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Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT)

Under the Bylaws (Section 4.6(b)), the Accountability and Transparency (ATRT) Review is a periodic review of ICANN’s execution of its commitment to maintain and improve robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency, to ensure that the outcomes of its decision-making reflect the public interest and are accountable to the Internet community.

The ICANN organization (org) has conducted three iterations of the ATRT Review, and is now implementing ATRT3 recommendations approved by the Board in November 2020.

On 29 April 2024, the Board deferred the ATRT4, “for a limited time not to exceed twelve months”, to allow for progress in implementation of ATRT3 recommendations.

On 19 May 2025, the Board directed ICANN org to initiate work to design a review program that is fit for the intended purposes of enhancing ICANN’s accountability, transparency, and effectiveness. The Board identified a community dialogue to develop a shared understanding of the areas and issues for which reviews will enhance ICANN’s accountability, transparency and effectiveness as a first step. This resulted in some work plan adjustments, including the continued deferral of the ATRT4.

For more information on the community dialogue, refer to the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group work space.

Status of ATRT3 Recommendations

29 May 2020 - ATRT3 Final Report - 15 Recommendations Produced

Board Action

Approved

Passed Through to Community Groups

Pending Board Consideration

Rejected

30 November 2020

15

Board approves Recs. 1.1, 1.2, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 5

0

0

0

Implementation Status of ATRT3 Recommendations

Implementation Status
Complete
  • Public input enhancements: 1.1, 1.2
  • ATRT2 implementation: 2
  • Reviews: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4
  • Strategic planning: 4.1
  • Prioritization/retirement process: 5
In Progress
  • Reviews: 3.5, 3.6
  • Strategic planning: 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
Not Started    N/A

Implementation status of recommendations should be understood as follows:

  • Complete: a recommendation's intent which is considered implemented or addressed.
  • In progress: a recommendation for which work has started to address deliverables identified during the implementation design. Implementation design is the preparatory phase for implementation during which a cross-functional project team develops guidelines that include deliverables for implementation, costing out resources, risk assessment, as well as an inventory of existing work etc.
  • Not started: Work has not started due to, for instance, a dependency on another recommendation and/or process.

Quarterly Updates on Specific Reviews Implementation

Review Progress and Milestones

The graphic below illustrates phases and status of each review - a  indicates that all activities within a given phase have been completed.  The chart that follows the graphic provides further details of key activities and milestones within each phase – you can view these details by clicking on each of the phases in the graphic.  The table also contains links to relevant documents.

ATRT3

ATRT3
PhaseActivityDescriptionStart DateDocuments
Conduct ReviewCall for VolunteersCall for Volunteers for the Third Review of ICANN Accountability and Transparency31 Jan 2017
Call for Volunteers ExtensionApplication extended for the Third Accountability and Transparency Review Team20 Apr 2017
Appointment of Board DesigneeBoard appoints a member to the ATRT3 Review Team25 Oct 2018
Announcement of Review Team MembersSelection of an 18-member team to conduct the third Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT3) announced.20 Dec 2018
Terms of Reference and Work PlanReview Team submitted Terms of Reference and Work Plan to Board14 Jun 2019
Public Comment on Draft ReportThird Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT3) Draft Report posted for Public Comment16 Dec 2019
Draft ReportDraft Report for Public Comment (translations of Executive Summary available)16 Dec 2019
Letter from Review Team Leadership to BoardLetter from Review Team Leadership to ICANN Board regarding delay in submission of Final Report3 Apr 2020
Final ReportATRT3 Review Final Report29 May 2020
ATRT3 Final Report Executive SummaryExecutive summary of the ATRT3 Final Report29 May 2020
Board ActionBoard receipt of the Final ReportBoard receipt of the Final Report1 Jun 2020
Public Comment on Final ReportFinal report and recommendations posted for Public Comment16 Jun 2020
Board Action on Final Report and RecommendationsBoard approves five recommendations consisting of fifteen component parts within the Final Report30 Nov 2020
Board Action on ATRT4Deferral of the Fourth Accountability and Transparency Review (ATRT4)29 Apr 2024
Board Action on ATRT4Continued deferral of ATRT419 May 2025

For information on prior ATRT reviews, click here:

ATRT2
ATRT1
Implementation of ATRT2 Recommendations

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."