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.

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