Enhancing the Effectiveness of ICANN's Multistakeholder Model

One of the five objectives of ICANN's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2021-2025 is to improve the effectiveness of our multistakeholder model of governance – a model that grew to fit our needs. As ICANN continues to evolve, and as our environment becomes more complex, our governance model, including our deeply valued bottom-up decision making process, must also evolve. The 'Enhancing the Effectiveness of ICANN's Multistakeholder Model' (MSM) project was launched in 2019 to address this strategic objective. Working collaboratively with community, ICANN Board published the final version of the paper, 'Enhancing the Effectiveness of ICANN's Multistakeholder Model' (the MSM Paper) on 14 October 2020. Subsequently, the MSM project moved into implementation phase.

ICANN designed an initial implementation plan to address the gaps identified under the six topics of the MSM Paper. The plan was to assess each project and initiative underway through a fact-based evaluation methodology. The objective of such assessment was to identify possible, remaining gaps and determine how to further strengthen the ICANN multistakeholder model by improving and refining the various projects and initiatives.

In late 2022, ICANN’s Implementation Operations function selected four projects/initiatives among those listed in the MSM Paper to assess through the fact-based evaluation methodology. The selected projects (Improving communications between ICANN org and the community listed under topic 1; Consensus Playbook, Fellowship Program, and ICANN Learn listed under topic 3) involved the whole community or some of its groups.

The assessment showed that over the years those projects have met their objectives, have gone through comprehensive reviews (e.g., the 2018 Fellowship Review), have been regularly refined based on the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that were set to monitor their performance (e.g., the ICANN Learn metrics in ICANN’s Operating Plan for FY24–28) and, above all, have evolved to meet new org and community needs and, therefore, contributed to strengthen the ICANN’s multistakeholder model.

The fact that these projects have evolved and continue to evolve led ICANN to reconsider the best way to feel the multistakeholder model's pulse at regular intervals as the assessment of any project/initiative at a specific time might not capture its dynamism.

Therefore, ICANN determined to embed the health check of ICANN’s multistakeholder model in the yearly Strategic Outlook Trends exercise process. Considering the dynamic nature of ICANN’s multistakeholder model and the fast-evolving environment in which ICANN operates, the Strategic Outlook Trends exercise allows ICANN to capture strengths and weaknesses of the model, as well as new community needs and expectations, in a holistic and structured manner.

This community space aims to explain the history of this project until its closeout report, that aims to explain how the gaps identified in the MSM Paper and associated to one or more of the projects/initiatives listed under the six topics have been addressed or are being addressed by ICANN. The closeout report is a snapshot of the evolution of several projects and initiatives as of the end of January 2025.