[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-11-28-en ________________________________ IANA Stewardship Transition Cross Community Working Group (CWG) on Naming Related Functions 28 November 2014 Chairs' Statement with progress update and route ahead Lise Fuhr & Jonathan Robinson Following on from the face-to-face meeting of the Community Working Group (CWG) on Naming Related Functions in Frankfurt, Germany on 19 - 20 November 2014, the CWG has continued to make good progress. An initial draft of the Proposal from the CWG was published on the CWG mailing list on 26 November 2014 and this was discussed by the CWG in a scheduled meeting on 27 November 2014. The meeting had a number of points on the agenda but focussed substantially on two key areas: 1. RFP3 - The content of the initial draft proposal from the CWG which relates to item 3 in the request for proposals from the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG). 2. Key questions / issues to be addressed in public comment - the prospective specific questions or issues that the CWG would like to see addressed as part of the public comment on the draft proposal. It was also discussed that while the initial draft proposal from the CWG represents a good platform on which to build, there remains significant opportunity for refinement and development by the CWG based on a range of inputs including that from the public comment. We believe that the key building blocks are in place to produce a timely response to the ICG RFP but recognise the need to remain vigilant on all aspects of the timetable and project plan. Mindful of the timetable, the next steps in the process are as follows: 1. Identify proposed changes in the initial draft of the Proposal from the CWG by 12h00 UTC in 29 November 2014. 2. Integrate changes into the initial draft of the Proposal from the CWG such that it becomes a draft of the Proposal from the CWG published for public comment on 1 December 2014. 3. Continue to work as a CWG in parallel with public comment period including developing areas of the document relating to items 4, 5 & 6 of the RFP from the ICG. 4. Recognise that final substantial inputs to the proposal will need to be complete by the end of the weekend of 10/11 January 2015 such that the week following is focussed solely on refining the proposal document. 5. Ensure widespread awareness of the draft and the key milestones of the CWG including ensuring that all chartering organisations recognise the 19-30 January 2015 time slot for approving the proposal. We also note that a particular area of attention for the CWG is to ensure effective coordination with the parallel and related process on enhancing ICANN accountability. To that end, the CWG co-chairs met on 28 November 2014 with the co-chairs of the drafting team on Cross Community Working Group (CCWG) on Enhancing ICANN Accountability, at least one of whom (Thomas Rickert) we understand will remain as a co-chair of the CCWG on Enhancing ICANN Accountability. Recognising that the two cross community groups are at different points in their work, it was discussed that the CWG on Naming Related Functions could make a contribution to the CCWG on Accountability by assisting to identify accountability mechanisms that are necessary conditions for the stewardship transition. To this end, we (the co-chairs of the CWG) plan to work with our CWG to identify such necessary conditions for transmission to the CCWG on Accountability in order to assist their work and moreover, to coordinate with the co-chairs of the CCWG on Accountability on an ongoing basis.