Re-transmitting this Status Report to the new ABR Reports email address.

Thank you.

Best,

Rob

From: Rob Hoggarth <robert.hoggarth@icann.org>
Date: Monday, June 24, 2024 at 8:15 PM
To: "abr-reports@icann.org" <abr-reports@icann.org>
Cc: Christina Rodriguez <christina.rodriguez@icann.org>, Mary Wong <mary.wong@icann.org>, Julia Charvolen <julia.charvolen@icann.org>, Sally Newell Cohen <sally.newellcohen@icann.org>, Sally Costerton <sally.costerton@icann.org>
Subject: Status Report - Expected GAC Assessment Report Regarding ICANN Additional Budget Request Number FY24-09 – Sign Language Interpretation for ICANN Public Meetings

Dear ICANN Colleagues,

This email is a status report regarding ICANN Additional Budget Request Number FY24-09 – Sign Language Interpretation for ICANN Public Meetings – and memorializes staff and community discussions that recently took place during the ICANN80 Public Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

Recognizing previous conversations at ICANN79 and the deployment of a community survey instrument during ICANN80, productive discussions during ICANN80 confirmed that the ICANN Language Services Team (LST) is conducting additional research to help inform the GAC in preparation of a report to assess the feasibility of a future sign language service pilot effort for ICANN Public Meetings. The discussions in Kigali included consideration of how a specific sign language(s) might be chosen/designated for a pilot program (from among a substantial number of regional and national sign languages around the world) and the critical need for a practical  “glossary” of signs/symbols that would be necessary for the effective implementation of any signing program that would address the complex and technical arena of the Domain Name System. The prospect of ICANN taking the lead in developing such a glossary is considered to be very intriguing.

Recognizing the current efforts of the organization to pursue resource efficiencies, a number of creative ideas are being explored (e.g., regional pilot efforts in local sign languages) to keep active consideration of the concept of future sign language services pilot ongoing even in the absence of direct funding allocated for those efforts. As a result of these discussions, GAC Members and the ICANN LST have agreed to continue to pursue production of the requested assessment report in the early September 2024 time frame – an extension beyond the originally-expected 1 July 2024 report date.

I will provide further updates to this email address as appropriate.

Best regards,

Rob Hoggarth

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Robert Hoggarth

Vice President, Policy Development and GAC Relations

Washington, D.C.