Second ccNSO Organizational Review

The Second ccNSO Organizational Review (ccNSO2) was initiated in spring 2018. The review is in the implementation phase as of June 2021.

Background

Article 4.4 of the ICANN Bylaws requires periodic review of all supporting organizations and advisory committees, as well as the Nominating Committee. The bylaws state three objectives for the review:

1. to determine whether that organization, council or committee has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure;
2. if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness; and
3. whether that organization, council or committee is accountable to its constituencies, stakeholder groups, organizations and other stakeholders.

Organizational reviews are conducted by independent examiners, selected through a competitive bidding process. The independent examiner works in consultation with a working group assembled by the board, who will act as implementation shepherds once the final report of the independent examiner is submitted. The review parameters are set by the ICANN Board, and those parameters as well as other avenues of inquiry are typically included in the request for proposals (RFP) for independent examiners. Reviews can take anywhere from three to five years to complete. The full review process includes seven phases, including the implementation of recommendations from the review. Reviews must be conducted at least every five years, measuring from the date that the final report of the previous review was accepted by the ICANN Board. The Country Code Names Supporting Organization is one of the organizations subject to the review requirements of Article 4.4.

Initiation

Aware of the level and intensity of activity within the ICANN community in 2017, the chair of the Organizational Effectiveness Committee sent letters to the ccNSO, RSSAC, and SSAC in March of that year, offering to defer the initiation of their organizational reviews by a year, and and proposing a timeline for preparatory activities during the deferral period. The ccNSO responded that they would like to defer the review. A public comment process was initiated to provide information on the ICANN community's opinions to the board as they deliberated the proposed deferral. Four public comments were submitted, with three of the four in favor of, or not opposed to, a deferral. In September 2017, the board approved the deferral of the ccNSO2 review to April 2018.

The ccNSO had already called for volunteers for the ccNSO2 review working party (RWP) in January 2017. During the deferral period, the ccNSO and the working party dedicated time to "reviewing and updating our internal documents to ensure that they capture our current practice, recommendations from the previous review and requirements set in the new Bylaws." In February 2018, the ccNSO sent out a second call for volunteers to participate in the ccNSO2 review working party. In March 2018, the board initiated the ccNSO2 review at its regular board meeting, noting that the independent examiner would selected and would begin work by August 2018.

The RFP for an independent examiner followed in April 2018. In August 2018, Meridian Institute was selected to conduct the independent review.

Independent Review Findings and Recommendations

Pursuant to ICANN's revised review process, the independent review was divided into two phases: an assessment report that contained the findings of the review, and a final report that incorporated public comment regarding the findings, and presented recommendations for improvement. Meridian utilized multiple information-gathering methods in its assessment process:

1. Review of foundational ccNSO documentation regarding its mission, function, and operations;
2. Review of ccNSO processes and activities since ccNSO1;
3. Interviews with forty-five former and current ccNSO members and participants;
4. A survey directed at the broader ICANN community (111 respondents and 78 fully completed responses); and
5. Attendance an observation of ccNSO Member Day meetings at ICANN 63 and ICANN 64, along with attendance at the ccNSO Council meeting during ICANN 64.

Meridian also engaged in regular consultation with the RWP, to validate and verify information received, and to get input on the draft assessment report. The final assessment report contained a record of these interactions, and in particular RWP comments on the report.

Country Code Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board global policies relating to country-code top-level domains (ICANN Bylaws).