As one of a number of initiatives aimed at further improvements in accountability and transparency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) engaged One World Trust to undertake an independent review of standards of accountability and transparency within the organisation.
The review, published last Thursday, noted that:
"Overall, ICANN is a very transparent organisation. It shares a large quantity of information through its website, probably more than any other global organisation. What ICANN should consider addressing however is the accessibility of this information and consistency with which it is made available. The ongoing efforts to redesign the ICANN website will go a long way to making information more accessible, but to address the issue of the consistency ICANN should consider providing clearer guidelines to its constituent bodies on what, when and how information should be made available."
"When benchmarked against other global organisations, the overall level
of transparency of the ICANN Board is also high; where ICANN should improve
their practice is in explaining more clearly how stakeholder input is used when
making decisions."
It continued:
"Another area where ICANN should focus its efforts is in providing additional administrative support to the Board, so as to facilitate better engagement of Directors in the governance of the organisation. As with much of ICANN, the Board is made up of volunteers who need to balance their ICANN responsibilities with full time jobs. To ensure Directors are able to participate effectively and efficiently in the decision making they need to be provided with additional support by ICANN staff."
The review went on to observe that:
"In relation to complaint and response procedures, ICANN has developed three separate but interrelated mechanisms: the Ombudsman, Reconsideration Committee, and Independent Review Panel of Board actions. Together they offer a robust approach to complaints handling; providing internal oversight of Board decisions and staff actions, and thus reducing the likelihood of litigation."
"While each of these mechanisms need further strengthening, their existence is in compliance with good practice. Where ICANN should focus their efforts is in creating greater coherence across the complaints functions, and better communicating their integrated nature externally. They also need to consider the accessibility of the different functions and ensure language and cost are not a barrier to their use by stakeholders."
"Specifically, in relation to the Independent Review Panel, ICANN should also consider developing this into a more institutionalised and stable oversight mechanism."
ICANN has stated that it welcomes comment and feedback on the report.
It also last week announced its intention to develop a draft set of Management Operating Principles. The major steps in the process are as follows:
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