On 24 June 2018, the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) held a face-to-face meeting in Panama City, Panama to complete its discussions on Work Stream 2. 61 members and participants attended in-person and remotely using the virtual meeting room.
As a part of Work Stream 1, the CCWG-Accountability defined areas where further accountability discussions needed to take place. These discussions, called Work Stream 2, have been underway since June 2016 with the objective of completing the development of accountability measures which could not be completed in Work Stream 1.
During the meeting the CCWG-Accountability reviewed and approved the Implementation Guidance developed to address the four recommendations for which the ICANN Board had concerns (See May 14 letter from the Board to the CCWG-Accountability WS2). The Implementation Guidance will be attached to the WS2 Final Recommendations.
This then concludes the work of the CCWG-Accountability. The WS2 Final Report and Implementation Guidance will now be transmitted to the CCWG-Accountability Chartering Organisations for approval which the Co-Chairs hope can be completed by the end of ICANN 63 in Barcelona. Once approved by the Chartering Organizations the CCWG-Accountability will forward this material to the ICANN Board for approval.
The WS2 Implementation Oversight Team composed of the Co-Chairs and rapporteurs will continue to be available to provide assistance as needed during the approval and implementation processes.
The Co-Chairs would like to thank all the Participants for their sustained contributions to this effort, the Rapporteurs for their outstanding dedication and tireless work in guiding their respective groups to producing the recommendations which will help make ICANN better for all in the years to come. The Co-Chairs would also like to recognize the excellent work of the MSSI staff which was highly professional and without whom this would have been impossible.
All the work of the CCWG-Accountability WS2 can be found on the CCWG-Accountability WS2 wiki at https://community.icann.org/display/WEIA including its Final Report which will posted in early July 2018.
About the CCWG-Accountability
The CCWG-Accountability was established in 2014 as a part of the IANA stewardship transition. The group's goal is to ensure that ICANN's accountability and transparency commitments to the global Internet community are maintained and enhanced in the absence of the IANA functions contract with the U.S. Government.
The group divided its work into two Work Streams:
- Work Stream 1 was focused on identifying mechanisms to enhance ICANN's accountability that must be in place or committed to within the timeframe of the IANA stewardship transition.
- Work Stream 2 is focused on addressing accountability topics for which a timeline for developing solutions and full implementation may extend beyond the IANA stewardship transition.
The CCWG-Accountability proposed twelve recommendations to enhance ICANN's accountability as a part of the IANA stewardship transition. The consensus Work Stream 1 proposal was approved and transmitted by the ICANN Board to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration on 10 March 2016. On 1 October 2016, the IANA functions contract lapsed, and CCWG-Accountability's Work Stream 1 recommendations went into effect.
The CCWG-Accountability is comprised of 227 people, organized as members appointed by and accountable to Chartering Organizations; individual participants; one ICANN Board liaison; one ICANN staff representative; and one former ATRT member who serves as a liaison. The group also has over 130 mailing list observers.
CCWG-Accountability Co-Chairs
Thomas Rickert, Jordan Carter, Tijani Ben Jemaa