icann and the g20, multistakeholder bodies

7/30/2019 ICANN and the G20, multistakeholder bodies

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M e d i a , P o l i t i c s , P o w e r D P I 6 5 9 N i c c o M e l e

ICANN&theG20nebulous:

MultistakeholderdecisionprocessesGatienBonByanalyzingthewayboththeG20nebulousandICANNareabletobringallstakeholdersto

putforwardideas,Ishalltrytopresentafewgeneralcharacteristicsoftherequiredactions

totakeandthestepstomaketobeabletoreachanefficientprocess.Moreover,byusing

theconsensusdriven bodies I analyze,I shalldemonstratehowmodern technologiesare

powerfuldriverswhenitcomestomanagingdiscussionandmovingforward.

Fall12


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2 ICANN&theG20nebulous:Multistakeholderdecisionprocesses

Contentofthereport

Introduction......................................................................................................................3

Tworegulatorybodies?Twoadvisoryboards?Twodecisionnodes!..................................4

ICANN:aclearlegalmandateconstantlyexpanded............................................................................................4

NoG20bylawsaninformalforum..............................................................................................................................4

TheG20environment,anundefinednebulousenvironment.........................................................................5

Divergingmissionstatementsbuttwoaccountablebodies................................................6

Twooppositecreationproceduresanddivergingmissionstatements......................................................6

Nuancesinaccountabilitybuttwoaccountableinstitutions...........................................................................7

G20andICANN,acommonwayofthinkingaboutproblems.............................................7

Noexistingformaldefinitionofaccountability.....................................................................................................7

Corebodiesandgravitatinginfluences.....................................................................................................................8

Transparencyversusefficiency,analternativeforbothinstitutions..........................................................9

Bestpracticeexchangeinthedecision-makingprocess:enhancingpublicparticipation................10

Avisiondifferentfromexpectations:remainingclosetocitizens,achallenge!....................................11

Conclusion&KeyLearning................................................................................................13

Bibliography.....................................................................................................................14


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IntroductionTheupcomingconference on InternationalTelecommunications,held inDubai, at the

beginningofDecember,constitutesonceagainachallengeforICANNspowerovertheInternet. Especially the articulation of such a private body with the power of the

InternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)willbequestioned.Iftheneutralityofthe

Internetseemspreserved,manyfeartheUnitedStatesmightbeisolatednotsigningtheagreementgivingpowerbacktotheITU.Googleraisedotherconcernsbyaskingusers

attheendofNovember2012to"pledgeyoursupportforthefreeandopenInternet"."I

seethisasaconstitutionalmomentforglobalcyberspace,wherewecanstandbackandsay,`Whoshouldbeincharge?'saidRonaldDeibert.UniversityofToronto,"Whatare

therulesoftheroad? (NBCNews 2012).

Ontheotherhand,theG20hasbeenformalizedsinceitfirstmetattheHeadsofStates

level in 2008.Moreover, the G20 is now surrounded by a nebulous of more or less

formalized bodies seeking to influence the decisions. Both bodies therefore can beconsidered as facing amulti-stakeholderapproach to the issues. Comparing the waydecisions are made in both organizations will give a chance to bring forward best

practices and to raise solutions in order to make these two consensus based

organizationstoimprove.

Moreover, the G20 and ICANN despite numerous differences stated in the next few

pages have major common points. In particular, they are the two only key bodiesoperatingpurelyonaconsensusbasis.NevershallcountriesvoteonanissueattheG20;

neverwouldstakeholdersvoteonanissueatICANN.

If the legitimacy of the G20 remains debated and mainly is issued by the personallegitimacy of heads of States, for the past 15 years ICANNhas forced a very uniqueconceptof legitimacy.Despiteuncertaintieson themandategrantedby theAmerican

CommerceDepartmentandonitsindependence,ICANNnowisanoperatingbodywith

defined rulesmaking it a functional organization. However, in order to improve theprocessofdecisionmakingininternationalinstitutionsasawhole,comparingdecision-

makingguidelinesfromonetoanotherisusuallyveryinsightful.Therefore,thispaperwillshowhowtheG20andtheICANNcanlearnfromeachothertobeatthesourceof

newgovernance.Inparticular,theuseoftechnologyasafacilitatorshallbeconsidered

asameanstobuildonadiverseenvironment.

Thispaperdoesnot aim atdefiningthe futureofthe ICANN,which hasalreadybeencommentedindepthbymanyexperts,analystsandscholars,morequalifiedthanIamto

monitor the futureof this unique UFO in theworldof international institutions.This

paperaimsatconsideringthedecision-makingprocessusedbytheICANNandtheG20nebulousinordertobeabletodefineacommonsetofpracticesanddivergingview.We

aimtodemonstratethataconvergenceofpracticescouldbenefitbothparties.

Todo so,mypaperwill startby analyzingbothorganizationsandpresentingthekey

characteristicstheyhavebeforecontrastingtheirkeydifferencesinmissionstatement.By analyzing accountability, transparency and decisionmaking procedures, we shall

then shift to a micro-level comparative analysis before pointing out a few key bestpractices.


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Tworegulatorybodies?Twoadvisoryboards?Twodecisionnodes!

ICANN:aclearlegalmandateconstantlyexpanded

In 1998, in order to privatize the way Domain Name Systems were distributed, theICANNwas created.Having the monopoly of the attributionof the top-level domain

names,thebodywasduetofindanattributionprocesssatisfyingprivatebodies,publicstakeholdersaswellasthecivilsociety.Therefore,thebylawsofthebodyaswellasthe

generalprocessusedtoawardnewdomain-namesisparticularlyinterestingasbeingan

attempt-contestedofcourse-tosatisfyallparties.

Therefore, itsbylaws,many timesmodified,choseto includediversity right from the

beginninginthewayheboardandvariousdecisioncommitteesarecomposed.Intheend, we ended upwith a hybrid structure, very segmented and stratified, operating

under thegeneralguideline: "inabottomup,consensusdriven,democraticmanner."This process is slightlydifferent from the guideline of the InternetEngineeringTask

Force, reporting to the ICANN and working with regards to the motto: rough

consensusandrunningcode.

In order to clarify the formal way the ICANN should be structured, they have just

releasedanAt-LargeWhitepaperonFutureChallengescalled:MakingICANNRelevant,ResponsiveandRespectedshowinghowcrucialtheissueofgovernanceisforthem.In

facttwokeyquestionsclosetooursubjectareraisedinthispaper:IsICANNsmulti-stakeholder approach sufficiently robust and sustainable in the long run under

increasedexternalpressure?andArethearrangementsrelatedtothegovernanceof

the Internets critical resources, including that of ICANNs own internal governance,adequate to meet the needs of a growing and diverse community of internet uses

worldwide? (ICANN September, 17th 2012).

The International Telecommunication Summit inDubai, early December 2012, raised

concernsthroughouttheworld aboutthe futureof the Internetand inparticular, thewaygovernmentsmightbewillingtotakeoverthewaytheInternetworks.Infactthe

mandateoftheICANNistheworstsolutiontoInternetgovernance,expectforallthe

alternativestoquoteJonathanKoppell(Koppell 2012).

NoG20bylawsaninformalforum

Ontheotherhand,theG20wascreatedin1999asagatheringofFinanceministersfor

19economies,supposedtobethemostpowerfulnotwithrespectstotheGDPnorGDPper capita ranking- and the European Union. During the 2008 economic crisis, the

decisionbyGordonBrownandNicolas Sarkozy tomake thisbecome a conferenceof

HeadsofStateswasaccepted.

Bybringing theG20toa highlevelconference, theG8becamea lesuseful forumand

allowed decisions to be made by taking interest of 80% of the world population

representing 95% of GDP into account. However, some countries deeply resent notbeingpartofthisclub.


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Fromagovernancepointofview,theG20sdecisionsaretakenbyconsensus,theyhavenomandatoryvalueapartfromthepoliticalaccountabilityoftheheadsofstatessigning

theFinalCommuniqu.ThesedecisionscomefromthesolewillofHeadsofStateswith

nosupportingpermanentsecretary,withnobureaucracytoensurecontinuityandwith

apresidencyinitiatingallmajorreformsandpushingonspecifictopics.

TheG20environment,anundefinednebulousenvironment

TheG20doesnotstandon itsownasadecision-makingbody.Since itwascreated in

2008,manyinformalbodieshavebeencreatedandgravitatearoundtheHeadsofState

conference.Inparticular,dotheB20,theL20,theY20andtheG20YouthSummitsholda special role and do pretend to have an impact on the issue of the summit. The

upcoming Russian presidency ahs set the stage to a new environment with theformalized:Buisness20,Civil20,Labor20,Think20andYouth20.Beforeassessingthe

linksbetweenthesedifferentpartsoftheG20nebulous,letspresentallofthembriefly.

TheB20orBusiness20,createdin2010bytheKoreanpresidencyoftheG20ismeant

toexpresscommonviewsfromtheinternationalbusinesscommunity.Morespecifically,

its main purpose consists in developing recommendations and issuing relevantcommitments from the business leaders and business organizations to deal with

nowadays issues (Buisness 20 2011). Perpetuated ever since, the structure is nowcomposedofeighttaskforcesinordertostructurethemessagebusinessleaderscantto

delivertoHeadsofStates.

TheL20orLabor20wascreatedbytheFrenchpresidencyoftheG20andregroupsthe

tradeunionorganizationsoftheG20countries.Since2011,theyhavebeenabletohostajoint B20 L20 meeting issuing a final Communiqu uniting the positions of the

Business and Laborrepresentatives. In2011, they seize[d] the opportunityofsocial

issuesbeingputontheagendaoftheG20todrawtheattentionofgovernmentstosomemajorissuesonwhichtheyhavedevelopedacommonvision (B20 & L20 2011).

TheYouth20requiresinvolvementofYouthoftheG20countries.However,onthisside,diverginginitiativeshavebeeninitiated.InordertoinvolveYoungEntrepreneurs,the

G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance organizes the G20 YES a gathering of youngentrepreneurs and the organizations that represent them, to convene, network and

discussthepolicyandregulatorychangesneededtofosterentrepreneurshipintheG20

countries (G20YES 2012). However, the French Presidency endorsed the G8 & G20YouthSummitswhichsince2006gathers students and youngprofessionals fromall

G20countriestoaddressthemostpressinginternationalissuesthankstotheleadershipof the G8 & G20 Youth Network, an international network of student organizations

committedtopromoteinternationaldialogueandculturalopenness (Youth Diplomacy

2011). The G20YS (G20 Youth Summit) is constituted by a generation of young andsuccessful business leaders caring about the prosperity of their immediate business

environmentaswellasthedevelopmentoftheircommunitiesandcountries (G20YS

2012).

Tothealreadynumerousinitiatives,theRussian2013presidencyhascreatedtheCivilG20 represented by grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, academics


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and other actors significantly contributes to transparency, review and evaluation

processesaswellastomonitoringtheoutcomesandcommitmentsoftheG-20 (CivilG20 2012). The presidency also chose to create theThinkG20 to gather think tanks

aroundtheevolutionoftheG20.Thesefivemajorbodiesrepresentamajorpartofthe

engagementstakenbytheG20

Graph1.Visionoftheharmonyofthesegroupsbythe2013G20Russianpresidency

DivergingmissionstatementsbuttwoaccountablebodiesTwooppositecreationproceduresanddivergingmissionstatements

ICANNhasbeencreatedtoestablishverylittle,andobviouslyithasbeensuccessful

pointed out Susan Crawford (Crawford 2012). However, in her view, one major

intellectualdifferenceisparamounttoconsiderwhenanalyzingthetwobodies:ICANNmanagesascarceresource,domainnames,anditisthereforerequiredthattheyexist

(Crawford, The ICANN experiment 2004).TheexistenceoftheG20isonlycontingentto

thewillofleaders,asprovedbyitscreationprocess.Withoutthe2008economiccrises,

the creation process of the G20 would have benmuch longer or even non-existant.Therefore,giventheirprimarypurpose,ICANNisamandatorybodyandtheG20isaninformalforum.

Despitethisfundamentaldivergenceintheirmissionstatement,bothbodieshaveone

strongcommonfeature:operatingbyconsensusiskeyforthem.Thisoperatingprotocolbrings them to be de facto multi-stakeholder bodies. This entails micromanagement

specificfeatures,consultationprotocolsandpreliminarydiscussionstobeabletobringallpartiestothetable.

Given this varying basic premise, the implementation process and the mandatory

implementation of decisions is not comparable between both institutions. Being aninformalclub,theG20derivesfromthelegitimacyofHeadsofStatesandhasabsolutely


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no power to enforce discussions. In fact, the G20 can be seen as an informal forum

whereheadsofstatesgettheopportunitytoknoweachother.Whenitcomestopara-G20institutions,theyarenotgrantedanylegitimacywhatsoeveranddonotimplement

anydecisions. In fact,theirFinalCommuniqusremain onpurposevagueand donot

talkaboutspecificactionsbutremainatthelevelofprinciples.TheonlywaytheG20s

decisionsareappliedrelies inthepolitical pressureitputsonmembersof thegroup.TheG20ResearchGroup,UniversityofToronto,ledbyJohnKirton,publishesextensive

reportsofapplicationofdecisionswithquantitativemeasureofachievementtotryandpushtheimplementationforward.

Ontheotherside,ICANNismoreorlessruledbytheprincipleformulatedbyLawrence

Lessig:CodeisLaw.Sinceitismanagingascareresource,andbecausethemandate

grantedbytheUSdepartmentofCommercedoesnotgivethatpreciseadefinitionoftheroleandstatusofICANN,alldecisionsareimplemented.Infact,ICANNisaccountableto

2.2billionInternetusersthatthedecisionstheytookweretherightones.ICANNhasdevelopedamanagementdeliverywithobjectivesandgoalswithasystemandstructure

tomakeithappensaidFadiChehade,presidentandCEO,ofICANN(Henderson2012).

Therefore,ICANNsdecisionsareimplementedandcontrolledonaday-to-daybasis.

Nuancesinaccountabilitybuttwoaccountableinstitutions

Forthepurposeofthisreport,theideaistocomparetheaccountabilityprocessesand

thedecisionsontheG20environmentandICANN.Thisreportwillheavilyrelyonthe

BerkmanCenterfortheInternetandSociety,AccountabilityandTransparencyatICANN,anindependentreviewontheaccountabilityprocessatICANNandthewayitcouldbe

improved. I shall stick to the criteria they havedefined in order tomonitor thewayICANNisstructuredandoperates (Berkman Center for Internet & Society October 2010).

Theassessmentofaccountabilityandofdecisionsneedstorelyonafewcoreprinciplesthat we shall now define. In particular, on September, 30th 2009, the Affirmation of

CommitmentsentitledICANNtomaintainandimproverobustmechanismsforpublic

input,accountability,andtransparency,sotoensurethatalloutcomesofitsdecision-making will reflect the public interest and be accountable to all stakeholders. This

broad definition not only reminds of the necessity for ICANN to commit to amulti-stakeholderapproachbutalsodefinesthreekeywaystoevaluatetheactiontakenbythe

body.

The analysis of thesedifferent parts - accountability, transparency and public input-

shalldrivethecomparativeanalysisoftheaccountabilityprocesses.AsoftheG20,theaccountability, ifwe stick to the terms relies exclusively on the political pressureof

constituents.However,asweshallsee,infactallcriteriaaremetandallowbuildinga

moreexplicitcomparison.

G20andICANN,acommonwayofthinkingaboutproblemsNoexistingformaldefinitionofaccountability


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Asmentionedpreviously,ICANNisruledmostlyinaccordancewiththesetofprinciples

definedinagreementwiththeDepartmentofCommerceoftheUnitedStates.ICANNhas"authoritywithoutlegitimacy."Still,itisauthorityallthesametouseKoppellswords

(Stuff.co.nz 2012).ThislackoflegitimacyandthenecessitytobuildanoperatingInternet

requiresthereforeapowerfulaccountabilitysystem.Infact,aspreviousanalyseshave

alreadymentioned,ICANNdoesnotbuildonasingledefinitionofaccountability.Infact,the transparency Frameworks and principles refer to three types of accountability:

public sphere accountability, corporate and legal accountability and participatingcommunityaccountability.

GiventhefactthatcorporateandlegalaccountabilitydonotexistfortheG20weshall

notexpandonthisissue.Publicsphereaccountabilityreliesintheideathatstakeholders

shouldbecertainICANNhasbehavedresponsibly.Specificallythisissues,whenitcomestoICANNderivesfromtheboardcompositionandtheabilitynottorenewthemandate

of a board member not giving satisfaction to the Internet community. The G20 hasobviously no such type of mechanism since the members of the Club are chosen.

However,inordertoensurerepresentativeness,theyhavecreatedaprocesstoinvite

countries to be part in the discussions. To ensure accountability, having a definedprocesstoselectthesecountriesandinvitingonapermanentbasisthePresidentofthe

GeneralAssemblyoftheUN(ratherthantheSecretaryGeneral)wouldbeafirststep.

Graph2.ConclusionsoftheAccountabilityandTransparencyatICANN,anindependent

reviewbytheBerkmanCenterfortheInternetandSociety

Corebodiesandgravitatinginfluences

In Los Cabos the G20 has an opportunity to boostmultilateral efforts and enhance

legitimacythoughgreaterstakeholderinclusion.Leaderscanbeginbyconsideringtheserecommendationsandstrategicperspectives.Emergingastopicallyfocusedadvisories


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totheG20,groupsliketheL20oflaborleaders,theB20ofbusinessleadersandtheT20

ofthink-tankleaders,haveformedasconcernedstakeholdersandadjunctsofofficialdiplomacy to advise governments. In particular, this years convening of business

leaders,ortheB20,hasre-doubledeffortstoofferactionplansfrombusinessinareas

which stand to advance the G20s agenda. Be it through partnerships, amalgamated

programs or collective initiatives, the private sector has stepped up to addressimportantissueslikefoodsecurity,greengrowthandemployment-tonameafew.With

thereceptivityofgovernments,suchengagementwillgoalongwaytowarddeliveringtimely,concreteandscalableactionsbyleaders(Birkes 2012).

ThisanalysispointsoutoneofthekeybenefitstherewouldbefortheG20toshifttoa

multi-stakeholderanalysis.Mainly,inoneworld,thiswouldbeawaytouseallavailable

brains.Thebusinesspartoftheworldwantstobeapartofthediscussions(DelBianco2011). Bycreating theirdiscussion forumthey clearly showed theirwill tocooperate

(The Guardian 2012).

Graph3.InteractionbetweentheB20andtheG20,aformalprocess(exampleoftheMexicanpresidencyoftheG20)

Infact,themissionwhencreatingICANNthatwaywastoensurefewideaswerecomingoutandthatthestakeholdersagreedonafewkeypoints.Thegeneralideaisthat,when

goingdownthepipelineofdiscussionsandformalexchangesonlythecorevalues,thefundamental principles remain (Crawford, Former board member of ICANN - Berkman

Center Director 2012).

Therefore,analyzinggravitatinginfluencesasinterestinginputsandvaluableideas,as

waystouseallavailablebrains,wouldallowmoreinterestingsummits.Indeed,given

the fact that the Final Communiqus do not get many formal engagements orachievements,whynotusethemtogetafewkeymessagesthrough?

Transparencyversusefficiency,analternativeforbothinstitutions

Transparencyisacross-sectionalissueplayingaspecificroleinaccountability,public

participation, corporate governance and decision making, highlights the Berkman

Center(Berkman Center for Internet & Society October 2010).WhenitcomestoICANN,theboardofDirectorsandalllevelsofdecisionaresuspectednottobeinclusiveandto


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bein favorofcertainof thedifferentstakeholders.Thetransparencyprocessallowsto

showwhy decisionswere taken, which ideaswere considered and how the differingviewswerereconciled.

The report then considers four different policies in order to enhance transparency:

informationdesign,informationanddocumentrequest,exemptionsandatransparencyaudit.PascalLamy,ina2010speech,hashighlightedtheroleoftheformalmultilateral

arrangements,hehasalsonotedtheroleoftheinformalgroupsandinparticulartheG-20.While the role of the G-20 lies inproviding leadership toaddress key economic

governance issues, decision-making is the prerogative of formal institutions. (WallStreet Journal 2010). From thisanalysis, Iwould like to draw twokeypointswhen it

comestotransparencyintheG20environmentandrelateeachpointstotwobucketsof

thereport.

First,noneoftheexistingparties(G20,B20,L20)haveformaltransparencyproceduresand ifthiswillbemorewidelydeveloped inthenextpartofthisreport, Ido believe

explainingclearlyhowandwhendecisionsaretakenwouldbeafirststep.Havingthe

discussionofaneconomicsforumhandledbydiplomaciesofallcountriesandtreatedasnormal diplomacy, mainly hidden and behind the scenes seems outdated to me. I

understand how useful thismay be to have a clear Final Communiqu draftedwith

meetingsalongthewaybutwhynotbeingpublic.HavingaformaltransparencyauditfortheG20isutopicandevenICANNhasnopublicly

availabletransparencyanalysis.Thesuggestionmadeisthereforetoaddinformationtothe Dashboardonperformancemetrics.Giventhe fact that the University of Toronto

does the analysis, why could it be displayed on the G20 website to press and urge

governments tomove forwardand to show citizenswhen they can push?Moreover,

reportsonICANNshowthatexemptionsandsubjectsforwhichtransparencyshouldbelimited are defined very widely. For the G20, all is exempted from publication!

Narrowingtransparencyexemptionswouldincreaselegitimacy.

Thesecondcommentrelatestotherefusalofallpartiestobuildapermanentsecretary.Given this denial, the process of releasing documents and data will never be as

formalizedas it is in IANN.However, evenwithoutgoing that fare, including for the

public to request information that is not publicly available through a DocumentaryInformation Disclosure Policy (DIPD), as exists for the Internet would allow us to

continuemovingforwardonthepathofOpenGovernment.Creatingaclearinformation-request procedure and developing independent procedures to explain why some

instancesleadtodenialofinformationwouldendangernorthediscussionsnorpublic

safety. ICANN is usually told they release so many documents in such a disorderlymannerthatonlyexpertsareabletohandlethecontentsandthatone-timeusersare

unabletofindwhattheylookfor.IftheG20madeonesteptowardsthispathwouldbea

majorstep.

Bestpracticeexchangeinthedecision-makingprocess:enhancingpublic

participation

ICANNsAoCcommitstomaintainandimproverobustmechanismsforpublicinputto

ensuretheoutcomesofitsdecision-makingprocesswillreflectthepublicinterest.Theby-laws revised in202 now include staffresponsible for public participation and the


11/15

Board Public Participation Committee thinks on public involvement at all levels

including board levels (to complement the nomination of at-wide elected board-members). In fact, the Berkman Center points out a few points for improvement

especiallybyusingopen-innovationliteratureandprinciples.Followingtheanalysisof

participation, we shall focus on bringing people to interact, aggregating inputs and

incorporatinginthefinaldecision.

ICANNs generalManagerofPublic participation,KierenMcCarthy, noted that ICANNshouldmovetowardssimplerinputmechanismssuchaspollsnotreliantonpeople

readingwholereportsto increasepublicparticipation (Berkman Center for Internet &Society October 2010).TheG20 isfar fromthere, solicitingpublic commentsondrafts

doesnotexistanddiscussionsforumsmandatoryforalldecisiontakenbyICANN-are

notrelevant.However,ratherthanhavinganinformallobbyingprocess,usingthesametypeofstrategyastheEUtomanagetodealwithinputscouldmakesense(Whitepaper,

GreenPaper). In fact, ICANNs at largeWhitepapers obey to the same logic and aresupposedtobringpeopletocommentandargue.ToenhanceparticipationattheG20,

startingbyannouncingallmeetingsandreleasingpreparatorydocumentswouldbea

firststepandwouldgiveausetotheCivil20aswellastotheThink20,whichcouldcommentonearlydrafts.

Whenitcomestoaggregatingandrespondingtotheinput,sincetheprocessdoesnotexist yet in theG20, what comes out of the gathering done by ICANN is that public

comments are rare, heterogeneous and people feel they were not heard. Therefore,ratherthanhavingtheB20andY20happeningatthesametimeasthesummit,itwould

bemoreusefultohaveformalmeetingsaheadoftimetoallowinclusionofcomments.

Moreover,how riskywoulditbetocreate contestsand calls for ideas? Theonly risk

wouldbetoreceiveagoodideaandnottobeabletoreachaconsensus.Infact,thiscouldbeorganizedthroughtheY20,T20orC20.

Aggregationandtransmissiontotheboardisalwaysasensitiveissue.ICANNdoesnot

managetogivepeoplethefeelingthatcommentsaretakenintoaccountwhenitarrivestotheBoard.Infact,IbelievefromaG20sperspective,theyshouldneverarrivetothe

Heads ofStates but should betreated asone of the inputs tothe B20/C20/Y20/T20

contributions.AccordingtotheBerkmancenterreport,ICANNconsidereddeliveringamatrixwithspecificanswersbytheBoardtoCommentsclassifiedbytheme.Thismatrix

couldbeusedbytheHeadsofStatestocommentonpara-G20scomments.Indeed,thiswouldbringsomestatestoforceoppositionratherthanputtingsubjectsindrawersbut

Ifeelcitizenswouldappreciateandconsensuswouldthereforemovefaster.

Avisiondifferentfromexpectations:remainingclosetocitizens,achallenge!

Citizens do not seeon adailybasis theworksof ICANNor theG20andusually and

tempted tocommentoranalyzewhathappensonlywhensomethinghasgonewrongand the newspapers are mentioning the body. This can very quickly give of both

institutionsaverynegativeimageandgivethefeelingthattheyareinanotherworld.

Thisabilitytobeseenasatechnocraticbodymeansthataheavyfocusmustbeputon

managing the relation with citizens. Therefore, being able to create an accountable,transparentprocessofdecision-makingcanchangeeverything.Infact,thistransparency


12/15


willbeakeypartinimplementationandefficiencyofthebody.Thiswill requireahe

change in mentalities but can mean an incredible change in impact. From being adiscussion forum for leaders, the G20 can became the crossroad where public

participationcanbeexpressed iftheturnismanagedproperlyandallowsallcitizens

toexpresstheirideas.


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Conclusion&KeyLearningThegeneralideaisthereforetopointouttheideathatbecausethesetwoorganizations

operate by consensus, they have much to learn from each other. In fact the threedifferentbucketswehavepointedoutcaneachbeaplacewhereusingthecultureofthe

otherorganizationcouldbeuseful.

Operating by consensus does notmean that they have the same goals not the same

implementationmechanisms.In fact, theydonot and bymanaginga scarce resource,

ICANNismandatoryandbecauseofthewillofstakeholdersitkeepsalighttouchontheissues.TheG20isnotmandatoryandreliesontheleaderstoseeitasaForum.This

Forumcanbecomeglobal.

Hereare some of the ideas the G20 could implement in order to improve efficiency,

keepinginmindthefactthattheideaofputtingforwardaSecretarygeneralhasbeen

rejected.

Releasepubliclydocumentincludingpreparatorydocuments Createaproceduretobeabletorequestmoredocumentationandtodownload

transparencyreports

Shifttowardsatransparencyculture:fromtheMinistryofForeignAffairstotheMinistryofEconomy?

Createanengagementprocessthroughacommentingperiodonearlydrafts Enhancetheparticipationofcitizensbycreatingconteststoputforwardnew

ideas(throughtheY20,C20andT20)

GivingformalanswerbytheG20topara-G20institutionscomments Managinganonlineforum/questionboxtodealwithcitizensconcerns

Reachingconsensusisimportantbutnotenoughtohaveaneffectivegovernance MakingtheG20atrulymulti-stakeholderbodybycreatingaformalconsultation

processofallstakeholdders

EnsuringallgravitatingbodiesareformallyheardtoseeallvalueswhichcouldberecognizedintheG20FinalCommuniqu

Createcriteriatodecidehowtoinvitethe5invitedcountriestotheG20


14/15


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