[ripe-list] Input by the NRO Executive Council on the Public Consultation to Determine the Future Structure of the ASO

This message is sent on behalf of the Number Resource Organization (NRO)


Input by the NRO Executive Council on the Public Consultation to 
Determine the Future Structure of the ASO

Proposed Next Steps

In January 2018, the NRO Executive Council responded to the 18 resulting 
recommendations that were issued following the second independent review 
of the Address Supporting Organization (ASO) carried out in 2017 by 
ITEMS International. The last of these Recommendations was that a public 
consultation be held in each of the five RIR communities to determine 
the future structure of the ICANN Address Supporting Organization (ASO).

The recommended public consultations have been initiated in each RIR 
community over the past six months, including discussions on mailing 
lists and at meetings in each of the five regions. The NRO EC have 
considered results of this process to date, and have distilled the 
following points as a proposed way forward.

1) While not specifically asked as part of our consultation, there was 
prevailing view across the communities that the number community’s 
relationship with ICANN (that which is referred as the ASO relationship) 
should continue. A significant number of community members suggested 
that the relationship must be significantly simplified and its focus 
limited to number community matters.

2) The ASO Review recognised that the number community relationship with 
ICANN is unlike that of other Supporting Organizations. The number 
community’s engagement with ICANN serves primarily to facilitate 
coordination of global Internet number resource policies. It follows 
that number community representatives be careful in appraising current 
and future proposed ICANN-related work items, and be prepared to decline 
those that lie outside this scope.

3) It is clear that the existence of two separate identities (those of 
the NRO and the ASO) leads to complexity and confusion in the ICANN 
relationship. The NRO EC will work with the ICANN organisation to 
determine the viability of consolidating the number community’s 
participation in ICANN under either the “Number Resource Organization” 
or the “Address Supporting Organisation”.

4) The number community finds value in the ICANN relationship and in 
ICANN’s defined role as described above. We support ICANN in continuing 
to undertake this role, and will support continuing evolution of our 
relationship, including further changes as needed, as time goes on.

The NRO EC provides this statement to the RIR communities in each region 
as a possible common way forward to aid in their consideration of the 
future structure of the ASO.


Regards

Antony Gollan
Senior Communications Officer
RIPE NCC