My Board colleagues and I would like to thank everyone who participated in the ICANN83 Policy Forum, which took place last month online and in Prague, Czech Republic. Your contributions ensure that ICANN's processes reflect the interests of all stakeholders.
Before the meeting, the ICANN Board gathered for a three-day workshop, where we discussed key issues. Here is an overview of the top takeaways from our week in Prague:
Next Round: At a Regular Meeting on 8 June, the Board approved funding for the first group of vendor contracts for the New Generic Top-Level Domains Program: Next Round. In addition, during the workshop, the Board received a status update on the implementation of the program overall, including the Applicant Support Program, Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program, Applicant Guidebook, and Base Registry Agreement. We also reviewed the planning for the application processing phase operating model.
ccNSO Policy for Review Mechanism: The Board also adopted policy recommendations from the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO). The recommendations relate to creating a review mechanism for specific Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) decisions on the delegation, transfer, revocation, and retirement of country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), including Internationalized Domain Name ccTLDs. This mechanism is meant to offer a path for ccTLD managers and other entities seeking IANA decisions on ccTLDs to request an external review of anticipated IANA decisions.
Finance: The Board received an update on the ICANN organization's (org) current financial situation and expected position at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025 on 30 June. The Board welcomed the successful implementation of the expense-reduction plan initiated in FY24, which has resulted in FY25 expenses being lowered by approximately $13M compared with FY24. That, combined with funding that was slightly higher than budgeted and higher than last year, has resulted in a net excess for FY25. The Board also noted the general stability of ICANN's year-on-year funding of around $150M.
For the new fiscal year, the FY26–30 ICANN Operating and Financial Plan, the FY26 ICANN Operating Plan and Budget, and the FY26 IANA Operating Plan and Budget went into effect on 1 July; the Empowered Community process for these Board-approved plans concluded and no petitions were submitted. You can find the plans on the ICANN Financial and Planning Information webpage.
Reviews: The future of ICANN Reviews was a high-priority topic at the workshop, during the Board's Prep Week engagement session and throughout ICANN83. The Board appreciates the continued dialogue and suggestions for bringing the community together to update the ICANN Reviews process and to make sure it is fit for purpose now and into the future. We look forward to working closely with the community to move forward on a review of Reviews.
DNS Abuse: The Board reviewed the ongoing enforcement of the DNS Abuse contract amendments. The changes took effect just over year ago, and the ICANN org Contractual Compliance team shared its observations of positive trends among some contracted parties regarding their handling of DNS Abuse. Moreover, the Board received an update about the Domain Metrica platform that ICANN uses to measure and monitor DNS Abuse. The update also included reminders about how to avoid certain pitfalls when assessing statistics.
DNS Abuse remains the focus of much community conversation. Throughout ICANN83, the community continued to discuss potential additional mitigation efforts, including possible policy development to create new contractual obligations.
The start of the new fiscal year on 1 July brought the launch of a new five-year Strategic Plan and a new era for ICANN. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to read the FY26–30 ICANN Strategic Plan and consider how your efforts going forward will support our objectives. Each of us has a part to play in ensuring One World, One Internet.
