[At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2Fin Marina del Rey

Manal Ismail manal at tra.gov.eg
Mon Apr 26 07:18:32 UTC 2010


I agree to the role of the chair being in charge of organizing our work and meeting our deadlines without being deprived from participating to the RT work ..

I also like Louis' idea of having a backup, I'm equally fine with a vice-chair or a co-chair ..

 

On the other hand, and as I'm trying to catch up with the emails, one thing I feel missing is what will we be looking at when evaluating accountability, transparency & public input .. I believe it's important that we have some criteria that would help us:

-          ask the right questions during the data gathering phase, 

-          not be driven only by the data we receive,

-          make sure we are all evaluating the same things and that we all have the full picture

-          document or at least have a good justification (if needed) on how we have reached our recommendations in an as transparent way as possible

A few things I feel urgent at this point:

-          agree on what we'll ask ICANN staff to prepare for our upcoming meeting (and whether we need specific names to be available) ..

-          have a single version of each document or thread we are discussing in order to keep track of all colleagues' valuable remarks, comments and substance that have been submitted over email and may be also start using track changes (if not other tools as suggested by Cheryl) to facilitate further compilation of all feedbacks received ..

-          In support of Fabio's suggestion, agree on working definitions for accountability, transparency & public input .. I fully understand colleagues' concerns not to spend much time on definitions (which Fabio also mentioned by suggesting that we don't have to search for universally accepted definitions) but I really think this would help us start from a common ground and would facilitate break down of those terms into factors/parameters that we'll be looking at during our evaluation ..

Looking forward to our discussion later today ..

 

Kind Regards

 

--Manal

 

From: at-review-bounces at icann.org [mailto:at-review-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Louis Lee
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 7:49 AM
To: Brian Cute
Cc: A&T Review Team
Subject: Re: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2Fin Marina del Rey

 

I agree that our Chair would serve to run our meetings and encourage work as suggested. The Chair should also serve as the official point of contact in official messaging, but any of us should be able to ask anyone relevant questions in the course of conducting the review.

 

Should we ask our new Chair to appoint a Vice-Chair to serve as backup?

 

Would we like to ask Marco to assign someone to serve the Chair as our secretariat to take minutes, etc?

 

And as for the review work, Rod has told me in discussions that his staff changes is a result of the Board's directive to make agressive improvements in the organization. The Board's reaction, as Rod had put it, was mixed. Some felt that he was too fast, while others applauded him. Even though Rod is getting mixed signals now, he felt that he was being hired to make these very changes.

 

This raises some questions for me:

 

1. Were not all the Board members in full agreement in their choice of Pres. & CEO? (Not critical to answer.)

 

2. What did the Board think their directive was to Rod? What did Rod understand the directive to be?

 

3. Which of Rod's changes were made to further which goals of the directive? 

 

The answers may reveal how the Board is directing staff to address the A&T aspects of the AoC.

 

Granted, we should not lose sight that the review is of the Board. We do have the opportunity at the f2f meeting to ask staff some pointed questions, so it's great that we are taking advantage of that.

 

Are we requesting that Rod himself be at our f2f in person? We shouldn't just assume that he'll be there especially since he works out of an office in a different part of California.

 

And while we have the authority to ask Rod's staff some hard questions, and we may be generating a lot of work for them, it would be nice to know if Rod has sent a letter to his staff (or at least his key staff for our review efforts) requesting cooperation.

 

And in addition, our work may reveal information relevant to the other Review Teams. And as much as I would want to share it, I think the context in how the info was obtained (phrasing of a question, etc) may be lost if we were to pass on the info. We should be careful to reveal (or NOT!) such details to our colleagues.

 

Talk to y'all soon,       

Louie


On Apr 25, 2010, at 9:22 AM, "Brian Cute" <briancute at afilias.info> wrote:

	Janis,

	 

	Yes, that should have been the 5th and 6th date in the document.  Thanks for catching that.

	 

	Best,

	Brian

	 

	From: Janis Karklins [mailto:janis.karklins at icann.org] 
	Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 12:11 PM
	To: at-review at icann.org
	Subject: Re: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2F in Marina del Rey

	 

	Brian

	 

	I believe that we agreed that the RT meeting is taking place on 5 and 6 May, not on 4 May you are referring into your note.

	 

	On the question of the Chair, I fully agree. The role of the Chair is to coordinate and encourage the work, but he/she should possess the same rights as other members of the RT.

	 

	Best regards

	JK

	 

	From: at-review-bounces at icann.org [mailto:at-review-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Brian Cute
	Sent: svētdiena, 2010. gada 25. aprīlī 17:34
	To: wadelman at godaddy.com; 'Burr,Becky'; at-review at icann.org
	Subject: Re: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2F in Marina del Rey

	 

	RT team,

	 

	I have created a document that tries to track Warren’s useful outline and borrows much of Becky’s work.  Please review and make edits.  A few thoughts about the questions and document requests.  

	 

	-          The RT will have the ability to ask follow on questions and to ask for documents from the staff after May 4.  It is important that the RT ask for a complete presentation from ICANN staff on May 4 so we can structure our work in a timely manner, but this is not an “all or nothing exercise.”

	-          Emphasis should be placed on a careful tracking Paragraph 9.1 of the AoC.  I have put direct quotes, partial quotes and paraphrasing of AoC elements in the document so please carefully scrutinize those points to ensure accuracy.

	-          ICANN’s performance regarding Accountability and Transparency prior to the AoC is informative to the RT’s work but not the central focus.  The “General Questions” in the document are designed to elicit Staff input on pre-AoC Accountability and Transparency for background purposes.  I have also removed reference to some specific documents and processes.  Not because I  believe they are not relevant.  Rather, because I believe Staff’s responses to open ended questions can be more revealing.

	-           What is critical for the May 4 exchange is that all key ICANN staff be available.

	 

	With regard to which ICANN staff should be made available, I believe that is a decision ultimately for Rod.  In terms of one key staffer to be a point person, I would suggest Doug Brent given his role and length of service.  Other than that, it is up to Staff to organize its response.

	 

	With regard to the Chair for the RT, we need to resolve whether the Chair will be one that must recuse his or herself to ensure neutrality or whether the Chair can participate/advocate in the work and deliberations of the RT.  My view is that, given the relatively small size of the group, and the fact that each participant was selected for their respective experience and expertise, it would be short sighted to insist that the Chair be recused from the RT work.  I would recommend that the Chair’s primary functions be to ensure that the organization of the RT’s work be well managed – essentially that the “trains run on time” and that the Chair should otherwise participate in the RT’s work.  I am interested to hear other views on this question.

	 

	Regards,

	Brian

	 

	From: wadelman at godaddy.com [mailto:wadelman at godaddy.com] 
	Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 5:38 PM
	To: Burr,Becky; at-review at icann.org
	Subject: Re: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2F in Marina del Rey

	 

	Regarding Becky's suggested questions, I recommend a simpler approach that clarifies what we'll be asking Staff to provide, while ensuring that the focus of the review remains on the ICANN Board.

	 

	First, we should track the road map expressed in Sec. 9.1 of the AoC, and ask Staff to comment on items (a) through (e) as they apply to this RT.  Their comments should include any topics or open questions that were outlined in the December document, along with a summary analysis of public feedback received during the February comment period.  Each topic would end with a brief Q&A before proceeding to the next.

	
	Secondly, Staff would compile and present any documents resulting from recent review efforts, internal and external, and include an update on the status of their implementation.  We would allow some time for discussion and Q&A, and post the list and supporting documents to the RT Wiki.

	 

	Finally, we would allocate time for a discussion of General Topics, where we can raise questions put forward on the mailing list or omitted from Staff's presentation.

	 

	What are the group's thoughts on this approach? 

	 

	Warren
	
	Warren Adelman
	President & COO
	GoDaddy.com
	warren at godaddy.com
	tel. (480)505-8835
	fax. (480)275-3990
	mobile.(480)882-8876

	twitter: http://twitter.com/asocialcontract
	http://www.godaddy.com

	 

		-------- Original Message --------
		Subject: Re: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2F in Marina
		del Rey
		From: "Burr, Becky" <Becky.Burr at wilmerhale.com>
		Date: Fri, April 23, 2010 8:51 am
		To: "Burr, Becky" <Becky.Burr at wilmerhale.com>, <at-review at icann.org>

		By the way, I think we should set the AoC as the start date for this discussion on the "what have you improved" questions, and avoid discussions about ancient, or not so ancient, history.  I also think that we may want to acknowledge upfront that the AoC is a fairly recent event, that there has been a lot of change in the period since the AoC was signed, and that we have a realistic view about what progress could have been made during that period.  Accordingly, I would expect a significant part of the discussion to be about establishing a baseline for measuring future improvements and about getting the staff to tell us about their plans for those future improvements.  

		 

		Thoughts?

		 

		 

		 

________________________________

		From: at-review-bounces at icann.org [mailto:at-review-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Burr, Becky
		Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 11:56 AM
		To: at-review at icann.org
		Subject: [At-review] Draft of questions in advance of F2F in Marina del Rey

		I have attached as a Word document and pasted below, a first cut at questions/issues for staff in Marina del Rey.  I suspect that we could profitably spend a lot of time on just a subset of these, but tried to be more rather than less complete.  Also, I think that there are some pretty important questions we need to answer soon regarding structure and participation.  In particular:

		* What ICANN staff will be participating in our discussions in Marina del Rey?  Some of the new hires are not listed on the staff directory – some key folks located outside of California.  

		* Another key issue is how we would like to interact with staff.  As a large group?  Broken out by department/role?  Any that we want to meet with individually, either now or later?  What ground rules do we need to ensure an open dialogue?  

		Comments please!

		Questions in Preparation for F2F in Marina del Rey

		1.  Provide and discuss the ICANN staff org chart – who does what?  What is the reporting structure?  Where (in the world) do people sit?  How do key staff members spend their time?  While this seems basic, it is not well understood by members of the ICANN community.  Moreover, there have been significant staffing changes in the last few months that it would be helpful to understand. 

		2.  What does the staff view as its key tasks with respect to A&T, and how is responsibility for those tasks allocated?  

		3.  In addition to the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation, what documents do staff rely on to fulfill ICANN’s accountability and transparency obligations.  Where do the 2008 Management Operating Principles, the PSC report, other documents fit in?  Are there internal policies or procedures in place for ensuring that accountability and transparency issues are considered at appropriate junctures?  How are accountability and transparency issues included/considered in strategic planning and budgeting?

		4.  One of the challenges for the AT Review Team is to identify metrics for measuring improvement under the AoC tasks.  What does the staff suggest?   What should we focus on, what should our priorities be?  For this first review, what realistically can we measure as accomplishments, what should we look at as “works in progress”?  With respect to those works in progress, how should they be measured going forward?

		5.  We have reviewed the various comments submitted on the AoC review process, as well as the staff summary of those comments.  Which points seem most important/relevant to staff?

		6.  What observations can ICANN staff make with respect to progress the AoC commitment to maintain and improve robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency so as to ensure that the outcomes of its decision-making will reflect the public interest and be accountable to all stakeholders by?  Any improvements we should pay particular attention to?  

		In addition to general reflections on these issues, the Team seeks staff views on progress and plans with respect to the following:  

		(a) Assessing and improving ICANN Board of Directors (Board).  Have steps been taken to improve Board performance that may not be apparent to the community (e.g., training for members).  Are there changes in the Board selection process, and is sufficient attention given to the ways in which Board composition meets ICANN's present and future needs?

		- Observations on the ways in which staff interacts with Board – has that changed, is it improving, are there ways in which it can be improved?

		(b) What are the staff views on the way the current accountability mechanisms work – ombuds, reconsideration, IRP?  What about the various institutional review processes?  How are consultants selected, terms of reference set, etc.?  How does staff use the information in these reviews?

		(c) What are the staff observations about the role and effectiveness of the GAC and its interaction with the Board?  What improvements have been/are being implemented, and how is that working?  How does staff communicate with the GAC when it seeks public policy input from the GAC?   

		(d)  What are the staff’s observations about the processes by which ICANN receives public input?  In general, how would the staff rate public input?  What improvements have been/are being implemented?  Who synthesizes, and how is input summarized/communicated to the Board?   There are many sets of public comments that are listed as “awaiting summary/analysis.”  Is that due to a resource issue, to the fact that the issues have been overtaken by events?  Is there a better way to do this?  

		(e)  What are the staff’s observations about the degree to which ICANN's decisions are embraced, supported and accepted by the public and the Internet community? 

		(f)  Does the staff have views, suggestions of ways in which the policy development process can facilitate enhanced cross community deliberations and effective and timely policy development?  What kind of support does staff provide to the PDP, and how effective is it?  Are there enough resources to provide necessary support?

________________________________

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