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Review of the Nominating Committee

24 October 2007

ICANN has been provided with the Interisle Consulting Group's review of ICANN's Nominating Committee (NomCom). [PDF, 1,110K]. This report will be used to inform ICANN's effort to develop detailed proposals for improving the way ICANN fills leaderhsip positions. ICANN's Board will work with the ICANN community to consider this report, along with public input, in a collaborative process to strengthen this element of ICANN. This independent review of the NomCom is the second in a series of such reviews mandated in ICANN's bylaws as part of ICANN's ongoing commitment to evolve and improve its operations.

Please post comments on this report to nomcom-review@icann.org.

Comments on this report can be reviewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/nomcom-review.

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.”

Board Governance Committee's NomCom Review Working Group

At the recommendation of the Board Governance Committee (BGC), ICANN's Board appointed the following individuals to a "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 evaluator's final report (independent review) contained the data and information needed to conduct the work of the BGC and
(primarily) to advise the BGC on whether any change is needed for the Nominating Committee. The Working Group will consider the Independent Reviewer's final report, Board input, and comments from stakeholders and the public, and will:

Advise the BGC whether, in general, the NomCom has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure; and
If so, consult broadly and advise the BGC whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness -- and recommend to the BGC a comprehensive proposal to improve the selection of individuals for ICANN leadership positions.

Update

The BGC NomCom Review Working Group is considering the independent review report and public input and will develop a workplan and timeline for consideration of NomCom changes.

Next Steps

Links

Last updated: 24 October 2007