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Board Activity on the Third Accountability and Transparency Review

4 December 2020
By
Maarten Botterman

Maarten Botterman

ICANN Board Member

Maarten Botterman is an independent strategic adviser on Internet governance and related issues with more than 25 years' experience in guiding governments and major organizations on the economic, business, and societal impacts of current and future Internet innovations and technologies. During those 25-plus years, he participated in and led more than 50 international projects and studies and published more than 80 peer-reviewed reports for governments and industry on Future Net issues with teams, including experts with advanced academic degrees from many disciplines, ranging from technology and mathematics to economics and law, and from many different countries and cultures.

Maarten was employed as Head of Unit and Senior Adviser to the Dutch Government (1987–1995) and as Scientific Officer to the Communications Technology Research program that was run by the European Commission (1995–1999). These years brought many insights about the public interest and governance aspects of the developing global, networked knowledge society. These insights were further deepened when working for RAND Corporation, setting up and running an Information Society policy practice in Europe (1999–2006), with an emphasis on policy evaluation and scenario planning. Since 2006, he has been working as an independent strategic adviser to governments and businesses in close cooperation with leading independent research institutions in Europe (including RAND Europe, TNO Netherlands, DTI Danmark, Inno France, and CIVIC Germany). Today, he is internationally recognized as a governance and future Internet expert and is a regular contributor to international Internet governance events such as the Internet Governance Forum, where he is leading the Dynamic Coalition for the Internet of Things.

Next to advising the Dutch government and the European Commission on Internet governance issues, he got deeply involved in ICANN's work as a Board member and Chairman of the Public Interest Registry (2008–2016), over time actively participating in more than 40 ICANN meetings. Having worked internationally since 1995, he has extensive experience in working with people from different national and cultural backgrounds, and is comfortable in engaging in English, German, French, and Dutch (mother tongue). He has a reputation as an independent, trustworthy, out-of-the-box thinker who is able to look at issues from several perspectives with strong awareness of the bigger picture. Having served on boards and having reported to boards, he has extensive experience with effective board governance and the responsibilities and obligations that come with a director's position on a U.S. nonprofit board. Over the years, he has been a frequent guest speaker and/or moderator, mostly at smart technology-related events.

Maarten holds an advanced degree in business economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a certified coach and has a certificate in medical-based knowledge, both of which help in better understanding of what drives people in decision-making and going through life. In addition, he has completed several board excellence trainings with internationally renowned institutions, including Harvard Business School, INSEAD, IMD, MIT, Yale School of Management, and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. His areas of interest include government, civil society, and technology.

Maarten is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board by the Nominating Committee in 2016 and served as Board Chair from 2019 until 2022. His third and final term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.

ICANN's Bylaws-mandated reviews are an important accountability mechanism that enable us to maintain a healthy multistakeholder model. The Accountability and Transparency Review is one of four Specific Reviews anchored in the ICANN Bylaws. It is a thorough examination of ICANN's execution of its commitment to maintain and improve robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency to ensure that the outcomes of its decision-making reflect the public interest and are accountable to the global Internet community. ICANN is obligated to conduct this review periodically.

Earlier this year, the third Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT3) delivered its Final Report to the ICANN Board. This report was then posted for Public Comment to help inform the Board's action on the final recommendations.

During our 30 November meeting, the Board resolved to approve the five recommendations in the ATRT3 Final Report, comprised of 15 component parts as enumerated in the scorecard, which call for:

  1. Updates to the requirements of ICANN's Public Comment proceedings.
  2. ICANN org to review the implementation of the second Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT2) recommendations in light of the ATRT3's assessment, and to complete the implementation of ATRT2 recommendations subject to prioritization.
  3. Changes to Specific and Organizational Reviews, including creation of a new Holistic Review of ICANN, and evolution of Organizational Reviews into Continuous Improvement Programs.
  4. Improvements to the accountability and transparency of ICANN's Strategic and Operating Plans.
  5. The creation of a community-led entity tasked with operating a prioritization process for recommendations made by review teams, cross-community groups, or any other community-related budgetary elements the Board or ICANN org feels appropriate.

Each of these recommendations is consistent with ICANN's mission and remit, and serves the public interest. I encourage you to read the resolution, which contains detailed discussion and rationale for the Board's action on each recommendation.

On behalf of the Board, I want to extend our thanks to the ATRT3 team for its dedication and hard work. The ATRT3 Final Report is the culmination of 14 months of work by 19 team members, representing more than 2,500 hours of meetings and significant engagement with the wider ICANN community throughout the process. The commitment and efforts of this review team and thoughtful contributions of the wider community via public comments and other engagement with the ATRT3 cannot be underestimated. This illustrates the strength, accountability, and transparency of the multistakeholder model.

The recommendations outlined in the Final Report pertain to complex issues and have dependencies on other ICANN work. With this in mind, the ATRT3 implementation shepherds have recognized that an iterative process may be needed to achieve the intended outcome and the Board's action is supportive of this approach.

The approved recommendations are subject to prioritization efforts, with the exception of the one recommendation which itself calls for a prioritization process. The recommendation provides guidance that a prioritization process should "operate by consensus of the individual SO/ACs, Board, and org members that are participating in the prioritization process." In the case of this recommendation, the Board directs ICANN org to proceed to implementation and develop a framework of prioritization with input from the community. Implementation of some of the recommendations, such as the proposed postponement of reviews, may require changes to ICANN's Bylaws. These changes will be subject to the established Bylaws change process, which includes an opportunity for ICANN community review. For further explanation and rationale, please refer to the published resolution.

The implementation of some of the recommendations will significantly impact the community's bandwidth and resources. For example, piloting the Holistic Review and Continuous Improvement Programs will require widespread community participation. The Board appreciates the community's ongoing dedication to this important yet time-consuming effort.

The Board looks forward to the contributions that these recommendations will make to the multistakeholder model as a result of this outstanding work.

Authors

Maarten Botterman

Maarten Botterman

ICANN Board Member
Maarten Botterman

Maarten Botterman

ICANN Board Member

Maarten Botterman is an independent strategic adviser on Internet governance and related issues with more than 25 years' experience in guiding governments and major organizations on the economic, business, and societal impacts of current and future Internet innovations and technologies. During those 25-plus years, he participated in and led more than 50 international projects and studies and published more than 80 peer-reviewed reports for governments and industry on Future Net issues with teams, including experts with advanced academic degrees from many disciplines, ranging from technology and mathematics to economics and law, and from many different countries and cultures.

Maarten was employed as Head of Unit and Senior Adviser to the Dutch Government (1987–1995) and as Scientific Officer to the Communications Technology Research program that was run by the European Commission (1995–1999). These years brought many insights about the public interest and governance aspects of the developing global, networked knowledge society. These insights were further deepened when working for RAND Corporation, setting up and running an Information Society policy practice in Europe (1999–2006), with an emphasis on policy evaluation and scenario planning. Since 2006, he has been working as an independent strategic adviser to governments and businesses in close cooperation with leading independent research institutions in Europe (including RAND Europe, TNO Netherlands, DTI Danmark, Inno France, and CIVIC Germany). Today, he is internationally recognized as a governance and future Internet expert and is a regular contributor to international Internet governance events such as the Internet Governance Forum, where he is leading the Dynamic Coalition for the Internet of Things.

Next to advising the Dutch government and the European Commission on Internet governance issues, he got deeply involved in ICANN's work as a Board member and Chairman of the Public Interest Registry (2008–2016), over time actively participating in more than 40 ICANN meetings. Having worked internationally since 1995, he has extensive experience in working with people from different national and cultural backgrounds, and is comfortable in engaging in English, German, French, and Dutch (mother tongue). He has a reputation as an independent, trustworthy, out-of-the-box thinker who is able to look at issues from several perspectives with strong awareness of the bigger picture. Having served on boards and having reported to boards, he has extensive experience with effective board governance and the responsibilities and obligations that come with a director's position on a U.S. nonprofit board. Over the years, he has been a frequent guest speaker and/or moderator, mostly at smart technology-related events.

Maarten holds an advanced degree in business economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a certified coach and has a certificate in medical-based knowledge, both of which help in better understanding of what drives people in decision-making and going through life. In addition, he has completed several board excellence trainings with internationally renowned institutions, including Harvard Business School, INSEAD, IMD, MIT, Yale School of Management, and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. His areas of interest include government, civil society, and technology.

Maarten is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board by the Nominating Committee in 2016 and served as Board Chair from 2019 until 2022. His third and final term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.

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