Hi, People may have noticed this item in the agenda, without much explanation. Here is some background. My thought is get the conversation started on how the GNSO and the GNSO Council develop the required Policy Strategy. In suggesting this, I am not suggesting that the current council should determine the future strategy or the priorities within that strategy. Rather I am proposing that it is time for the constituencies (past, present and interest groups) and community to start developing the ground work so that the new Council, once seated can begin to focus on Policy work. I quite specifically did not call this bluesky, because we did one of those a year ago, and I still shutter at the enormity, complexity and randomness of the list we derived. Rather I think this council needs to figure out how to get the process started in the community. The question might come as to why start now? I have several reasons for thinking it may be time to start: - It has been on our todo list for a long time, I just kept putting it off until the major council tasks in the restructuring and reorganization were done. I think we are almost there now. - the BCG recommendations approved by the Board included this in the initial tasks as can be seen in some of the quotes I have included from the REPORT OF THE BOARD GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE GNSO REVIEW WORKING GROUP ON GNSO IMPROVEMENTS. Another issue may concern the legitimacy of this council, that is nearing the end of its term, setting the agenda for future policy work work. I tend to see the effort more as one that set the stage with a way to organize, the constituencies, the candidate constituencies and the community and start gathering the information needed to start discussion in earnest in Seoul and continue thereafter. thanks a. Some Background info from REPORT OF THE BOARD GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE GNSO REVIEW WORKING GROUP ON GNSO IMPROVEMENTS. 2.2.1 LSE Review Recommendation 9. Develop and publish annually a two-year GNSO Policy Development Plan that dovetails with ICANN’s budget and strategic planning. Page 24 It would also be helpful for the PDP process to align better with ICANN’s strategic plan and operations plan, as was proposed in LSE Rec. #9. Recommendation #9 suggested that the GNSO publish annually a “Policy Development Plan” for current and upcoming work. Indeed, it is important across the entire ICANN community that projects and resource allocations are better aligned with strategic objectives. ICANN has a well developed planning process, with a three year Strategic Plan that is reviewed and updated annually and an annual Operating Plan. As the GNSO Council’s policy development work is such a critical part of ICANN’s function, it is important that there be a strong nexus between the work plan of the GNSO Council and the ICANN planning process. We therefore recommend that the Council, GNSO constituencies and staff execute, within six months, a more formal “Policy Development Plan” that is linked to ICANN’s overall strategic plan, but at the same time is sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes in priority determined by rapid evolution in the DNS marketplace and unexpected initiatives (e.g., the use of a wildcard by a Registry). Page 26 The PDP should be better aligned with ICANN’s strategic plan and operations plan. A formal Policy Development Plan should be linked to ICANN’s overall strategic plan, but at the same time should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes in priority determined by rapid evolution in the DNS marketplace and unexpected initiatives. Page 26 (i) The Council, constituencies and staff to execute, within six months, a more formal “Policy Development Plan” that is linked to ICANN’s overall strategic plan, but at the same time is sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes in priority (establishing the above-described implementation team for that purpose); and 27 (ii) Staff to propose, within six months, metrics that can bring the PDP more in sync with ICANN’s planning. Page 27 Third, the amount of time and energy that the Council has devoted to task forces, whether in terms of establishing them, overseeing their work, or debating their conclusions, has left insufficient time for the Council to focus on what is perhaps its most important function – setting the overall strategy for managing policy development by the GNSO Council. Page 30 In addition, the Council could analyze trends and changes in the gTLD arena and, as a consequence, provide advice on the use of ICANN resources affecting the gTLD name space. The Council could begin a constructive dialogue with a broad range of Internet stakeholders in order to fully understand DNS-related technologies, trends, and markets. This knowledge can help the Council set the appropriate strategic vision and direction for gTLD policy development, as well as coordinate the process in a meaningful way. Given that there is significant expertise reflected among the GNSO constituencies, the constituencies should also be invited to participate and contribute to the Council’s overall analysis of trends and changes in the gTLD arena Page 37 Proposed Action Item: The Board requests: (i) The Council and constituencies to participate fully in the ICANN planning process, including providing a three year view (for the Strategic Plan) and an annual plan