[lac-discuss-en] Fwd: Final Report Recommendations of the Geographic Regions Review Working Group



[image: ICANN] <http://www.icann.org/> News Alert

https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2015-12-23-en
------------------------------
Final Report Recommendations of the Geographic Regions Review Working Group

23 December 2015
*Forum Announcement:* Public Comment Period opens on *Date:* 23 December
2015 *Categories/Tags:* Reviews/Improvements *Purpose (Brief):*

The cross-community Geographic Regions Review Working Group has produced
its Final Report in which it proposes a series of recommendations regarding
the ongoing application of the organizationâs geographic regions framework.

The ICANN Board is interested in further community reaction to those
recommendations and has instructed the Staff to open and manage a public
comment period of at least 120 days to give the community an opportunity to
thoroughly review the proposals and provide any additional comments on the
working group recommendations.

The Working Groupâs Final Report provides an extensive series of
conclusions, proposals and recommendations including:

   1. The Working Group concludes that the general principle of geographic
   diversity is valuable and should be preserved.
   2. Application of the geographic diversity principles must be more
   rigorous, clear and consistent.
   3. Adjusting the number of ICANN geographic regions is not currently
   practical.
   4. No other International Regional Structures offer useful options for
   ICANN.
   5. ICANN must formally adopt and maintain its own unique Geographic
   Regions Framework.
   6. The Community wants to minimize any changes to the current structure.
   7. ICANN must acknowledge the sovereignty and right of
   self-determination of states to let them choose their region of allocation.
   8. ICANN communities have flexibly applied geographic diversity
   principles over the years. While the Board should remain strictly subject
   to the current framework, flexibility should be preserved for other
   structures.
   9. âSpecial Interest Groupsâ or âCross-Regional Sub-Groupsâ offer new
   diversity opportunities.
   10. Implementation mechanisms and processes must be developed by Staff;
   and
   11. The Board must preserve its oversight and future review
   opportunities.

The extensive comment period will give individuals and community groups an
opportunity to thoroughly review the proposals and provide any additional
comments on the working group recommendations.
*Public Comment Box Link:*
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/geo-regions-2015-12-23-en
_______________________________________________