“At the suggestion of Bertrand de La
Chapelle, the Chairs of the ALAC, gNSO and ccNSO together with GAC
representatives Bertrand and Manal Ismail and Bruce Tonkin on behalf of the
Board, had a teleconference earlier this
week.
The purpose was
to explore how the ICANN Cairo meeting schedule could expand on the progress
already made in Paris in terms of bringing the
different SOs and ACs together on the major issues. The
goal would be to develop trans-SO/AC communications and also facilitate
general awareness within the community about the status of different issues
and increase the visibility of them. Trans-SO/AC communications would not
necessarily mean stopping the bilateral sessions, but may have the effect of
making them shorter, more focused and less
repetitive.
As a result of
the call it is suggested that on the Monday in Cairo the ccNSO, gNSO, ALAC
and GAC organise a half day joint session (open to members as well as
councillors) to a) discuss progress, issues and future steps regarding new
gTLDs (including IDNs) and IDN ccTLDs and b) to be briefed on the
President’s Strategy Committee consultations on improving institutional
confidence. It is also suggested that a further session on the Thursday
might be appropriate to follow up and report on the individual SO/AC
discussions on the topics following the Monday
session.
Obviously, the
logistics of all of this have yet to be organised but ICANN
has agreed the principle and we need to confirm, by 12 September, that we
want to do this so that the initial agenda can be published. I’d appreciate
comment, questions and input from councillors on the suggestion as soon as
possible.”