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ICANN Board Convenes Second IANA Naming Function Review (IFR2)

11 September 2023

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board convened the second Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Naming Function Review (IFR) at its 10 September 2023 Board meeting.

The IFR is an accountability mechanism created as part of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) stewardship transition to ensure that ICANN's IANA work through Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) meets the needs and expectations of its naming customers. Under the ICANN Bylaws, the ICANN Board must convene an IFR no less frequently than every five years, measured from the date the previous IFR was convened. The ICANN Board convened the first IFR on 16 September 2018.

The second IFR team (IFR2) will conduct the review in accordance with the scope specified in the ICANN Bylaws. The review focuses on PTI's performance of the IANA naming function against the contractual requirements in the IANA Naming Function Contract and the IANA Naming Function Statement of Work. The naming functions under review include management of the Domain Name System root zone, a critical function for the ongoing operation of the Internet.

The IFR does not replace the work of the Customer Standing Committee (CSC), which reviews PTI's service level performance of the naming function on a monthly basis. The IFR takes a broader look that includes identifying if the requirements of the contract still meet the needs of customers, and whether amendments should be considered. The full scope of the review is available in Section 18.3 of the ICANN Bylaws.

IFR2 meetings and working procedures will be open to the public and conducted in a transparent manner to the fullest extent possible. More information can be found on the IFR2 wiki space.

The IFR2 members are:

Name Region Appointing Supporting Organization or Advisory Committee
Carlton Samuels Latin America and Caribbean At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
Sami Ali Asia Pacific Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)
Olga Cavalli Latin America and Caribbean ccNSO
Peter Koch Europe ccNSO
Brett Carr Europe CSC Liaison
Rajiv Prasad North America Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG)
Edowaye Makanjuola Africa Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)
Rafik Dammak Asia Pacific Noncommercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG)
Ashley Heineman North America Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG)
Lars-Johan Liman Europe Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC)
Jonathan Robinson Europe Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG)
Rick Wilhelm North America RySG
Lyman Chapin North America Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)
Alan Barrett Not applicable ICANN Board Liaison
Steve Conte Not applicable ICANN Liaison
To be confirmed Not applicable PTI Liaison

About ICANN

ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.