Dear ALAC members, Our ALAC/At-Large Improvements project has entered its final and most important phase, which will be one of our focuses in San Francisco. For that reason, I'd appreciate any of you not familiar with the Improvements work to please review the progress made. A good place to start is the summary update below. Primarily, I direct this request to our new ALAC members as well as Regional Leaders. Secondly, this is our last opportunity to add new members to the Improvements work teams. Any of you who would like, please volunteer for one or more of these teams. Again, while all are welcome, I particularly direct this request to our new members. The WTs have had, I'm pleased to report, the benefit of strong regional representation from the start. The co-chairs have, however, requested -- quite reasonably -- that anyone now volunteering for a WT be sure to familiarize him- or herself with its work thus far. This will ensure that any new member is truly an asset as the team begins the finalization of its work. Also, please feel free to discuss with the co-chairs which of the four WTs could most use help at this point. The teams' different areas of focus are described below. Kind regards, Olivier --- cut here --- *ALAC/At-Large Improvements Implementation Project: Update* /8 February 2011/// * * The current ALAC/At-Large Improvements project is now entering its most important stage. A brief history of the project: * The ALAC/At-Large Improvements project grew out of a 2008 ALAC/At-Large review, mandated by the ICANN Bylaws and conducted by an independent consultant. The review findings are summarized in a 25 July 2008 report (Independent Review of the At-Large Advisory Committee: Report to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers <http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-13aug08-en.htm>). * Using these findings and the input from two public comment periods, a BGC-appointed working group -- the Review Working Group on ALAC Improvements -- produced 13 recommendations (contained in the Final Report of the ALAC Review Working Group on ALAC Improvements <http://www.icann.org/en/reviews/alac/final-report-alac-review-09jun09-en.pdf>, 9 June 2009). These broad recommendations describe key improvements prescribed for the ALAC and At-Large, focusing on the groups' organization, effectiveness, participation, and relationship to other ICANN entities. The recommendations are described on the project's main Confluence page, the At-Large Improvements Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Workspace> and, as a practical matter, have been divided into manageable tasks listed in theSimplified At-Large Improvements Implementation Outline <https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&key=tLWfIP-TYeKgrmqH6AW-Q9g&authke...>. Of the 13 recommendations, Recommendation 2 -- the need for an At-Large-selected ICANN Board member -- was separated out for completion by the At-Large ABSdt and BCEC. Its implementation resulted in ICANN's first Director selected by At-Large being seated during the recent Cartagena Meeting. More recently, the remaining 12 recommendations were grouped by topic and divided among four At-Large Improvements work teams. A summary of each team's topic, assigned recommendations, and meeting schedule follows: * *WT A on ALAC's continuing purpose * Meets every other Thursday at 18:00 UTC Rec 1: ICANN Bylaws to reflect ALAC's continuing purpose Rec 2: ICANN Bylaw changed related to At-Large-selected Director Rec 10: ALAC/At-Large is home of individual Internet users Rec 11: Board statement recognizing Rec 10 * *WT B on ALS participation * Meets every other Wednesday at 13:00 UTC Rec 3: Remove any obstacles in ALS-RALO-ALAC structure Rec 4: ALS education and engagement Rec 7: ALAC should choose its own communication/collaboration tools Rec 9: ICANN should strengthen its translation/interpretation tools * *WT C on ALAC planning processes * Meets every other Wednesday at 19:00 UTC Rec 5: ALAC should develop strategic/operational plans as part of ICANN's planning process Rec 6: At-Large should develop accurate cost models * *WT D on ALAC's policy advice processes * Meets every other Thursday at 19:00 UTC Rec 8: ALAC may request public comment period be extended to 45 days Rec 12: Consumer representatives should have input into decisions and policy advice Rec 13: ALAC/At-Large policy advice mechanisms should be strengthened Each Improvements WT began meeting in September 2010. Each includes representatives from At-Large's five regions. And the calls of each occur every other week for one hour in English. The tentative deadline imposed by the ALAC for the completion of each WT's mandate is the end of March 2011. While all of the WTs are now entering the final and perhaps most important phase of their work, each obviously has different tasks ahead of it. Other tasks, of course, will be similar for all of the teams; these include: * Refining the improvements under discussion; * Determining the practical steps needed to implement these improvements; * Turning their improvement plans into ALAC proposals; and * Presenting their proposals to the At-Large Community and ALAC for feedback during ICANN's San Francisco Meeting. For further details on the ALAC/At-Large Improvements project or any of the WTs, please see these additional resources: * The main workspace of each WT, which includes member/co-chair lists, meeting minutes, and WT-created documents: o Main WT A Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team+...>; o Main WT B Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team+...>; o Main WT C Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team+...>; and o Main WT D Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/Improve/At-Large+Improvements+Work+Team+...>. * Status of ALAC Improvements Implementation (9 March 2010; Nairobi) <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/Status+of+ALAC+Impr...>, including a detailed history of the project; * ALAC-At-Large Improvements Implementation Project Plan (7 June 2010)<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/ALAC-At-Large+Impro...>; and * ALAC/At-Large Improvements Implementation: Update (5 Dec 2010, Cartagena) <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2950348/ALAC%2C+At-Large+Im...>. Also, please feel free to contact the WT co-chairs (see the WT workspaces above) or the At-Large Improvements Project Manager, Seth Greene, at seth.greene@icann.org <mailto:seth.greene@icann.org>. -- Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD http://www.gih.com/ocl.html