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Dear Denise,<br>
<br>
I am very pleased to see that there is significant alignment between
ATRT2 findings and draft recommendations, and work that is underway
at ICANN. However I am also very concerned that this translates to
recommendations from Staff to amend some ATRT2 recommendations into
observations.<br>
<br>
As any organisation that is growing and evolving, ICANN needs to
mature from being a start-up where things are performed ad-hoc and
according to individual initiatives, into a more formal structure
where common processes depend on its procedures and by-laws (ICANN's
DNA). The implementation of ATRT2 recommendations, in my view, is
key to improving ICANN's own DNA and there needs to be goodwill for
this transformation.<br>
<br>
For example, and this is not the only example I could take, I find
it very hard to transform recommendations into observations,
especially when the requirement for some of these recommendations is
clearly mandated by the Affirmation of Commitments itself, such as
the measures for Board Performance. <br>
(AoC - 9.1a)<br>
<i><u><span>9.1 Ensuring accountability, transparency and the
interests of global Internet users</span></u></i><i>: </i><i><abbr
title="Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers">ICANN</abbr></i><i>
commits 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: (a) </i><i><font
color="#ff0000">continually assessing and improving <abbr
title="Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers">ICANN</abbr>
Board of Directors (Board) governance which shall include an
ongoing evaluation of Board performance, the Board selection
process, the extent to which Board composition meets <abbr
title="Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers">ICANN</abbr>'s
present and future needs, and the consideration of an appeal
mechanism for Board decisions; </font></i><br>
<br>
I have had to read this extract to the Board when it met with the
ATRT2 in Buenos Aires and I am sorry to have to repeat the exercise
here, but this paragraph, in my understanding, makes it pretty clear
that assessing Board governance and Board performance is an integral
part of the AoC.<br>
Unless Larry Strickling, a co-signatory of this document, tells me
otherwise, I am assuming that this section 9.1a is *not* optional.<br>
<br>
Board members might be subjected to a 360 review but the Board as a
whole and the performance of the Board as a whole especially whether
the "Board decisions reflect the public interest" is not, to my
knowledge, currently being addressed. In a football Team you might
have the world's best players as individuals, but the performance of
the Team itself might be terrible. I therefore have to most
vehemently object to not implementing these recommendations or
changing them to an observation, for concern of ICANN not honouring
its Commitments in the AoC.<br>
<br>
This is just one example of the several recommendations I would
object to turning into observations, which, might I add, I am
concerned might all be completely ignored. I note the observations
made about WHOIS-RT as well as SSR-RT appear to be completely
ignored by the community - and ICANN would be shrouding itself into
a false sense of security if it thought that all is well because the
ATRT2 report contains observations rather than recommendations.<br>
<br>
Jean de la Fontaine (inspired by Aesop's Fables) explained it well.<br>
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue209/cigale.html<br>
<br>
Warm regards,<br>
<br>
Olivier<br>
<br>
<br>
On 06/12/2013 18:52, Alan Greenberg wrote:<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:09ea506e-6762-48fc-90d2-bc8ebd6deffb@EXHUB2010-1.campus.MCGILL.CA"
type="cite"> I am somewhat overwhelmed by the magnitude and
overall tone of these comments. Just a few comments to start:<br>
<br>
- Given the magnitude and the overall negative tone (negative in
the sense of "don't issue this Rec.")to many of the comments, I
find it had to understand why this assessment is coming at this
time and not a lot earlier, given that the current time-table is
to have the report all wrapped up in about two weeks. <br>
<br>
- Although I understand the attractiveness of a small number of
focused recommendations, in my mind, there has been a clear
message from the community that this is not (solely) what we need
now).<br>
<br>
- I am particularly disturbed by the suggestion that we withdraw a
large number of recommendations on the grounds that work is
already started in similar area. Replacing these recommendations
with observations provides none of the tracking and accountability
to actually follow-through that a recommendation does. If work is
already underway and likely to succeed, then these are easy wins
as recommendations and will not entail significant additional
staff effort. On the other hand, if the work that is currently
going on is insufficient or does not achieve the desired results,
the recommendations are warranted. From a personal point of view
on the Cross-community collaboration recommendations, this is too
important an issue from the perspective of ICANN credibility to
rely on the current discussions all bearing fruit.<br>
<br>
Alan<br>
<br>
At 05/12/2013 09:21 PM, Denise Michel wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite" class="cite" cite="">Dear ATRT2 Members,<br>
<br>
Staff appreciates the opportunity to engage with the Review Team
in our ongoing information sharing and discussions focused on
our mutual goal – a Final Report that makes a significant and
valuable contribution to ICANN’s accountability and transparency
by offering recommendations that are necessary, feasible and
implementable.<br>
<br>
Having reviewed and considered the Draft ATRT2 Report and
Recommendations, staff from numerous departments have prepared
the attached document as initial feedback and to support further
interactions with ATRT2. Staff welcomes the opportunity for
follow-up discussions within the next few days, recognizing the
compressed timeline under which the ATRT2 is working. Larisa and
Charla have already arranged conference calls on some topics and
look forward to supporting additional calls and email inquiries.<br>
<br>
Staff is pleased to observe that there is a <u>significant
alignment</u> between ATRT2 findings and draft
recommendations, and work that is underway at ICANN. This
alignment represents a positive development in the evolution of
the AoC Reviews and staff suggests that it be noted in the
ATRT2’s observations, and that ongoing work be factored into
future reviews. For recommendations where work is already
underway, staff proposes, for the ATRT2’s consideration, that
such recommendations be replaced with observations acknowledging
the work currently being performed. ICANN commits to providing
public status reports, milestones and deliverables to keep the
community informed about this work. Such reporting is well
aligned with the concept of an annual Accountability Report,
requested by the ATRT2. Annual Accountability Reporting also is
anticipated to be an important vehicle for communicating ICANN’s
continuous improvement efforts in accountability and the
implementation of the Accountability Framework for measuring
ICANN’s progress through benchmarks and metrics, which will be
informed by the work of One World Trust. In addition, at the
beginning of the ATRT2 process, Fadi had expressed his
enthusiasm for the work of the ATRT2 along with his overarching
request that the work of the Review Team would result in a small
number of focused, high impact recommendations that staff, Board
and the community could implement. <br>
<br>
Based on experience to date, we know that the large number of
ATRT2 potential recommendations and sub-recommendations would
require a significant amount of resources from staff, Board and
community – public consultations, tracking, reporting, and
ultimately assessment by the subsequent Review Team (for
recommendations that address work underway; for new
recommendations resources also will be required to develop and
execute implementation plans). In considering staff proposals
to replace certain recommendations with observations, the Review
Team may wish to consider several factors, such as the concern
about “review fatigue,” challenges faced by the Review Team in
getting substantive feedback from a diverse cross-section of the
ICANN community, as well as requests for simplification of
information to make it more accessible to a wider audience, not
just those with deep knowledge and experience at ICANN.<br>
<br>
We hope you find staff’s initial input on each of the draft
recommendations and sub-recommendations useful and staff
welcomes the opportunity to elaborate. Again, we would like to
acknowledge the value of ATRT2’s work and its importance to the
legitimacy of ICANN. We also wish to thank all the members of
the ATRT2 for their dedication and hard work. Staff is
committed to supporting and assisting the work of the Review
Team during these final few weeks of your work.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Denise<br>
<br>
<br>
Denise Michel<br>
VP Strategic Initiatives<br>
ICANN<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:denise.michel@icann.org">denise.michel@icann.org</a><br>
Content-Type: application/pdf; name=" Prelim Staff Assessment of
& Response"<br>
to ATRT2 Draft Recommendations - 5 Dec 2013.pdf";
x-mac-creator=4D535744;<br>
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Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Prelim Staff
Assessment of &"<br>
Response to ATRT2 Draft Recommendations - 5 Dec 2013.pdf"<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
atrt2 mailing list<br>
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eudora="autourl"> https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/atrt2</a></blockquote>
<br>
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<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
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</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gih.com/ocl.html">http://www.gih.com/ocl.html</a>
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