CANN[icann.org]

News Alert

https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-06-24-en[icann.org]

Empowered Community Powers Triggered: FY18 Operating Plan and Budget, and Updates to Five-Year Operating Plan

24 June 2017

On 24 June 2017, the ICANN Board adopted ICANN's FY18 Operating Plan and Budget, the FY18 IANA Budget, and updates to the Five-Year Operating Plan. Under ICANN's post-IANA Stewardship Transition Bylaws[icann.org], the Empowered Community has the power to consider and, if they choose, to reject these documents before they go into effect.

ICANN's FY18 Operating Plan and Budget, the FY18 IANA Budget, and updates to the Five-Year Operating Plan are the result of 11 months of collaborative work by the organization, community, PTI Board, and ICANN Board Finance Committee. They include:

  • Highlights of all ICANN Operations
  • Overview of ICANN's FY18 Budget
  • Detailed FY18 Operating Plan
  • Detailed descriptions of portfolios of activities to support the goals and objectives described in the ICANN Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, and the updated Five-Year Operating Plan
  • Detailed lists of projects for each portfolio, with project-level budgeted costs
  • Summary of changes from the Draft FY18 Operating Plan and Budget

The community's continuously increasing participation in the planning process is a cornerstone of ICANN's transparency and accountability to the global multistakeholder community. ICANN thanks all community members who contributed to the development of the budget. Budget documents for FY18 and previous years are published here[icann.org].

In accordance with the ICANN Bylaws Annex D, Section 6.2[icann.org], the Empowered Community now has the opportunity to trigger the following three actions:

  • Rejection of the ICANN FY18 Operating Plan and Budget
  • Rejection of the FY18 IANA Budget
  • Rejection of updates to the Five-Year Operating Plan

Each of these documents will come into effect only after giving the Empowered Community time to consider whether it will raise a petition rejecting the budgets and/or operating plans. Decisional Participants of the Empowered Community have 28 days to bring forth a petition to reject any of these documents.

If the Empowered Community does not raise a petition, both budgets will go into effect on 22 July 2017. In accordance with the ICANN Bylaws Sections 22.4(a)(ix) and 22.4(b)(ix)[icann.org], until the budgets are adopted, including throughout an Empowered Community Petition Process, both IANA and ICANN will operate under separate Caretaker Budgets during the period of FY18.

With the FY18 Caretaker Budget in effect, the ICANN organization will manage with limited operational impact. As noted in the FY18 Operating Plan and Budget, the ICANN FY18 Caretaker Budget prohibits ICANN from posting new positions and reduces travel and professional fees by 10%. The IANA Caretaker Budget is equal to the FY18 IANA Budget to ensure the stability of the IANA functions.

What Is the Empowered Community?

The Empowered Community is the mechanism through which ICANN's Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) can organize under California law to legally enforce community powers. The community powers and rules that govern the Empowered Community are defined in the ICANN Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

Who Can Participate in the Empowered Community?

All of ICANN's SOs, as well as the At-Large and Governmental ACs, are Decisional Participants, and can participate in the Empowered Community, including:

  • Address Supporting Organization (ASO)
  • Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)
  • Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
  • At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
  • Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

How Does the Empowered Community Use Its powers?

The Empowered Community has an escalation process to reject ICANN's FY18 Operating Plan and Budget, the FY18 IANA Budget, and updates to the Five-Year Operating Plan. This escalation process gives SOs and ACs opportunities to discuss solutions with the ICANN Board.

For more information on the Empowered Community, click here[icann.org].
For more information on ongoing Empowered Community petitions, click here[icann.org].
For more information on upcoming Empowered Community opportunities, click here[icann.org].