(iii) to serve as a forum for states and international organisations and others to coordinate their capacity building work across Commonwealth states; and to discuss, debate and refine capacity-building methodology. 2.41 The CCI was endorsed by CHOGM in 2011. Because of the sequence of meetings, the proposal was not considered by Law Ministers at their Meeting earlier that year. Funding was provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Governments of Malta and the United Kingdom to provide the necessary resources to give practical reality to the Initiative, by engaging with potential partners and securing their collaboration, and by establishing its structures and working methods. For the initial period, until 30 June 2013, this task was undertaken by COMNET, an independent Foundation established in the mid-90s, as a joint initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Malta, where it is based. COMNET has a record of work amongst Commonwealth and other developing countries; its mission is to help realise the transformational potential of ICT for development, amongst such countries. 2.42 In 2012, its first year of operation, the CCI responded to a major request from Ghana and had formal requests for assistance from The Gambia, Kenya, Maldives, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uganda, together with expressions of interest from a number of other Commonwealth countries. It also established its working methods, described below. 2.43 This is a strong record for a very new Initiative, However, as it became clear that the CCI’s governance structure was preventing the participation of some prospective partners and that funding for administration as opposed to project work would not be forthcoming once the initial phase was over, the decision was taken in May 2013 that the management of the CCI should pass from COMNET to the Commonwealth Secretariat itself. This was in no way a reflection on the quality of COMNET's work during the initial phase, which showed both energy and creativity. 2.44 The Commonwealth Secretariat, which already deals with cybercrime issues as part of its work on such topics as money-laundering and terrorism, seems a natural home for the CCI, which will benefit from the Secretariat's established financial management and procurement procedures. The United Kingdom Government is committed to the Initiative and has agreed to assist the Commonwealth Secretariat with administrative support for the work of the CCI, initially through SOCA and its successor the National Crime Agency (NCA). 2.45 It is not intended that the CCI's working method, developed during the first year of its operation, will change under the new administrative arrangements. Requests for assistance will be made to the Commonwealth Secretariat and considered by the CCI’s Cybercrime Executive Management Committee (CEMC), formerly the Management Group, composed principally of representatives of governments, the two relevant Divisions of the Commonwealth Secretariat (GIDD and LCAD), and a representative of SOCA/NCA. The Committee is responsible for the overall policy of the CCI and will have to prioritise requests for assistance. If following a preliminary study it decides to act on a request, it sends a team of experts to the state concerned to conduct a Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment using a checklist developed by the Initiative, and to make a Needs Assessment Report. In a few cases, such assessments have been conducted by a CCI partner agency (or a group of such agencies), but the Group notes that most teams have been made up of individual experts with their expenses covered by a Projects Fund established within the CCI. 2.46 The Needs Assessment Report once agreed with the requesting state is shared with the CCI's Operations Consortium of agencies, organisations and individual experts willing to contribute to its work; it meets physically about twice a year but information is also 35