From the recent communiqué at the ICANN Toronto, ICANN announced the opportunities for new GAC officials who officially take over effective 2013.
GAC is the acronym for the Governmental Advisory Committee, which is a formal advisory body providing important feedback and input for ICANN regarding its public policy ICANN relies on certain advisory committees to receive guidance and advice related to the interests and needs of stakeholders who are not able to directly participate in the Supporting Organizations; one of these advisory committees is the Governmental Advisory Committee, which is composed of representatives of national governments from all over the world.
The GAC provides its advice and guidance upon request. One of its most important responsibilities is its duty to analyze ICANN’s activities and policies as they might influence governments, especially with regards to the interaction between ICANN’s policies and national laws or international agreements.
The GAC has the duty to incorporate the diverse opinions and perspective of its members when supplying advice to ICANN, and it’s imperative that its members stay informed about new Internet trends and pending policy issues.
The GAC is constantly looking for new members, especially from developing countries in order to increase global awareness, increase participation, and make sure that ICANN reflects global diversity and as such does a revolving change , the recent changes affected Alice Munyua from Kenya Maria Häll, Sweden and Choon-Sai Lim, Singapore all of whom were vice chairs.
The new officials who take over include Peter Nettlefold from Australia, Thomas Schneider from
Switzerland, and Tracy Hackshaw from Trinidad &Tobago. GAC also announced among other developments that it has agreed to implement a process leading to the establishment of an independent Secretariat at the Beijing meeting.