Board Global Relationships Committee (BGRC) Minutes 19 May 2011

BGRC Attendees:  Peter Dengate Thrush – Chair; Cherine Chalaby; Erika Mann; Gonzalo Navarro; George Sadowsky; Katim Touray and Kuo-Wei Wu.

Other Board Attendees:  Sébastien Bachollet; Rod Beckstrom – President and CEO; Bertrand de La Chapelle; Steve Crocker; Heather Dryden; Thomas Narten; Mike Silber and Suzanne Woolf.

Invited attendee: Chris Disspain

Staff Attendees:  Akram Atallah – Chief Operating Officer; Elise Gerich – Vice President, IANA; Jamie Hedlund – VP, Government Affairs – Americas; John Jeffrey – General Counsel and Secretary; Kurt Pritz – Senior VP, Stakeholder Relations; Anne-Rachel Inne; Diane Schroeder; Amy Stathos and Alina Syunkova.

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The following is a summary of discussions, actions taken and actions identified:

1. Previous Minutes. The BGRC reviewed and approved minutes of the previous BGRC meeting held on 18 April 2011.

2. Latin America Strategy and Relationships Overview – Staff updated the BGRC on work done to specify a set of goals over the next five years, including identification of objectives, key statistics and metrics regarding activities in the Latin American region. The BGRC discussed additional relevant metrics that may be of assistance in measuring the work done in enhancing relationships and increasing activity in the region, and requested that a regular reporting cycle be established to allow the BGRC to track progress.

   • Action:

     • Staff to continue developing work plan to meet BGRC comments and to propose a schedule for regular reporting to the BGRC.

3. Africa Region Strategy and Relationships Overview – Staff provided the BGRC with an overview of activities within the African region, including recent outreach activities, relationships with organizations and current local issues and challenges. The BGRC discussed potential coordination and outreach efforts, and requested that staff provide a longer-term strategy plan, including prioritization and resources.

   • Action:

     • Staff to provide the BGRC with a strategy plan for the Africa region, including with key priorities, metrics and resourcing.

4. BGRC Workplan – The BGRC discussed the creation of a BGRC workplan for the year. The BGRC placed the issue of travel support and coordination for outreach activities for inclusion on the agenda of next BGRC meeting.

   • Action:

     • Staff to present report on Southeast Asia at next BGRC meeting in Singapore.

     • Staff to consider ways to begin the standardization of regional reporting to the BGRC, while allowing flexibility in identifying regional priorities.

     • BGRC member to prepare notes for conversation regarding board travel support for outreach activities.

5. ATRT Recommendation 14 – The BGRC received a report regarding the proposed implementation steps to address the Accountability and Transparency Review Team recommendations 9-14 relating to the Board/GAC interactions. The BGRC identified some areas where input from the GAC could be of value in assessing what will assist in increasing GAC member engagement, and determined that a letter soliciting GAC input is necessary to continue to address this item. The GAC input will be used to provide further implementation details.

   • Action:

     • Staff to prepare open letter to the GAC to solicit GAC’s views on potential implementation steps to address the ATRT GAC-related recommendations.

6. NOI – The BGRC received a brief update on the status of the NTIA’s notice of inquiry issued regarding the IANA functions.