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<p>Dear colleagues,</p>
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</p>
<p>Below is follow-up information arising from questions asked about the GNSO Review during the most recent Council meeting. </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>This information isn't new and doesn't particularly add to what we have already discussed, but I post to the list for completeness.</p>
<p><br>
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<p>Best wishes,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Heather</p>
<br>
<br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> owner-council@gnso.icann.org <owner-council@gnso.icann.org> on behalf of Larisa B. Gurnick <larisa.gurnick@icann.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 29, 2015 5:26<br>
<b>To:</b> council@gnso.icann.org<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Jen Wolfe (jwolfe@wolfedomain.com)<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [council] Follow up items from GNSO Council Meeting on 24 September</font>
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<span style="color:black">Dear members of the GNSO Council,</span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">I understand that there were some questions raised at your meeting on 24 September in connection with the briefing on the GSNO Review, and staff would like to provide additional clarifying information.</span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="color:#1F497D">Competitive Bidding Process and Selection of Independent Examiner</span></b></p>
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<span style="color:black">In connection with the open competitive bidding process used to select the independent examiner, a total of 7 proposals were submitted. All bids were reviewed and evaluated for all data responsive to the RFP, not just the low bid.
Price was one of many considerations. Bids received ranged from less than $50,000 to over $1 million, with the lowest and highest representing significant outliers. Westlake’s bid pricing was in the median range when adjusting for the significant outliers.
Once all bids were evaluated, Westlake was selected as the most qualified consultant relative to, but not limited to, the following high level selection criteria:</span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">1) Understanding of the assignment </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">2) Knowledge and expertise</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">a. Demonstrated experience in conducting broadly similar examinations
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">b. Not-for-profit experience </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">c. Basic knowledge of ICANN </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">d. Geographic and cultural diversity, multilingualism, gender balance
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">e. Suitability of proposed CVs </span></p>
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<span style="color:black">3) Proposed methodology</span></p>
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<span style="color:black">a. Work organization, project management approach, timelines
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">b. Suitability of tools and methods or work </span></p>
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<span style="color:black">c. Clarity of deliverables </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">4) Flexibility, including but not limited to meeting the timeline
</span></p>
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<span style="color:black">5) Reference checks </span></p>
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<span style="color:black">6) Financial value </span></p>
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<span style="color:black">7) Conflict of Interest </span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">=> Additional information about the <a href="http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-22apr14-en.htm" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;" id="LPlnk112993">
<span style="color:#0563C1">RFP</span></a></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">=> GNSO Review <a href="https://community.icann.org/x/zbXhAg" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;">
<span style="color:#0563C1">FAQs</span></a> </span></p>
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<span style="color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">Staff is available to provide the GNSO Council a more complete overview of how the competitive bidding/RFP process functions, including what information is required to be kept confidential for the benefit of the process’ integrity.</span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span><span style="color:#1F497D"></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="color:#1F497D">Review Methodology</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">The methodology used for the GNSO Review followed best practices and professional standards for independence, proficiency and due professional care. The current GNSO Review achieved 178 completed 360 Survey responses and 40 one-on-one
interviews, compared with an average of 71 survey responses and 60 interviews for prior Organizational Reviews. Information was collected through a variety of means – online 360 Survey with quantitative and qualitative aspects, one-on-one interviews that
resulted in twice as many individuals interviewed as originally planned, extensive desk review of documents and in-person observations during three ICANN meetings. Additionally, Westlake participated in the majority of the 21 GNSO Review Working Party calls
and 23 public sessions held at ICANN meetings and considered feedback provided by the GNSO Review Working Party as well as by others through formal public comment process and other feedback means.
</span>The Independent Examiner provided their rationale in response to community feedback throughout the process<span style="color:#1F497D">
</span><span style="color:black">(for example, see</span><span style="color:#1F497D">
<a href="https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/56136596/GNSO%20Review%20Recommendations%20-%20changes%20from%20Draft%20to%20Final%20Report.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1443222114000&api=v2" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;">
<span style="color:#0563C1">Comparison Chart</span></a>)</span><span style="color:black"></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="color:black">=> Detailed information on Review Methodology is included in the
<a href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/gnso-review-final-15sep15-en.pdf" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;">
<span style="color:#0563C1">Final Report</span></a>, Section 3 (pages 24-30).</span></p>
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<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
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<span style="color:black">Thank you for your continued interest and support of this important accountability mechanism.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Larisa B. Gurnick</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
Director, Strategic Initiatives</p>
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Mobile: 1 310 383-8995</p>
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Skype: larisa.gurnick</p>
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