• Documents
•  

ICANN has a proven commitment to accountability and transparency in all of its practices. Indeed, ICANN considers these principles to be fundamental safeguards in ensuring that its international, bottom-up and multi-stakeholder operating model remains effective.

Three important milestones in the advancement of ICANN's accountability and transparency are implementation of the:

• Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) – the 2009 agreement that reaffirmed ICANN's independence, and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's and ICANN's commitment to accountability and transparency, DNS security and stability, competition and consumer choice, international participation, periodic community reviews, and related activities;
• AoC Reviews – periodic community review of four key objectives are required under the AoC to assess and report on ICANN's progress toward 1) ensuring accountability, transparency (see “ATRT”), 2) preserving security, stability and resiliency of the DNS, 3) promoting competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, and 4) WHOIS policy; and
• Accountability & Transparency Review (ATRT) [PDF, 876 KB] – the first completed review under the AoC containing 27 recommendations to enhance activities throughout ICANN, including the governance and performance of the Board, the role and effectiveness of the Governmental Advisory Committee, public Input and public policy processes, and review mechanisms for Board decisions.

The mechanisms through which ICANN achieves accountability and transparency are built into every level of its organization and mandate – beginning with its Bylaws, detailed in its Accountability and Transparency Frameworks and Principles (adopted by ICANN's Board in 2008) and annually reinforced in its Strategic and Operational Plan.

Furthermore, improving ICANN's accountability and transparency is an ongoing priority of our organization's regular Organizational Reviews.

Now, let's look more closely at the three recent landmarks in the advancement of ICANN's accountability and transparency – the Affirmation of Commitments, the Accountability & Transparency Review Team Report, and the ongoing community reviews called for in the AoC.

Affirmation of Commitments

ICANN's accountability to the global community was highlighted in September 2009, when our organization's President & CEO, Rod Beckstrom, signed ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments with the U.S. Department of Commerce. This document:

• Affirmed ICANN's independence;
• Affirmed ICANN's commitment to making decisions in the public interest that are accountable and transparent; and
• Committed ICANN to undergoing four regular reviews performed by the community.

ICANN's commitment to fulfilling – and exceeding – these obligations is demonstrated in a numerous ways throughout our organization. Here are some notable examples:

• ICANN's President & CEO regularly publishes a Dashboard with comprehensive data and information on ICANN's internal operations. This material includes performance indicators in areas such as Registrant Protection, Global Participation, Finance and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), to name just a few.
• The actions taken by ICANN's Board are tracked and documented on a searchable public wiki, giving anyone interested access to past Board resolutions (all the way back to 1998) and their status.
• ICANN's Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) publicly post detailed information about their activities and deliberations, along with clear instructions on how one can participate. See, for example, the issues they currently have posted for public comment, and click on any of the groups displayed in ICANN's multi-stakeholder model to learn more about what they are doing.

An expansive list of activities and accomplishments that fulfill ICANN's AoC commitments is maintained on our website. We invite you to visit this interactive AoC webpage to learn more.

Affirmation of Commitments Reviews

The Affirmation of Commitments calls for periodic assessment by community review teams of ICANN's progress toward four fundamental organizational objectives:

• Ensuring accountability, transparency and the interests of global Internet users;
• Preserving security, stability and resiliency of the DNS;
• Promoting competition, consumer trust and consumer choice; and
• WHOIS policy.

Accountability & Transparency Review Team – This community review team's effort to assess ICANN's commitment “to maintain and improve robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency” concluded with a 31 December 2010 report (the ATRT report is discussed below). Details of the team's work are publicly posted.

WHOIS Policy Review Team – This community review team was constituted on September 30, 2011 and their work is ongoing. They are charged with reviewing WHOIS policy and its implementation to “assess the extent to which WHOIS policy is effective and its implementation meets the legitimate needs of law enforcement and promotes consumer trust.” Information on the WHOIS Policy Review Team and its activities can be found here.

Security, Stability and Resiliency of the DNS Review Team – This community review team also was constituted on September 30, 2011 and their work is ongoing. Their mandate is to assess the extent to which “ICANN has successfully implemented its security plan, the effectiveness of the plan to deal with actual and potential challenges and threats, and the extent to which the security plan is sufficiently robust to meet future challenges and threats to the security, stability and resiliency of the Internet DNS, consistent with ICANN's limited technical mission.” Information on the WHOIS Policy Review Team and its activities can be found here.

Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review Team – After new gTLDs have been in operation for one year, ICANN will organize a review that will examine the extent to which “the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, as well as effectiveness of the application and evaluation process, and safeguards put in place to mitigate issues involved in the introduction or expansion.”

Accountability & Transparency Review

An important step toward further enhancing accountability and transparency within ICANN came with the 31 December 2010 submission of the Accountability and Transparency Review Team's (ATRT's) Final Report. This report contained 27 recommendations (now in the implementation stage) that focus on improving transparency and accountability in four areas of ICANN:

• Board governance, performance, and composition, including the Nominating Committee (NomCom) processes for filling Board positions;
• Governmental Advisory Committee's (GAC's) role, effectiveness and Interaction with the Board;
• Public input and policy development processes; and
• Review mechanisms for Board decisions.

The Board found that the ATRT provided a constructive report that validates and builds upon ICANN's commitments and improvements, and directed implementation to move forward. A comprehensive June 2011 report on the Board's ATRT actions and how these 27 recommendations are being implemented is available online [PDF, 876 KB].

Highlights of recent implementation actions include:

To provide better access to, and insight into, Board decisions ICANN has incorporated the following into its standard operating procedures:

• Posts extensive Board meeting information (including briefing materials and expanded minutes);
• Publishes conditions for redaction of posted Board briefing materials;
• Provides translations into the six UN Languages of approved Board resolutions and minutes of Board meetings, which are posted within the 21-day timeframe;
• Posts rationales for Board actions and Board briefing materials.

To improve the process for selecting ICANN Directors and address recommendations on Board composition and operations:

• The 2010-11 Nominating Committee (NomCom) consulted with the ICANN community and public on skill set requirements and process improvements;
• The NomCom also provided updated operating procedures for Board consideration, and the Board Governance Committee is working on new guidelines (standard operating procedures) for the NomCom;
• The Board approved compensation to voting Directors for their services to ICANN, and revised the "ICANN Conflicts of Interest Policy and ICANN Bylaws."

To improve access to, and understanding of, "Review Mechanisms for Board Decisions:"

• The utility of the Reconsideration Requests web page has been improved, including the addition of status indicators for all Requests, and information on Board action arising out of the committee recommendations, as well as a graphical timeline to better explain the timing of the Reconsideration process, (and these mechanisms are now part of ICANN's standard operating procedure);

To help advance the effectiveness of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and its interaction with the Board:

• ICANN Increased funding, multilingual access services, and staff resources to support the work of the GAC;
• The Board and the GAC are working together to implement both the Joint Working Group report and GAC-related ATRT recommendations;
• Regional plans are being developed for increasing involvement in ICANN.

To enhance the transparency and accountability of the processes ICANN uses to gain public input and develop policy:

• ICANN's Bylaws have been translated into multiple languages;
• A more streamlined design for ICANN's Public Comment Webpage was launched to make it easier to find and understand opportunities for public comment periods; the page also includes a list of comment periods that are coming up;
• A new stratified, prioritized public Notice & Comment process was implemented, including a "Comment/Reply Cycle" for each issue under public comment.

Finally, in terms of overarching activities, resources required to implement the ATRT Recommendations were included in the FY12 Operating Plan and Budget [PDF, 2.51 MB], and proposed metrics and benchmarks are under development.

Interested in more details on ATRT Implementation? For each of the 27 ATRT Recommendations, detailed implementation plans were developed that include milestones, timelines and resource estimates. You can review a detailed summary [PDF, 363 KB] or read the full plans [PDF, 583 KB], which are updated periodically as work advances. A slide presentation and discussion of how the recommendations are being implemented also is available for your review: Watch the 31 August ATRT Webinar

Want to read about the history of Board action on the ATRT Report? A summary of Board activities in this area – starting with the posting of the ATRT report for public comment early this year through the Board's acceptance of the ATRT Report in June – is available here [PDF, 83 KB].

Information on Reconsideration & Independent Review can be found here.