[discuss] Transparency and Accountability vis-à-vis ICANN and the IANA functions

Fri Mar 28 14:47:34 UTC 2014

Transparency is about conducting your affairs in a way that everyone has 
sufficient visibility of your gaols, your process, and your deliverable.

It doesn't mean that everyone will agree with the goals and 
deliverables, but it must be possible to "observe" them. Typical 
examples are publishing all documents [including agendas and time/place 
of meeting] sufficiently ahead of time, allowing physical observers in 
the room and if possible webcasting, publishing at the very least 
minutes of the meeting (if not an archived webcast), and publishing the 
deliverables in a timely fashion.

Accountability is being able to explain *why* the process delivered the 
results it did, and in particular being able if necessary to give 
plausible explanations regarding wayward deliverables, versus the 
initial terms of reference and contrary inputs.

Ultimately, if the process continues to produce deliverables 
inexplicably at odds with the terms of reference and the weight of 
community opinion, there needs to be a plausible means for the community 
to replace the wayward decision makers, or modify the process 
appropriately.
-- 
Roland Perry