Leadership Team will lead the execution of the plan, and track and complete its implementation by ICANN59.
Going forward, At-Large’s ICANN Evolution Working Group will be focusing on the ongoing and upcoming ICANN Public Comment on the deliberations from the CCWG-Accountability WS2. They will assist the ALAC to develop position statements on various Subgroup topics.
Following the exchange with the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) on the EPSRP in ICANN58, the ALAC will continue its discussion about the user confusion issue and the mitigation of risks related to the IDN ccTLD deployment. It plans to develop a motion to amend its previous advice on the Proposed Guidelines for the Second String Similarity Review Process.
At-Large members will continue tracking the discussions about the geographic names in the future rounds of new gTLDs within the GAC and will participate in the 25 April webinar on this topic. The ALAC liaison will also explore the potential to facilitate an intersessional dialogue between the ALAC and GAC on this topic before ICANN59.
The North American Regional At-Large Organization (NARALO) will hold its GA during the ARIN meeting in early April; its preparation is well underway. The African Regional At-Large Organization (AFRALO) will also be busy focusing on the preparation for its GA in ICANN59. AFRALO aims to adopt an innovative approach in organizing its topical discussions and outreach events in this GA.
Resource Materials
At-Large Review: ALAC and RALOs’ draft responses to At-Large Review Draft Report
EPSRP Related: ALAC Statement on the Proposed Guidelines for the Second String Similarity Review Process
At-Large Sessions in ICANN58
- At-Large Review: Working Party Meeting | ITEMS meeting with the ALAC and Regional Leaders | ITEMS Workshop
- Joint Meetings: ccNSO | GAC | ICANN Board | SSAC
- Policy Discussions: CCT Review with ALAC Representatives & Johnathan Zuck | CCWG-Accountability WS2 | Next-Generational Registration Directory Service to Replace WHOIS
- Meeting with ICANN Staff Departments: Contractual Compliance | Finance & Operations | Global Stakeholder Engagement
- Outreach Activities: EURALO-NCUC Event | End Users in ICANN: A Topical Discussion with At-Large
- RALO Meetings: AFRALO | APRALO | EURALO | NARALO
- Working Group Meetings: Cross Community Committee on Accessibility | Public Interest Working Group | Technology Taskforce
Other ICANN58 Reference Materials
- One-stop shop for the agendas, presentations, recordings, and transcripts of all At-Large sessions in ICANN58
- Video Interview of León Felipe Sánchez Ambía, the next ICANN Board Director Selected by the At-Large Community
- Photos of At-Large Sessions