At-Large Summit
The At-Large Summit (ATLAS) is a gathering of the representatives of individual Internet users participating in ICANN. There have been three ATLASes.
Background[edit | edit source]
ATLAS I[edit | edit source]
ATLAS I was the first-ever gathering of the representatives of individual Internet users participating in ICANN. Organized as part of ICANN 34 in Mexico City, ATLAS I featured two general sessions for all participants as well as thematic sessions and workshops on issues led by At-Large Community members.[1]
Five Working Groups were formed to draft and finalize a Summit Declaration to the ICANN Board.[2] The subjects for the working groups were chosen via a survey of the entire At-Large Community between December 2008 and January 2009. The summit participants were assigned to the working group that they selected as of most interest to them, and then the groups were balanced regionally and according to language needs. All five working groups began collaborating in February 2009 in advance of the summit and met twice during ATLAS I to finalize their statements. The five topics were: 1) at-large engagement, 2) the future of ICANN, 3) New gTLDs including IDNs, 4) security issues within ICANN's mandate, and 4) transparency and accountability. The general sentiment was that 1) participation was poor; 2) the future of ICANN depended on safeguarding against capture, which was defined as unilateral decision-making and favoring vested interests; 3) there were unnecessary barriers to entry for a broad variety of gTLD applicants; 4) DNS security needed to be stricter; and 5) ICANN needed to be more transparent for Internet users who want to participate and needed to balance operator/business interest with ALAC/GAC. [3]
At-Large Engagement[edit | edit source]
Issue | Recommendations |
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IDN POLICY |
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GNSO |
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LOCAL LEVEL |
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ICANN MEETINGS |
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GLOBAL OUTREACH |
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TRANSLATION |
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TRAVEL SUPPORT |
|
Transparency and Accountability[edit | edit source]
Issue | Recommendations |
---|---|
Transparency | |
Timing of Major Documents |
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Finance |
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Budget |
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Accounting for Public Input |
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Contractual Compliance and Process |
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ICANN's Public Service Role |
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Conflicts of Interest |
|
Accountability | |
Joint Project Agreement |
|
Addressing ALAC Advice |
|
Other Working Group Topics[edit | edit source]
Issue | Recommendations |
---|---|
Future of ICANN |
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Barriers to new GTLDs & IDNs |
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DNS Security |
|
With every ATLAS, there is an increasing formalization of ideas, recommendations, and procedures, all toward the aim of fostering concrete results. One of the key outcomes of Atlas I was the lesson that the community needs to document, delegate, and follow-up on many tasks along the way to ensure that the ICANN Board, as well as other ICANN entities, including ALAC, acknowledge and explain whether they are implementing the recommendations or not.
ATLAS II[edit | edit source]
ATLAS II was held in London in conjunction with ICANN 50. The summit brought together representatives from At-Large Structures to debate ICANN policies, share information, and experience an ICANN meeting. The attendees represented Internet end users, and many had never experienced an ICANN meeting before. As with ATLAS I, the goal of the meeting was to reach consensus and draft reports on what the At-Large Community had decided were the five most urgent issues.[4]
The Second At-Large Summit (ATLAS II) took place after the Board approved a special budget for the event. The summit resulted in the ATLAS II Declaration, which the then Chair of the ALAC Olivier Crépin-Leblond sent to the then Chair of the ICANN Board Steve Crocker on August 7, 2014.
The Declaration[edit | edit source]
The declaration was the result of contributions of representatives from 150 At-Large Structures from 70 countries who met face to face in London in June 2014.
The declaration includes 43 recommendations for the ICANN Board, ICANN, and the ALAC, 10 observations for the wider Internet community, and rationales from the five ATLAS II thematic working groups for the recommendations and observations. The thematic groups included:
- Future of Multi-Stakeholder Models
- The Globalization of ICANN
- Global Internet: The User Perspective
- ICANN Transparency and Accountability
- At-Large Community Engagement in ICANN
In August 2014, the ATLAS II Implementation Taskforce was established, with members consisting of organizers of the ATLAS II, drafters of the Declaration, and leaders in the At-Large Community. The taskforce led the transformation of each recommendation into concrete actions as carried out by At-Large assignees, who ensured that the concrete action recommendations reached ICANN Staff, the ICANN Board, and/or the ALAC.
Last updated on Jul 29, 2019, a thumbnail table of the 43 recommendations, their recipients, assignees, and completion status showed that of the 22 recommendations to the board, 18 had been “completed,” one had been “discarded,” and 3 were still “in progress.” A completed recommendation means it has been transformed into concrete actions and a milestone has been reached. [5]
Over 40% of the recommendations to the Board concerned the dual item of IANA Transition & ICANN Accountability. Meanwhile, the recommendations to the ALAC focused on raising the level of involvement and representation of At-Large Community members in ICANN. This overarching goal encompassed the following objectives, most of which have reached a milestone and have been marked as “completed”:[6]
- simplify and clarify ICANN for Internet users so they can actually be part of the Multistakeholder Model
- find new and better ways of incorporating Internet users into the Policy Development Process
- make more and better use of the people and structures that are already involved in the At-Large Community, through RALO surveys and more frequent and a wider variety of modes of communication within the community
- periodically assess the multistakeholder model to gauge whether the At-Large Community is represented and their needs met (reduce conflicts between ICANN requirements and national laws; expand the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman, who along with Contractual Compliance, should publish all complaints proceedings
Finally, the Post ATLAS II Implementation Taskforce generated a list of
Lessons Learned[edit | edit source]
- one champion for each recommendation;
- the champion can be a chair, subject matter expert, moderator/assistant moderator, reporter/assistant reporter of the thematic group that generates the recommendation. If the champion becomes incapable of fulfilling the duties, then the entire thematic group must complete the tasks;
- The thematic groups must prepare, reconvene, provide status updates on implementation and feedback, and continue assigning tasks to move the recommendation forward;
- a template for ATLAS recommendations is needed; it should explain the context, to whom it is allocated, and the specifics; and
- recommendations should be processed on a yearly basis.[7]
ATLAS III[edit | edit source]
The third At-Large Summit (ATLAS III) was held during ICANN 66 in Montreal, Canada, from November 4 to 7, 2019.
ATLAS III built on ATLAS I (2009) and II (2019) in that it continued the spirit of enhancing the At-Large Community’s engagement. However, there were two major changes from the first two summits. First, the third summit focused on cultivating leaders within Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs), and second, the ATLAS Declaration to the Board was replaced with a set of post-ATLAS III implementation activities.
ATLAS III focused on organizing members into future “At-Large Ambassadors.” The organized effort to develop potential thought leaders and change agents was an implementation of the At-Large Review Process request for more effective participation of At-Large members in the policy advice process. The overarching aim of ATLAS III was to provide participants with the skills required to represent the best interests of end users within ICANN.
At-Large Ambassadors[edit | edit source]
Sixty ambassadors were selected through an application process.[8] Prior to submitting their applications, ATLAS III participants were required to complete a series of courses on cybersecurity basics, domain names, the GNSO, the ccNSO, and the GAC.[9]
Due to visa and personal issues, 17 participants could not attend. Thus, a total of 43 attendees participated in ATLASIII, which involved plenary and breakout sessions and networking events.[10] A case study on Phase 1 of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data was used to train the ambassadors on theoretical and practical issues. Veteran At-Large leaders served as coaches and facilitators of the breakout sessions.[11]
Post-ATLAS III Activities[edit | edit source]
Running parallel with At-Large Review Implementation Issue 2, the post-summit implementation activities included
Activity | Time Frame | Process | Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Post-ATLAS Feedback | December 2019 – June 2020 | survey (EN/FR/ES), analysis, report | Recommendations:
Findings: participation in the consolidated at-large policy working group increased by 50% after the summit. spikes of activity have surrounded every event since |
At-Large Regional Policy Engagement Plan (PEP) | in progress | ATLAS III Programme Committee Interview Results; Collaboration between At-Large regional leadership, At-Large Staff and GSE RVPs; Creation of At-Large liaisons in Regional offices | |
Completion of At-Large Review Implementation Plan Activities | in progress | report | |
2020 At-Large Workplan Activities | |||
Position Development Process | the position development process can be seen here | ||
Participation Platform | the platform can be seen here | ||
Policy Resource Development | At-Large DNS Abuse 101 Videos in EN, ES, FR; GeoNames Videos in EN, ES, FR; Learning resources in development with Joanna Kulesza, CBWG, and ICANN Learn | ||
ICANN Learn Course Catalogue | last updated November 2019 | course development and publicizing | the catalogue can be seen here |
At-Large Communications Strategy | ATLAS III to ICANN 69 | the At-Large Communications Strategy is a guide for developing regional and WG strategies |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/ICANN+34+-+Mexico+City+At-Large+Summit+-+March+2009
- ↑ https://atlarge.icann.org/files/atlarge/correspondence-05mar09-en.pdf
- ↑ https://atlarge.icann.org/files/atlarge/correspondence-05mar09-en.pdf
- ↑ At-Large Community to Convene in London for ATLAS II ICANN.org; Retrieved 10 July 2014
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/als2/Post+ATLAS+II+Implementation+-+Recommendations
- ↑ file:///C:/Users/jesri/Downloads/ATLAS%20II%20Recommendations%20Implementation%20Report.pdf
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/als2/Lessons+Learned+from+Post+ATLAS+II+Implementation
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/ATLAS3/ATLAS+III+Application+Guidelines
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/ATLAS3/Online+Training+Courses
- ↑ https://community.icann.org/display/ATLAS3/Post-ATLAS+III+Activities
- ↑ https://www.icann.org/news/blog/future-policy-and-outreach-ambassadors-to-attend-the-third-at-large-summit-atlas-iii