Last week the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) met in Los Angeles to review and discuss public comments concerning the Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions. Upon review of the comments received, the ICG decided to continue advancing the proposal as planned, aiming to make as much progress as possible by the time of ICANN 54, scheduled for October 19-22.

During its public comment period that concluded on September 8, the ICG received more than 150 comments from a wide variety of stakeholders all over the world. The majority of the comments expressed support for the proposal. In some cases that support was qualified by suggestions, questions, and criticism that the ICG is working hard to synthesize and address as appropriate.

ICG members worked diligently before and during the Los Angeles meeting to assess the comments. The ICG divided the comments into categories (for example, those related to the Post-Transition IANA, the Root Zone Maintainer, etc.) and for each category the ICG is examining whether the comments have already been addressed in the proposal development process, whether clarifications are needed from the ICG, or whether the ICG will pose questions or request clarifications from the operational communities. That work is ongoing and is expected to be finalized this week. ICG communications to the communities will request responses by mid-October to allow the ICG to prepare in advance of ICANN 54.

The ICG’s decision to adhere to its planned timeline as much as possible without sacrificing quality for speed is notable in light of indications that the work in Work Stream 1 of the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN’s Accountability (CCWG) is likely to be delayed. The ICG is closely following the work of the CCWG and expects to have more clarity about the trajectory of the CCWG’s work after that group meets at the end of this week.

The ICG’s aggressive work schedule will be carried out via phone conferences and meetings which, as always, will be open to silent observers. The next ICG conference call is scheduled for 23 September at 11:00 UTC.

Finally, we chairs want to recognize in these busy days the hard work not only done by the communities, but our ICG members, our secretariat and ICANN staff helping to ensure that we can move forward as effectively as we are.

For more information, see ianacg.org.

Alissa Cooper, Patrik Fältström, Mohamed El Bashir ICG chair and vice-chairs