URS Individual Proposal #29 All URS decisions shall be published in a standardized machine-readable XML format, to complement existing formats of decisions. |
Context:
Rationale provided by the Proponent: 1) It is consistent with ICANN’s recently announced Open Data Strategy[1]; 2) it lowers the cost of academic research, by making it much easier to access and manipulate the data within decisions; 3) it improves transparency, and thus accountability, of the procedures; and 4) it makes future evidence-based reviews of the policies easier, since the raw data can be accessed at much lower cost than at present.
Working Group Deliberation: There was some support in the Working Group for publishing this proposal in the Initial Report to seek public comment. A URS Provider expressed practical concerns that it would be cost prohibitive to implement the proposal. Some Working Group members noted that the benefits derived from the proposal, if any, may be limited.
Working Group Question for Public Comment: The Working Group seeks public comment on the cost-benefit evaluation of implementing the proposal.
[1] https://www.icann.org/news/blog/icann-org-s-open-data-strategy
