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Draft Principles to Enable the Evolution of ICANN Reviews

3 June 2026
By Chris Disspain, Avri Doria, and
Manal Ismail

Manal Ismail

Ms. Manal Ismail is Chief Expert, Internet Policies at the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt. Prior to her work at the NTRA, she worked at the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), where she has been involved in a number of initiatives that successfully served Egypt’s national plan of building its Information Society, and at the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) among the team who first introduced the Internet to Egypt. Ms. Ismail represented Egypt on the GAC for more than 15 years, served as one of its vice chairs twice, in 2009 and 2017, and is now serving as the GAC chair and GAC non-voting liaison to the ICANN Board since ICANN60 AGM on November 2017. She has also served as vice chair of the first ICANN Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT1), member of the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG), co-chair of the Board-GAC Interaction Group (BGIG), co-chair of the GAC-GNSO Consultation Group, and member of the ICANN Middle East Strategy Working Group (MESWG). Ms. Ismail has led the establishment of the DNS Entrepreneurship Center (DNS-EC) in Egypt mandated to serve the Arab and African regions, contributed to various early community and ICANN efforts on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and led GAC discussions until the successful introduction of IDNs. Ms. Ismail is an active member of the global Internet community. She participates to the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network, global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meetings, the Arab Internet Governance Forum (Arab IGF), the League of Arab States (LAS) Working Group on Domain Names and Internet Issues, and was member of the NETmundial Executive Multistakeholder Committee. She is founding member of the Internet Society Chapter of Egypt (ISOC-EG) and founding member of the Regional Internet Registry of Africa (AfriNIC). Ms. Ismail holds Master of Science degree in Computer Science from University of Louisville (UofL), Kentucky, USA, and Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering from Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt.

Over the past several months, the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group (Reviews CCG) has engaged with the community on what a refreshed system of reviews might look like, and is now sharing a new iteration of its proposal for discussion at ICANN86. To illustrate the essence of the proposal, the Reviews CCG is setting out draft guiding principles from its phase one discussions.

Principle: Reviews should be simple, clear, focused on core issues.

  • The suggested review system comprises two mandatory reviews, an Accountability & Transparency Review (ATR) to occur every five years and an ICANN Structural Review every 15 years.
  • The system features an additional On-Demand Review (ODR) framework that enables focus on emerging issues and out-of-cadence structural needs, as well as on 'special topics', based on need for review.
  • The use of an ODR is subject to high thresholds and consultation to confirm wide interest in running the review.

Principle: Reviews should be responsive, adaptable and proportionate to the current environment and circumstances.

  • The start time of the two mandatory reviews, ATR and the Structural Review, may be deferred (subject to community approval) when deemed necessary, for example, due to resource constraints, capacity limitations, or where practical feasibility is affected. There are measures to avoid continual deferral.
  • The on-demand focus seeks to bring in the flexibility required to use reviews when the need emerges.

Principle: Reviews should be tightly scoped, targeted, and manageable from a resourcing perspective through efficient prioritization.

  • The ATR and ODR are subjected to documented scoping and prioritisation processes through the Reviews Scoping Committee (RSC) including multiple community consultation steps. This allows for clarity, buy-in and alignment on review objectives and scope prior to launching.
  • All three components of the ICANN trinity (ICANN community (through Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee (SO/AC leadership), staff, Board) are members of an RSC that acts as a clearinghouse to guard against overlaps and overcommitment.
  • Feasibility and resource assessment are an integral component of the process to convene the ATR and an ODR.
  • The RSC has a scorecard of criteria to follow and will seek to ensure the most optimal use of available resources in light of the feasibility and resources assessment.
  • For the ATR, the RSC examines slates of topics that have been prioritized at the SO/AC level. For an ODR it looks into prioritization if needed, and includes a safeguard to ensure that the suggested topic or issue has not already been covered by an ATR and is not part of the recommendations under current consideration or implementation.

Principle: Reviews should be time bound and have a meaningful cadence.

  • The ATR follows a defined initiation process that considers prior implementation work and overall timing, thus ensuring reviews are launched when most effective.
  • All Reviews will be chartered with work plans.

Principle: Reviews should produce tangible and practical results with clear outcomes that aim to facilitate change where called for.

  • By establishing a well-defined scope, ensuring alignment of stakeholder objectives, and fostering cross-community collaboration, the reviews system is designed to produce practical, actionable results and effective outcomes.

The Reviews CCG invites the community to join the discussion at ICANN86 either in person or on-line during the Review of Reviews session. This is an opportunity to share your perspectives and help shape the next phase of this work, including the draft report for Public Comment.

About the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group (Reviews CCG)

Through the Reviews CCG, ICANN is currently working to explore how ICANN reviews can better support accountability, transparency, and effectiveness.

The Reviews CCG brings together SOs, ACs, the ICANN Board and org, expert advisors, and active observers, to take a fresh look at the current reviews system. With its charter approved by the Board in September 2025, the Reviews CCG is managing a fundamental evaluation of reviews set out by the ICANN Bylaws, as a whole system, including their implementation.

You can learn more about the Reviews CCG, follow its progress, and find out how to participate by visiting the Community Workspace Wiki.

Chris Disspain, Avri Doria, and Manal Ismail
Review of Review Cross Community Group Co-chairs

Authors

Chris Disspain

Avri Doria

Avri Doria

Manal Ismail

Manal Ismail

Manal Ismail

Manal Ismail

Ms. Manal Ismail is Chief Expert, Internet Policies at the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt. Prior to her work at the NTRA, she worked at the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), where she has been involved in a number of initiatives that successfully served Egypt’s national plan of building its Information Society, and at the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) among the team who first introduced the Internet to Egypt. Ms. Ismail represented Egypt on the GAC for more than 15 years, served as one of its vice chairs twice, in 2009 and 2017, and is now serving as the GAC chair and GAC non-voting liaison to the ICANN Board since ICANN60 AGM on November 2017. She has also served as vice chair of the first ICANN Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT1), member of the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG), co-chair of the Board-GAC Interaction Group (BGIG), co-chair of the GAC-GNSO Consultation Group, and member of the ICANN Middle East Strategy Working Group (MESWG). Ms. Ismail has led the establishment of the DNS Entrepreneurship Center (DNS-EC) in Egypt mandated to serve the Arab and African regions, contributed to various early community and ICANN efforts on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and led GAC discussions until the successful introduction of IDNs. Ms. Ismail is an active member of the global Internet community. She participates to the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network, global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meetings, the Arab Internet Governance Forum (Arab IGF), the League of Arab States (LAS) Working Group on Domain Names and Internet Issues, and was member of the NETmundial Executive Multistakeholder Committee. She is founding member of the Internet Society Chapter of Egypt (ISOC-EG) and founding member of the Regional Internet Registry of Africa (AfriNIC). Ms. Ismail holds Master of Science degree in Computer Science from University of Louisville (UofL), Kentucky, USA, and Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering from Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt.