Staff and Community MembersEmail Addresses
Chuck Gomescgomes@verisign.com
Tijani BEN JEMAAtijani.benjemaa@planet.tn
Marilyn Cademarilynscade@hotmail.com
Aba Diakiteaba.diakite@icann.org
Janice Douma Langejanice.lange@icann.org
Xavier Calvezxavier.calvez@icann.org

This Ad Hoc community group is focusing on the Planning cycle as it applies to the Community; its various community structures, processes and time required to reach consensus and provide input, and other types of constraints.  ICANN staff needs to listen and add, as feasible, durations in the Ops Plan and Budget cycle that reflect the needs of the community.

ICANN staff will need to get input from the various communities on their structures and processes through interaction here on the wiki, and by adding comments in the individual section here on this page on the detailed timeline proposal.

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5 Comments

  1. Chuck Gomes

    In our first call, I had understood that staff was going to try to get some feedback from Sebastien Bachollet regarding his very strong position that the Strategic Planning process should not be shortened. What happened with that action item?

    1. Janice Douma.Lange

      Chuck et al...we are hoping to be able to address this topic in our upcoming call

  2. Chuck Gomes

    After reviewing the Detail Budget Timeline (which I note is really not a timeline but a detailed list of necessary steps in the overall process) and the High Level Budget Timeline and after listening to the MP3 recording of the second call, here are my comments.

    1. In response to Janice's question on the call as to whether there is enough time from May 1st to review, comment, analyze and receive feedback prior to Board action, my answer is no.  I would guess that at least 3 months and maybe as much as 4 months are needed for all that to happen effectively. This part of the process is the most critical and most time consuming.
    2. The steps in the Detail Budget Timeline seem accurate to me except that I will raise some questions below regarding the the concept of the Budget Framework.
    3. As noted in item 1 above, the High Level Budget Timeline needs some serious adjustment to allow enough time after the Draft Budget is published.
    4. In my opinion, I am not convinced that the Budget Framework subprocess adds enough value to warrant the time allocated for it.  It is by definition too high level to facilitate the kind of feedback that is needed for the ultimate budget.  At a minimum, if we decide that the framework steps are needed, then it may need to be condensed to allow for an earlier version of a draft budget.
    5. If as Xavier said on the call that the soonest the operating plan and budget work can start is in October and if we decide that the framework adds value, then we may need to produce a framework in October or November at the latest.
    6. One idea that I just now thought of is this: as soon as possible after the approval of the final budget request feedback from the community regarding the aproved budget including suggestions for improvement for the next budget.
    7. Another step that might help would be the production and publication of a detailed report of the previous year's budget vs. actuals with notes that explain significant variances.  This is a fairly common budgeting practice but one that has never been possible for the community.  This should be made available, even if unadudited, as soon as possible before the start of the process in October.
    8. Xavier's suggestions for next steps (adding timeframes and responsible parties) for the next call are sound.  I have made a few suggestions above for possible changes.  I understand that my suggestions for changes are dramatic changes but I think the challenge in front of us may require seriously rethinking the whole process whether that involves my suggestions or not.

     

  3. Janice Douma.Lange

    Chuck thank you for this detailed response.  We absolutely know there is not enough time after May 1 to provide quality feedback and actually think that it will have any impact on the final budget; we need to break this cycle this year. Aba and I created an overall proposal that we will finalize as a draft for the 3 community groups by Wednesday with Xavier, and send out to all, as well as post on the wiki.    We are considering some of the same thoughts as you described in # 5-6: determine the value of the Framework - is this the right document to craft with the community as a basis for staff to create the draft Ops Plan, which really is the document that shows the resources required to support what the Framework determines as the right priorities and goals for the fiscal year. Should the comment taken on the draft Plan be just for clarity and improvements for next year?  And I think we can all embrace the idea of #7 and good to talk this next week.

    I will make sure that Xavier sees your comments tomorrow so that he can consider them in relationship to our current draft in front of him.

  4. Tijani Ben Jemaa

    ALAC comments on the Budget Process Proposal

    29 September 2012

     

    The ALAC thanks the CFO and his team for their effort to improve the ICANN planning process, and highly appreciates their continuous efforts to enhance the involvement of the community in the budget development during last fiscal year. 

    The ALAC welcomes the concept of “community involvement and input early in the process” with multiple interaction opportunities. To ensure the effectiveness of the community inputs, the multiple interactions along the specified time frame must be based on progressive proposals, going from the high level to very detailed level documents.    

    While the ALAC welcomes the proposed extension of the framework development period, it finds it more interesting and useful to extend the budget building period to give the community sufficient time to comment on more granulated proposals 

    The definition of the staff-community interaction mechanism is of high importance for ALAC. The document should detail how the community will interact with the staff during the framework development phase, as well as during the budget preparation one. 

    The ALAC believes that once the community additional projects submitted, the interactions staff-community should be based on drafts proposed by staff on which the community comments. These drafts should provide greater levels of detail as the process progresses, the last interaction in April (as per the timeline diagram in the document) being on the almost final draft of the budget.  In this case, and only in this case, the public comments will not be about gathering input for inclusion in the final Operating plan and Budget, but will serve to request clarification and/or comments on process, and provide ideas for improvements in the upcoming years.