[NCUC-DISCUSS] Replenishment Strategy for the ICANN Reserve Fund Webinar 1 March 2018 1700 UTC
Thato Mfikwe
thatomfikwe at gmail.com
Mon Feb 26 17:16:51 CET 2018
Hi Kris,
Just to comment on your statement (apologies for ll this color contrasts
and the lengthy response):
*1. ICANN model, how the resources are allocated and why?*
ICANN’s primary source of funding comes from fees it collects from gTLD
registries and registrars. Therefore, ICANN’s financial stability is
entirely dependent on the registration of domain names. These fees were
collected on a quarterly basis from primarily a small group of large
registries and registrars. The quarterly collection meant that delays in
payments would give ICANN issues with its cash flow and its ability to pay
wages and other expenses.
ICANN decided therefore to set up a Reserve Fund in 2007 in order to reduce
its dependence on the timing of fee collections, as well as to provide it
with sufficient financial resources to enable it to defend its
multi-stakeholder governance model against possible litigation. In October
of 2012, the ICANN Organization conducted a benchmarking study on how
not-forprofit and other organizations set their Reserve Funds, which was a
basis for a 12 moths operational expense coverage although the GNSO feels
that this need to increase to 24 months according to their latest comment
<https://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/draft-comments-icann-reserve-fund-27nov17-en.pd>.
*Allocation of the Reserve Fund*In 2014, the Reserve Fund stood at US$ 85
million corresponding to 11.5 months of operating expenses. Without any
withdrawals and taking into account the repayment of new gTLD historical
development costs and interest earned. The Reserve Fund should be
approximately US$94 million by end June 2018.
- withdrawals from the Reserve Fund have been made since 2015 for the
purpose of paying for the IANA Stewardship transition expenses ($36
million).
- on 30 June 2017, the Reserve Fund was US$ 62 million and the Board
Finance Committee had approved, during its meeting held on 22 September
2017, a recommendation to the Board to allocate an additional US$5 million
to the Reserve Fund from ICANN’s operational surpluses which was be
considered in October 2017 at Abu Dhabi.
*This trend of coordination needs to improve as it is difficult to track
how the Reserve Fund is used or funded on an ongoing basis, hopefully we
will get clarity in the webinar on the 1st of March.*
*YEAR BALANCE EXPENSES COVERED
*
June 2014 $85 million - actual 11.5 months
June 2017 $62 million - actual
June 2018 $58 million - estimate 4.8 months
Between 2014 and 2017, there were payments of IANA transition expenses ($36
million) from the Reserve Fund and on September 2017 there was an
allocation of $5 million from 2017 operational surpluses. Net withdrawals
being $31 million and currently standing at $62 million ($94 million - $31
million = +/- $62 million) by 12 October 2017.
*2. Risks and projects that work*
The analysis of ICANN's 2019 FY operational plan & budget is underway,
providing a good opportunity for comment and propose changes to ICANN's
spending priorities on portfolios and projects. It would also be helpful if
members can start reviewing ICANN operational plans so that we can provide
informed recommendations in regard to listed projects and portfolios listed
on ICANN operational plans.
*3. Long term strategy and existence.*
I have managed to assess the allocation of resources to AC's and SO's
through 2018 additional budget request and below are the findings, however
I have not been able to identify the role of NCSG in ICANN operational
plans. Some of the questions relating to long-term sustainability will
hopefully be addressed during the webinar.
Summary of ICANN 2018 FY additional budget request approval from community
ICANN groups listed budget allocations Listed allocations Declined
request / no support Approved by Requiring further ICANN engagement Unlisted
allocations& project description
SO's $ 250 800,00, ho
GNSO $ 107 400,00 0 PDP WG Chair
travel funding - ICANN 61, 62 & 63 and GNSO Council Strategic Planning
Session
BC $ 16 200,00 2 2 Leadership
development & support (developing countries - 2 regional participants for
ICANN 60, 61 & 62)
NCUC $ 32 000,00 3 2 Policy Advocacy
training and 3 members of NCUC panelists @ IGF
NCSG/NPOC $ 66 000,00 0 0 Capacity
building - NCUC and NPOC joint request for a program to create future
leaders @ ICANN 61
NCSG $ 13 000,00 1 4 IGF workshop on
cybersecurity and DNS (2 panelists from NCSG)
NPOC $ 8 100,00 0 0 Piloted by
members of CSG, leadership dev and support for 1 participant from a
developing region ICANN 60-62
ISPCP $ 8 100,00 0 2 Not utilised
in 2017, for a pilot travel support for local businesses leaders in
developing regions
RrSG, ASO & ccNSO - 1 for RrSG 1 for RrSG RrSG support for video call
steam will be implemented in ICANN meetings, ASO and ccNSO did not make
budget requests
AC's $ 215 000,00
GAC $ 81 000,00 0 0 Government
travels for the GAC HLGM - High Level Government Meeting
SSAC $ 4 000,00 0 0 Travel for
outreach at a non IGF event (an interesting potential innovation to
outreach efforts)
RSSAC $ 10 000,00 0 0 Strategic
outreach for co-chairs (Up to 3 joint outreach trips for co-chairs or up to
6 individual outreach trips)
At-large $ 58 000,00 2 3 RALO
engagement activities, global capacity building at IGF, & tracking of ALAC
advise to the Board & responses to ICANN public comments
APRALO $ 8 000,00 0 5 Leadership
participation at the IGF (2 panelists from APRALO)
AFRALO $ 8 000,00 0 1 Workshop at
the IGF (2 workshop panelists from AFRALO)
EURALO $ 8 000,00 1 0 IGF workshop
on the public interest (2 panelists from EURALO)
LACRALO $ 20 000,00 2 1 Creating
leaders at LACRALO - educational training/ICANN collab
NARALO $ 18 000,00 0 1 Global
indegenous persons mentorship prog for ICANN 60 & 61
Other allocations $ 251 000,00 Unlisted
allocation & project description
ICANN academy $ 86 000,00 0 0 Academy
Chairing skills prog & media support
RySC $ 95 000,00 0 0 Increase of
leadership program slots & document development support
ISOC Ecuador $ -
1 0 Not
supported by NCSG or any ICANN community
Public and media support $ 70 000,00
0 1 Allows participation by all SO-AC communities, ICANN communications
Team will manage development of all community outreach content,
CROP $ - 0 1 The
CROP Program has been removed and the activity has been moved to the Policy
Development Support budget as part of the core activities to be coordinated
by that staff in collaboration with the GSE team.
Total 2018 ICANN annual budget allocations $
716 800,00 13 23
Note 1: that unlisted allocations mean that projects have been approved
but there is either no funds or liaison with ICANN staff, regional teams or
communication teams is needed to access these funds as allocations in the
form of provisions made available within ICANN org. Not sure why ICANN
academy would fall within additional budget requests, unless internal staff
are permitted to make such requests. Any funds that were available in 2017
but were not accessed are worth trying to retrieve, it is probable that
they can still be accessed,
Note 2: CROP funds were moved to the policy development core budget but
the respective budget has not increased but was decreased by $6 million.
I have also viewed the operational plan in terms of significant budgetary
changes and below were the findings:
MAJOR BUDGET CHANGES FOR 2019 FY
Strategic objectives Changes in portfolio spending and allocations
Evolve and further globalize ICANN: STRAT OBJ 1 - significant increased
spending 0f $12,5 million SIGNIFICANT BUDGET INCREASES - spending increase
Vs YA, mainly driven by $6.7 million net increase on "Bringing ICANN to the
world & proactive engagement of stakeholders goal"
- $5,9 million increase on Ëngaging stakeholders regionally
- $1.5 miiion increase on "Meeting services"
SIGNIFICANT BUDGET DECREASES- $3.4 million net decrease Vs YA mainly
affected by spending reduction on "Regionalisation and globalisation of
ICANN functions goal:
- complete removal of the GSE team coordination & admin budget -$ 1.2
million
- $1.9 million reduction on "Language services"
Support a healthy, stable and resilient unique identifier ecosystem: STRAT
OBJ 2 - decreased spending of $8.8 million SIGNIFICANT BUDGET DECREASES-
spending decrease Vs YA mainly affected by $7.1 million spending reduction
on "Support the evolution of domain name marketplace to be robust, stable
and trusted goal":
- $1.4 million budget reduction on "Universal Acceptance"
- $4.2 million budget reduction on "New gTLD Program"
Another significant budget reduction of $2 million on the "Fostering a
secure, stable, and resilient identifier ecosystem" affected by reduced
spending of $2.4 million on "Product Management"
NOTABLE BUDGET INCREASES - $900K spending increase Vs YA on "Proactively
plan for changes in the use of unique identifiers and develop technology
roadmaps to help guide ICANN activities"
- Identifier evolution expenses experienced a $1.4 million fund injection
Under the "Support the evolution of domain name marketplace to be robust,
stable and trusted goal" $700k was allocated to IDN
Now, as the finance committee, we would like to learn about what members
want so that we can champion their interest and provide direction when
working with ICANN Finance staff, thanks.
On Mon, Feb 26, 2018 at 1:22 PM, Kris Seeburn <seeburn.k at gmail.com> wrote:
> All this is for the good but one should look further than set rules. Has
> anyone looked at the model ICANN i still working how the resources are
> allocated and why? Sorry i also have the background of chairing and looking
> at finance strategies and also Board audit committees. Have we looked up on
> Risks and have we looked up on projects that works and bring the necessary
> to ICANN.
>
> Replenishment is not the only thing ICANN should be looking at but long
> term strategy and existence. The models are changing be it financial and
> the internet. So we should be looking at all these in a very strategic way.
> One is re-evaluate and look at the ICANN strategy and projects and then you
> start looking at SO/AC and houses/constituencies. Project based budgets,
> and win/gain strategies.
>
> Its not only about money some projects may not bring the money but surely
> goes as an outreach.So we need to think clear.
>
> On Feb 26, 2018, at 13:39, Thato Mfikwe <thatomfikwe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> The ICANN’s Finance Team is organising a webinar to look into
> replenishment of ICANN Reserve Fund and would like to invite you to attend
> a webinar.
>
> The webinar will cover the following:
>
> - Replenishment Strategy for the ICANN Reserve Fund
> - Questions
>
> Below are the details for the webinar and please also see the announcement
> on ICANN.org at the following link: https://www.icann.org/news/ann
> ouncement-2018-02-23-en
>
>
>
> If you are unable to participate in this session, it be recorded and
> posted to the community wiki for future viewing and additional questions.
>
>
> Looking forward to your participation.
> Webinar Details and How to Attend
>
> Date: 1 March 2018
>
> Time 17:00 UTC
>
> To participate please access the Remote Participation:
>
> https://participate.icann.org/planning
>
>
> *Brief background on Reserve Funds*:
>
> When initially established, the ICANN Reserve Fund is targeted to cover 12
> month of ICANN operational expenses due to ICANN's risk profile, unexpected
> expenses and changing environmental factors of a particular FY. The Reserve
> fund is governed by ICANN's Investment Policy
> <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/investment-policy-2017-09-18-en>
> and normally used to address expenses relating to possible and potential
> consequential events:
>
> - Replenishing operating expenses due to unbudgeted events, payment of
> liabilities and maintenance/replacement of assets
>
> - Downsizing or restructuring of ICANN's operations
>
> - Mitigation of security and stability threats and attacks
>
> - Unplanned legal costs, unforeseen external events and operations after
> disaster
>
> - New and major programs resulting from a new strategic plan
>
>
> To learn more about the Reserve Fund, please click here
> <https://www.icann.org/public-comments/reserve-fund-2017-10-12-en>
> ,looking forward to your participation, thanks.
>
>
> Thato Mfikwe - NCSG Finance Committee
> _______________________________________________
> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
> https://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Kris Seeburn
> seeburn.k at gmail.com
>
> - www.linkedin.com/in/kseeburn/
> "Life is a Beach, it all depends at how you look at it"
>
>
>
>
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