Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team

The Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Implementation Review Team (IRT) assists ICANN org in the implementation of the policy recommendations in the Final Report in the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (Final Report). The outcome of this process will be an updated Applicant Guidebook (see here for the 2012 Applicant Guidebook).

Per the Consensus Policy Implementation Framework and the IRT Principles & Guidelines, the IRT has the following objectives:

• “Serve as a resource to ICANN org on policy and technical questions that arise with regard to the Board-approved recommendations of the Final Report.”
• “Serve as a resource to ICANN org on the background and rationale of the policy recommendations in the Final Report and seek additional guidance from the GNSO Council, as required.”
• “Assist ICANN org in developing the policy implementation details to ensure that the implementation conforms to the intent of the policy recommendations as detailed in the Final Report.”

All members of the IRT are expected to have read and agreed to the Statement of Participation and are responsible for abiding by ICANN's Expected Standards of Behavior.

Work Methodology

The SubPro IRT has the form of an ‘Open + Representative Model’ based on the GNSO’s PDP 3.0 model; this has the objective to provide a structure that allows for efficient resolution of issues that may arise. The group is composed of ‘participants’ and ‘representatives’, which together make up the IRT members and provide assistance to ICANN org. The model does not change the ability of all IRT participants to raise concerns about the implementation approach taken by ICANN org, nor does it allow for any policy issues to be reopened that had been settled during the Policy Development Process (PDP). As it is always the case for IRTs, there is no voting and there are no consensus calls as part of the IRT’s day-to-day work. The SubPro IRT operates in a fully open and transparent manner, and all mailing list exchanges are publicly archived. 

Implementation Process

Categories of Membership

• Participants: Participants are self-appointed. Participants can actively participate in and attend all meetings and are expected to keep up with all relevant discussions to ensure they remain informed and can contribute when needed. Participants are encouraged to possess similar levels of expertise as representatives with respect to SubPro-related issues, ICANN policies and procedures in order to contribute effectively. No upper limit of participants or their affiliation is set. Participants are required to submit a Statement of Participation (SOP) and complete a Statement of Interest (SOI). 
• Representatives/Liaison: Representatives [or their alternates, if a representative cannot attend a given IRT call] are nominated by their respective Supporting Organization, Advisory Committee, Stakeholder Group or Constituency, and are expected to participate during the course of the IRT. Representatives are expected to represent the view of their appointing organization, and may be called on to provide the consolidated feedback of their appointed organization. Representatives are required to have a level of expertise in SubPro-related topics as well as ICANN policies and procedures. They have to complete an SOP.

Principles and Guidelines

• Applicable to Participants and Representatives: Any IRT [participant or representative] that believes that his/her/their contributions are being systematically ignored or discounted or wants to appeal a decision of the IRT or [GDS] Staff should first discuss the circumstances with the GNSO Council liaison to the IRT. In the event of disagreement between ICANN Staff and the IRT or any of its [participants or representatives] on the implementation approach proposed by ICANN Staff, the [GDS] Project Manager, in consultation with the GNSO Council liaison if appropriate, shall exercise all reasonable efforts to resolve the disagreement. An IRT [participant or representative] always has the option to involve the ombudsman.

• Applicable to Representatives only: Should a disagreement between an IRT [representative] and [GDS] staff prove irreconcilable despite such efforts, the GNSO Council liaison in consultation with the IRT is expected to make an assessment as to the level of consensus within the IRT [representatives] on whether to raise the issue with the GNSO Council for consideration, using the standard decision making methodology outlined in the GNSO Working Group Guidelines. This process also applies to cases in which there is agreement between the IRT [representatives] and [GDS] staff concerning the need for further guidance from the GNSO Council and/or when issues arise that may require possible policy discussion. In the event that the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the IRT [representative] should request an opportunity to discuss the situation with the Chair of the GNSO Council or their designated representative.

Context

On 16 March 2023, the ICANN Board passed a resolution on a set of recommendations from the Final Report which directed the org to begin implementation. The Board called for “A working methodology and [IRT] work plan and timeline as agreed upon by ICANN org and the GNSO Council”, and encouraged “all parties to work together efficiently and constructively to meet relevant timelines.”