Q&A SFOP0005968.pdf

U.S. Department of State

Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI)

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Questions and Answers

Funding Opportunity Number SFOP0005968

1. It is mentioned in the NOFO that the successful candidate would need to provide rapid response travel support and logistics to identified civilian government representatives. Will S/CCI identify the stakeholders, or will the successful candidate be able to identify stakeholders for both the training and logistical support?

S/CCI will identify the stakeholders for both the training and logistical support aspects of the program.

2. If identification of stakeholders should be integrated into the project: The NOFO defines target audience as ‘foreign assistance eligible civilian government officials’.

Does S/CCI have any additional criteria that will need to be taken into account in the process of identifying relevant stakeholders (e.g. priority countries, seniority, capital / mission-based)?

S/CCI will identify the stakeholders for both the training and logistical support aspects of the program. S/CCI does not have any specific countries identified at this time. However, S/CCI expects to prioritize countries from the following regions: sub-

Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

3. Does S/CCI have a target number of stakeholders you would like involved in this program?

No. It is up to the applicant to determine the number of stakeholders that can be supported with the funding amount made available for this award. S/CCI recommends applicants first determine the amount of funds required to accomplish project objectives b and c (Develop and Deliver Online Training Course, and Impact

Evaluations) and then determine the number of stakeholders that can be supported based on the remaining funding.

4. Does S/CCI have a target/indicative number of events that should be planned for during this program?

S/CCI will be prioritizing sessions related to the UNGA 1st Committee OEWG process and the GGE’s regional and informal consultations, and estimates between 3-

5 events.

5. The NOFO refers to the development and delivery of an online training program.

Would complementary offline training activities be permissible?

At this time, S/CCI is prioritizing the development and delivery of an online training program.

6. The NOFO mentions that the project should last between 2 - 3 years. Does S/CCI have any processes, apart from the UNGA 1st Committee GGE and OWEG processes, that should be integrated into the project design that may affect the timeframe?

S/CCI will be prioritizing the UNGA 1st Committee cyber processes for this project.

Given that some UNGA 1st Committee issues may be raised in other UN venues, S/CCI would like the flexibility to use this project to support engagement in other

UN-related processes and events, such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), that include cyber issues depending on the availability of funds.

7. Are there any restrictions for hiring external consultants to deliver elements of the project?

There are no restrictions with hiring external consultants to deliver elements of the project.

8. The NOFO stipulates that S/CCI will approve the content of the training course before the online training course is to be published and delivered to the target audience. Could S/CCI provide more information about how this approval process would work? In particular, we are interested in understanding what level of input

S/CCI would have in the content of the training materials.

S/CCI expects to have initial conversations with the Recipient about the reference materials, scope, and level of detail of the online training course and would review drafts of the training materials. S/CCI will provide some reference materials to the

Recipient for their use in preparing the online course. Please note that this funding opportunity is for a cooperative agreement, which is distinguished from a grant in that it provides for substantial involvement between the Federal awarding agency and the non-federal entity carrying out the activity. As such, S/CCI will have substantial involvement on the content development of this training course.

9. The NOFO stipulates that for-profit and commercial entities are ineligible to apply.

Are social purpose companies able to apply if program income is in line with 2 CFR

200.307?

Social purpose companies earn a profit, and therefore are ineligible to apply as a prime recipient.

10. The description states "The purpose of this award is to support travel, lodging and other logistics for civilian government officials to participate...". Our organization does not include any civilian government officials, are we eligible to apply?

Implementers are not expected to travel for this program. The travel is for selected foreign government officials to participate in pre-existing events.

11. In the call for proposals for the Strengthening International Engagement on

Security in Cyberspace, the requirement under part a) reads: “As needed, the

Recipient will manage local travel, visa fees, and other related expenses for participants and arrange for travel of foreign experts to select key engagements,…”

Could you please clarify the notion of “manage’? Is the Recipient to budget a portion of the $500,000 award to cover the expenses involved in the travel or is the award budget meant to support the logistical support processes (booking etc.), but the funds for the actual travel will be paid through a different DoS fund? If the answer is the former, is there a projected amount that must be set aside for the travel support portion of this grant relative to the grant costs for the training module and staff support.

The Recipient will be expected to budget a portion of the award to cover expenses involved with travel, lodging and other logistical arrangements. As reflected in the funding opportunity, the recipient will be responsible for arranging air travel, accommodations, visas, and other related logistical expenses for target beneficiaries.

There will be no additional or different DoS funds will be set aside specifically for these travel and logistics related arrangements. .

12. How many meetings are anticipated?

S/CCI anticipates 3 to 5 events.

13. Will these meetings be distributed between NY and Geneva?

As described in funding opportunity, these meetings will be distributed between New

York, Geneva, Washington D.C., and other to-be-identified international locations hosting regional conferences related to the UN Cyber processes.

14. What is the anticipated range of attendance at each meeting?

As described in the funding opportunity, the target audience for this program are foreign assistance eligible civilian government officials. It is up to the applicant to determine the number of officials that they would be able to support to participate in these meetings.

15. How long are the meetings?

The official meetings of the OEWG run for five days. UN GGE-related regional consultations run for one to three days.

16. Is there a date range will these meetings take place?

The UN GGE and OEWG sessions will occur between September 2019 and Summer

2021. Given this timeline, S/CCI expects the date range for this program to run as early as Fall 2019 to Summer 2021, with the first target opportunities for beneficiaries to be the December 2019 events in New York related to the UN GGE and the OEWG.

17. When would the online course first be distributed to civilian government officials and other relevant professionals? Can the course be done in tranches?

S/CCI defers to the applicant to make this decision on timing, though the course should be able to be completed in one session. Ideally, the online training course should be designed as an orientation for target beneficiaries before their participation in these meetings.

18. How many hours should it take for the average course recipient to complete the course?

S/CCI defers to the applicant to make this decision.

19. Should the course be designed to be completed in one session or multiple sessions?

The course should be designed to be completed in one session.

20. The NOFO lists pre- and post- surveys as part of the ‘Impact Evaluation’ for the program. Will these surveys be distributed to both recipients of the online course and non-recipients to establish a baseline?

The surveys should be distributed to the recipients of the online course.

21. How often should the online course be updated to reflect developments in UN negotiations

We do not expect the online course to need substantial updates during the program duration but minor updates may be needed on a case-by-case basis.

22. We are a 501 (c) (6). Are we eligible to apply for this opportunity?

If your organization does not earn a profit and meets the other criteria defined in

Section C.1 of the NOFO, you are eligible to apply. If your organization engages in lobbying activities, you are required to submit form SF-LLL as part of your application.

23. Which of the following is the focus of the online course? 1) “Core U.S. cyber policy concepts” (Project Description – NOFO Page 1); or 2_“Components of the GGE reports, history of GGE, summary of other UN actions” (Project Objective - NOFO

Page 3); or 3) Both.

As stated in the funding opportunity, potential topics in the online training course could include, but are not limited to:

o Components of the international stability framework on cyberspace, articulated in the UN GGE reports, and related UN documents that have been welcomed by all

UN members;

o History of the UN GGE and other processes related to international security cyber issues;

o Summary of other UN actions/processes related to non-security cyber issues (e.g.

Internet governance, Cybercrime, and Internet freedom).

24. Being this research responsibility totally new to me , do you have any suggestions on how to narrow the searches for grants for all applicable criteria within the cybersecurity and information security realm?

S/CCI is only answering questions related to the content of the NOFO, not general questions about grant opportunities.