On 16 July, ICANN published a request for proposals for an expert consultant to assist ICANN with the development of a DNS Risk Management Framework. The announcement indicated that questions on the RFP could be submitted between 1-16 August 23:59 UTC. The period to submit questions on the RFP is now closed. ICANN is providing the questions received and responses in this update so all parties interested in responding to the call for proposals may have the same information.
The deadline for responses to the call for proposals is 31 August 2012, 23:59 UTC. Responses should be sent to drmf-rfi@icann.org to the attention of Patrick Jones in the ICANN Security team.
Questions
Proposal Submission
We would like to know if you will accept proposals for this assignment from a consortium (two consulting firms) or if you are looking for a single consultant.
Response – Proposals from a consortium would be welcomed. The proposal should include a description of how the parties in the consortium would work together and interact with ICANN.
Timing
What is the anticipated time span of the project, in terms of ICANN meetings elapsed, given the the required times for internal and public comment?
Response – Ideally, ICANN would be able to retain a consultant to begin work on this project in late September, and participate in an open community panel at the ICANN meeting in October in Toronto, Ontario. Specific timing deliverables will be set once the consultant is retained, but it the expectation from the Board-level working group that a draft DNS Risk Management Framework be available for discussion in early December 2012, and following relevant public comment periods for the ICANN Board at the ICANN meeting in Beijing, China in April 2013.
What is the anticipated duration of the transition plan to complete the launch in terms of ICANN staff availability?
Response – ICANN staff will be available and following the work of the consultant throughout the project. This should reduce any delays between the start of the project and the implementation phase to operational risk management at ICANN.
What is the anticipated start date to execute on the RFP activities?
Response – The consultant should be available to begin as soon as possible after the completion of the contracting process. Ideally this work should commence in late September so that there is sufficient time to start in advance of the ICANN meeting in Toronto. The Board-level working group will have a open community session at the ICANN meeting on Thursday 18 October, participation from the consultant in this session would be expected in order to use this time to interact with the community.
When will ICANN state its decision on the winning bidder?
Response – ICANN intends to make its decision quickly, based on the quality of the responses received and the internal selection process. ICANN is aiming for early September to make this decision.
Staff Support
What is the anticipated size of ICANN’s internal team to implement the methodology and geographical location and diversity of designated staff?
Response – Implementation of the DNS Risk Management Framework will be led by ICANN’s Security team but will involve expertise from staff in other departments, including Legal, DNS Operations, IT, Finance, IANA, among others. ICANN’s staff are globally distributed, although the Security team is currently split between the East Coast and West Coast US.
What is the makeup of the ICANN staff dedicated to executing risk management activities (number of staff, hierarchy, etc.)?
Response – ICANN’s Security team provides staff support to the Board Risk Committee and Board-level DNS Risk Management Framework Working Group. There are ICANN staff from the Legal team providing both Board support and Executive team participation by ICANN’s General Counsel. The Executive team follows risk management activities, and individual department staff track department risks.
What is the commitment of FTEs in regards to ICANN’s availability to contribute to the project efforts?
Response – The ICANN Security team will provide staff support to engage with the consultant on this project.
Preparation of Materials
The RFP indicates that the expert consultant will deliver a report to the Board DNS Risk Management Framework Working Group and the ICANN community. Will the deliverables that the expert consultant produces be shared verbatim with the community as public documents, or will ICANN or the expert consultant prepare summaries to be shared publically?
Response – The consultant should assume that the deliverables produced for the this project will be shared verbatim with the community as public documents. The consultant should also provide executive summaries where appropriate to support community comprehension of the risk framework once it is developed.
This announcement was sourced from :
http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-20aug12-en.htm
