Public Comment
ICANN Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021 – 2025
Open Date
20 December 2018 23:59 UTC
Close Date
25 February 2019 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
29 March 2019 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: The purpose of this public comment is to seek community input on ICANN’s draft five-year strategic plan for fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
Current Status: Following community, Board, and ICANN organization inputs on key trends anticipated to impact ICANN in the coming years, the Board conducted an analysis. There were significant similarities across all the trend sessions, that naturally converge into five primary focus areas: security; governance; unique identifier systems; geopolitics; and financials. These focus areas were shared with the community leading into and during ICANN63 in Barcelona.
Coming out of ICANN63 and following dialogue with and additional input from the community, the Board has developed a draft of ICANN’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2021-2025, to present for community consultation. This document includes ICANN’s mission, a vision of the future state of ICANN, and a set of strategic objectives and goals, along with desired outcomes and associated risks.
Next Steps: Following the review of public comments received on this report, the ICANN organization will prepare a public comment summary report. The Board will carefully consider comments received to shape the Final Strategic Plan.
Depending on comments, the ICANN Board may elect to conduct an additional public comment if necessary. There will also be a session at ICANN64 scheduled on the topic of this draft strategic plan.
Section I: Description and Explanation
The purpose of strategic planning is to set out the long-term strategic objectives for the organization, reflecting the ICANN mission and vision. Strategic planning is a fundamental part of ICANN's planning, mandated by the organization's Bylaws.
This draft strategic plan is designed to shape ICANN priorities, inform its budget and drive activities for fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
Public comments on this draft five-year strategic plan are part of our consultation process with the community, and ensure this plan is focused on the right priorities for ICANN for fiscal years 2021-2025, and that the desired outcomes and risks accurately reflect the success ICANN is seeking to achieve and the potential challenges it may encounter.
Section II: Background
The strategic planning process for fiscal years 2021-2025 began in early 2018 with an analysis of the existing plan’s structure and effectiveness, based on feedback from the community, Board, and organization. Efforts then focused on gathering input on the key trends and topic areas anticipated to impact ICANN.
Between January and June 2018, ICANN conducted 14 departmental and regional hub trend identification sessions within the organization and 11 sessions with the community and the Board, collecting over 1,000 trend data inputs. With this input as a foundation, between April 2018 and September 2018, the Board caucus group tasked with overseeing the strategic planning process reviewed and analyzed the results of the trend work and their related opportunities, risks, and impacts on ICANN, and categorized them into key focus areas.
These findings were shared with the community for further consultation, and the Board then drafted a proposed set of revised strategic objectives and measurable goals for the next five years. Revisions were proposed to the vision statement, to reflect what ICANN envisions becoming by 2025.
This work has culminated in this draft strategic plan. It includes a revised vision statement, five new strategic objectives, and restates ICANN’s mission per its Bylaws. For each strategic objective, the goals, targeted outcomes and key risks are clearly defined.
Section III: Relevant Resources
- Draft ICANN strategic plan for fiscal years 2021-2025 [PDF, 426 KB]
Section IV: Additional Information
- Public Comment backgrounder for ICANN's draft strategic plan for fiscal years 2021-2025 [PDF, 512 KB]
- Strategic planning web page on icann.org
Staff Report of Public Comment Proceeding and Related Reports
- Staff Report of Public Comment Proceeding [PDF, 114 KB]
- Responses to Comments Received [PDF, 232 KB]
- Revised Draft ICANN Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025 [PDF, 198 KB]
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments