Second SSAC Organizational Review

The Second SSAC Organizational Review (SSAC2) was initiated in 2017 and concluded in 2019, with implementation of improvements continuing through 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 Security and Stability Advisory Committee is one of the organizations subject to the review requirements of Article 4.4.

Initiation

The second SSAC review was postponed in July 2015 by the ICANN Board, and was due to start in June 2017. In March 2017, the OEC reached out to the SSAC to determine whether the group believed that it would be ready for the review to start, or if a deferral would be desirable. After receiving confirmation from SSAC leadership that they were prepared to engage in the review, the OEC forwarded a recommendation to the board to initiate the review. The board initiated SSAC2 in May 2017. The SSAC2 Review Work Party (RWP) held their first meeting in February 2018, contemporaneous with the selection of the Independent Examiner.

Post-RFP Delay

After the RFP for an independent examiner had closed, during the SSAC's self assessment process, it was noted that Recommendation 10 from the First SSAC Organizational Review had not been implemented - the ICANN Board had not "stud[ied] the issue of paying a stipend or honorarium to to SSAC leadership and members." As the OEC noted in its meeting minutes:

The OEC's concerns are two-pronged:

* Non-implementation of Recommendation 10 from the previous SSAC Review. * The possibility that there are other gaps in implementation from other Organizational Reviews from the past review cycle.

Given that the OEC is responsible for the review and oversight of all Reviews, it is imperative that the OEC take a systemic approach in addressing implementation gaps arising from the recommendations of previous reviews. The OEC will provide recommendations to the Board on ways to address the gaps once ICANN organization has completed an analysis of implementation gaps from the past review cycle.

Independent Examiner Findings & Recommendations

The RFP for an independent examiner was posted in July 2017. In the event that the candidate pool did not meet the "gating elements" that were set up in the proposal scoring process, it was initially planned to re-start the RFP process at a later date.

The Analysis Group was selected as the Independent Examiner in February 2018.

Security and Stability Advisory Committee. Advises the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the security and integrity of the Internet's naming and address allocation systems (ICANN Bylaws).