Dear Councilors, As the GNSO Council Liaison to the IDNs-EPDP Team, I hereby submit a Project Change Request and a new project plan from the EPDP Team that the EPDP Chair, Donna Austin, previewed during the October Council meeting <https://community.icann.org/x/jQTVD>. Please find the documents attached. In summary, the IDNs-EPDP Team is requesting GNSO Council approval to make the following substantive changes to its project plan: A. Complete the EPDP in two phases: Phase 1: covers topics related to top-level IDN gTLD definition and variant management Phase 2: covers topics related to second-level IDN variant management B. A 31-month extension to the original project plan, with a projection of the following proposed key milestone dates: Publish Phase 1 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2023 Submit Phase 1 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2023 Publish Phase 2 Initial Report for Public Comment by April 2025 Submit Phase 2 Final Report to the GNSO Council by November 2025 The EPDP Team believes that bifurcating its work will prioritize the current planning of the SubPro implementation that is focused primarily on the top-level. This approach does not remove the interaction of the second-level work by the EPDP Team with the SubPro implementation. While most of the second-level related questions need to be addressed before the next round, their implementation can be performed near the end of the implementation cycle. In addition, the EPDP Team has determined that a timeline extension is required to complete its work due to various reasons, such as the diversity and complexity of IDN issues, additional data collection needs, review of ICANN org input, and public comment-related processes. Please review the Project Change Request for the full rationale and additional details for those substantive changes. Please feel free to share any comments and questions on the list. Best regards @__f_f__ ____________________________________ Lt-Colonel Farell FOLLY, Ir. GNSO Councillor - ICANN (Los Angeles, USA). https://www.linkedin.com/in/farellf/?locale=en_US