Recently, I was appointed ICANN’s first-ever Complaints Officer. I am honored to have been selected, and excited to build out this important new role.
The Complaints Office is being built to help the ICANN Organization with its effectiveness and to provide additional transparency and accountability, all in service of ICANN's mission. As the Complaints Officer, I will be working to address complaints about the ICANN Organization, collecting data about complaints received across the organization and working to address any issues. The data that is collected will be analyzed to identify complaint trends, so that any systemic issues can be looked at and proactively addressed.
Since I started working in this role in late March, I’ve been focused on defining the objectives and guidelines of the office, designing the complaints process and developing the implementation timeline.
The Complaints Office will:
- Provide a centralized location to submit complaints related to the ICANN Organization.
- Receive complaints, research them, collect facts, and review, analyze, and resolve issues as openly as possible.
- Help the ICANN Organization build on its effectiveness, and contribute to increased transparency from the Organization.
- Aggregate the data from received complaints to identify and solve any operational trends that should be improved.
The Office will focus on reviewing verifiable information to ensure recommendations and resolutions are based in fact. It will strive to be open and transparent, responsive and accountable to all parties, and to make recommendations that are constructive and actionable. And, above all else, the office will act with the utmost integrity in service of ICANN’s mission.
Complaints Process and Implementation Timeline
I’m still working on finalizing the full complaints process. This includes defining that process, identifying the specific steps and protocols, developing tools to support intake, management and reporting of complaints, and evolving communications to raise awareness and gather feedback from the community and staff.
The full complaints process is targeted for launch in mid-July 2017, however, I expect it to evolve over time as we gain experience and hear from the community and staff about what is and isn’t working. In the interim, any complaints related to the ICANN Organization, such as how a request has been handled, a process that appears to be broken, insufficient handling of an issue, or something that may be indicative of a systemic issue, can be submitted to complaints@icann.org. This information is also available in the Complaints section of ICANN’s website (see: https://www.icann.org/complaints-office), where I will continue to publish updates and information as it becomes available. However, do keep in mind that the office is being built in real time and it may take a little time to work through initial submissions. However, please do not let this deter you from submitting any complaints that you may have.
I look forward to providing additional updates, the first of which will be a Frequently Asked Questions document that will be published shortly on the Complaints webpage. If you have a question prior to publication, or after, please email it to complaints@icann.org. Over time, and as new questions are received, the Frequently Asked Questions document will be updated so that others may benefit from the additional information.
I am truly excited about this opportunity and look forward to helping establish this new avenue for the community to have their voices heard.
