GNSO OPERATIONS TEAM (GOT) – DRAFT CHARTER
(DRAFT 22DEC08)(as amended 01MAR09)
Chair – Ray Fassett
Vice Chair – Yoav Keren
I. TEAM CHARTER/GOALS
The GNSO Operations Work Team will develop proposals for Council consideration based on the Board's endorsement of GNSO operations-related recommendations outlined in the 3 February 2008 Report of the Board Governance Committee GNSO Review Working Group on GNSO Improvements (BGC WG Report). Those recommendations include but are not limited to:
• Determine what steps are needed to establish the role of the Council as a "strategic manager of the policy process."
• Define and develop scope and responsibilities of any other standing "committees" as recommended by the BGC WG (those suggested to date: committee to analyze trends; committee to benchmark policy implementation)
• Develop "Statement of Interest" and "Declaration of Interest" forms.
• Develop curriculum for training Council members, constituents, facilitators and others.
• Prepare clear rules for the establishment of new constituencies within stakeholder groups, while recognizing that differences exist between stakeholder groups and constituencies.
• Review and recommend amendments as appropriate regarding methods for encouraging, promoting and introducing new constituencies, while recognizing that differences exist between stakeholder groups and constituencies.
II. TEAM MEMBERSHIP
The team will be composed of participants drawn from the GNSO council, the GNSO constituencies and the larger ICANN/Internet community. It is recommended that:
1. There be a minimum of one GNSO Councilor and preferably two Councilors to serve as liaisons between this team and the Council
2. The number of Councilors be limited to at most three to maintain separation between the team's work and the Council's oversight role.
3. There be at least one representative from each Constituency.
4. Each Advisory Committee and Supporting Organization be given the opportunity to have a representative (or representatives)
5. There be members from the community who are not associated with a Constituency or Advisory Committee (other than NomCom appointed Councilors)
6. Participation by team members on other teams should be minimized if not totally avoided in order to: spread the total GNSO Improvements Project workload across a wider group of people; minimize scheduling conflicts that are more likely to occur when team members are involved in multiple groups at the same time; and encourage involvement by new community members.
7. The initial/interim chair of the team should be someone from the associated steering committing.
III. WORK TEAM RULES
While formal and complete guidelines for Working Group (WG) operations are still to be developed by the Working Group Model work team, the following rules will apply for this Work Team (WT):
Statements of Interest: Each participant in the WT will provide a Statement of Interest including the following information:
• The participant's current vocation, employer and position
• The type of work performed in the bullet above
• Identify any financial ownership or senior management/leadership interest in registries, registrars or other firms that are interested parties in ICANN policy or any entity with which ICANN has a transaction, contract, or other arrangement
• Identify any type of commercial interest in ICANN GNSO policy development outcomes. Is the participant representing other parties?
• Describe any arrangements or agreements between the participant and any other group, constituency or person(s) regarding the participant's selection as a WT member.
Decision Making: The WT shall function on the basis of "rough consensus" meaning that all points of view will be discussed until the Chair can ascertain that the point of view is understood and has been covered. That consensus viewpoint will be reported to the OSC in the form of a WT Report. Anyone with a minority view will be invited to include a discussion in the WT Report. The minority view should include the names and affiliations of those contributing to that part of the report.
In producing the WT Report, the Chair will be responsible for designating each position as having one of the following designations:
• Unanimous consensus position
• Rough consensus position where a small minority disagrees but most agree
• Strong support, but significant opposition
• Minority viewpoint(s)
In all cases, the Chair will include the names and affiliations of those in support of each position and for participants representing a group of stakeholders (e.g., constituencies, stakeholder groups, other groups) will indicate if their support represents the consensus view of their constituency.
If any participant in a WT disagrees with the designation given to a position by the Chair or any other rough consensus call, they can follow these steps sequentially:
1. Send an email to the Chair, copying the WT explaining why the decision is believed to be in error.
2. If the Chair still disagrees, forward the appeal to the OSC. The Chair must explain his or her reasoning in the response.
3. If the OSC supports the Chair, the participants may attach a statement of the appeal to the GNSO Council Report generated by the OSC. This statement should include the documentation from all steps in the appeals process and should include a statement from the OSC.
Restricting Participation: The Chair in consultation with the OSC is empowered to restrict the participation of someone who seriously disrupts the WT. Any such restriction will be reviewed by the OSC. Generally, the participant should first be warned privately, and then warned publicly, before such a restriction is put into place; in extreme circumstances these steps may be bypassed.
Record Keeping: The WT will have an archived mailing list. The mailing list will be open for reading by the community. All WT meetings will be recorded and all recordings will be available to the public. A SocialText Wiki will be provided for WT usage. If the guidelines for WT processes change during the course of the WT, the WT may continue to work under the guidelines active at the time it was (re)chartered or use the new guidelines.
Reporting: The WT Chair will be asked to report on the WT status on a regular basis to the OSC.
Milestones: WT Milestones (to be developed by the WT, proposed to the OSC for approval and added after OSC approval)
Modifications: At any time during the tenure of the WT, the Chair should communicate to the OSC if the WT believes that changes or clarifications are needed regarding the WT Charter, including these rules.
IV. CALENDAR/TIMETABLES
As the ICANN community considers the various recommendations set forth in the GNSO Improvements Report, it is important to keep in mind that this is an evolutionary process intended to reflect the importance of the GNSO to ICANN and to build upon the GNSO's successes to date. But at the same time, the Board expects to see prompt significant and expeditious efforts being taken to implement the Reform recommendations. A timeline will need to be developed for Council approval and ICANN Board endorsement. The detailed timetable, milestones and work program of the WT will be accessible at the following link on the OSC SocialText wiki -- gnso operations team.
V. STAFF SUPPORT
The ICANN Staff assigned to the work team will fully support the work of the teams as directed by the Chair including meeting support, document drafting, editing and distribution and other substantive contributions when appropriate.
VI. POTENTIAL INITIAL ACTION STEPS
Set forth below are a number of potential action steps to establish and begin the work of the GNSO Council Restructuring Team (GOT).
1. Confirm Charter/Goals of GOT with the GNSO Operations Steering Committee and the GNSO Council
2. Formation of GOT:
• Announce commencement of process
• Solicit and provide appropriate opportunities for public comments on the formulation and potential operating procedures of the GOT.
• Invite and recruit GOT members
• Schedule initial team meeting
• Prepare and circulate preparation materials for initial meeting
3. Initial GOT meeting/correspondence:
• Draft guidelines for operation of the group,
• Develop and agree on a more precise timeline for completion of draft Council restructuring.
• Set up email/contact list of all GOT members. Discuss/confirm ground rules
• Define roles of Council, staff, constituencies, new implementation consulting group (the former BGC-WG) and other outside parties
• Formulate standard check sheet for each decision (e.g., ask what, if any, by-law changes necessary)
• Identify and define public comment opportunities
• Announce comment opportunities, collect comments and openly discuss various ideas, recommendations and suggestions.
4. Subsequent GOT meetings:
• Review, discuss and consider recommendations and proposed action items provided by GNSO Improvements Report, community/public comments and staff implementation notes
• Consistent reporting mechanisms regarding progress