NOTES | UAC | 27 September 2023 (13:00 UTC)
Welcome by Bart
Admin chair for today’s meeting
2.
Administrative matters
a.
Progress Chair & Vice-chair nominations
Nominations and secondings now completed. Abdalmonem as Chair, Regina as Vice Chair.
Next step: appointment by Council. Takes approx 1 week to be completed.
Congratulations to all
b.
UAC internal information sharing
Secretariat will create web page and wiki space. Internal Doc repository, agenda, recordings, meeting attendance etc.
Kim: Website is pending. Mailing list and wiki are already provisioned.
Wiki:
https://community.icann.org/x/UIfxDg
Abdalmonem: Survey on UA for ccTLDs. Useful. But very low participation by ccTLDs, to calculate readiness. Let’s start from there. What is out there, and what is missing.
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/ua-readiness-survey-report-cctlds-27mar23-en.pdf
https://www.icann.org/ua-evaluations-en
Bart: let’s discuss this under work items
Regarding the admin matters: we received requests to subscribe observers to the mailing list. As per the ToR it is the chair’s prerogative to invite/allow observers, if deemed important
by the full group. Sarmad, Pitinan from IDN Team are interested. Let’s discuss once chair and vice chair are appointed. Think about it. I will seek your comments again during AOB at the end of the meeting
Anybody else having an AOB? None
Anna: question. UA readiness for registries. IDN registrations, and info to registrants? e-mail address in Armenian, and DNS. Is our registry UA-ready? Almost.
Bart: I have no opinion on what UA-ready means. That is the WG’s prerogative. It is not in the mandate of the UAC to tell what UA-readiness means. This group is a tool to make UA
happen. Policy development or telling registries what to do is out of scope. You cannot do it all at once. Personally, I'm not an expert. Hence our proposal to define its detailed work items. Where does the group want to focus first? We will explore via napkin
pitches. If there is a role for the UAC, we need to determine the order of priority.
Anna: ok
Abdalmonem: I would like to add 2 other things:
It means that I can register a domain with my arabic address. Entire email infrastructure.
3.
Workitems UAC
Bart: today we should not detail how these 4 items will be put into practice, but rather we plan to explain today how the UAC work plan will be developed.
a.
Create and maintain Repository / clearing house of ccTLD relevant UA information
This is not about creating new information, but rather have a central point of reference of all materials, targeted at ccTLDs
Kim C is supporting the DASC Repository subgroup. This subgroup launched a repository, and will soon launch an email list too.
Qing Cai: I would like to share some info from UASG regarding their activities this year.
Bart: let’s do this under 3.c
Kim: DASC repository will launch its e-mail list at ICANN78. Content includes articles, definitions, reference materials. There is an editorial board which decides what will be included
in the repository. Review of submissions, looking for relevancy. Kim does a sanity check: remove broken links etc. Once the editorial board decides what (not) to accept, it will be communicated. Monthly meeting, quarterly audit to check relevancy.
Kim shows the DASC repository and the tracker used by the editorial board. Reference to new ccNSO website, and working methods by the editorial board.
Information:
https://community.icann.org/x/DoWZDg
Repository:
https://community.icann.org/x/Ege7Cg
Bart: could something similar be relevant regarding UA? It is part of your mandate, but it depends whether you want to spend resources on it.
Green ticks in zoom room
Bart: via a full group effort, or via a sub group?
1 person in favour of subgroup. Chair and vice chair and others in favour of full group
Bart: this is time-consuming
Abdalmomen: full group preference. I am part of GAC and involved in UASG. tried to create a subgroup in GAC, and that required a lot of time. I prefer to be surrounded by many talented
people. Maybe evolve into a subgroup over time.
Bart: our experience with the DASC is a different one. The DASC meets every month. Full group. The subgroups meet every 2 weeks for DASC: survey SG and repository SG. The subgroup
reports back to the full group, at least once a month. If you do the repository work in the fll group, there will not be enough time to deliver on other items in parallel.
Jiankang: find volunteers for the subgroup. If we cannot do that, plan B would be the full group.
Kim: meet alternating weeks.
Bart: full group for now. Sub groups if and when the time is right.
Vadim: we can create the sub team later. If needed, we can meet with the subgroup at a different pace, and meet more frequently.
Bart: let’s discuss the editorial board later, First the terms and structure of the repository need to be defined. Build on work by DASC
Action item #1
At the next meeting, Kim to run through the ToR from DASC repository subgroup.
b.
Create, Build and maintain UA dedicated email list
For the broader ccTLD community. Based on experience by TLD-OPS. E-mail list for operational and security related aspects, for and by ccTLDs. They can alert each other if there is
something of interest. It is a contact list.
It is our experience that general e-mails to the ccNSO members mailing list, or the regional organisation lists (e.g. APTLD), do not necessarily target the right people. Make sure
that ccTLD representatives that deal with UA on a daily basis are subscribed, without the additional filter of for instance the ccnso members mailing list.
Kim: mailing list is work in progress. Launch at ICANN78 during DASC session on Wednesday.
Process to determine who can (not) be subscribed. Dedicated list to the topic of UA. monthly digest with contact information and digest. With the new ccNSO website, it will be easier
to find information about the repository and mailing list.
Bart: is the DASC mailing list a good model for UAC? Do you think it is useful?
green marks in zoom
Kim: list is opt-in only. Request to be subscribed. No noise, only relevant emails.
Bart: allow people to focus on UA-related matters
No red marks in zoom. Too early to talk about subgroups. We could invite one of your DASC-peers to explain their experience.
Let’s focus first on the repository. E-mail list can follow later.
c.
Detail UAC as Liaison Committee for ccTLDs (Napkin Pitch)
Qing Cai is the ccNSO appointed liaison to the ICANN UASG. She was appointed by Council. From a ccnso point of view, this group will be the point of contact with respect to UA and
related matters from the ccNSO-side. If the council receives a UA-related request, they will defer to you. Or requests from ICANN staff: they will also be deferred to you. You are best positioned.
See explanation item 3.d.: to determine the details and focus, do a napkin exercise.
d.
Detail UAC to organise UA readines and Practices sessions (Napkin Pitch)
Sessions at ICANN meetings
There will always be a regional focus. The RO’s are far better positioned to deal with the regional questions and topics.
Bart: from the intro to this call, and the interventions by Abdalmonem and Anna, you will see that this will be a main activity. We would like to propose a napkin exercise, helping
you to explore the topic, and scope it. Design actionable work items for you.
Big idea: UAC takes the lead in UA-related sessions. Among yourselves, dedicated workshops, ccNSO members meeting sessions… all options open. To help you make a decision, let’s do
the napkin pitch. Sort of a workshop. What needs to happen to benefit ccTLDs? How does it address your needs? Joke and I will compile data, create a report and a poll where you can express your preference. After ICANN78. Thus you build a workplan, and you
have a clear set of goals, with a clear purpose for your actions.
Bart: do you like the idea of doing a napkin exercise? Worthwhile or waste of time?
No red marks.
Bart: thanks. Let’s do deep dive into repository work at the next meeting (Kim), and one of the napkin exercises.
Ai-Chin: As we all know, concerning Universal Acceptance, the critical issue pertains to email application services. I understand that this might not be the main focus of the UAC,
but from my perspective, I believe it would represent a significant step forward in promoting IDNs within ccTLDs. Therefore, I hope this committee will consider adding this issue to the UAC work items. How can we encourage email service providers to expedite
the provision of this service?
4.
Next meeting (#3):
Wed, 11 October 2023 – 13.00 UTC
Vadim: overlap with ICANN prep week?
Joke: First prep week session on 11 oct stats 14:30 UTC (new gTLD program next round)
Abdalmonem: UA day confirmed for 2024. 28 March (plus 45 days prior and after). Why not have some members to organise an event in original format? Thus promote UA.
The number of UA ambassadors increased following the 2023 UA day.
Regina: EURid prepared one-pager about UA. We intend to distribute it and speak to it at the IGF in Japan. I will participate to the next UAC meeting on 11 October while attending
the IGF. Any other UAC members attending? None
Qing Cai: I would like to share a brief overview about the work by UASG this year. New leadership team, active since its formation in April. In August the group met in Istanbul.
Updates, and a 5-year UASG action plan, with long-term and short-term goals. Elections president and vice president. Continue with UA day. 5-year plan is currently open for consultation by community. Will be released later.
Bart: once the UASG developed its 5-year plan, could you perhaps share it with this group? We share it with the broader community too.
Bart: subscribe Sarmad and Pitinan and others from ICANN staff as observers. Ensure they are able to inform this group.
We will explore an informal UAC meeting at ICANN78. To be continued.
5.
AOB
6.
Adjourn
Thank you! Bye.
Joke Braeken