ICANN participation

What it is | Working Group 4 will prepare a statement of the At-Large community on the subject of transparency and accountability in ICANN.

This subject is regularly discussed in the community - especially at present, as community members reflect on the level of transparency and accountability that ICANN should have as a part of the “Improving Institutional Confidence” process, which is being handled by Working Group 2 of the Summit.

Over the years, the At-Large community has provided significant input regarding the development of transparency and accountability of ICANN within statements on related topics. Details of this communication are available at: http://www.atlarge.icann.org/en/correspondence. ( Note that some statements are available in English only at the present time).

Why it is important | At-Large has made many formal statements which incorporate elements about transparency and accountability. However, the statement prepared by this working group will be the first in-depth community statement focussing entirely on this subject.

Who should attend? | Summit delegates who are members of this working group and anyone attending the Mexico City meeting interested in the subject.

Interpretation | There will be no simultaneous interpretation for this session.

Remote Participation Options|

1. Telephonic remote participation (English only)
2. Chat between remote participants and those in the room (English, Spanish, and French)

Instructions on how to participate remotely may be found at this URL:
https://st.icann.org/alac-docs/index.cgi?remote_participation_wg4

Chatroom: http://icann.na3.acrobat.com/summit-wg4/

Summit Microsite: The At-Large Summit microsite has complete information at: http://www.atlarge.icann.org/summit.

Working Group 4 Microsite | http://www.atlarge.icann.org/summit/wg/transparency-en.htm.

Background on At-Large Summit Working Groups

The At-Large community was surveyed in December 2008 and January 2009 and asked to choose in order of importance from amongst 15 of the most important subjects under consideration in the ICANN community today.

Their top five choices overall are the subjects for five working groups that are tasked with drafting and coming to agreement on five statements on these important subjects during the course of the Summit.

Each Summit participant has been assigned to the working group that they selected as of most interest to them; accommodations were made to ensure regional balance and address language needs.

Background: What is the “At-Large Summit”?

The Mexico City meeting is a landmark for ICANN’s At-Large community (“At-Large” is the name used for the individual Internet user community participating in ICANN).

The whole At-Large community will be meeting together face-to-face in the ‘At-Large Summit’. Approximately 90 representatives of At-Large organisations (called “At-Large Structures”) are already confirmed. You will be able to spot them easily, as each will have a ribbon indicating their status as a Summit delegate attached to their ICANN meeting badges.

The Summit is being held 28 February through 5 March 2009 at the Mexico City Sheraton and also at the nearby Melia Mexico Reforma Hotel. All ICANN meeting attendees are invited and encouraged to attend the sessions, all of which are open to everyone.

As proposed by the At-Large community, the Summit has the following objectives:

• Develop the community’s capacity for engagement in ICANN by increasing its knowledge and understanding of the key issues confronting ICANN and ICANN’s roles and responsibilities;
• Provide an opportunity for the community to finalise and present its advice on some of the most important issues facing the ICANN community today; and last but not least,
• Highlight the successes of the community in recent years and build upon them to ensure that the interests of the world’s more than 1 billion individual Internet users are well represented in the development of Internet name and number policy.