Minutes 55th Executive Board Meeting

Author: Paul Rendek
Date: 2007/01/24

Document: RIPENCC-EBD304

Revision No.: 1.2
Status: Final

Maintainer: Sabine Mader

Attendees:
Dmitry Burkov, ICANN Liaison
Kees Neggers, Chairman
Jim Reid, Member
Nigel Titley, Secretary
Janos Zsako, Treasurer

Sabine Mader, Assistant to the Managing Director, RIPE NCC
Axel Pawlik, Managing Director, RIPE NCC
Paul Rendek, Head of Member Services & Comms., RIPE NCC

Guests:
Rob Blokzijl for agenda item 6.
Frode Greisen for agenda item 6.1 via telephone conference.
Jochem de Ruig for agenda item 5.

Agenda:

1. Agenda / Comments
1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points
1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, #54
1.3 Date of Next Meetings
(proposed: week 12 or 13, 2007; Wed, 9 May 2007, RIPE 55, Tallinn)
2. Action Items (see separate document)
3. Report from the RIPE NCC
4. Approval of Activity Plan 2007
5. Approval of Budget 2007
6. External Relations
6.1 ICANN / IANA
6.2 NRO
6.3 RIPE
7. Personnel Fund
8. AOB
8.1 GM Minutes
9. Executive Session: Results of HayGroup Benchmarking of MD's Salary.

Kees Neggers, RIPE NCC Chairman opened the meeting at 13:00.

1. Agenda / Comments

1.1 Apologies, New Agenda Points

No new agenda points were proposed.

1.2 Approval of Previous Minutes, #54

The Board approved the minutes of the 53rd and 54th RIPE NCC Executive Board meeting.

1.3 Date of Next Meetings

Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 13:00 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Lunch served at 12:00

Wednesday, 9 May 2007, 12:00 - Tallinn, Estonia, Room TBD

2. Action Items

The Board reviewed outstanding action items.

3. Report from the RIPE NCC

Axel provided a short summary of the RIPE NCC report that was published to the Executive Board prior to the Executive Board meeting. He noted that he had forwarded the auditor's letter regarding the RIPE NCC interim audit.

4. Approval of Activity Plan 2007

The Board discussed the draft Activity Plan 2007. The Board asked that the RIPE NCC include the completion of the Business Continuity Plan as an item in the Activity Plan 2007.

Axel explained that he has a draft Business Continuity Plan and that consultants are being hired to perform a sanity check and give any guidance to ensure a solid plan. The delivery of a Business Continuity Plan is planned for Q1 2007.

Resolution: "The RIPE NCC Board approves the Activity Plan 2007 provided that the 'Business Continuity Plan' is added as an activity item."

5. Approval of Budget 2007

Jochem proposed a new reporting structure to align the RIPE NCC reporting in accordance with best current accounting practices to improve transparency and clarity of the financial reports. This new set-up was discussed with the auditors. The set-up separates the interest income that RIPE NCC receives from the expenses. In addition, it clearly divides the operational expenses from other expenses such as depreciation and bad debts.

Resolution: "The RIPE NCC Board approves the Budget 2007 as presented in the new format."

The Board discussed the 3 year forecast statement of income and expenditure. The Board asked Axel to continue developing the document including activities and strategies foreseen in this period.

6. External Relations

6.1 ICANN / IANA

Frode Greisen joined the meeting via telephone. Kees asked Frode to provide a summary of developments surrounding the ICANN/IANA contact.
Frode reviewed the state of discussions in the RIRs' negotiators' group. Frode commented that after following the developments he recommends that the RIPE NCC agree that the framework would be that the contract would be signed by the NRO and all of the RIRs. The goal is to have the RIR position ready in January.

The Board concluded that the RIPE NCC position in regards to the NRO and its scope has not changed. The Board agreed that the RIRs should sign the ICANN agreement and that the NRO could co-sign. It was stated that the relationships of the RIR and NRO organisations and ICANN would need to be clearly outlined in the agreement.

The Board discussed the role of the NRO. The Board requested a review of the goals and scope of the NRO and asked that they be clearly defined and documented. It was stated that the role for the NRO might be different now than the time it was established.
A review of the NRO website was suggested to remove any language that could be seen as potentially offensive to industry partners.

6.2 NRO

This agenda item was covered in section 6.1

6.3 RIPE

Rob provided an update on RIPE and plans for future meetings. Meeting venues are scheduled through to the end of year 2008. Rob also mentioned that there was an interest to have a RIPE meeting in the Middle East. He confirmed that any further developments would be reported to the Executive Board.

No questions were brought forward.

7. Personnel Fund

Kees provided an update from the Personnel Fund Board meeting. He stated that the Personnel Fund Board was flexible on the issue of resolving the Personnel Fund; the Personnel Fund Board asked that a Business Continuity Plan be put in place to replace the members' benefits aspects of the Personnel Fund. He confirmed that no change to the Personnel Fund would take place until the Business Continuity Plan was implemented.

The Board discussed the progress of the Business Continuity Plan. It was agreed that the following work needs to be carried out:

1. The RIPE NCC must complete the Business Continuity Plan

2. The Board must produce a proposal to change the relationship of the Personnel Fund Board in order to resolve the Personnel Fund

The Board asked for the production of a draft agreement between the RIPE NCC and the Personnel Fund in preparation to dissolve the Personnel Fund.

8. AOB

8.1 GM Minutes

The Board discussed the style and level of detail of the GM minutes. It was agreed that non-verbatim text was preferred with reference to specific points raised. The points raised would not be attributed to any person unless explicitly requested.

8.2 RIPE NCC Legal Guidance

Dmitry brought forward a known highly qualified international lawyer that could be consulted when necessary. It was said that the lawyer was very well versed in Internet Governance issues and therefore could be useful for the RIPE NCC.

9. Executive Session: Results of HayGroup Benchmarking of MD's Salary.

The Board discussed the results of the benchmarking of the MD's salary.

Kees Neggers, RIPE NCC Chairman, closed the meeting at 15:45.