This phase is the most open-ended. Brainstorming, ideas, news headlines, contacts, etc. can go here to see if they spark ideas from others or combine with work in progress. Anyone in the community can add to this column by opening a new issue in the repository. Anyone on the W3C team can volunteer to lead (take on or curate) ideas that have been added.
When the leader determines that the idea merits more than a few hours of consideration, and is willing to lead that investigation, he/she should move it to the Investigation column.
Unassigned items go to the bottom of the column. The Strategy Team will review the column periodically, at which point unassigned items can: get an assignee, conclude strategy work with "no further action", or stay put. Items that stay unassigned for several review periods will move to a "parking lot."