Public Comments Implementation Plan v1.0 (Jun 2014)

Public Comment Process

7.1. The Board should explore mechanisms to improve Public Comment through adjusted time allotments, forward planning regarding the number of consultations given anticipated growth in participation, and new tools that facilitate participation.

The recommendation is aligned with ongoing ICANN commitments and plans. In particular the following specific changes and enhancements will be made to Public Comments to be effective no later than the London ICANN meeting:

Adjusted Time Allotments

As an outcome of the Public Comment Data Analysis (Jan 2010-Dec 2012), Staff learned that the original ATRT recommendation to institute a Reply Cycle has not achieved its original purpose and should be phased out of operation. Effective 1 June 2014, Staff is instituting these changes in a progressive manner which anticipates eliminating the Reply Cycle for all Public Comments by the end of Q1 2015:

1. Each Comment period will be targeted for 30 days although the official minimum will remain 21 days. The Public Comments Guidelines will be modified to encourage Staff members, wherever practicable, to open a solicitation for 30 days or longer depending upon considerations such as topic complexity, action deadlines, and related factors. Staff will retain the ability to extend any comment period, if feasible, based upon one or more community requests.
2. For each solicitation that is opened for at least 30 days, the formal Reply Cycle is optional and may be bypassed at the discretion of the originating organization.
3. At the end of six months, Staff will evaluate the number of times that the Reply Cycle has been activated on an optional basis in order to determine whether it should remain a feature of the system or be eliminated from the procedures, templates, process, and website software.

Forward Planning

According to the Public Comment Data Analysis (Jan 2010-Dec 2012), the number of solicitations opened during 2010-2012 was relatively stable averaging 18 per quarter (6 per month). Based upon the statistics calculated, an inference was drawn that the number of topics introduced to the community for public comment should remain relatively consistent in the future barring any fundamental change in the underlying dynamics.

The following table shows the number of solicitations actually opened during 2013 and 2014 year-to-date:

Aggregating the data by quarter shows the following totals:

As predicted by the analysis, the pattern of public comments has remained consistent with the historical record and has been slightly lower in volume with an average of 15 per quarter (5 per month).

Staff will continue to monitor the number of Public Comments solicitations to ensure that there are no spikes throughout the remainder of 2014. At any time it appears as though the total number of topics in a month is likely to exceed 12 (or double the average), those originators submitting last will be asked to either (a) wait until the following month if at all feasible or (b) open the topic's comment period for 60 days.

New Tools

As part of the planning, design, and re-theming for the new ICANN.org website, the Public Comments pages are being enhanced in order to improve the site's usability and increase participation:

1. Active:
2. Active:
3. Active:
4. Planned: New comment submission methodologies instead of email only
5. Planned: Capability to employ threaded “conversations” within public comment forums

Except for the "Planned" enhancements under New Tools, the above changes are being made operational effective 1 June 2014 and will be formally announced to the community at the ICANN London meeting.

7.2.  The Board should establish a process under the Public Comment Process where those who commented or replied during the Public Comment and/or Reply Comment period(s) can request changes to the synthesis reports in cases where they believe the staff incorrectly summarized their comment(s)

The following specific change will be made to Public Comments effective 1 June 2014:

A new Inquiry template/form is being created and will be accessible via the Public Comments space (ICANN.org). Its purpose will be to permit an individual or organization to register a formal request that Staff review a particular Report of Public Comments and make specific amendments or other notations based upon the rationale and support provided. Procedural rules associated with this process include:

• Inquiries must be submitted within 30 days of the publication of the Report of Public Comments
• All Inquiries received will be published on ICANN.org Public Comments
• Staff is obliged to reply to the submitting party within 30 days from receipt of the inquiry including its decision and supporting rationale
• Formal Staff replies will be published on ICANN.org Public Comments
• No appeal process will be formalized; however, the ICANN Ombudsman may be utilized if the requesting party is dissatisfied with the outcome

Although the above implementation actions represent a direct response to the ATRT2 recommendations, Staff is committed to continuous improvement of ICANN's input and feedback mechanisms and is currently evaluating a number of additional substantive enhancements including:

• Adjusting the minimum comment forum timeframes to take into consideration the type and number of active solicitations at any one time. 
• In measuring participation, the nature of ICANN Public Comments requires that the calculation of responses needs to be tailored to the unique conditions of its key contributors. Based on the Public Comment Data Analysis (Jan 2010-Dec 2012) conducted by Staff, one important characteristic of many responses is that they are representative of large stakeholder groups. For example, when the GNSO’s Registries Stakeholder Group submits one response to a Forum topic, it does so on behalf of its entire community, which accounts for approximately 30 major organizations and many, many more individuals.
• Staff is evaluating a new model under the general category of Community Input & Feedback which advocates (a) segmenting solicited advice by respondent type (e.g., stakeholder organizations vs. unaffiliated parties); (b) hosting separate technology platforms for different use cases (e.g., static for organized structures; dynamic for individual contributors); and (c) broadening the envelope of participation mechanisms so that each type of contributor finds an appropriate communication channel to ICANN.

Staff is also contemplating the formation of a special Focus Group to explore the above possibilities as well as to help in evaluating the success of prior changes to ensure that they are having the desired effect in improving public comment processes and systems.