Minutes | Organizational Effectiveness Committee (OEC) Meeting 26 July 2018

OEC Attendees: Khaled Koubaa - Chair, Avri Doria, Lito Ibarra, George Sadowsky, Leon Sanchez and Matthew Shears

Executive and Staff Attendees: Michelle Bright, Franco Carrasco, Aaron Jimenez, Samantha Eisner, Negar Farzinnia, Larisa Gurnick, Lars Hoffmann, Wendy Profit, Laena Rahim, Charla Shambley


The following is a summary of discussions, decisions, and actions identified:

  1. Agenda – The Chair established the agenda for the meeting and gave an overview of the items to be discussed.

  2. Discussion on the OEC Work Plan 2018 – ICANN organization provided an overview of the 2018 Work Plan for the OEC.

    The Chair noted that the OEC Work Plan is a useful forward-looking planning tool for the OEC to chart and monitor its upcoming work. The OEC requested for an improvement to the Work Plan by inserting the hyperlink(s) to the relevant Review Wiki Workspace for each review to provide a more holistic view of each activity, and to enable the OEC to ascertain the current phase/status of each review.

    The OEC observed that a section on "Holistic Assessment of ICANN Structures" was included in the Work Plan. Previously, the OEC discussed the timing of a holistic review of the entire ICANN organization, noting that it would be advisable to wait for a few years in order for the changes to the ICANN Bylaws to become fully operationalized. The OEC noted that such a review of ICANN structures is not mandated by the ICANN Bylaws; and that some concerns relating to the overall efficiency and efficacy of ICANN and the way it is structured may be identified by the ICANN Board through its strategic planning process.

    • Action Item:
      • ICANN organization to update the OEC Work Plan by inserting the relevant hyperlinks (where appropriate) for each review/activity, for the OEC's ease of reference.
  3. Update on the Public Comments on Short-Term and Long-Term Options for Streamlining Reviews – ICANN organization provided a brief update on the status of the public comments for the short-term and long-term options for streamlining Reviews. The timing of Bylaws-mandated Specific and Organizational Reviews resulted in multiple reviews occurring simultaneously – currently eleven reviews are in various stages of work. Short-term and long-term proposals are out for public comment and at the request of the community, and the deadline for both proposals has been extended to 31 July 2018. ICANN community is encouraged to provide additional thoughts and recommendations to make the review schedule more manageable and sustainable, with the aim of improving efficiency and efficacy of Reviews in the future.

    To date, the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) has provided its comments and other groups are in the midst of preparing their comments in preparation for submission.

    On the short-term options, the SSAC noted its support for ATRT3 commencing no later than six months after Board action on CCWG-WS2, and that the scope of the ATRT3 should not duplicate topics covered by the CCWG-WS2. For the long-term options, the SSAC supports a majority of the principles elucidated in the long-term proposals, and further supports the development of detailed changes to the bylaws that may be necessary to enable the adoption of the various principles.

    Upon receiving a summary analysis of the completed public comments by ICANN organization, the OEC will continue its discussion on the short-term and long-term proposals at its next meeting in September 2018. Separate from the issue of sequencing and periodicity of the review process, the OEC emphasized the importance of incorporating other additional recommendations and/or concerns raised by the community through the public comment into the summary analysis document.

    • Action Item:
      • ICANN organization to prepare and furnish the OEC with a summary report on the public comment received for the short-term and long-term proposals prior to its next meeting in September 2018.
  4. Update on the Draft Operating Standards – ICANN organization provided a brief update on the status of the draft Operating Standards.

    The ICANN Bylaws call for the development of Operating Standards to conduct reviews efficiently and effectively; and they shall be developed through community consultation. The Operating Standards public comment was opened on 17 October 2017 and remained open through 2 February 2018. A total of ten comments were received, including from the GAC, GNSO Council and ccNSO Council. The community provided constructive comments, with very clear indication that there was no support for ICANN's proposal on how to handle scope, and there were various degrees of support and additional recommendations for other components of the Operating Standards.

    ICANN organization briefed the OEC on the proposed next steps for the Operating Standards:

    • August - September 2018: To consider the options for leveraging Operating Standards to incorporate community supported improvements that do not require bylaw changes; as well as the public comments on relevant aspects of the short-term and long-term proposals to adjust timeline of reviews, and the recent lessons learned from various Specific Reviews (e.g. CCT, SSR2 and RDS/WHOIS2).
    • October 2018: Subject to OEC and Board agreement, ICANN organization to socialize potential improvements with the community.
    • November – December 2018: Public comment on revised Operating Standards.
    • TBD: Improvements dependent on longer-range discussions/plans and bylaw changes to be address through future updates to the Operating Standards.

    The OEC noted that the Operating Standards will be a useful reference tool for Specific Review Teams; and it would be prudent to take into consideration the various comments/feedback that are being received through other ongoing public comments. In response to the OEC's query as to whether an analysis of the financial impact of the Operating Standards will be carried out, ICANN organization stated that while it would be difficult to produce a direct correlation and analysis of the financial impact on resources from adopting the Operating Standards, time and cost savings would be expected from such an adoption.

    • Action Items:
      • ICANN organization to identify and circulate to the OEC, the community-supported improvements and options for incorporating practical new elements into the Operating Standards that do not require bylaw changes, prior to its meeting in September 2018.
      • Upon conclusion of the public comment period, ICANN organization to brief Göran Marby, ICANN President & CEO, on the key community-supported improvements and options to be incorporated into the revised Operating Standards.
  5. Any Other Business
    • Proposed Charter Amendments: Registrar Stakeholder Group: ICANN organization informed the OEC of the Registrar Stakeholder Group's plan to initiate the process to amend its charter.
    • Registration Directory Service (RDS/WHOIS2) Review: Responding to the OEC's query on the status of the RDS/WHOIS2 Review, ICANN organization informed the OEC that the RDS/WHOIS2 Review Team is in the midst of finalizing their recommendations and aims to publish their draft report for public comment by mid-August 2018.

The Chair called the meeting to a close.

Published on 12 September 2018