All - You may have heard this via other lists, but I wanted to close the loop with Kantara about our involvement with the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) to the OECD. Specifically, as it relates to the communique published this week. As a reminder, ITAC was formed in 2009 as a mechanism to provide neutral technical advice to the OECD. We joined the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC), Civil Society Information Society Advisory Committee (CSISAC), and Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) around the table of OECD member states. As part of the "OECD High Level Meeting On The Internet Economy" held in Paris this week, we were asked (for the first time) to directly participate in the drafting of, and become a direct signatory to, a "Communiqué on Principles for Internet Policy-Making". Working on this was a fascinating illustration of the multistakeholder process in action. Up until this point, these communiques and similar declarations have been made entirely by the OECD member states (often with input from the advisory committees, but without requiring their buy-in). This time, however, we were full participants in the discussions, negotiations, and ultimate decision-making. What sets this one apart is that the previous declarations required buy-in by members who follow a more traditional model of hierarchical decision-making. The inclusion of the advisory councils introduced a more dynamic, loose coalition representing more consensus-oriented entities across a broad spectrum of interests. The result was both more inclusive, as well as having the potential to be more contentious. During the process, it became clear that some interests required more careful balancing in light of the expanded set of participants. As the deadline for the approval of the document at the high level meeting loomed, engaged participants worked long, hard hours together to maximize agreement and minimize disagreement. While a vast majority of the statements in the document were entirely non-contentious (as was the primary goal), a few points remained outside the realm of full consensus. Fortunately, the majority of participants, including ITAC, were ultimately comfortable with the final version and signed on. The OECD announcement is here: http://www.oecd.org/document/48/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_48289776_1_1_1_1... The full communique is here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/21/48289796.pdf ITAC's announcement of support is here: http://www.internetac.org/?p=798 The lone dissent came from CSIAC, and their official statement on the communique is here: http://csisac.org/CSISAC_PR_06292011.pdf In related news, ITAC held its first face-to-face meeting in conjunction with the high level meeting (where Kantara presented it's Trust Framework model to the committee). The attending members all worked closely together on this communique, and it clearly represents a collaborative effort to build and represent consensus that helped improve the final document. Also, you'll notice that the only two comments showcased on the OECD announcement page are members of ITAC: Vint Cerf (representing NRO) and Tim Berners-Lee (W3C). That speaks volumes about how highly they value our participation. I will try to attend the P3WG call next Thursday to report out on the meeting and answer any questions (on the communique, the process, or our report to the committee). Finally, many (many) thanks to all of the ITAC members who worked hard on this communique both prior to and during the meeting. I'm not kidding when I say it took loooong hours to get done. The last thing that participants wanted to do was give up evenings in Paris to sit in conference rooms hammering out a compromise... but they did. Cheers, Trent -- J. Trent Adams =jtrentadams Outreach Specialist, Trust & Identity Internet Society http://www.isoc.org e) adams@isoc.org o) +1-703-439-2149