In 2006, in response to community input that encouraged revisions to Internet2's governance structure, the Board of Trustees formed a new Governance and Nominations Committee (GNC) to take a fresh, forward-looking approach to Internet2's governance. The committee's membership was created through an open call for nominations across the Internet2 community. The GNC was charged with the initial task of assessing the current Internet2 governance structure and processes, and recommending modifications.
The GNC undertook this task by inviting extensive discussions and consultations with the Internet2 community, by hosting in-person focus groups, and by soliciting input via email and on a wiki. Once these tasks were completed, the GNC delivered in December 2006 a final report to the Board outlining its recommendations for changes to Internet2's governance. In its report, the GNC recommended:
- New Advisory Councils: the GNC recommended that the four existing Advisory Councils be eliminated and that four new Advisory Councils be created in their place. The recommended councils were Architecture and Operations Advisory Council; Applications, Middleware, and Services Advisory Council; Research Advisory Council; and the External Relations Advisory Council.
- New Board Structure: with the aim of increasing the overall diversity of perspectives found within the Board, the GNC recommended a new Board structure to ensure representation by a variety of leaders from various constituencies within the Internet2 community.
- More Formalized Approach to Communications: to ensure greater agreement in expectations, and a greater likelihood of meeting those expectations, the GNC recommended that the Internet2 organization implement communications processes that are regularized and consistent, that may be depended upon by all concerned.