ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

03/25/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/25/2025 09:06

A Look Back at ICANN82Kurtis Lindqvist

Kurtis addresses the audience at the ICANN82 Welcome Ceremony.

On behalf of the ICANN organization, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the ICANN82 Community Forum.

This meeting was a great opportunity for me to get to know more ICANN community members, and to put faces to names and emails. At the same time, I experienced first-hand just how much work goes on behind the scenes at ICANN Public Meetings. I'm amazed at how well we're able to collaborate with online participants across time zones.

Over six days and 175 public sessions, members of the ICANN community, Board, and org gathered at ICANN82 to advance discussions and policymaking on essential issues for ICANN. High-interest topics discussed included the approaching 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) and the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round.

During the meeting, the ICANN community reiterated its commitment to the WSIS+20 process and the importance of the multistakeholder model in Internet governance. The community also lauded the great work being done by the project team on advancing the New gTLD Program: Next Round. On behalf of my colleagues, I'd also like to thank all community members who participated in the Q&A with the ICANN org executive team. I appreciate the open dialogue and learned a lot from your insightful input.

ICANN82 was attended by 1,369 people on the ground in Seattle, including 155 first-time attendees, while 548 people registered to join us online. Overall, our participants represented 129 countries and territories. Here's a regional breakdown of the in-person attendees:

  • Africa - 112 (8.2 percent)
  • Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands - 185 (13.5 percent)
  • Europe - 261 (19.1 percent)
  • Latin America and the Caribbean - 84 (6.1 percent)
  • North America - 727 (53.1 percent)

More detailed statistics will be available in the ICANN82 By the Numbers Report to be published in the coming weeks. If you missed anything during the meeting, please visit the meeting website for session recordings and transcripts.

Authors

Kurtis Lindqvist

President and Chief Executive Officer
Read biography

Kurtis Lindqvist

President and Chief Executive Officer

Kurt Erik "Kurtis" Lindqvist is a seasoned technology executive and business leader who became President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on 9 December 2024. With more than 30 years of experience in engineering and business development of Internet service providers, Internet Exchange Points, and global network carriers, Lindqvist has dedicated his career to advancing the stability, security, and accessibility of the Internet.

Prior to joining ICANN, Lindqvist served as CEO of the London Internet Exchange (LINX), a leading operator of worldwide interconnection services, from 2019 to 2024. Prior to this, he was CEO of Netnod from 2002 to 2015. Lindqvist also chaired the European Internet Exchange Association (Euro-IX) from 2003 to 2020, which underscores his long-standing leadership in Internet infrastructure organizations.

Lindqvist has been a leading voice in Internet governance (IG) and technical development. He served on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and led working groups within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and RIPE, where his efforts helped shape critical Internet standards and policies. Additionally, he has advised the Swedish government on IG, broadband policy, and other key areas, fostering collaboration between public and private sectors.

Lindqvist studied Computer Science at Uppsala University, Sweden, and holds an Executive MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.