ICANN has released for public comment a draft of the three year ICANN Strategic Plan. The public comment period began 16 November, 2004 and has been extended until 28 February, 2005. ICANN encourages all members of the community to participate in this public comment forum.
The proposed Strategic Plan:
ICANN regards the Strategic Plan as a tool for guiding ICANN's use of its resources to best enable ICANN's mission.
This Plan does not seek to make any statement or limitation on how the Internet community may seek to engage the ICANN policy forum, or prescribe any future direction for policy development.
The Strategic Plan is a rolling three year plan covering the fiscal years 2004/5 - 2006/7, subject to change as new issues emerge and new priorities are established. Because an initial version of this plan was prepared in 2003, some figures include the 2003/4 fiscal year, as well.
The Plan is an essential business tool for budget planning in ICANN's development to assess that community-derived priorities are appropriately funded, that resources aren't consumed by an emphasis on the wrong goals, and that where resources are committed to unanticipated demands, this be accounted for in future planning.
The process of developing and approving the Strategic Plan does not replace the annual budget process, but is a supplement to that process to assist long-term planning.