Minutes | Meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board (SPC) | 21 May 2024

SPC Attendees: Maarten Botterman – Co-Chair, Chris Chapman – Co-Chair, Alan Barrett, Becky Burr, Chris Buckridge, Edmon Chung, James Galvin, Wes Hardaker, Danko Jevtovic and Katrina Sataki

Other Board Member: Patricio Poblete

SPC Apologies: Christian Kaufmann and Leon Sanchez

Executive and Staff Attendees: Margaret Benavides (Planning Manager), Xavier Calvez (SVP, Planning & Chief Financial Officer), Franco Carrasco (Board Operations Specialist), Samantha Eisner (Deputy General Counsel), Breda Lund (Editorial Supervisor, Global Communications), Becky Nash (VP, Planning), Sally Newell Cohen (SVP, Global Communications), Laena Rahim (Associate General Counsel, APAC), Ergys Ramaj (VP, Public Responsibility Support), Giovanni Seppia (VP, Implementation Operations), Theresa Swinehart (SVP, Global Domains & Strategy) and Victoria Yang (Senior Manager, Planning)

The following is a summary of discussions, decisions, and actions identified:

The meeting was called to order at 20:00 UTC.

1. Agenda – Maarten Botterman and Chris Chapman (Co-Chairs) established the agenda for the meeting and gave an overview of items to be discussed.

2. Review of SPC Action Items and SPC Workplan – ICANN org provided a brief summary of the status of the activities under the SPC's action items list:

   • Board Strategic Priorities: ICANN org highlighted that a pilot is in progress to map the elements of the committee workplans to Strategic Objective in the Strategic Plan, to enable the SPC to monitor the committees' strategic priorities (using the Organizational Effectiveness Committee (OEC) as the pilot). Thereafter, the SPC will map each committee's work map to the strategic objectives. The action item is to be completed by end July 2024.
   • SPC Workplan: ICANN org has updated this section to integrate the SPC Workplan for Committee meetings vs working meetings.
   • SPC Charter Revision: The proposed revisions to the SPC Charter have been circulated to the Board Governance Committee (BGC) for its review and recommendation to the Board.

   The SPC workplan was reviewed, which sets out the SPC's scope of responsibilities and relevant timelines for performance of its work. ICANN org and the Co-Chairs will monitor the workplan on a regular basis, to ascertain whether it requires any further modifications to encapsulate the SPC's additional responsibilities.

3. Project Update: Enhancing the Effectiveness of ICANN's Multistakeholder Model (MSM) – The SPC continued its discussion on this topic.

   ICANN org provided a brief background of this project, which was initiated in late 2018 with the objective of focusing on enhancing ICANN's multistakeholder model of governance, and resulted in a final action paper in October 2020. Extensive community consultations were held to identify specific work processes, working methods and culture issues that were hampering the more effective functioning of the multistakeholder model. Six areas were shortlisted to be prioritized, and ICANN org designed a methodology to evaluate the initiatives/ projects under the six issues. ICANN org selected four projects for evaluation as they were implemented and involved the whole community. Although time consuming, the assessment demonstrated the evolution of these projects and their achievements.

   At the time the project was launched, several community groups and members commended ICANN for it. Many of the projects/initiatives included in the 2020 action paper have either changed or are now run differently, mainly due to community input and/or participation. In 2022, ICANN org further investigated the ICANN environment and found a number of new projects, which started after MSM project list was created. The evolution of the Domain Name System and ICANN illustrate that evaluating the MSM effectiveness and introducing possible enhancements should be a permanent, ongoing activity.

   ICANN org reiterated that the MSM is at the core of one of the five strategy objectives of the ICANN FY21-25 Strategy Plan ("Improve the effectiveness of ICANN's multistakeholder model of governance"). The MSM model is also a macro-goal within the ICANN CEO FY24 goals ("Facilitate the delivery of ICANN's mission by supporting and promoting the efficacy of the multistakeholder process"). The forthcoming WSIS+20 dialogue will also draw the world's attention on ICANN, including the effectiveness of its MSM.

   In terms of next steps, the original project will be concluded. Going forward, this project will be embedded in the health check of the MSM in the yearly Strategic Outlook Trends identification process to capture the strengths and weaknesses of the model, as well as the community needs and expectations, in a live manner.

   ICANN org is in the midst of preparing a report to demonstrate how these projects:

   • contributed to enhance and strengthen the multistakeholder model;
   • include KPIs and are evaluated on a regular basis together with the community; and
   • have evolved over the past years.

   The SPC emphasized the importance of ensuring that this project remains as a live and living project, and to continue to communicate to the community the evolution of the MSM.

4. Discussion on ICANN's Environmental Sustainability Strategy – ICANN org provided an overview of this topic. Prior to the meeting, ICANN org circulated the relevant background informational documents related to this topic to the SPC.

   Global environmental concerns prompted discussions among the ICANN Board, community and ICANN org about ICANN's roles and responsibility in understanding and addressing its own ecological footprint. In 2023, the ICANN Board began developing a plan to delve deeper into this issue as part of its role in overseeing ICANN's Strategic Planning efforts. Consequently, the Board asked ICANN's CEO to begin exploring the issue, leading to its integration as CEO Goal 8 - Environmental Sustainability Strategy (initiate the creation of ICANN's Environmental Strategy). In FY24, ICANN org initiated the development of a comprehensive approach for implementing an environmental sustainability strategy for ICANN.

   ICANN org shared that ICANN org has been focusing on delivering three deliverables: best practices, strategy and scope of work.

   The best practices research identified four broad areas of focus as it relates to ICANN:

   • offices, servers and colocation facilities;
   • travel;
   • events; and
   • org-wide products/purchases.

   The suggested approach include:

   • gather measurements across all four categories;
   • short-term and long-term goals;
   • make a target commitment and a target base year; and
   • track and communicate on progress regularly.

   Ultimately, the goal is to set a science-based target to eventually achieve carbon neutrality in ICANN operations. Initial strategic goals include:

   • reduce carbon footprint across all areas of operations;
   • promote green operations across the organization, including sustainable Internet infrastructure best practices; and
   • provide environmental education and awareness.

   ICANN org shared that ICANN's vision is committed to promoting the global public interest by minimizing its environmental footprint and promoting sustainable practices across all of its business operations. The Environmental Sustainability Strategy will integrate environmental strategy principles into ICANN's core operations, policies and practices, in collaboration with the ICANN community and other relevant stakeholders.

   Principles:

   • Innovation in sustainable operations: pursue innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact across ICANN's business operations.
   • Collaborative engagement: establish and foster partnerships and collaborations for environmental sustainability efforts across the ICANN ecosystem; and empower employees, partners and vendors through policies and practices to prioritize sustainable sourcing.
   • Transparency and accountability: maintain transparency in reporting environmental impacts and ensure accountability for contributions to sustainability.

   Scope:

   ICANN org briefly described the three scopes of work involved:

   • Scope 1- Direct: Includes fuels you burn and directly applies to your company if you pay the fuel bill or own the asset (e.g., gas in company cars, fuel to power equipment, heating oil and gas).
   • Scope 2 – Indirect (Upstream): Considered indirect because your company purchases energy but does not generate it or its emissions (e.g., electricity, steam, heat, cooling).
   • Scope 3 – Indirect: Fifteen categories that represent upstream and downstream activities throughout the value chain. Typically, 90% of emissions footprint (e.g., purchased goods and services, capital goods, operational waste, business travel, transportation and distribution, leased assets, investments).

   ICANN org reiterated that sustainability is an ongoing effort of measuring ICANN's footprint and making continuous improvements. The SPC is committed to engage with the community on this initiative to seek their input on sustainability efforts and incorporate their feedback.

   Responding to a query from the SPC, ICANN org noted that the main focus area is carbon footprint as it is a low hanging fruit. Nevertheless, ICANN org will also ensure that other sustainability practices will be considered in its initial audit.

   ICANN org noted that this is an opportune time for ICANN to focus on this initiative, as other companies globally are also taking action on sustainability efforts. Further, Maarten noted that in the EU, there is a structured approach for companies to communicate their sustainable initiatives and impacts - the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to regularly report on their environmental and social impact activities. The Directive aims to enhance the quality, consistency and the comparability of sustainability reporting across the EU.

5. Update on the Planning Prioritization Framework and FY26 Planning – ICANN org provided an update on this topic. "Planning at ICANN" is one of the fifteen operating initiatives in ICANN's FY21-25 Operating Plan. A component of this operating initiative was to deliver a Prioritization Framework as an enhancement of ICANN's overall planning process; and this document is intended to serve as a support or guide for the Community-led Planning Prioritization process as part of the annual Operating Plan and Budget Process. In FY24, the framework was updated to include a process to retire Board-approved Specific Review recommendations as part of the scope of activities.

   ICANN org provided a brief overview of the planning process. Prior to the development of the draft plans by the Org, the community is consulted about the planning process, timeline, assumptions and priorities. The planning prioritization process is a step during the "consultation" phase of the draft plans development process. This step will provide the community with an opportunity to establish a community-defined order of priority that ICANN org should take into account while developing detailed work plans and resource allocations in the Operating Plan and Budget process. ICANN org then develops the draft plans based on the input received. Community provides further input to the draft plans via Public Comment proceeding. Thereafter, ICANN org revises the draft plans where applicable, based on input received. ICANN Board considers and adopts the plans and thereafter, the Empowered Community period begins.

   The framework will focus on prioritizing Board-approved implementation work, such as PDP recommendations, Specific Review recommendations, and the implementation of other non-policy and advice work. This also includes any activity previously prioritized but has not yet commenced within 2 years of its prioritization.

   The "Urgency-Importance-Matrix" prioritization technique will be used during the prioritization process. ICANN org will provide the list of activities in advance of the meetings and a suggested level of priority for each as a starting point. Other techniques may be reviewed if agreed upon by the Planning Prioritization Group.

   Process for retirement of non-policy recommendations: the process is intended for the retirement of community-developed Board-approved non-policy recommendations in exceptional cases and according to specific criteria. The Planning Prioritization Group, facilitated by ICANN org, will consider the recommendation proposed for retirement with the accompanying issue paper, and provides a determination as to whether the select recommendation(s) should remain active or be retired, and generate a rationale to support that determination.

   ICANN org also provided an overview of the annual Operating Plan and Budget planning process timeline. In terms of the annual Operating Plan and Budget cycle, the overall timeline is for years 2 through 5 of a five-year cycle. ICANN org is currently planning for a five-year Operating Plan, which will then be followed by a detailed FY26 Operating Plan and Budget.

   ICANN org shared some feedback and changes implemented for FY26:

   • the implementation of this framework has enhanced ICANN's overall planning process since the pilot was initiated in May 2022 for the FY23 Operating Plan and Budget process;
   • the approach of providing ICANN org input on the suggested level of prioritization for consideration when developing the draft Operating Plan and Budget works well with fifty-one recommendations being prioritized by the group since the pilot;
   • new member onboarding: recommendation for separate orientation for new members so that first official meeting can be a working meeting; and
   • the retirement process allows for further utilization of the Planning Prioritization Group apart from initial consultation in the annual planning process.

   ICANN org provided a brief summary of the FY25 planning prioritization process. The process is set to launch for the FY26 planning cycle in May 2024 with a request to the SO/AC leadership to nominate members.

   The SPC noted that ICANN org will reach out to the SO/AC leaders to encourage participation in the Planning Prioritization Group. The SPC also remarked that even though the prioritization process is somewhat independent from the strategic planning process, there are some touch points, and the prioritization process should flow from the Strategic Plan in one way or another. ICANN org will continue to provide more information about the Strategic Plan with the community, the Board and within ICANN org during the planning prioritization process.

The Chair called the meeting to a close.