ICANN Announcements

Read ICANN Announcements to stay informed of the latest policymaking activities, regional events, and more.

ICANN Seeks Pro Bono Service Providers for Applicant Support Program

1 June 2023

The New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program: Next Round has the potential to foster diversity, encourage competition, and enhance the utility of the Domain Name System (DNS). It is important to community members of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) because it ensures that efforts are made to minimize competitive disadvantages for new potential applicants, especially applicants working in the public interest with financial need.

ICANN is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from pro bono service providers for the Applicant Support Program (ASP). This program is a complementary initiative of the New gTLD Program: Next Round. The ASP seeks to serve the global public interest by increasing global diversity, ensuring worldwide accessibility to, and competition within, the new gTLD Program: Next Round.

The ASP evaluates potential new gTLD applicants that demonstrate financial need and intend to support the public interest. Qualifying applicants may receive:

  • A 75–85 percent reduction in application and evaluation fees
  • Access to pro bono services providers to assist with developing their gTLD application in relation to general business services, application services, and technical services
  • A bid credit/multiplier when participating in an ICANN Auction of Last Resort

See the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Assessment for more information about the ASP.

Please complete this online EOI survey to indicate your interest in potentially providing pro bono services to supported applicants.

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.