ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

09/24/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/24/2025 03:25

Chair’s Blog: Recap of the September Board Workshop

Earlier this month, the ICANN Board of Directors convened in Madrid, Spain, for a three-day workshop. While in Spain, my Board colleagues and I had the opportunity to meet with members of the local Internet community, who have a long history of supporting multistakeholder Internet governance and contributing to the evolution of the Internet.

The workshop consisted of working sessions and a Regular Board Meeting, during which the Board approved several resolutions, including:

  • The revised "ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy; Procedure to Report and Get Support," which represents a meaningful step forward in enhancing procedural clarity, strengthening protections for community members, and reinforcing ICANN's values of dignity, respect, and accountability. Led by the Working Group on Anti-Harassment, the Board's effort to update the policy affirms our commitment to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all participants in ICANN's multistakeholder processes.

    I am grateful for the dedication to this issue by my colleagues in the working group, which is being retired now that the task is complete.

  • The recommendations of the Second IANA Naming Function Review (IFR2) Final Report. The Board also directed the ICANN organization (org) to implement the recommendations.

    On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the members of the IFR2 team for their hard work over the past two years in support of this important accountability mechanism.

  • The recommendations outlined in SAC126, which focuses on the management of Delegation Signer (DS) records as one of the obstacles to the deployment of Domain Name System (DNS) Security Extensions. The Board directed ICANN org to establish a Fast Track Registry Service Evaluation Process to support registry operators' implementation of DS automation, provided that no security and stability issues are identified. In addition, the Board directed ICANN org to engage with the Internet Engineering Task Force on developing operational guidance for implementing DS automation.

  • The ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct Concerning Statements of Interest, which supports ethical disclosure practices by those participating in the ICANN community. The Board thanks everyone who helped in developing the code.

  • A termination procedure for the eight remaining applications from the 2012 round of new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications that were not successful.

  • The response to the Governmental Advisory Committee's (GAC) advice in the ICANN83 Prague Communiqué, including the item regarding Policy Development Related to DNS Abuse. The response takes into account the dialogue between the Board and the GAC, and the information provided by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council.

The Board also discussed and progressed our work in key areas, including:

The New gTLD Program: Next Round: The Board received an update on the processing of applications for the Applicant Support Program (ASP) and Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program. We then reviewed the latest developments in the finalization of the Applicant Guidebook, including highlights from the Public Comment proceeding on the draft guidebook. The Board also considered advice from the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) on the topic of string replacement for ASP applicants and the recent GAC-ALAC joint letter in the context of a comprehensive report on current and prospective applicants.

Reviews: Following its approval of the charter for the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group, the Board discussed how we will engage in this effort. The Board also discussed with ICANN org potential paths to amend the Specific Reviews schedule in the ICANN Bylaws while the community work on reviews is proceeding.

RDRS: The Board had a productive conversation about the progress of the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) pilot, including ICANN org's work with the GNSO Standing Committee. The Board continues to support maintaining RDRS operations while the GNSO Council discusses the Standing Committee's recommendations and prepares for a consultation with the Board on the policy recommendations for a System for Standardized/Access Disclosure.

WSIS+20: The Board received an update on ICANN org's involvement in the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes (WSIS+20) and reviewed the recently published zero draft of the outcomes document. We are pleased that the ICANN community will have the chance to engage with the WSIS+20 co-facilitators at the ICANN84 Annual General Meeting next month.

Ombuds: ICANN Ombuds Elizabeth Field updated the Board on the development of a revised Ombuds Office "Framework and Process" document. This discussion was complemented by a wider examination of the overall system for handling different types of complaints within the ICANN ecosystem.

Finance: The Board received an update on ICANN org's financial results for fiscal year 2025, which ended on 30 June 2025, and the initial projections for fiscal year 2026.

The Board will meet for our next workshop in Dublin before ICANN84. Be sure to join the Board for our community engagement session during Prep Week!

Authors

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair
Read biography

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Division of Information Technology. She leads Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) and the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). She has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her wide-ranging experience includes leadership positions in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy, and policy. In her current role, she is the chief executive of the MAX, which operates a high-performance regional research and education (R&E) 100G network for advanced cyber-infrastructure services and research. She is also responsible for UMD's High Performance Computing service and strategy. Tripti is active internationally as the executive and operational head of UMD's global operation of DNS root services. She previously served as Co-Chair of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) from 2015-2018.

In the United States, she is very involved in the Internet2 community on activities related to the US national R&E Internet backbone. She is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Quilt whose mission is to provide advocacy for research and education networking on the US national agenda. She has served on many other non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards.

Tripti has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, she moved back-and-forth between the USA and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and has an understanding of Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Tripti has a keen interest in Information and Communication Technology innovation, entrepreneurship, governance and policy, and international affairs. Tripti was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board of Directors by the Nominating Committee in 2018. Her term will expire at the Annual General Meeting 2027.

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