Purpose:

The purpose of this Public Comment posting is to request community feedback on the Draft Report issued by ITEMS International (ITEMS) on the Review of the At-Large.

The ICANN Bylaws prescribe reviews of its Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees at least every five years (See Article 4.4). This second At-Large Review started in May 2016 and for this Draft Report, ITEMS has reviewed the At-Large community over the past nine months. The Report is based on over 100 face-to-face interviews, the analysis of 242 online survey responses, and the review of the At-Large website including relevant documents. In addition, ITEMS has attended ICANN56 and ICANN57, interacting with the community and observing At-Large meetings, discussions, and procedures. Once the feedback is reviewed, ITEMS will update their work and submit their Final Report.

The At-Large is the community of individual internet users who participate in the policy development work of ICANN. Currently, more than 160 groups representing the views of individual Internet users are active throughout the world. At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is responsible for considering and providing advice on the activities of ICANN. For more information on At-Large, click here.

The goal of the review, to be undertaken pursuant to such criteria and standards as the Board shall direct, shall be to determine (i) whether that organization, council or committee has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness and (iii) whether that organization, council or committee is accountable to its constituencies, stakeholder groups, organizations and other stakeholders.

These periodic reviews shall be conducted no less frequently than every five years, based on feasibility as determined by the Board. Each five-year cycle will be computed from the moment of the reception by the Board of the final report of the relevant review Working Group.

The Review criteria, developed in collaboration with the At-Large Review Working Party, included but were not limited to the following areas, applicable to At-Large Community components (ALAC, RALOs and ALSes):

Fulfilment of mission; adherence to Policies and Procedures, and organizational support; accountability and transparency to the public; membership processes and participation; communication; governance and management, effectiveness of execution; evaluation and measurement of outcomes; effectiveness of implementation of prior review recommendations.

• ITEMS Report [PDF, 2.3 MB]
• Public comment feedback form [PDF, 1.43 MB]

At-Large Review wiki