Draft Community Travel Support Guidelines

Purpose: This public comment proceeding seeks input on the draft Community Travel Support Guidelines.

Current Status: The guidelines reflect the initial input received from the community consultation conducted between September 2017 and January 2018. They also reflect observations of ICANN Travel Support.

Next Steps: Public comments will be reviewed and either incorporated into the final draft or forwarded as appropriate.

The draft Community Travel Support Guidelines reflect the initial input received from the community consultation conducted between September 2017 and January 2018. They also reflect observations of ICANN Travel Support. This includes clarifying the:

• Purpose of community travel support
• Scope of the ICANN Travel Support function
• Communication, financial, and other travel responsibilities of supported travelers
• Options available for travel arrangements
• Other factors associated with the travel experience

Specific feedback received during the consultation about the ICANN Fellowship and NextGen@ICANN programs was forwarded to the Public Responsibility Support department. Similarly, input about the Community Regional Outreach Program (CROP) informed discussions about the FY19 Operating Plan and Budget. The Policy Development Support department also captured comments about community recognition which will inform an upcoming consultation on this topic.

Several community groups stressed the importance of more accountability as part of travel support. The ICANN org looks forward to working with those community groups specifically and the broader community on identifying appropriate and relevant metrics to inform the development of an accountability framework for travel support. Suggestions are welcome as part of this public comment proceeding as well.

ICANN relies in part on the face-to-face interaction of community members to advance policy development and other work. In addition, ICANN is committed to facilitating the participation of those members not yet fully engaged with ICANN. Outside ICANN Public Meetings, much of ICANN's work is done over the Internet and through conference calls. Community members should consider using authorized tools and methods to participate remotely in ICANN Public Meetings and other approved ICANN events. Even with these options for remote participation, meeting face-to-face continues to be an important part of the ICANN process.

Currently, ICANN supports more than 300 community members to attend each ICANN Public Meeting and spends considerable resources on travel support for community members. The ICANN org Travel Support team is dedicated to ensuring that support is implemented fairly, consistently, economically, and with administrative efficiency for all supported travelers and for ICANN. Consistent with ICANN's commitment to accountability and transparency, these Community Travel Support Guidelines set forth the process and scope of ICANN's support of community travelers.

ICANN Travel Support updates the guidelines periodically based on community feedback gathered from:

• Public Comment processes
• Open sessions at ICANN Public Meetings
• Formal consultation with Supporting Organizations, Advisory Committees, stakeholder groups, and constituencies
• Individual community members

The Community Travel Support Guidelines are intended primarily for supported travelers attending an ICANN Public Meeting or other approved ICANN event. They also contain information about travel support intended for ICANN community groups that select supported travelers.

Draft Community Travel Support Guidelines [PDF, 281 KB]

• Community Travel Support Webpage
• Community Travel Support Summaries
• Community Travel Support Reports
• Community Travel Support Guidelines Consultation

• Report