Councillors, please see the below the note from Kurt. Please note that this is an advanced copy, released early, and that the formal publication of these documents will happen in the next few days. Stéphane Début du message réexpédié :
De : Kurt Pritz <kurt@icann.org> Objet : [soac-discussion] Information on New gTLD Applicant Support Program Date : 11 décembre 2011 19:15:06 HNEC À : "soac-discussion@icann.org" <soac-discussion@icann.org>, Avri Doria <avri@acm.org>, Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels@gmail.com>, Rafik Dammak <rafik.dammak@gmail.com>, Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca> Cc : Chris Disspain <ceo@auda.org.au>, Bertrand de La Chapelle <bdelachapelle@gmail.com>, George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky@gmail.com>, Mike Silber <silber.mike@gmail.com>, "sebastien@bachollet.com" <sebastien@bachollet.com>, Rod Beckstrom <rod.beckstrom@icann.org>, "cintra.sooknanan@gmail.com" <cintra.sooknanan@gmail.com>, David Olive <david.olive@icann.org>, Karla Valente <karla.valente@icann.org>, Karen Lentz <karen.lentz@icann.org>, John Jeffrey <john.jeffrey@icann.org>, Daniel Halloran <daniel.halloran@icann.org>, Karen Lentz <karen.lentz@icann.org>, Michael Salazar <michael.salazar@icann.org>
Dear Community Leaders:
The purpose of this note is to introduce ICANN¹s new gTLD Applicant Support Program intended to provide financial and other types of support to deserving applicants. That program is embodied by four documents attached for your review: an Overview, the Applicant Support Process, the Applicant Support Criteria, and a rough process flowchart to facilitate understanding.
These are furnished to you in advance of general publication and are for your discussion. We wanted to get information to you as soon as possible and will formally post this as soon as some necessary accompanying work is completed in about a week.
I know that most of you have been following the work to develop an Applicant Support Program for new gTLDs. Thus far, some non-financial elements of an Applicant Support Program have been developed. Among them are: the publication of a ³matching page² where entities seeking support and those offering support can self-identify and find partners; and the recent launch of the Customer Service Center.
The community (mostly through the Joint Applicant Support Working Group) and the ICANN Board have been working to develop an Applicant Support Program that includes financial assistance. Among other goals, the program seeks to provide financial assistance to applicants identified as having need and a mission to operate in the public interest.
The Board resolution in Dakar the Board noted that a working group of Board members had been convened to oversee the scoping and implementation of the recommendations arising out of the JAS Report, and resolved that ICANN was ³expected to commence work immediately and provide a detailed plan for consideration." That work was undertaken with the oversight of the Board working group. The result is a program described in the two documents that describe a Process and Criteria for evaluating candidates for support and providing support where merited. The work follows the plan outlined in the Board discussion in Dakar.
A description of and the reasoning behind the program (both in overview and in detail) can be found in the attached documents.
Next steps, to be done in a timeline described in the documents: 1) Before the end of the year, ICANN plans to post the proposed Process and Criteria documents for a brief public comment period (to align the timing of the Support Program with the new gTLD program launch). 2) Support candidates will be able to submit applications as soon as the New gTLDs Program launches, 12 January 2012. 3)Evaluation Panels will be recruited. 4) In partnership with the community additional funds will be sought.
I hope you find this helpful. Please contact Karla Valente or me with questions.
Sincerely,
Kurt