Tell us how we're doing: Please answer a few questions about your experience to help us improve ICANN.org.
Review of the Nominating Committee
9 December 2008
ICANN appointed the Interisle Consulting Group for the external review of its Nominating Committee (NomCom). This independent review was mandated by ICANN's bylaws as part of the Organization’s commitment to evolve and improve its operations. The report summarizing findings from the independent review [PDF, 1,110K] and containing proposals for action was then posted for public comments; the summary of the public comments that have been received is accessible at http://forum.icann.org/lists/nomcom-review/msg00007.html.
A working group of the Board Governance Committee considered the independent review report and the public comments received and prepared a report to the BGC containing proposals for action.
BGC’s NomCom Review Working Group
At the recommendation of the Board Governance Committee (BGC), ICANN's Board appointed the following individuals to serve on the BGC NomCom Review Working Group: Alejandro Pisanty (Chair); Peter Dengate-Thrush, Njeri Rionge, Mouhamet Diop, Jonathan Cohen, and Steve Goldstein. The working group was formed to help ensure that the consultant's final report contained the information needed to conduct the work of the BGC and to advise (taking into consideration comments from stakeholders and the public) the BGC on whether any change is needed for the Nominating Committee.
Background
The NomCom is responsible for the selection of 8 members of ICANN’s Board of Directors; 3 members of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO); 3 members of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO); and 5 members of the Interim At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). Because the terms of these positions are typically longer than a year, the selection process for them is staggered. As a result, the NomCom that is formed anew each year fills just some of these 19 positions.
Each NomCom is composed of 23 persons as follows: a Chair (non-voting); the previous year’s Chair as an Advisor (non-voting); 3 liaisons (non-voting) from the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC), the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC); 5 voting delegates selected by the ALAC; 2 voting delegates representing small business users and large business users, respectively; 1 voting delegate each from the Registry Constituency, the Registrars Constituency, the ccNSO, the ISP Constituency, the IP Constituency, the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), an entity representing academic and similar organizations; the Non-Commercial Users Constituency, the IETF and the Technical Liaison Group (TLG). In addition, the Chair may designate a (non-voting) Associate Chair to assist in carrying out the duties of the Chair, which could result in a total of 23 members.
The members of the NomCom must meet several criteria, including being:
- Accomplished persons of integrity, objectivity, and intelligence, with reputations for sound judgment and open minds, and with experience and competence with collegial large group decision-making;
- Persons who are neutral and objective, without any fixed personal commitments to particular individuals, organizations, or commercial objectives in carrying out their responsibilities; and
- Persons with an understanding of ICANN's mission and the potential impact of ICANN's activities on the broader Internet community who are willing to serve as volunteers, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses.
Pursuant to Article VII (6), ICANN is to provide “administrative and technical support necessary for the Nomination Committee to carry out its responsibilities.”
The NomCom procedures are publicly available and may be found at http://nomcom.icann.org/procedures-2007.html#A5. NomCom deliberations, and the names of unsuccessful candidates, however, are not made public. The ICANN Nomination Committee Procedures 2007 provide that “NomCom members will not disclose outside of the Committee any of the discussions, deliberations, communications, records and notes, about the candidates. Further, NomCom members will not disclose outside of the Committee the identities of the candidates under consideration by NomCom, unless NomCom as a whole has decided to do so and the explicit consent of the candidate(s) in question has been obtained.”
Links