Call for Volunteers: GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#><https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#><https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#><https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#><https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#><https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-01-27-en#> In Brief The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council seeks volunteers to serve on a PDP Working Group (WG) to develop recommendations for New generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) Subsequent Procedures. The GNSO Council approved the WG's charter<http://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/igo-ingo-crp-access-charter-24jun14-en.pdf> [PDF, 603 KB] on 21 January 2016, tasking this PDP to determine whether changes or adjustments to the existing policy recommendations on the Introduction of New Generic Top-Level Domains are needed. What This Team Will Do The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP Working Group (WG) is tasked with calling upon the community's collective experiences from the 2012 New gTLD Program round to determine what, if any, changes may need to be made to the existing Introduction of New Generic Top-Level Domains<http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/new-gtlds/pdp-dec05-fr-parta-08aug07.htm> policy recommendations from 8 August 2007. As the original policy recommendations as adopted by the GNSO Council and ICANN Board have "been designed to produce a systemized and ongoing mechanisms for applicants to propose new top-level domains", those policy recommendations remain in place for subsequent rounds of the New gTLD Program unless the GNSO Council would decide to modify those policy recommendations via this PDP. The work of this PDP WG follows the efforts of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Discussion Group (DG), which identified a set of issues/subjects for a future PDP WG to consider in their deliberations and recommend whether to: * Clarify, amend or override existing policy principles, recommendations, and implementation guidance; * Develop new policy recommendations; * Supplement or develop new implementation guidance. As part of the PDP WG deliberations, the PDP WG should consider at a minimum, the subjects detailed in the Final Issue Report. These subjects have been organized in groupings suggested by the DG that may facilitate deliberations on related subjects. However, additional work methods, such as those described in the Final Issue Report, or other methods identified by the PDP WG may be more appropriate to undertake the work. In addition to the work of the PDP WG, a number of new gTLD review efforts are underway which may have an impact on the work of this PDP WG. Therefore, this PDP WG should not be limited to the issues identified by the DG and should take into account the findings from the parallel efforts external to the PDP WG. How This Team Will Work ICANN WGs use transparent, open processes. The meetings of this PDP WG will be recorded, and the recordings will be made available to the public. The mailing list for the PDP WG will be archived publicly. The group will collaborate using a public workspace for draft materials and all final work products and milestones will be documented on the WG's wiki<https://community.icann.org/display/NGSPP/New+gTLD+Subsequent+Procedures+PDP+Home>. The PDP WG is expected to follow the GNSO Working Group Guidelines<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/annex-1-gnso-wg-guidelines-08apr11-en.pdf> [PDF, 349 KB] as well as the GNSO PDP Manual<http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/annex-2-pdp-manual-24jun15-en.pdf> [PDF, 260 KB]. How to Participate There are two ways to volunteer: * Individual Members – anyone interested can volunteer to join the PDP WG as a WG member, regardless of whether they are members of the ICANN community. Members are expected to actively contribute to mailing list conversations as well as meetings – it is anticipated that the PDP WG will at a minimum meet on a weekly basis via teleconference. Members are expected to provide essential input to the process. Members will be required to provide a Statement of Interests (SOI<https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosoi/New+SOIs>). * Mailing list observers – for those who are merely interested in monitoring the WG's conversations, there is the possibility to sign up as a mailing list "observer" which offers read-only access to the mailing list. Mailing list observers will not be permitted to post, will not receive invitations to the various meetings or calls of the WG and will not have to complete a Statement of Interest. At any point in time, a mailing list observer can join the WG as a member simply by informing the GNSO Secretariat. In addition, there will be opportunities to provide input through public consultations and public comment processes that the PDP WG is expected to organize. How to Join If you are interested in joining the WG as an individual participant or mailing list observer, please fill in the sign up form<http://goo.gl/forms/FRNZ4pSQl9> or send the PDF document<http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/new-gtlds/subsequent-procedures-pdp-27jan16-en.pdf> [PDF, 76 KB] filled in to the GNSO Secretariat<mailto:gnso-secs@icann.org>. All members and observers will be listed on the PDP WG's wiki page. Next Steps In its motion, the GNSO Council directed that this call for volunteers be circulated as widely as possible in order to ensure broad representation and participation in the WG. This call will remain open until the PDP WG convenes for the first time. At this juncture, it is anticipated that the PDP WG may convene online in late February 2016. Following that, regular online meetings will be scheduled in accordance with the PDP WG's work plan, which it is expected to develop as one of its first tasks. Further Information and Preparation For those interested in volunteering for this effort, you are strongly encouraged to review the following materials prior to the first meeting of the PDP WG. * The Final Issue Report<http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/new-gtlds/subsequent-procedures-final-issue-04dec15-en.pdf> [PDF, 1.38 MB] * The approved charter<http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/new-gtlds/subsequent-procedures-charter-21jan16-en.pdf> [PDF, 196 KB] * Materials available at the PDP WG's wiki<https://community.icann.org/display/NGSPP/New+gTLD+Subsequent+Procedures+PDP+Home>, such as the 2007 Final Report and other relevant information. Background In 2005, the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) began a Policy Development Process (PDP) to consider the introduction of new gTLDs. The two-year PDP process resulted in a set of 19 GNSO policy recommendations for implementing new gTLDs. In order to implement the policy recommendations of the GNSO, a number of draft Applicant Guidebooks (AGBs) were developed by ICANN staff in consultation with the community.In June 2011, ICANN's Board of Directors approved the final AGB and authorized the launch of the New gTLD Program. The New gTLD Program application window opened on 12 January 2012 and a total of 1930 complete applications were received. The first set of Initial Evaluation results were released on 22 March 2013, followed by the first set of new gTLD delegations on 21 October 2013. All applications have now completed the evaluation process and as of mid January 2016, there are nearly 900 gTLDs delegated and approximately 450 applications still proceeding through the remaining steps of the program. Although the 2012 round is ongoing, efforts to examine the round have already begun, which included the creation of the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Discussion Group (DG)<http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/inactive/2015/non-pdp-new-gtld>. The DG was created by the GNSO Council to discuss the experiences gained from the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program and to identify subjects that might lead to changes or adjustments for subsequent application procedures. The DG prepared its final deliverables, which included a set of subjects that it anticipated would be analyzed in detail in the context of an Issue Report. On 24 June 2015 the GNSO Council passed a resolution requesting the drafting of a Preliminary Issue Report on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures. In accordance with the PDP Rules, the Preliminary Issue Report was published for public comment on 31 August 2015. Following review of the public comments received, the Staff Manager updated the Issue Report accordingly and submitted the Final Issue Report to the GNSO Council for its consideration. The GNSO Council officially initiated the PDP on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures on 17 December 2015, followed by adoption of the PDP WG's charter on 21 January 2016.