Request for Proposals

To Host APRICOT2001

February 12^th-16^th or

February 26^th-March 2^nd, 2001

http://www.apricot.net

Index

Executive Summary........................................................................................................................... 4

1.) Introduction................................................................................................................................. 7

1.1) Purpose of this Request for Proposal....................................................................................... 7

1.2) Introduction to APRICOT...................................................................................................... 7

1.3) APRICOT Organisation.......................................................................................................... 9

2.) APRICOT Structure.................................................................................................................. 10

2.1) Tutorials............................................................................................................................... 10

2.2) Conference........................................................................................................................... 11

2.3) Birds-Of-A-Feather Meetings............................................................................................... 11

2.4) AP* Meetings....................................................................................................................... 12

2.5) Social Activities.................................................................................................................... 12

3.0) APRICOT Requirements......................................................................................................... 15

3.1) Date for APRICOT2001...................................................................................................... 15

3.2) Venue for the Conference..................................................................................................... 15

3.3) Audio Visual......................................................................................................................... 16

3.4) Accomodation and Travel..................................................................................................... 16

3.5) Terminal Room..................................................................................................................... 16

3.6) Financial............................................................................................................................... 16

3.7) Tax Considerations............................................................................................................... 17

3.8) Insurance.............................................................................................................................. 17

3.9) Food.................................................................................................................................... 17

3.10) Promotion & Sponsorship................................................................................................... 17

3.11) Visas & Work Permits........................................................................................................ 17

4.0) Selection Criteria...................................................................................................................... 17

5.0) Selection Process and Deadlines............................................................................................... 18

5.1) Request For Proposals.......................................................................................................... 18

5.2) Expressions of Interest.......................................................................................................... 18

5.3) Submission of Proposal......................................................................................................... 18

5.3.1) Proposal Format............................................................................................................ 18

5.4) Proposal Clarification Period................................................................................................. 18

5.5) Final Decision....................................................................................................................... 18

6.0) Contents of Proposals.............................................................................................................. 19

6.1) Executive Summary............................................................................................................... 19

6.2) Proposed Venue................................................................................................................... 19

6.3) History and Background to Local Internet Industry................................................................ 19

6.4) Benefits of Hosting APRICOT in your Economy.................................................................... 19

6.5) Background to the Organisation(s) submitting the Proposal.................................................... 19

6.6) Financial Considerations........................................................................................................ 19

6.7) Promotion and Sponsorship.................................................................................................. 19

6.8) Contact Person..................................................................................................................... 19

6.9) Appendix and Supporting Documentation.............................................................................. 19

7) Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 20

APPENDIX A: History of Past APRICOTs (1996-1999)............................................................... 21

APPENDIX B: APRICOT Attendee Country Profile....................................................................... 23

Index of Tables

Table 1: Summary of Previous APRICOTs........................................................................................ 8

Table 2: Summary of the APRICOT week showing the tentative schedule, initial room estimates and seating style 13

Table 3: The APRICOT Week at a Glance (Tentative Schedule)...................................................... 14

Table 4: Summary Table of APRICOT Requirements....................................................................... 15

Index of Charts

Chart 1: APRICOT Attendance By Year........................................................................................... 9

Executive Summary

“Our mission is to develop and advance the skills and understanding necessary to grow a robust Internet infrastructure in the Asia Pacific”

Executive Summary

This is the Request For Proposals (RFP) to host the prestigious APRICOT conference in your economy in 2001 -- please circulate it to other relevant parties.

Since 1996, APRICOT has provided a unique and successful educational forum for Internet builders in the region to learn from their peers and other leaders in the Internet community from around the world.

APRICOT has now clearly established itself as Asia Pacific’s premier regional Internet Summit where related organizations come together to meet and host their annual general meetings.

The key benefit in attending APRICOT is to synchronize local and regional activities with the rapid developments in the wider Internet in an objective manner that distinguishes between operational realities and marketing 'hype'.

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Host Country	Singapore	Hong Kong	Philippines	Singapore	Seoul
No. of Attendees	280	630	320	632	500-800*
No. of Countries Represented	18	25	24	25	25*
No. of Sponsors	10	27	18	19	19*

[Note: Figures for APRICOT2001 are current estimate figures]

There are 5 parts to the structure of events during the APRICOT week. The tentative schedule is as follows:-

1. Tutorials 6-8 Tutorials Per Day over 2 days (Mon, Tues)

2. Conference 3 Track Conference over three days (Wed, Thurs, Fri)

3. Birds-Of-A-Feather Meetings Evenings Meetings over two days (Wed, Thurs)

4. AP* (AP ‘Star’) Meetings Throughout the Week

5. Social Activities Opening Reception Tuesday Evening

Lunches (Wed, Thurs, Fri)

Closing Social Friday Evening.

APRICOT's success is largely due to the excellence of its no-nonsense programme that is focused on Internet operational issues (i.e. issues surrounding the smooth day-to-day operation of Internet-based networks and services).

Whilst it is appreciated that there is a natural desire for each successive APRICOT to be bigger and better than the previous one, APRICOT is primarily a conference with an educational objective. The primary desire is to bring the knowledge required to those that can benefit most from such knowledge.

As such, organisations from a wide spectrum of economies are encouraged to submit a proposal to host APRICOT if there is an expressed desire that such knowledge will be of substantial benefit to the local Internet industry.

It is currently estimated that there will be around 450 people attending APRICOT2001.

Requirement	Summary
Date for APRICOT2001	· February 12^th- 16^th or 26^th-March 2^nd, 2001
Venue	· University, Center for Education, Hotel, Convention Center that can accommodate the room requirements (see Table 2 pg. 13)
Audio Visual	· Standard A/V Requirements: · i.e.Over-Head Projection (OHP), Screen and Markers · LCD Projection (VGA/SVGA) · Microphone · Flipchart, Wyte-Board and Markers
Accommodation & Travel	· Largest Cost to APRICOT Delegates · Good range of accommodation in different price categories
Terminal Room	· 20-30 UNIX/Windows PCs · 30 Ethernet Connections for Laptops (10-baseT) · Routers and Hubs for LAN and WAN · Internet Connectivity
Financial	· Ability to cover the costs of the APRICOT tutorial, BoF and Conference Rooms · Ability to establish a separate set of accounts for APRICOT2001
Tax Considerations	· Ability to address Tax requirements/exemptions in host economy
Insurance	· Insurance Coverage for Venue
Food	· Vegetarian Food should be catered for
Promotion & Sponsorship	· Ability to widely promote APRICOT2001 in host economy
Visas & Work Permits	· Letter of invitation for delegates and instructors (If required) · Application for Entry Visa for Delegates (if required) · Application for necessary Work Permits for Tutorial Presenters (if applicable)

The APRICOT2001 RFP selection process is comprised of 5 phases:

1. Request for Proposals (This document) - 21^st December 1999

2. Expressions of Interest - on or before 14^th January 2000

3. Submission of Proposal - on or before 28^th January 2000

4. Proposal Clarifying Period - before February 11^th , 2000

5. Final Decision - on or before February 18^th 2000.

All correspondence should be addressed to apricot-rfp@apricot.net.

If you intend to submit a proposal to host APRICOT 2001, please send an expression of interest via email to apricot-rfp@apricot.net no later than 14^th January 2000.

The proposal itself should also be sent via email to apricot-rfp@apricot.net no later than 28^th January. Proposals should be submitted in the any of the following formats:-

1. ASCII

2. Rich Text Format

3. Adobe Portable Document Format

4. Microsoft Word

Details of what your proposal should contain are detailed in Section 6.0 of the main document.

The following Request for Proposals provides an opportunity to host APRICOT in your economy in 2001 and we look forward to answering any remaining questions that you might have and to reading your proposal in due course.

Thank you for your interest in hosting APRICOT!

-------------o0o-------------

APRICOT2001 Request for Proposals

This brief 23-page document provides an introduction the APRICOT2001 Request for Proposals (RFP), together with the background to the event, its structure and requirements. Details of the selection criteria, the selection process and deadlines, as well as the content that proposals should contain are also provided for your information.

Any clarifying questions or correspondence should be sent to apricot-rfp@apricot.net

1.) Introduction

1.1) Purpose of this Request for Proposal

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit proposals from parties that are interested in hosting the annual Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT) in the year 2001.

There are two proposed dates for APRICOT 2001. They are the weeks of either February 12-16^th or February 26^th-March 2^rd, 2001. These two ranges of date were carefully selected to accommodate a busy calendar of events in the region, as well as make allowances for major holidays.

Details of the selection process and deadlines are addressed in section 5.0 (pg. 18)

The specific contents that proposals should contain are covered in section 6.0 (pg. 19)

All correspondence should be sent to apricot-rfp@apricot.net

1.2) Introduction to APRICOT

Since 1996, APRICOT has provided a unique and successful educational forum for Internet builders in the region to learn from their peers and other leaders in the Internet community from around the world.

APRICOT has now clearly established itself as Asia Pacific’s premier regional Internet Summit where related organizations come together to meet and host their annual general meetings and other special events.

e.g.

Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (www.apnic.net)

Asia & Pacific Internet Association (www.apia.org)

Asia Pacific Networking Group (www.apng.org)

Asia Pacific Policy and Legal Forum (www.apng.org/apple)

Asia Pacific Top-Level Domain Forum (www.aptld.org) etc.

The intense week-long summit consists of seminars, workshops, tutorials, conference sessions and birds-of-a-feather (BOFs) meetings that have the following two goals :-

1) spreading and sharing the knowledge required for the operational stability and development of the Internet within the Asia Pacific region.

2) developing affinity groups that foster mutual support throughout the year.

APRICOT's success was largely due to the excellence of its no-nonsense programme that is focused on Internet operational issues (i.e. issues surrounding the smooth day-to-day operation of Internet-based networks and services). It is concerned with bringing true subject matter experts from around the world, together with those who can benefit most from their knowledge and experience.

APRICOT’s targets those individuals that directly impact the operational deployment and stability of Internet protocol (IP)-based networks and services. These are namely network operators and engineers, senior executives and regulators.

One of the fundamental principles of APRICOT presentations has been its vendor neutral objectiveness that provides for informed opinion. As such, APRICOT is not a marketing or sales-orientated conference and it is known that it highly discourages blatant sales or promotional activities within the conference itself.

In essence, APRICOT creates a neutral educational forum that provides for frank discussions on the skills, policies and technologies that are critical for the smooth operation of the Internet’s network and service infrastructure both regionally and internationally.

APRICOT has a one-year technology horizon. This means to say that APRICOT is involved with those technologies that are either at the heart of today's Internet or those that are very likely to see operational deployment within the next 12 months.

The key benefit in attending APRICOT is to synchronize local and regional activities with the rapid developments in the wider Internet in an objective manner that distinguishes between operational realities and marketing 'hype'.

As APRICOT is only organised once a year, special attention is given to the creation of affinity groups that foster mutual support throughout the year. During the year, these affinity groups play a key role as a source of knowledge and experience.

Table 1: Summary of Previous APRICOTs

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Host Country	Singapore	Hong Kong	Philippines	Singapore	Seoul
No. of Attendees	280	630	320	632	500*
No. of Countries Represented	18	25	24	25	25*
No. of Sponsors	10	27	18	19	19*

[Note: Figures for APRICOT2001 are current estimate figures]

Chart 1: APRICOT Attendance By Year

1.3) APRICOT Organisation

APRICOT was initiated as project of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (www.apnic.net). APNIC is the Asia Pacific’s Regional Internet Registry and is responsible for the coordinated administration of the region’s Internet Protocol (IP) address space.

The first three APRICOTs were primarily organized by APNIC (1996,1997,1998) together with individual volunteers.

However in 1999, APRICOT’99 was organised by the APRICOT Executive Committee. This large committee was comprised of volunteers from various AP* (pronounced AP ‘star’) organisations (APNIC, APIA, APNG, APPLE and APTLD) as well as individuals.

APRICOT’99 was awarded to the Singapore Computer Society (www.scs.org.sg) that helped run a very successful event that produced a financial surplus. This financial surplus will be used to put APRICOT on a firm footing to allow it to continue in a consistent manner. This is being done through the formation of a joint AP* Secretariat by the end of 1999.

Five very strong proposals were received for hosting APRICOT2000. Proposals were received from the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Korea and Hong Kong. After considerable discussion, the APRICOT2000 Executive Committee awarded APRICOT2000 to Seoul, Korea (see http://www.apricot2000.ne.kr )

The winning proposal for APRICOT2000 was submitted by:-

· Korea Network Information Center (KRNIC)

· National Computerization Agency (NCA)

· Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)

· Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

· Open Systems Infrastructure Association (OSIA)

· Inet, Inc.

The Ministry of Information and Communication in Seoul will also honourably host APRICOT2000.

For APRICOT2001, a Selection Committee was formed and is comprised of the following volunteers:-

1. Chu Hwan Yim

2. Ole Jacobsen

3. Paul Wilson

4. Pindar Wong

5. Shigeki Goto

6. Gabriel Accascina

7. Tan Tin Wee

2.) APRICOT Structure

There are 5 parts to the structure of events during the APRICOT week: The tentative schedule is as follows:-

1. Tutorials 6-8 Tutorials Per Day over 2 days (Mon, Tues)

2. Conference 3 Track Conference over three days (Wed, Thurs, Fri)

3. Birds-Of-A-Feather Meetings Evenings Meetings over two days (Wed, Thurs)

4. AP* (AP ‘Star’) Meetings Throughout the Week

5. Social Activities Opening Reception Tuesday Evening

Lunches (Wed, Thurs, Fri)

Closing Social Friday Evening.

See Tables 2 and 3 for a summary and overview of the APRICOT Week.

It is currently estimated that there will be around 450 people attending APRICOT2001.

2.1) Tutorials

Tutorials are hosted during the first two days of the APRICOT week (i.e. the Monday and Tuesday). Typically there are 6-8 tutorials given per day, with each involving an instructor that provides a one-day tutorial on a given subject. Some instructors provide tutorials on a revenue-sharing basis.

Each tutorial should have seating for up to 50 people classroom style.

Previous tutorial subjects have included :-

1. Advanced Internet Routing

2. Building and Running an ISP

3. Co-location, Hosting & Application Services

4. Deploying Cable Modems/xDSL

5. Deploying Wireless by Dewayne Hendricks

6. Encryption and Firewalls

7. Internet QoS & Traffic Mgmt

8. Internet Regulation & Policy

9. Internet Security

10. Internet Telephony

11. Introduction to Internet Routing

12. IP V6 IP and ATM by Scott Bradner

13. LAN/WAN Technologies overview

14. Linux & Open Source for ISPs

15. Promoting Routability

16. Scaling Internet Services

17. Sendmail by Eric Allman

18. SPAM

19. System Administration for ISPs by Barbara Dijker

20. TCP/IP & Network Programming:

21. The Domain Name System and Bind by Paul Vixie

22. Unix Power Tools I by Evi Nemeth

23. Unix Power Tools II

24. Using Satellites

25. Virtual Private Networks

26. WWW Caching and Web Server Techniques

2.2) Conference

The APRICOT conference is hosted after the tutorials.

At the beginning of each day of the conference, there is a plenary session for all delegates.

APRICOT has a three-track conference that lasts for three days (i.e. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). Alternatively, a four-track conference over two days may be proposed.

There are two specialised technical tracks per day (technical track 1 and technical track 2) with the third track addressing a different subject each day – specifically business issues, educational issues and policy issues.

Each conference track should have seating for up to 150-200 people in theatre style.

Note: If you anticipate that there will be greater than 450 delegates attending, the conference rooms will need to be expanded accordingly. However, it should be noted, that is becomes difficult to achieve the second goal APRICOT (development of affinity groups) should more than 800 delegates attend.

2.3) Birds-Of-A-Feather Meetings

Birds-Of-A-Feather Meetings, otherwise known as BOFs, are informal meetings conducted in the evenings at the end of the Wednesday and Thursday conference days. None are held on the last day of the conference, so as not to clash with the APRICOT Closing Social Event.

The purpose of the BOFs are for like-minded individuals to gather and discuss a give topic in detail.

There are three BOFs held on Wednesday night and another three BOFs held on the Thursday night.

Each BOF should have seating capacity for 50 people in theatre style.

2.4) AP* Meetings

APRICOT has grown to become the leading event around which various regional Internet associations and groups host their annual general meetings (AGMs) and special events. E.g. the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, Asia Pacific Networking Group, Asia & Pacific Internet Association, Asia Pacific Policy and Legal Forum, Asia Pacific Top-Level Domain Forum etc.

These meetings are hosted throughout the APRICOT week and have different meeting requirements.

In general, rooms with seating capacities of 50-70 people in theatre style are required.

2.5) Social Activities

One of APRICOT’s goals is to foster the development of various affinity groups. These are social networks that are used during the year between APRICOTs to share knowledge and understanding.

As such, APRICOT social activities play an important role in cementing these affinity groups. The social activities comprises three series of events:-

1. The Opening Reception Cocktail Reception for Delegates on the Tuesday night.

2. Lunches On the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

3. Closing Social Event Social event on the Friday night.

The social events are commercially sponsored.

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
DayTime	APNG General Meeting 1 Room x 50 People Theatre Style	APTLD General Meeting 1 Room x 70 People Theatre Style	APIA General Meeting 1 Room x 50 People Theatre Style	APRICOT Opening Plenary 1 Room x 450 People Theater Style	APRICOT Opening Plenary 1 Room x 450People Theater Style	APRICOT Opening Plenary 1 Room x 450 People Theater Style	APNIC AGM Address Supporting Organisation Meeting 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style
				APRICOT Technical Track 1 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Technical Track 1 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Technical Track 1 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style
		APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms x 50 People Classroom Style	APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms x 50 People Classroom Style	APRICOT Technical Track 2 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Technical Track 2 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Technical Track 2 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style
				APRICOT Business Track 3 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Education Track 3 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style	APRICOT Policy Track 3 1 Room x 150 People Theater Style
Evening			APRICOT Opening Reception For 300 People	APRICOT Birds-Of-a-Feather (BOF) Meetings 3 Rooms x 50 People Theater Style	APRICOT Birds-Of-a-Feather (BOF) Meetings 3 Rooms x 50 People Theater Style	APRICOT Closing Social Event For 300 People

Table 2: Summary of the APRICOT week showing the tentative schedule, initial room estimates and seating style

[Note: Historically the tentative schedule has been modified to suite the local hosts]

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Morning	APNG General Meeting	APTLD General Meeting	APIA General Meeting	APRICOT Opening Plenary	APRICOT Opening Plenary	APRICOT Opening Plenary	APNIC AGM + Address Supporting Organisation Meeting
				APRICOT Technical Track 1	APRICOT Technical Track 1	APRICOT Technical Track 1
		APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms	APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms	APRICOT Technical Track 2	APRICOT Technical Track 2	APRICOT Technical Track 2
				APRICOT Business Track 3	APRICOT Educational Track 3	APRICOT Policy Track 3
Afternoon	APNG Working Group Meetings	APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms	APRICOT Tutorials 8 Rooms	APRICOT Technical Track 1	APRICOT Technical Track 1	APRICOT Technical Track 1
				APRICOT Technical Track 2	APRICOT Technical Track 2	APRICOT Technical Track 2
				APRICOT Business Track 3	APRICOT Educational Track 3	APRICOT Policy Track 3
		APTLD/ Domain Name Supporting Organisation Meetings	APIA General Meeting			APNIC Executive Council Meeting
Evening	APNG Meeting	APTLD/DNSO Meeting	APRICOT Opening Reception	APRICOT Birds-Of-a-Feather (BOF) Meetings	APRICOT Birds-Of-a-Feather (BOF) Meetings e.g. Women in IT	APRICOT Closing Social Event

Table 3: The APRICOT Week at a Glance (Tentative Schedule)

3.0) APRICOT Requirements

Requirement	Summary
Date for APRICOT2001	· February 12^th- 16^th or 26^th-March 2^nd, 2001
Venue	· University, Center for Education, Hotel, Convention Center that can accommodate the room requirements (see Table 2 pg. 13)
Audio Visual	· Standard A/V Requirements: · i.e.Over-Head Projection (OHP), Screen and Markers · LCD Projection (VGA/SVGA) · Microphone · Flipchart, Wyte-Board and Markers
Accommodation & Travel	· Largest Cost to APRICOT Delegates · Good range of accommodation in different price categories
Terminal Room	· 20-30 UNIX/Windows PCs · 30 Ethernet Connections for Laptops (10-baseT) · Routers and Hubs for LAN and WAN · Internet Connectivity
Financial	· Ability to cover the costs of the APRICOT tutorial, BoF and Conference Rooms · Ability to establish a separate set of accounts for APRICOT2001
Tax Considerations	· Ability to address Tax requirements/exemptions in host economy
Insurance	· Insurance Coverage for Venue
Food	· Vegetarian Food should be catered for
Promotion & Sponsorship	· Ability to widely promote APRICOT2001 in host economy
Visas & Work Permits	· Letter of invitation for delegates and instructors (If required) · Application for Entry Visa for Delegates (if required) · Application for necessary Work Permits for Tutorial Presenters (if applicable)

Table 4: Summary Table of APRICOT Requirements

3.1) Date for APRICOT2001

There are two ranges of dates proposed for APRICOT 2001.

They are the weeks of

1) February 12^th-February 16^th, 2001 or

2) February 26^th-March 2^nd, 2001.

Proposals should clearly indicate which dates are preferable. Sound justifications should be provided if an alternative date range from the above is proposed.

3.2) Venue for the Conference

Over the last 5 years, APRICOT has been hosted in a variety of venues that have ranged from modest to extravagant. The most important aspect of the venue is its ability to accommodate all the delegates at the times required (see Table 2 pg. 13).

3.3) Audio Visual

Unless a MBONE broadcast of the event is planned, APRICOT does not have any special Audio/Visual requirements. For each room, the standard configuration should include the following:-

1. Colour LCD Projector being able to support VGA/SVGA resolution modes

2. Over-Head Projector, Screen and Markers

3. Microphone and Soundsystem

4. Flipcharts or WhiteBoards with Markers

3.4) Accomodation and Travel

APRICOT typically hosts 150+ overseas delegates who stay for the whole week. The largest costs to the delegates are the costs of the airfare to the host economy and the cost of accommodation.

Special attention should be paid to the variety of accommodation available to the delegates.

3.5) Terminal Room

APRICOT delegates are key Internet builders, many of who invest their precious time away from running their networks, backbones and businesses to attend the conference.

As such, adequate Internet connectivity should be provided via a terminal room that provides for both PC and laptop access. Approximately 30 PCs running Windows/UNIX variant should be provided with a standard suite of applications (e.g. POP3 Mail, Web Browser, SSH, Telnet, ping, traceroute etc.). Thirty (30) Laptop access points should be provided via 10-baseT Ethernet connections.

Adequate security, power and cooling should be made available.

3.6) Financial

The APRICOT conference should be run with minimal financial risk, such than conference and tutorial fees can be kept as low as possible e.g. US$ 250 per delegate for each tutorial and US$ 250 for the conference itself.

Whilst the operating expenditure for each APRICOT varies with the economy in which it is hosted, in 1999 APRICOT tutorial and conference expenditure was in the order of SGD$ 220,000.

The host organisation(s) should be financially able to cover the costs of the meeting rooms for all of the:-

1. Tutorials

2. BoFs

3. Terminal Room and

4. Conference.

The costs for AP* meeting rooms will be borne separately by each AP* organisation.

The host organisation should be able to create a separate set of accounts for the different accounting entries generated.

Other costs involved (e.g. printing of conference material, leasing the A/V equipment etc.) are covered by the attendance fees.

3.7) Tax Considerations

The host organisation(s) should be able to address local tax issues that may arise from hosting the APRICOT conference. They may include the provision of accounts for tax consideration by local authorities.

3.8) Insurance

Should insurance for the conference and its delegates be required, the host organisation should be able to arrange such insurance coverage.

3.9) Food

Any food or beverage consumed during the conference or APRICOT social events are sponsored by third-parties. Given the wide regional audience of delegates, vegetarian cuisine should also be catered for.

3.10) Promotion & Sponsorship

The benefit of the knowledge and experience brought to the host economy by APRICOT is of great benefit to the local Internet industry of the host economy. As such, it is highly encouraged that as many delegates from the host economy be attracted to attend APRICOT.

The host organisation(s) should have a demonstrable ability to promote the APRICOT conference in the host economy and attract local sponsorship of the event.

Local sponsorship may take the form of both financial and in-kind sponsorship (e.g. loaning of terminal room equipment).

3.11) Visas & Work Permits

Some APRICOT delegates come from economies where travel visas or invitation letters are required. Furthermore, tutorial presenters who charge for presenting their material may be required to obtain necessary temporary work permits.

The host organisation(s) should have the ability to assist in the arrangement of any necessary travel visas, invitation letters or work permits.

4.0) Selection Criteria

Whilst it is appreciated that there is a natural desire for each successive APRICOT to be bigger and better than the previous one, APRICOT is primarily a conference with an educational objective. The primary desire is to bring the knowledge required to those that can benefit most from such knowledge.

As such, organisations from a wide spectrum of economies are encouraged to submit a proposal to host APRICOT if there is an expressed desire that such knowledge will be of substantial benefit to the local Internet industry.

The APRICOT2001 Selection Committee will balance this educational desire with the practical realities of organising such an event. These realities include:-

1. Ability to provide the venue to accommodate the conference during the desired dates.

2. Financial strength of the organisation(s) and its ability to underwrite the cost of the APRICOT meeting rooms for the Terminal Room, Tutorials, BoF Meetings and Conference.

3. Ability to provide the accommodation necessary to house the overseas delegates.

4. Managerial strength and Human Resources

5. History and experience in organising similar events.

5.0) Selection Process and Deadlines

The APRICOT2001 selection process is comprised of 5 phases:

1. Request for Proposals (This document) - 21^st December 1999

2. Expressions of Interest - on or before 14^th January 2000

3. Submission of Proposal - on or before 28^th January 2000

4. Proposal Clarifying Period - before February 11^th , 2000

5. Final Decision - on or before February 18^th 2000.

All correspondence should be addressed to apricot-rfp@apricot.net.

5.1) Request For Proposals

The Request for Proposals(this document) will be sent to parties that have expressed an interest in hosting APRICOT in their economy no earlier than December 21^st , 1999.

It will also be posted at the APRICOT website www.apricot.net no later than December 21^st , 1999.

5.2) Expressions of Interest

Parties that are interested in submitting a proposal to host APRICOT 2000 in their economy should send an email expressing this interest to apricot-rfp@apricot.net on or before midnight GMT/UTC, 14^th January 2000 (Friday).

This email should clearly indicate on whose behalf the expression of interest is submitted.

5.3) Submission of Proposal

Interested parties should submit their proposal by email to apricot-rfp@apricot.net on or before midnight GMT/UTC, 28^th January 2000 (Friday).

5.3.1) Proposal Format

Proposals should be submitted in the any of the following formats:-

1. ASCII

2. Rich Text Format

3. Adobe Portable Document Format

4. Microsoft Word

Each proposal should be concisely presented and structured as outlined in Section 6.

All proposals and supporting documentation should be submitted in English.

5.4) Proposal Clarification Period

If the APRICOT2001 Selection Committee has any clarifying questions regarding the proposals that it has received, these will be asked no later than 11^th February 2000 (Friday).

5.5) Final Decision

The APRICOT2001 Selection Committee will announce its decision via the APRICOT website (www.apricot.net) no later than midnight GMT/UTC, February 18^th 2000 (Friday). All decisions of the APRICOT2001 Selection Committee are final.

6.0) Contents of Proposals

Each proposal submitted in English should minimally contain the following:-

6.1) Executive Summary

This should be a concise brief of the merits and strength of your proposal that indicates the compelling reason why APRICOT should be hosted in your economy.

6.2) Proposed Venue

Details and justification for the proposed venue should be provided in as much detail as practical. Specifically, confirmation of the proposed venue’s availability should be provided.

6.3) History and Background to Local Internet Industry

A brief history and background to your local Internet industry should be provided.

6.4) Benefits of Hosting APRICOT in your Economy

The benefit of hosting APRICOT in your Economy should be clearly highlighted.

6.5) Background to the Organisation(s) submitting the Proposal

It is preferable that each economy submit only one proposal. If more than one party from an economy expresses an interest in submitting a proposal, we shall encourage that these parties work together to submit a joint proposal.

Backgrounds to the organisation(s) submitting the proposal should be provided together with an indication of its financial, managerial and technical strength. Particular attention will be paid to the local human resources that will be assigned to APRICOT2001 tasks. Any prior experience with organising similar events should also be highlighted.

6.6) Financial Considerations

This section should highlight how any surplus revenues, losses, tax and insurance issues will be handled by the host organisation(s).

6.7) Promotion and Sponsorship

The proposal should provide a clear indication as to how local promotion and sponsorship for APRICOT will be conducted. Monetary or in-kind sponsorship commitments to host APRICOT2001 should be indicated in this section.

6.8) Contact Person

Details of the primary contact person should be provided. These should minimally include the name, title, email address, phone and fax numbers.

6.9) Appendix and Supporting Documentation

Any extra supporting documentation including letter/emails of support to be included at the end of the proposal in the appendix section.

7) Conclusion

APRICOT is the region’s premier educational conference that provides a neutral forum to advance the skills and understanding necessary to grow a robust Internet infrastructure in our region. APRICOT provides a unique opportunity for the region’s Internet industry to meet and focus on operational issues that affect all of us.

By bringing valuable knowledge and experience to those that can benefit most from this knowledge, APRICOT serves a key role in our community. Futhermore, it acts as the event around which you can rally your local Internet industry.

The above Request for Proposals provides an opportunity to host APRICOT in your economy.

We look forward to answering any remaining questions that you might have and to reading your proposal in due course.

Thank you for your interest in hosting APRICOT!

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APPENDIX A: History of Past APRICOTs (1996-1999)

APRICOT’99

The fourth APRICOT was held in Singapore from 1 - 5 March ’99. The attendance of 632 represented over 25 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world.

APRICOT’99 was sponsored by the following 19 companies:

· AboveNet · Hongkong Telecom

· Alcatel · Nortel

· Asia & Pacific Internet Association · O’Reilly and Associates

· Asia Pacific Network Information Centre · Pacific Internet

· Ascend Communications · PSINet

· AT&T · SGNic

· Cisco Systems · Singapore Telecom

· Commercial Internet Exchange Association · Teleglobe

· Compaq · Unitech

· Webworks

APRICOT’98

The third APRICOT was held in Philippines from 16 - 20 February’98. The attendance of 320 represented over 24 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world.

APRICOT ‘98 was sponsored by the following 18 companies:

· Aponet · Infonet Services Corp

· Ascend Communications · Kokusai Denshin Denwa (KDD)

· Asia & Pacific Internet Association (APIA) · MCI International

· Asia Internet Holding · NeTrue Communications

· AT&T Asia Pacific Group · NTT Global Business

· Bay Networks · Orion Network Systems

· Breeze Wireless Communications · Singapore Exhibition Services

· Cisco Systems · United Nations –Asia-Pacific Development

· Digital Equipment Asia Pacific Information Programme (APDIP)

· Hong Kong Telecom

APRICOT’97

The second APRICOT was held in Hong Kong from 27-30 January ’97. The attendance of 630 people from over 25 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world.

APRICOT ‘97 was sponsored by the following 27 companies:

· APNIC · HK Net

· Ascend · Hong Kong Telecom

· Asia Internet Holdings · IBM

· AT&T · KDD

· Bay Networks · NTT

· Chinese University of Hong Kong · O'Reilly & Associates

· Cisco Systems · Sembawang Media

· Coggwheel · Softbank Expos

· Commercial Internet Exchange · Sourcecom

· Data Communications · Spyglass

· Digital · Star Internet

· Dynalab, Inc. · Telstra

· Gilat Satellite Networks · The Black Box

· Global One

APRICOT’96

The first APRICOT was held in Singapore between 17 - 19 January ’96. The attendance of 280 people represented over 18 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

APRICOT ‘96 was sponsored by the following 10 companies:

· Global One · Digital Equipment Corporation

· Cisco Systems · The Commercial Internet Exchange

· ATT Jens · Sembawang Media

· Singapore Telecom – SingNet · CSA Automated

· IBM Japan · Penril Datability Networks

APPENDIX B: APRICOT Attendee Country Profile

ATTENDANCE BREAKDOWN by Countries of Origin	APRICOT ’96 17 - 19January Singapore	APRICOT ’97 27 - 30 January Hong Kong	APRICOT ’98 16 - 20 February Philippines	APRICOT ‘99 1 - 5 March Singapore
Australia	10	10	14	15
Belgium	-	1	-	-
Bhutan	-	-	-	4
Brazil	-	-	-	2
Brunei	3	6	-	-
Cambodia	-	1	2	2
Canada	-	-	1	1
China	3	6	6	5
Emirates	-	3	-	2
France	-	-	2	1
Guam	-	1	-	-
Germany	-	-	2	-
Hong Kong	30	122	10	15
India	4	6	3	7
Indonesia	11	10	1	15
Japan	22	47	32	17
Korea	7	16	5	9
Macau	-	8	-	-
Malaysia	16	16	13	23
Mongolia	-	-	4	-
Nepal	-	3	-	1
Netherlands	-	3	1	-
New Zealand	2	2	3	5
Pakistan	1	-	2	1
Philippines	5	23	93	19
Singapore	132	38	53	135
Sri Lanka	2	1	5	5
Sweden	-	1	1	1
Switzerland	-	-	2	-
Taiwan	12	12	6	7
Thailand	11	23	1	18
United Kingdoms	-	-	-	2
United States of America	11	63	55	21
Vietnam	-	-	-	3
Total	282	422	317	336

Note: Above attendance breakdown does include not a number of delegates that did not wish to list their country or speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and members of various related events such as APNG, APIA, APNIC, APPLe and APTLD.