LOS ANGELES - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization (org) announced in a press release that it has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking to identify vendors interested in providing services in support of the ICANN Grant Program.
Through the Grant Program, proceeds from the auctions of last resort in the 2012 New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program will be distributed. This program is being designed with best practices at the forefront, yet because this is a new program for ICANN, there is a need for external vendors with a proven track record of expertise in the grant-making field to support this work. This RFI will be conducted with the objective of maximizing the benefit for the program, while offering vendors a fair and equitable opportunity to participate. Elements such as cost of services and experience will be considered in the selection of vendors.
The program will operate in a series of grant cycles until the proceeds are depleted. For each cycle an allocated portion of available proceeds will be made available for grants. Each cycle includes, at a minimum:
• Development (or confirmation) of application materials;
• Receipt of applications;
• Validation of applications or applicants meeting eligibility criteria;
• Evaluation of application by an Independent Application Assessment Panel; recommendation of a slate of applications to the ICANN Board of Directors;
• Board consideration of the slate of applications;
• Contracting and disbursement of grants; auditing and reporting on grants as appropriate; and
• Evaluation of cycle to determine if future modifications are needed.
ICANN org is looking for vendors that may be able to offer services in some or all of the following areas. This would include:
• Assembling and managing the Independent Application Assessment Panel;
• Conducting eligibility checks of applications received;
• Offering or managing components of grant management software to handle applications (throughout the lifecycle of applications), and possible inquiries from activities of the applicant, to audit and report on granted applications, and/or to conduct process or cycle evaluations for future improvements, as needed.
This RFI will be followed by a separate Request for Proposal, using the same sourcing tool. The RFI is open to the public, i.e., anyone may provide a response. The goal of the RFI is to identify competent providers that can provide services for some or all areas mentioned above. Thereafter, a separate open and public RFP will be conducted to perform more comprehensive evaluations. Evaluations from bids received during the RFP will ideally result in the selection of providers.
Indications of interest should be emailed to The-Grant-Program-RFI@icann.org and include the following information:
• Company name
• Contact person name
• Contact person e-mail address
By submitting your personal data, you agree that your personal data will be processed in accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy and agree to abide by the electronic Terms of Service.
Responses should be electronically submitted using ICANN's sourcing tool by 23:59 UTC on 5 May 2023 at the latest. Access to this tool may be requested via the same email.