Public Comment
Draft FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan and Draft FY21 Operating Plan & Budget
Open Date
20 December 2019 23:59 UTC
Close Date
25 February 2020 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
27 March 2020 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: The purpose of this public comment is to seek community input on ICANN's draft FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan and draft FY21 Operating Plan and Budget.
Current Status: Following the community's inputs on the key Operating Initiatives and Financial assumptions and projection from June to August, 2019. ICANN Organization (ICANN org) prepared and is publishing the draft plans for public review and comment.
The draft Operating and Financial Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025 defines and demonstrates how ICANN org will implement the Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021–2025 that was adopted by the ICANN Board in June 2019. The Strategic Plan enables ICANN to continue to fulfill its mission and meet new and continuously evolving challenges and opportunities.
The draft Operating and Financial Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025 is intended to serve as an overarching, holistic view of the activities ICANN org is undertaking, or will undertake, in support of its FY21–25 Strategic Plan. It is not a replacement for ICANN org's annual operating plans, but is meant to complement them by providing a comprehensive overview of how ICANN will carry out its mission in the public interest over the next five years. The draft FY21 Operating Plan and Budget defines and describes ICANN's planned activities in FY21, and the anticipated funding sources and levels.
Next Steps:
During this Public Comment Period
- Three community webinars will be held in Jan 2020 to provide an overview of the draft plans. Please also see announcement for details of the webinars.
- 09 January 2020 at 01:00 UTC https://icann.zoom.us/j/935036343
- 09 January 2020 at 16:00 UTC https://icann.zoom.us/j/506858960
- 14 January 2020 at 16:00 UTC https://icann.zoom.us/j/257109807
- Community members seeking clarification on any details in the draft FY21- 25 Operating & Financial Plan and /or draft FY21 Operating Plan & Budget should submit questions to planning@icann.org by 21 January 2020.
- ICANN org will provide responses to clarifying questions by 05 February 2020, approximately three weeks before this public comment period ends.
After this Public Comment Period
- ICANN org will hold sessions with the ICANN Board and community at ICANN67 regarding these draft plans.
- ICANN org will analyze the received public comments, prepare a report of the public comments, and publish the report by 27 March 2020.
- Where deemed necessary, changes will be made to the draft plans and the revised draft plans will be presented to the ICANN Board and proposed for adoption by the Board in May 2020, a minimum of 28 days in advance of the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021, to allow for the Empowered Community to consider the plans.
Section I: Description and Explanation
Draft FY21-FY25 Operating & Financial Plan
In accordance with ICANN's bylaws, the draft FY21–25 Operating & Financial Plan describes a five-year plan as well as a one-year plan of current and planned activities to deliver its FY21–FY25 Strategic Plan.
Any new activities or changes to existing ones are marked by a △. Within the plan, ICANN org shares the 15 Operating Initiatives and 35 Functional Activities for the upcoming five-year period. Each entry within this document includes background on the purpose, scope and activities related to each major workstream, as well as a description of needed resources and considerations or risks that may impact the work. Each Operating Initiative and Functional Activity is also cross-referenced against the targeted outcomes developed in the FY21–25 Strategic Plan, so that readers can gain a comprehensive understanding of the strong interconnectedness of ICANN org's work.
The FY21-25 Financial Plan provides forward-looking information that represents ICANN's attempt at conservatively estimating its future funding and expenses. The intent is to maximize the chances that such future funding is higher than these projections would suggest, to allow ICANN to plan for a level of activity and expenses that minimize the risk that funding would be lower than expenses in the future. The financial information contained within this document is derived from what ICANN org believes to be a reasonable assumption based on current information, understanding, market trends, and circumstances at the time of the FY21–25 Operating and Financial Plan's publication.
The plan also includes as an annex document, "Evolving ICANN's Multistakeholder Model Work Plan." This document, produced by facilitator Brian Cute, was developed as part of a community consultation process based on public comment, webinars, and cross-community discussions at ICANN64, ICANN65, and ICANN66. It is presented here for community input to develop a final work plan, which will be incorporated into the final FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan.
The community is asked to answer three questions related to the "Evolving ICANN's Multistakeholder Model Work Plan:"
- Are the right entities suggested to take the lead in developing an approach or solution to an identified issue? If not, which entity would be appropriate?
- How can the ICANN community effectively coordinate the work of developing approaches and solutions?
- How should the six issues included in the work plan be prioritized?
Draft FY21 Operating Plan and Budget
The draft FY21 Operating Plan & Budget reflects the planned activities for 01 July 2020 through 30 June 2021. Similar to the draft FY21-FY25 Operating & Financial Plan, ICANN org shares the 15 Operating Initiatives and 35 Functional Activities for FY21. Each Operating Initiatives and Functional Activities includes background on the purpose, scope and activities related to each major workstream, as well as a description of needed resources and considerations or risks that may impact the work. The draft plan also details the FY21 budget.
Section II: Background
On 23 June 2019, the ICANN Board adopted ICANN's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025. The purpose of the Strategic Plan is to set out the long-term strategic objectives for the organization, reflecting ICANN's mission and vision.
The Strategic Plan should be complemented by the Operating & Financial Plan, that describes the activities ICANN org will undertake and the resources needed to achieve the Strategic Plan.
At ICANN64 in Kobe, Japan, ICANN org presented to the community the two-phase approach of developing the Operating & Financial Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025.
During the first public comment period, ICANN org obtained feedback from the community on:
- Financial assumptions and high-level projection of the "base-case," "high," and "low" funding scenarios for Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2025.
- The major initiatives that ICANN org should prioritize to successfully achieve the objectives set out on the FY21–25 Strategic Plan.
Based on the feedback from the first public comment, ICANN org developed the draft FY21-FY25 Operating & Financial Plan, and draft FY21 Operating Plan & Budget for public review and comment.
Section III: Relevant Resources
- Highlights of the Draft FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan and Draft FY21 Operating Plan & Budget
- Draft FY21 - 25 Operating & Financial Plan and Draft FY21 Operating Plan
- Draft FY21 Budget
- ICANN org report on FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan Development public comment #1
Important Note: These documents have been updated and republished since the original posting on 20 December 2019. The updates were related to minor formatting issues, except in the Highlights of the Draft FY21-25 Operating & Financial Plan and FY21 Draft Operating Plan & Budget. On Page 14, there was a misplaced decimal point in the FY21 Draft Budget Total ICANN Funding column. The figure should have read 145.5. Apologies for the confusion.
Section IV: Additional Information
- Strategic planning web page on icann.org
- Draft Financial Assumptions & Projections and Operating Initiatives for the development of Fiscal Years 2021-2025 Operating & Financial Plan Public Comment page
- Financial Information for ICANN
The Draft published documents are an updated version of the Draft FY21-25 Operating and Financial Plan and Draft FY21 Operating Plan and Budget originally published in December 2019. This updated version reflects edits and improvements resulting from addressing public comments received.
Draft:
The Proposed for Board Adoption FY21-25 Operating and Financial Plan and Proposed for Board Adoption FY21 Operating Plan and Budget are the plans that present ICANN's latest operating plans and financial projections due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ICANN org's current and planned work. These documents will be proposed for adoption by the ICANN Board in early May 2020. After Board approval, all plan documents will be re-published as Adopted. The re-published documents may include some edits to text to ensure that the key budget changes are properly explained (or commented upon) across all planning documents.
Proposed for Board Adoption:
- Proposed for Board Adoption Highlights
- Proposed for Board Adoption FY21-25 Operating and Financial Plan & FY21 Operating Plan
- Proposed for Board Adoption FY21 Budget
Adopted Planning Documents:
- Please click here.
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments