[Finance-sc] Looking for a CROP

[Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond]

Hello all,

during our recent call to decide on Additional Budget Items, I have
heard rumours of CROP being slashed in FY19, but no actual pointer to
any announcement about this. Neither did anyone provide any proof of
these rumours.

I had to check this out myself, and could not find it in any of the
Budget documents, nor was there a mention about CROP on any budget
summaries, nor any announcement of CROP being slashed.

I compared FY18 and FY19 master budget documents, along with project
numbers and although this was a bit time consuming, I think I have found
the answer:

In the overall budget Excel Master Document - Section 1.2 for FY18 had
projects 151053, 151157, 151171, 151172, 151173, 151177, 151180, 151187,
151188, 151190, etc.

In FY19, there is 151055 to replace 151053, then 151157, 151171, 151173,
151177, 151180, 151189, 151190, 151191 etc.

Thus missing from the list are 151172, 151187, 151188

151172 = FY18 Ongoing ccNSO Council Support

This was a budget item that appears to have been folded into 151171 the
ongoing ccNSO General Support.

151187 = FY18 Ongoing SO-AC, GNSO Secretariat Support Program

That was probably folded into 151206 - Recurring Activity - GNSO PDP
Support & Activities. In FY18 this line used to be more restricted to
just policy support with 7.7FTE & $1.2M. In FY18 151206 is 9.6FTE & $1.7M

And that leaves 151188 missing from FY19. Budget Item 151188 is: CROP.

Thus is appears that CROP has been discontinued, unless it is covered by
another budget elsewhere, but I have gone through the whole set of
accounts with a fine tooth-comb, project by project and not found any
mention of CROP or its various denominations.

I gather that the ALAC will wish to comment about this and seek
clarification as to whether this budget item has been slashed when in
FY18 it was explicitly deemed to be so successful that it was leaving
the "pilot program" stage and be integrated to the main budget. If CROP
was indeed ended, I gather that the ALAC would also complain about
ICANN's lack of official announcement about this, especially in light of
the Additional Budget Requests deadline now having closed. It just does
not sound like a proper way to work with the community.

If CROP was ended, I would also recommend that the ALAC seeks a joint
statement with the other communities that have benefited from CROP. I am
aware of at least one community that is equally unhappy about the way
this appears to have been handled.

Kindest regards,


Olivier