Accountability and Transparency
ICANN org has a proven commitment to accountability and transparency in all of its practices. Indeed, ICANN org considers these principles to be fundamental safeguards in ensuring that its international, bottom-up and multistakeholder operating model remains effective.
The mechanisms through which ICANN org achieves accountability and transparency are built into every level of its organization and are mandated in its new Bylaws.
ICANN Accountability & Transparency
- [1] Includes extensive other ways that ICANN org is accountable.
- [2] Organizational review is not mandated by ICANN Bylaws and other mechanisms are used to review commitments.
Status of Reviews - For information about future, current and completed reviews, please visit Organizational Reviews and Specific Reviews sections.
ICANN Publication Practices - ICANN org's publication practices are guided by ICANN org's Documentary Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP). ICANN org developed the ICANN Publication Practices for Board, Litigation and Accountability Processes to describe ICANN org's publication practices as it relates to: Board resolutions, Preliminary Reports of Board Meetings and Minutes, Board briefing materials, and independent review process materials. Included in this document are also short descriptions and quick access to other operational practices such as the Guidelines for the Posting of Board Briefing Materials and the ICANN Redaction Register.
Post IANA Transition - Following the transition of the IANA stewardship functions and the termination of the Affirmation of Commitments on 1 October 2016, ICANN org has adopted new Bylaws that strengthen the Internet community's accountability mechanisms vis-à-vis ICANN org. These new enhanced community powers are enshrined in ICANN org's new Bylaws. Additional information on these new accountability mechanisms and how these were developed are available here.
Please note: all reviews that started prior to 1 October 2016 were/are conducted under the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC). With the coming into force of the Transition, the AoC ceases to be in effect, and under the new Bylaws, the Reviews formally known as "AoC Reviews" are now referred to as "Specific Reviews". Unless stated otherwise, all review-related information on this site is derived from the new Bylaws.
Examples of ICANN org's Accountability and Transparency Practices
ICANN org's commitment to fulfilling – and exceeding – these obligations is demonstrated in numerous ways throughout our organization. Here are some notable examples:
| Type of Activity | Description | Related Links |
| Quarterly Stakeholder Calls | Provide updates on the latest policy and implementation developments, ICANN org’s operational achievements and financial standings. | Most recent report from Stakeholder Calls |
| Open Participation in ICANN org Activities | ICANN org's Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) publicly post detailed information about their activities and deliberations, along with clear instructions on how one can participate. | Participation Opportunities |
| Public Comment | Open public comment provides information on the issues ICANN stakeholders currently have posted for public comment, with opportunity for all stakeholders to provide input and feedback. Operational consultation offers another vital element of ICANN org's accountability and transparency in the opportunity for operational consultation and feedback on various ICANN org topics. | Open Public Comments
Operational Consultations |
| Language Services | While ICANN org’s working language is English, multilingualism is essential for a global multistakeholder organization. In order to facilitate access to ICANN org and broad participation in its work, it is the policy of ICANN org to provide language services (including translation and interpretation) in the six United Nations languages and additional languages where appropriate, while taking into account budget constraints. | ICANN's Policy and Procedures on Language Services |
| Implementation of Review Recommendations | Once the Board accepts recommendations resulting from Specific Reviews and Organizational Reviews, the implementation of these recommendations is publicly tracked with periodic status reports posted. | Links and information about Board-approved Review recommendations and implementation progress are available on detailed review pages. |
| Organizational Effectiveness Committee of the ICANN Board | Oversight of the Bylaws-mandated Organizational Reviews | Organizational Effectiveness Committee |
| Project Portfolio Management System | Provides visibility into ICANN org's workload, progress and status of ongoing projects. | Project Portfolio Management System ICANN org's work is guided by the Strategic Plan and Five-Year Operating Plan which were developed by the community with the ICANN org, and organized in a hierarchy of Objectives, Goals, Portfolios, and Projects. |
| Accountability Indicators | Dashboard efforts continue to evolve. The ICANN Accountability Indicators shows how the organization is progressing on its five objectives and sixteen goals per our strategic and operating plans. | ICANN Accountability Indicators |
| ICANN's Anonymous Hotline Policy and Procedures | In response to a recommendation from the second Accountability and Transparency Review, NAVEX Global conducted a review of ICANN org’s Anonymous Hotline Policy and Procedures, identified gaps and provided recommendations for possible improvements to enhance the Anonymous Hotline to a best practice reporting mechanism. ICANN org has made various modifications to the Anonymous Hotline Policy and Procedures, as applicable and appropriate, to meet the recommendations and modifications proposed by the reviewer. ICANN org is currently in its final states of further updating and modifying the Anonymous Hotline Policy and Procedures to address the remaining recommendations. | |
| Annual Reviews Implementation Report | Section 4.5 of ICANN's Bylaws state that “ICANN will produce an annual report on the state of the accountability and transparency reviews, which will discuss the status of the implementation of all review processes required by Section 4.6 and the status of ICANN’s implementation of the recommendations set forth in the final reports issued by the review teams to the Board following the conclusion of such review". | Annual Reviews Implementation Report |
| Transparency Report | The second Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT2) issued Recommendation 9.4 on the development of transparency metrics and reporting in the Annual Report. The activities in support of this recommendation are covered in the Transparency Report. | Transparency Report |
Implementation of AoC Review Recommendations
Implementation of all current/future Specific Review recommendations accepted by the Board is publicly tracked and periodic status reports posted. Historic information from the AoC Reviews (the pre-Transition term for Specific Reviews) can also be found here.
Implementation of Board-Approved Recommendations
Click on the name of the Review in the chart to access the latest status update on the progress of implementation of recommendations
| Review | # of recommendations |
|---|---|
| ATRT1 | 27 |
| ATRT2 | 12 |
| ATRT3 | Review launched January 2017 |
| CCT | Review launched October 2015 |
| RDS (formerly WHOIS) | Review launched October 2016 |
| SSR | 28 |
| SSR2 | Review launched June 2016 |
| WHOIS | 16 |
| Total | 83 |