I want to start with a sincere thank you to the ICANN community for your thoughtful responses to the Public Comment proceeding for the Ombuds Office Framework and Process. I was very pleased to receive 11 submissions from individuals, organizations, and community groups with valuable suggestions for Ombuds Office improvement. This community-spirited engagement is one of the reasons I find working with ICANN so rewarding.
It's incredibly reassuring to see that many of the responses to the Public Comment proceeding align closely with improvements that the Ombuds Office has planned.
You Suggested: More Accessible, User-Friendly Information About Ombuds Processes.
To meet this need, we are transforming the Ombuds Office webpages – the first phase of improvements is complete, with a second phase coming soon. The webpages set out in plain language what community members can expect from the Ombuds Office. Eventually, there will be flow diagrams and visuals to help you access the right support at the right time. To be accessible to our global community, we're planning translations initially in French and Spanish. We'll be monitoring whether there is a need to add additional languages in the future.
You Suggested: Measures to Strengthen Transparency, Accountability and Feedback to the Ombuds Office.
We're launching the first "Ombuds Office Service Quality" survey this month. While our annual "Experience and Perception" survey looks at how the entire community views the Ombuds Office, the "Service Quality" survey invites feedback from people who have recently interacted with the Ombuds Office. The survey asks to what extent our service quality standards – confidentiality, fair treatment, clarity, impartiality, dignity and respect, and usefulness – are felt in every interaction. Together, these two surveys are opportunities for the community to provide input on how the Ombuds Office can best improve its services and performance.
You Suggested: The Ombuds Office Share Reports With the Community, Including Enhanced Analysis of Case Data, Publication of Anonymized Statistics, and Thematic Patterns.
I'm pleased to announce that the Ombuds Office Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2025 is in its final stages and will be published imminently. I've revised the format and structure of the Annual Report to provide more narrative and numbers around the case data. Additionally, I've added a detailed section discussing themes and insights arising from those cases. The Annual Report is an important way to provide visibility to the community on what the Ombuds Office has done and how the Office operates. But more than that, the report is a tool for our collective learning. By sharing my observations and analysis of aggregated and anonymized trends from the case data, I hope to spark constructive conversations about how we can improve the ICANN community working environment together.
Lastly, I'll finish as I started: with another thank you, this time to all the community members who engaged with me in Mumbai at ICANN85. I had the opportunity to offer a range of Ombuds Office services to both individuals and community groups. For more information about Ombuds Office services and support for you or your community group, visit the office's webpage.
Please let me know if you have questions or feedback. I'd love to hear from you: [email protected] or [email protected].