[ncc-services-wg] RIPE NCC New Activities for 2005

Dear Colleagues,

[apologies for duplicates]

Please find attached a list of new RIPE NCC activities scheduled
for 2005 and activities that represent a significant change in resource
allotment from 2004.

We provide this list as a follow-up to my presentations in
the RIPE NCC Services Working Group and at the RIPE NCC
General Meeting, in May of this year.

By no means is this intended as a representation of the full
2005 Activity Plan or precise associated cost. Instead, this
early in the process it is meant primarily to foster discussion
and feedback from you to us and the Executive Board to aid our
planning and production of the final Activity Plan, Budget and
Charging Scheme documents.

We envisage a comment period of about four weeks, after which
we will commence production of the draft Activity Plan and Budget
documents that we will publish in good time prior to the RIPE NCC
General Meeting in September (we are aiming for a publication date
at the end of August). Based on discussions at the RIPE NCC Services
Working Group, the General Meeting, and the respective mailing lists,
the Executive Board will formally approve the final Activity Plan and
Budget 2005 documents in Q3'2004.

According to the revised Articles of Association the members
will be formally asked to approve the Charging Scheme 2005 at
the General Meeting in September. This document will be published
four weeks in advance of the GM according to the formal requirements.

I hope personally that the coming weeks will show a further increase
in membership involvement in the production of these documents,
setting the course for our work over the next year.

Regards,

Axel Pawlik

PS As I am currently on family holidays, my participation in
the discussion might be sparse for the next 10 days.


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New Activities for 2005

For each of the new activities listed below a description is
provided as well as an assessment of its financial impact on
resources.

The following ranges are used to show the financial impact and
relative weight of the proposed new activities.

Fractional	0 - 50 kEUR
Small		50 - 100 kEUR
Moderate	100 - 200 kEUR
Significant	200 - 400 kEUR
Substantial	> 400 kEUR


1) RIPE NCC Member Service Desk

Feedback received from RIPE NCC Members has revealed a need to
consolidate the communication channels members can use to contact
the RIPE NCC. To achieve this, the RIPE NCC will create the
RIPE NCC Member Service Desk, a convenient single point of contact
that will be available through direct email and phone contact.
Email will remain the primary means of communication.

The aim of the RIPE NCC Member Service Desk is to improve the ease
and efficiency with which members can interact with the RIPE NCC.
The desk will cover Internet number resource requests and related
issues involving RIPE NCC Hostmaster, RIPE Database and RIPE NCC
billing queries. This will be in addition to the regular service
requests handled by the RIPE NCC Hostmasters and RIPE DBM.

The possibility of contacting the RIPE NCC Member Service Desk by
both PSTN and IP(VOIP) will be investigated and prepared.

Dependent on feedback from RIPE NCC Members, the scope of the
RIPE NCC Member Service Desk may be expanded in the long term.

Financial Impact: Significant (200 - 400 kEUR)


2) Further Deployment of Mirror Instances of the K-root Nameserver

The RIPE NCC will continue to deploy mirror instances of the
K-root nameserver. This will further improve the distribution,
redundancy and performance of this crucial service as well as
its resilience against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. In 2005
the RIPE NCC will continue deployment of local nodes in the
RIPE NCC service region, which will be done on a cost recovery basis.
The RIPE NCC will also deploy several (2-3) global nodes in
North America and Asia-Pacific. Most of the costs of global node
deployment will be covered by the RIPE NCC.

Financial Impact: Significant (200 - 400 kEUR)


3) Improving Data Integrity

In 2005 the RIPE NCC will focus efforts on improving the accuracy,
integrity and consistency of data related to Internet number resources.
Mechanisms will be established to ensure higher quality data in the
long term, decreasing discrepancies and incorrect contact details and
thus increasing the speed at which requests and disputes can be
resolved. The improved integrity of data will benefit the Internet
community by increasing the reliability of using registration data
in the daily operations of LIRs and ISPs.

Financial Impact: Moderate (100 - 200 kEUR)


4) Developing New Training Methods

To adapt the training offered by the RIPE NCC to the differing
needs of the audience, new training methods will be developed,
particularly focusing on online training.

The intention is to reach a broader audience, particularly those
who are unable to attend RIPE NCC training courses due to geographical,
financial, scheduling or other constraints. Offering more accessible
training will help members to send better-prepared requests to the
RIPE NCC Hostmasters. This aims to ensure a more timely completion of
allocation requests.

In addition, the RIPE NCC will develop new forms of training to
specifically target non-traditional audiences such as journalists,
politicians and administrators. This is a logical progression of the
RIPE NCC's outreach efforts developed over previous years. The aim is
to encourage well-informed decisions and to win continued support for
the existing RIR framework.

Financial Impact: Small (50 - 100 kEUR)


5) Membership Survey

The RIPE NCC will commission an independent member and stakeholder
survey, similar to the survey conducted by KPMG in 2002. Based on
the results of this survey and in close interaction with the members
and stakeholders, the RIPE NCC will continue to improve its operational
quality and organisational structure.

Financial Impact: Small (50 - 100 kEUR)


6) Cross Registry Information Service Protocol (CRISP)

Responding to requests from the community for a standard, uniform
global view of Internet Number Resources, the RIPE NCC will continue to
participate in the IETF process to develop the Cross Registry Information
Service Protocol. In 2005, the RIPE NCC will provide server implementation
and client tools, while co-ordinating with other server operators,
client tool authors, and service providers to encourage use.

Financial Impact: Small (50 - 100 kEUR)


7) Deployment of Anti-SPAM Measures and SPAM Abuse Policies

The RIPE NCC will deploy technical facilities to minimise the effect
of SPAM and SPAM abuse towards the RIPE NCC and the mailing lists
it provides for members and the RIPE community.

Financial Impact: Fractional (0 - 50 kEUR)

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