[council] ICANN Posts Draft FY09 Operating Plan and Budget

[GNSO.SECRETARIAT@GNSO.ICANN.ORG]

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http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-17may08.htm
ICANN Posts Draft FY09 Operating Plan and Budget

17 May 2008

Each year, from July through December, ICANN's planning cycle calls for 
creation of the Strategic Plan. At the end of December 2007, the ICANN 
Board approved ICANN's Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan is the 
three-year overview document that describes the strategic priorities for 
ICANN. See: http://www.icann.org/strategic-plan/.

Each year, from January through June, there is a follow-on planning 
effort to create the Operating Plan and Budget for a single year. This 
document outlines the work map and financial requirements for the next 
fiscal year, consistent with implementing the Strategic Plan Objectives.

The planning work for fiscal year 2009 began with a consultation in 
Delhi. The community and ICANN's Board reviewed an initial budget 
framework presented at New Delhi in February 2008. This approach 
provided the community the earliest opportunity yet to provide input on 
a draft budget. Staff held consultations regarding the budget and plan, 
received posted comments, and worked with the ICANN Board Finance 
Committee to develop the draft FY09 Operating Plan and Budget.

Substantial work has taken place to incorporate feedback from the 
community, Board, and staff since the initial framework was first 
presented in February 2008, but the overall scope and themes remain 
consistent.

In this fiscal year, highlights of planned ICANN results and activities 
include:

Complete, and then launch the new generic TLD (gTLD) program
Based on progress with the IDN "fast track" process, introduce country 
code IDNs (ccIDN) at the top level
As part of establishing a documented security agenda, deliver on DNSSEC 
readiness, ICANN-internal security improvements, and training on 
disaster planning and mitigation for interested country code operators
Working with RIRs and the NRO, continue to highlight issues related to 
IPv4 depletion and IPv6 adoption
Grow and enhance contractual compliance capability on behalf of 
registrant protection
Invest in IANA services and staffing to improve service availability, 
automation, response time, and disaster recovery
Strengthen the multi-stakeholder model by implementing GNSO 
improvements, expanding stakeholder travel support and expanding 
translation programs
In summary, the draft budget proposes revenues of about $60.7MM and 
total expenses (including depreciation, allowances and contingency) of 
$58.5MM with a contribution to reserve of about $2.2MM. Compared to what 
was presented in New Delhi, this actually represents a reduction in 
operating expenses from $54.1MM to $51.8MM. As compared to FY08, the 
total expense budget, including contingency, is projected to increase 
from $42.6MM to $58.5MM (37% increase). Operating expenses (excluding 
contingency, depreciation, and bad debt) are projected to increase from 
$38.9MM to $51.8MM (33% increase).

This draft Operating Plan and Budget calls for substantial expense 
growth for ICANN, as a result of an ambitious work program for FY09, as 
dictated by the Strategic Plan. The goal of this draft FY09 Operating 
Plan and Budget document is to enable informed, active community and 
Board feedback regarding proposed objectives and plans. And, when the 
draft plan is finalized and approved, establish the resources and 
objectives that will deliver on the right initiatives for the ICANN 
community during FY09.

This draft FY09 Operating Plan and Budget is being posted for community 
review with the support of the Board Finance Committee (BFC).

The plan is available at: 
http://www.icann.org/financials/proposed-opplan-budget-fy08-09-17may07.pdf 
[PDF, 356K]

This draft plan is one more step in the planning cycle, to allow for 
additional review and feedback. A public comment forum is available at: 
op-budget-fy2009 at icann.org

Additionally, consultations will be held with ICANN constituencies to 
get direct feedback, and the final plan discussed at ICANN's Paris 
meeting, for adoption by ICANN's Board in June.

-- 
Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat - ICANN
gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org
http://gnso.icann.org