GAC Involvement in ICANN ATRT3
This page is dedicated to the GAC work efforts regarding the Third Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT3) effort conducted by ICANN.
Background
The ICANN Bylaws mandate that the community conduct a periodic review to assess how ICANN is executing its commitment to maintain and improve robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency. This ensures that the outcomes of its decision-making reflect the public interest and are accountable to the Internet community.
The ICANN Bylaws outline the general issues that the accountability and transparency review teams may assess. Those issues include, but are not limited to, the following:
- assessing and improving ICANN Board governance;
- assessing the role and effectiveness of the GAC’s interaction with the Board and with the broader ICANN community, and making recommendations for improvement to ensure effective consideration by ICANN of GAC input on the public policy aspects of the technical coordination of the DNS;
- assessing and improving the processes by which ICANN receives public input;
- assessing the extent to which ICANN’s decisions are supported and accepted by the Internet community;
- assessing the policy development process to facilitate enhanced cross community deliberations, and effective and timely policy development;
- assessing and improving the Independent Review Process.
ATRT3 History
On 20 December 2018, ICANN org announced the selection of an 18-member team to conduct the third Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT3). The GAC nominated a member of the team - Mr. Liu Yue (China).
The ATRT3 decided to devote a portion of its work to reviewing the GAC and has established a “work party” devoted to assessing the role and effectiveness of GAC interactions with the ICANN Board and the broader ICANN community, and researching how to ensure that ICANN effectively considers the GAC's views on public policy aspects of DNS technology coordination.
This ATRT3 GAC Work Party developed a series of questions looking back at implementation of the prior ATRT2 recommendations and looking forward to consideration of the effectiveness of the GAC-ICANN Board relationship with an eye toward developing future recommendations.
Members of the GAC Work Party met with the GAC in plenary session at ICANN65 in Marrakech at which time the work party shared questions for GAC feedback.
GAC Work
The ATRT3 developed two survey documents asking for community insights and information about the subjects of its review. One survey asked for input from ICANN community structures (i.e., supporting organizations and advisory committees) and a second survey sought input from individual community members.
The GAC supplied responses to a GAC-specific Community Structure Survey and GAC members were encouraged to participate in the separate individual response survey.
The GAC leadership has also coordinated development of a GAC response to several written questions that the ATRT3 GAC Work Party members shared with the GAC at the time of the Marrakech meeting.
Links of Interest
The ATRT3 community wiki web page can be found here - https://community.icann.org/display/atrt/ATRT3
ATRT3 GAC Work Party web page - https://community.icann.org/display/atrt/GAC+WP
The ATRT3 Terms of Reference and Work Plan (approved on 12 June 2019) can be found here - https://community.icann.org/display/atrt/Terms+of+Reference
Recommendations from ATRT2: GAC Operations & Interactions Recommendation 6 - https://community.icann.org/display/atrt/ATRT2+Implementation+Briefing+Materials?preview=/108332215/108332230/GAC%20Operations%20%26%20Interactions.pdf
Ongoing work
GAC Responses to ATRT3 GAC Work Party Questions:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R8S1XeUiYKGByWkax557sJwqv26iY346TOocESXqchc/edit
