Organizational Effectiveness Committee

The Organizational Effectiveness Committee (OEC) of the ICANN Board is responsible for the oversight and review of the specific and organizational review processes mandated by Articles 4.4-4.6 of the ICANN Bylaws, as well as the periodic and special IANA Naming Function Reviews (IRF) mandated by Article 18 of the bylaws.

History

The OEC's predecessor, the Structural Improvements Committee (SIC) was established at the ICANN 33 Cairo meeting in November, 2008. SIC was responsible for the logistics of organizational reviews of supporting organizations and advisory committees. SIC's original charter predates the Affirmation of Commitments, and so it includes no mention of what were to become known as Specific Reviews. The charter focuses on the oversight and management of organizational reviews.

In 2015, SIC proposed changes to its charter, including renaming the committee to the Organizational Effectiveness Committee. The changes were intended to better reflect the mission of support and oversight of organizational reviews. The Board approved those changes in July of 2015. In 2017, the Board approved changes to the charter that expanded the OEC's oversight authority to include specific reviews under Article 4.6 of the Bylaws. In 2019, the OEC's charter was again expanded to include the oversight of the IANA Naming Function Review (IFR) described in Article 18 of the Bylaws.

Structure

The OEC is comprised of at least three but not more than seven Board members. Committee members are appointed annually by the Board. These directors need to comply with the Conflicts of Interest Policy. The OEC may organize itself into subcommittees so as to complete its work.

Responsibilities

The OEC Charter sets forth the following responsibilities, as well as other actions as prescribed by the Committee’s purposes or as stated by the Board:

1. Review, and recommend changes as warranted to streamline and standardize, where possible, ICANN's policies, processes and procedures governing the Organizational and Specific Reviews;
2. Oversee the conduct of the Organizational and Specific Reviews as described in the Review Framework;
3. Oversee work of the independent consulting firm/s engaged for the Organizational Reviews, including the quality and content of the independent consulting firm's work product and all necessary follow-up;
4. Create and populate Working Groups for ICANN Board directed Ad Hoc Reviews, if and when deemed necessary. The members of the Working Groups are chosen among present and past Board Directors and Liaisons;
5. Coordinate the work of the Working Groups for ICANN Board-directed Ad Hoc Reviews, and evaluate the recommendations coming from the review process;
6. Regularly report to the full Board with respect to the Committee's activities; and,
7. Oversee the conduct of the IFRs as described in the ICANN Bylaws, and, where necessary, coordinating and convening a Board Caucus Group for any substantive discussions and Board input into those IFRs.
8. Oversee the implementation of review recommendations resulting from the Organizational, Specific and IFR Reviews and regularly report to the full Board on the implementation status.