Charter

I. Terms of reference

• The positive input of the technical community in the ICCP’s work and the Ministerial was acknowledged by OECD ministers in the OECD Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy, on 18 June 2008. This declaration invited OECD to reinforce co-operative relationships and mutually beneficial collaboration with the Internet technical community .
• In an Memorandum presented to the Ministers of the OECD nations, the organisations of the Internet community committed themselves to pursuing their efforts of cooperation with OECD member states in order to help define a forward direction for the Internet, based on the principles of fuelling creativity, building confidence and creating maximum benefit from convergence (cf. Itc Memorandum, paragraph 3, in Annexe 2).
• The Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) was officially recognized by OECD Council on 15 January 2009. At this occasion, Council agreed to renew the mandate of the ICCP Committee, and adopted the proposed modifications to the terms of reference [C/M(2009)1/PROV], which call upon the ICCP to:“In the conduct of its work, the Committee will also, as appropriate, draw on the views and expertise of non-Members, international organisations and non- governmental stakeholders, and work with business, trade unions, civil society, and the Internet technical community within a framework of co-operation that promotes mutual understanding and participation.”
• The “Practical modalities for the participation of non-governmental stakeholders in the work of the ICCP Committee” [DSTI/ICCP(2009)1] were agreed upon by the OECD Member States the 12 of March 2009. This paper outlines a set of principles (Annex 1) to govern the participation of all non-governmental stakeholders – business, labour, civil society, and the Internet technical community in ICCP work.

II. ITAC Mission

The Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) to the OECD brings together, in a decentralized network approach, the counsel and expertise of technically focused organizations to policy formulation for the Internet economy.

The main purpose of the ITAC is to contribute constructively to Internet-related policies developed in the OECD. It mostly contributes to the work of the OECD Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) and its specific working parties such as the Working Party on Communications and Infrastructure Services Policy (CISP), the Working Party on Information Economy (WPIE) and the Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP).

The ITAC is not intended to speak for or on behalf of any of its members. The ITAC’s goal is to provide useful information to the OECD organizations in which it participates. Members will seek to develop consensus positions to transmit to the OECD, or to present a range of different views with explanations for the differences, in a form that will assist the OECD to develop useful advice to member governments and other interested parties. In any case, ITAC members can contribute to OECD’s work independently.

III. Criteria for ITAC Membership

All Internet organizations that endorsed the Internet technical community Seoul Memorandum, at the 2008 OECD ministerial, are invited to become “founding members” of the ITAC.

The intention of the Internet Technical Advisory Committee is to provide an avenue for new technical insights to contribute to the work of the OECD, in cases where they do not have a pre-existing avenue of involvement (e.g., business, government).

ITAC membership is open to Internet technical or research organizations that:

• Support the principles set out in the ITC Seoul Memorandum (Annex 2);
• Contribute to the open Internet model;
• Demonstrate technical expertise and commitment to the public interest;
• Commit to open collaborative and multistakeholder modes of work;
• Respect the “Principles for the Participation of Non-governmental Stakeholders in the Work of the ICCP Committee and its Working Parties” adopted by OECD Member States (Annex 1);
• Are prepared to contribute to the work of the ITAC on issues of interest to their organization; and
• Are not currently participating in other Advisory Committees to the OECD Committee(s) and do not have independent official relations with such committees.

Should any organization wish to cease participating in the Internet Technical Advisory Committee, advance written notice should be provided to the coordinator within thirty (30) days.

IV. Coordination mechanisms for participation and input

Each organization will designate a “contact point” to facilitate the coordination and circulation of relevant information between the ITAC and its organization. The contact points can participate to the ITAC mailing list and to periodic conference calls that will be the essential means of coordination.

It is the role of the ITAC’s “coordinator” to ensure the continuity of the group’s input in the OECD’s and the ICCP Committee work. In order to build on the success of the ministerial, the Internet Society (ISOC) is prepared to play this role.

The coordinator is assisted by a “coordination group” composed of volunteer “contact points”.

This role could of course be reviewed in the future, and potentially could be taken up by any other organization of the technical community stakeholders’ group. The organization facilitating the work of the group should be designated by the majority of the organizations constituting the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC).

The role of the coordinator is not to represent the other entities, but to facilitate their participation by:

• Acting as a liaison with the OECD Secretariat, without supplanting any interactions any group member might have with the OECD in their own right;
• Recruitment and outreach to new members;
• Ensuring the “Principles for the Participation of Non-governmental Stakeholders in the Work of the ICCP Committee and its Working Parties” (Annex 1) are respected (e.g. rules of circulation and use of OECD documents);
• Collecting working documents through OECD’s on-line information system (OLIS) and circulating them among the group;
• Facilitating the participation of the group and its members in the work of the ICCP Committee;
• Facilitating input by the group and its members in relevant OECD events (e.g. Foresight Forum, Ministerial conferences, etc.);
• Scheduling periodic conference calls with other participants in the Internet technical experts group to prepare for meetings, exchange information and discuss activities and interests.
• Maintaining and updating the IT AC’ s web presence: www.internetac.org.

V. Commitments by organizations participating in the ITAC

The organizations participating in the Internet Technical Advisory Committee commit to continue respecting the terms of the Criteria for Membership set out above in paragraph III, and to the “Principles for the Participation of Non-governmental Stakeholders in the Work of the ICCP Committee and its Working Parties” (Annex 1) as agreed to by the ICCP in March 2009.