As has been previously advised, ICANN is in the process of preparing a set of management operating principles for accountability and transparency. As part of the development of these principles, ICANN commissioned the One World Trust (OWT) organisation (http://www.oneworldtrust.org) to review ICANN’s transparency and accountability as one of a number of initiatives aimed at further improvements in this area. The terms of reference for the report were designed to allow a wide-ranging review.
In March this year, during the ICANN Lisbon meeting, ICANN released the review by OWT. The report says that overall ICANN is a very transparent organisation, noting that it shares a large quantity of information through its website, probably more than any other global organisation. The report contained an action plan with 39 recommendations intended to further improve standards of accountability and transparency within ICANN. The report is also being used as an input for the development of the management operating principles in addition to input from the community received so far.
The attached document outlines ICANN’s response to each of the recommendations in the OWT report. The bulk of the recommendations are accepted and are in the process of being implemented; some others have been referred to the Nominating Committee and Board reviews which will take place this year, or to the GNSO Improvements Working Group, for further consideration.
Update on Management Operating Principles Development Consultation
ICANN still intends to produce a set of draft principles for accountability and transparency in time for the San Juan meeting. There will be consultation on the draft principles at the meeting and through an online comment forum held during the meeting.
On May 8 this year, ICANN issued a request for comment on its performance in the area of transparency and accountability. This was meant only to be an opportunity to obtain feedback from the community about measures introduced so far to improve transparency and accountability. These include improved Board meeting reporting, the annual report, the introduction of the ICANN blog, correspondence posting, website improvements, the employment of a General manager Public participation and the public participation site. Feedback of this kind on the measures being initiated will be sought regularly. It was not intended to supplant a more extensive process of consultation. This feedback is useful in guiding ICANN management in understanding the value of new measures and the performance of the organisation.
Indeed, out of that process, attention was drawn to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) best practices for conducting consultations.
ICANN will adopt these practices for the development of the operating principles and future consultations.
At the upcoming San Juan meeting an initial discussion will be held on the draft principles and that will commence the process of consultation as outlined by the OECD principles.
Following this it is intended to post the principles for further comment for an extended period.
ICANN will actively - not passively - seek comments, by identifying organisations and requesting comment.
The drafts will be translated.
A summary of responses will be published and focussed questions will be asked to make it clear where input would be especially valuable.
Responses will be summarised and posted on the ICANN blog for discussion.
Final product with a summary that the public debate had on the result will be published along with themes that come from the discussion.
This process will not be rushed. The community has clearly indicated that it is extremely important. ICANN is determined to respond to community input and maintain confidence in the process and product.