Dear friends and colleagues,

You are invited to join us for the APAC Space Web Conference - Discussion on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (PDP) taking place on Thursday, 16 June 2016 at 03:00 UTC | 11:00 SGT. As the ICANN56 Helsinki meeting (27-30 June 2016) format is focused on SO/AC/SG/C (Supporting Organizations/Advisory Committees/Stakeholder Groups/Constituencies), there will not be a face-to-face APAC Space meeting in Helsinki. To keep abreast of ICANN matters in the APAC region, we highly encourage you to join us at the upcoming APAC Space web conference.

*Please note that a list of recommendations on enhancing APAC participation in GNSO and ICANN from the previous web conference is appended below for your reference.

New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP 

On 17 December 2015, the GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) initiated a PDP to consider and analyze issues discussed in the Final Issue Report on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures to determine whether changes or adjustments to the existing policy recommendations in the Final Report on the Introduction of New Generic Top-Level Domains are needed. As the Working Group for this PDP has begun discussions, it is beneficial for the APAC Community to understand the relevant discussion topics and thus be better poised for participation in the near future. To find out more prior to the web conference, please visit: http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active/new-gtld-subsequent-procedures for more information.

Date: 16 June 2016 (Thursday)

Time: 03:00 – 04:00 UTC | 11:00 – 12:00 SGT | Timezone Converter

Agenda:

1 Introduction to APAC Space – Edmon Chung, CEO DotAsia and Jia-Rong Low, VP and MD APAC Hub, ICANN (2 mins)

2 Introduction to the issue by ICANN staff – Mary Wong, Senior Policy Director, ICANN (15 mins)

3 Community Discussion – moderated by Edmon Chung, CEO DotAsia (30 mins)

4 Update on ICANN56 Helsinki, Finland (5 mins)

5 AOB & Closing (5 mins)

Questions:  If you have any questions or items pertaining to the topic you'd like us to include, please send them in advance to apachub@icann.org.

Please feel free to share this with friends/colleagues who may be interested as well.

Joining Instructions

Link to Adobe Connect: https://icann.adobeconnect.com/apacmtgrm

· After clicking the link to enter the Adobe Connect room, please choose 'Enter as a Guest', type in your first and last name, and click 'Enter Room’.

· Upon logging into Adobe Connect, a pop up window will provide you the option to Dial Out to your Phone.  Enter your Phone Number* (Remember to change the Country Code if needed).

· After joining the call, as a courtesy to others and the presenters, please MUTE your phone.  This can be done by selecting *6 on your keypad.  To UNMUTE select *6 again.

If you are Unable to log into Adobe Connect and can only join via phone:

List of International Dial In Numbers: http://tinyurl.com/kbhryl9

Participant Passcode: 645 127 3995

Additional information

Mobile users can download the Adobe Connect App here: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect/feature-details/adobe-connectmobile.html

Adobe Connect Diagnostic Test Link: https://arcps.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm (To test if computer and network connections are properly configured)

If you’re new to Adobe Connect, please view introductory video here: http://www.connectusers.com/tutorials/2010/11/c8_attending_a_meeting/index.php

List of recommendations to enhance APAC participation in GNSO and ICANN

Also for your reference, a list of recommendations on enhancing APAC participation in GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) that arose from the community’s discussion at the previous APAC Space web conference has been posted here: https://community.icann.org/display/GSEAPAC/Notes+on+21+April+2016+-+APAC+Space+Discussion+on+APAC+Participation+in+GNSO. The list has also been appended below for easy reference:

• Need for Data on participation. Data related to participation would help to guide and determine follow-up actions to improve participation and contribution in areas such as diversity.

• Examples include: Data such as membership composition, number of active members versus inactive members.

• It was noted that ICANN staff are working on a Working Group (WG) Sign Up Tool which would facilitate the tracking of membership and other indicators of participation such as affiliation, geographic location, etc.

• Conduct Survey (sent out by SG/C or ICANN staff) to existing but dormant members of Stakeholder Group (SG) / Constituency (C) to identify reasons why they are not actively participating, and find out what incentives will be useful in order for its members to participate.

• Live scribing for GNSO Working Group (WG) meetings. It was noted that all GNSO Working Group meetings are recorded and transcribed after the meeting. This was considered to be less useful than live scribing. Live scribing was found to have been helpful for participants at ICANN meetings, as non-native English speakers might find it hard to follow participants’ interventions by listening, but could follow the discussion through reading the transcripts.

• Based on the above, it is recommended to explore providing for live scribing at GNSO WG meetings as well.

• It was noted that the APRALO-APAC Hub webinar has piloted live scribing. Participants were encouraged to attend the APRALO-APAC Hub webinars to test and give feedback on the live scribing. The feedback could help provide guidance on whether live scribing could be used at other webinars or online WG discussions, although issues such as cost should be factored in.

• Regular time zone rotation. Some GNSO Stakeholder Group (SG) / Constituency (C) conference calls do not rotate to APAC time zones because of the lack of APAC participants. If calls could regularly rotate to APAC time zones, there will be a gradual increase in APAC participants. The current issue is that the calls are not rotated on a regular basis, and would make it hard for APAC participants to adjust their schedules to attend.   

• Raising Awareness. More awareness raising needs to be done to help APAC stakeholders see the value of their participation. For example, gTLD operators (registries) and registrars tend to be more focused on their businesses rather than policy making. By drawing the link between how the GNSO policy could impact on their businesses, it would generate interest for them to participate. As they might not have enough resources to help write policy, fellow community members could take down their inputs and incorporate them in the SG/C discussions.

• To consider incorporating the link between a policy and how it affects the stakeholder (e.g. registries and registrar businesses) in PDP materials.  

• Work with ICANN staff to have local/regional community members to act as “champions” to speak on policy development issues to increase awareness and participation amongst local/regional community.

• Reduce barriers to entry through newcomer programmes.

• To consider having experienced members of SG/Cs to be mentors to newcomers.

• Organize webinars specifically for newcomers to a WG, SG/C, in simplified language to help them participate more effectively. This can be done regularly throughout the lifecycle of a WG.

Thank you,

Philadel on behalf of ICANN Asia Pacific Hub

Email: apachub@icann.org

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