Dear Councilors,

At ICANN 80, Council received an update from staff regarding the Policy Development Process (PDP) public comment process. The action items from the Strategic Planning Session on this topic stemmed from concerns of some councilors on how public comments are considered by PDP Working Groups.  To address these concerns, Council directed staff to document existing processes and if applicable, propose additional mechanisms to better ensure that commenters understand how their comments were considered by PDP Working Groups.

Staff noted in its review of existing PDP public comment processes that unlike other ICANN public comment processes, those for the PDP not only are well-documented, they are also mandatory.  In fact, these mechanisms are in place to ensure that commenters understand how their comments were considered by Working Groups, as documented in the PDP Manual and more specifically in the Working Group Guidelines. In its review, the staff found that robust mechanisms exist to ensure commenters understand how their comments were considered.  They are as follows:

PDP WG posts the Initial Report for Public Comment;

Staff compiles comments into the Public Comment Review Tool;

Working Groups are required to review each and every comment in detail and staff records responses in the Review Tool;

Agendas are published in advance so anyone can know when comments are addressed; and 

Staff incorporates the link to Review Tool in the Public Comment staff summary report.

In addition to the above-mentioned mechanisms, the consideration of comments is documented in the PDP Final Report in the following ways:

The Working Group deliberates on community concerns and those deliberations are summarized in the Final Report; and

The Final Report rationale details how concerns were addressed.

Finally, the Staff Board Paper, which accompanies the recommendations sent to the Board, specifically describes how the PDP Working Group addressed community concerns.

In other words, Staff did not identify significant process gaps or the need for additional mechanisms.  From the Council leadership perspective, the existing PDP public comment review process appears robust and fit for purpose.  If Councilors believe there are any specific deficiencies not addressed by the current process, please raise them. If not, we intend to consider this set of SPS action items complete.

Thanks,

Greg