First NomCom Organizational Review

The First NomCom Organizational Review was initiated in 2007 and concluded in 2010, with the implementation of improvements continuing through 2012.

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 Nominating Committee is one of the organizations subject to the review requirements of Article 4.4.

Multiple other review and reform processes, including the 2002 Evolution and Reform Process, have impacted the Nominating Committee's structure and composition over the history of ICANN. This review marked the first effort to focus specifically on the operation of the NomCom on its own account.

Initiation

ICANN posted a proposed Terms of Reference (ToR) for NomCom1 on December 12, 2006 for public comment. The proposed ToR included forty-seven questions within seven broad categories - key questions, committee composition, transparency, selection criteria, outreach, effectiveness, and miscellaneous other questions.

Three public comments were received on the proposed ToR, two of which were past the deadline for comment. Thomas Roessler proposed several refinements to questions, from editorial corrections to changes that ensured that a question was not making assumptions that the review process might overturn. Lesley Cowley, on behalf of Nominet (and one day past the submission deadline), expressed concerns that the level of detail and nature of the questions might constrain the reviewers, limit the scope or direction of review, or pre-dispose the reviewers to adapt the structure of their process to ensure that the totality of the questions are addressed. In another late submission, Chris Disspain on behalf of AuDA echoed Nominet's concerns regarding the structural and investigative determinism implied in some of the questions. He also commented that the purpose of the NomCom should not be presumed to be known:

I acknowledge that the draft terms of reference set out to achieve the scope of the review as defined by the bylaws. However, it is critical, in my view, that the review also consider what purpose in the ICANN structure the NomCom is supposed to fulfil [sic]. The current purpose of the NomCom is far from clear and I am not aware of a definitive explanation of it. The draft Terms of Reference evidence this by stating that the purpose 'has been described as follows'.

The ToR was re-drafted in response to the public comments, and the final version was posted on March 15, 2007, alongside ICANN's announcement of a Request for Proposals (RFP). The finalized ToR contained forty questions, organized beneath the core questions of Article 4.4 reviews:

• Part I: Does the NomCom have a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure?

1. What is the purpose of the NomCom?
2. To what extent has the NomCom process been able to select persons who place the broad public interest of the global Internet community ahead of any particular interests?
3. Should this goal remain the primary goal in filling positions, or are there other elements that are also important to consider?
4. Of those persons selected by the NomCom process since 2003, do any particular qualifications predominate?
5. Do people selected by the NomCom appear to play a greater, comparable or lesser role in decision-making within their respective bodies, in comparison to those persons selected by other means?
6. What should be the purpose of the NomCom going forward?
7. What other methods of selection for leadership positions might be considered?
8. What are the benefits, drawbacks and costs of such options?

• Part II: Is there any change in structure or operations that could improve the NomCom's effectiveness?
  • NomCom Composition (size, diversity of members, source of members, inclusion of necessary skills)
  • Internal Procedures (transparency, continuity & institutional memory, compliance with procedure, managing conflicts of interest)
  • Selection Process (are the selection criteria appropriate, what has the process been like, how might it be improved)
  • Outreach (history and effectiveness of past efforts, goals and metrics for successful outreach, potential barriers for non-English speakers)
  • Overall (how well has the NomCom performed, how can it do better, is there adequate support, or might more resources be needed to increase effectiveness)

On March 30, the ICANN board selected the initial members of the NomCom1 Review Working Group (WG): Alejandro Pisanty; Peter Dengate Thrush, Njeri Rionge, Mouhamet Diop, Jonathan Cohen, and Steve Goldstein.