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Chair’s Blog: March Board Workshop and ICANN85 Preview

3 March 2026
By
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is the President and CEO of Internet2, where she champions the organization’s core mission of enabling U.S. higher education and research institutions to collaborate on mission-critical technology services and emerging technologies. Internet2 also works with global National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). Sinha has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her experience spans leadership roles in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy, and policy.

Before joining Internet2, Tripti held two leadership roles at the University of Maryland: Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX), a regional research and education network. In these roles, she supported advanced, high-performance networking and research technologies, including GPU compute infrastructure optimized for AI workloads and investigating evolving quantum networking technologies.

She has served on many non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards, and was past Chair of The Quilt’s Board of Directors and former Co-Chair of ICANN’s Root Server System Advisory Committee.

Tripti has a Computer Science degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She holds executive education certificates from Harvard Kennedy School in Public Leadership and Policy, and in Global Innovation and Execution from Stanford University. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, Tripti moved back-and-forth between the U.S. and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and understands Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Sinha 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.

The ICANN Board will hold its next three-day workshop in Mumbai, India, alongside the first ICANN Public Meeting of the year. At this workshop, which begins on Friday, 6 March, the Board will prepare for ICANN85 and make progress across several areas of our work.

As part of our preparations for ICANN85, Board Vice Chair Sajid Rahman, President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist, and I will meet with the leadership of ICANN's Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) to discuss topics that are of shared interest to the ICANN community, Board, and organization.

Here is an overview of the Board Workshop agenda and a preview of our plans for next week.

2026 Round: The Board will receive an update on the implementation of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: 2026 Round and the latest application processing statistics for the Applicant Support Program (ASP) and the Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program. The Board also will consider the third batch of evaluation vendor contracts and the extension of contractor agreements for the New gTLD Program, in addition to reviewing the 2026 Base Registry Agreement. We anticipate that we will begin our consideration of a request for additional funding for ASP applicants.

The Board is pleased to see significant interest in the ASP, which received a total of 75 applications from all five ICANN regions. Because the number of potentially qualifying applicants exceeds the original budget that accommodated 45 applicants, the Board will fulfill its commitment to consider providing additional support. Noting the community's advocacy for the ASP paired with the fact that there was no objection to the Board's 2024 proposal on funding to provide support to applicants, the Board is considering allocating up to an additional $4.9 million from the 2012 Round auction proceeds to provide assistance for up to 75 qualified applicants.

Should the community's views have changed on this topic, the Board requests your input, via SO and AC discussion at ICANN85 or correspondence to the Board, by 20 March. The Board will consider this input as it makes a decision on additional ASP funding after ICANN85. We appreciate the community's attention to this topic and look forward to receiving your feedback.

Strategic Planning: As part of ICANN's Annual Strategy Review, the Board will participate in an environmental scan to assess the emerging trends, opportunities, and threats that may impact our current five-year Strategic Plan. The community will have the opportunity to participate in a similar session during ICANN85 on Tuesday, 10 March. To ensure the continued relevance of our shared vision and goals, we must consider a full range of perspectives on the factors that affect our work.

RIR Governance: The Board will learn about the latest work to update the Internet Coordination Policy 2. The Address Supporting Organization (ASO) developed a status report on the remaining open issues, based on input from the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and the ICANN community. The ASO Address Council continues to discuss these matters and will hold working sessions during ICANN85.

Reviews: The Board will discuss the most recent draft proposals from the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group (CCG) to identify initial questions or comments for the CCG. The future of ICANN reviews will be a key focus of community discussions at ICANN85.

Finances: The Board will receive an update on ICANN's financial performance for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) to date. We also will review the financial forecast for the remainder of FY26. If you missed the Finance and Planning Update during ICANN85 Prep Week, the presentation and recording are available on the session page.

Internet Governance: The Board will discuss ongoing geopolitical issues that may directly or indirectly impact ICANN's mission and operations. Members of ICANN's Government Engagement team will provide an overview of geopolitical considerations for ICANN in the United States, Europe, and regions covered by the G77+China and other organizations.

Board Governance: The Board Governance Committee will provide an update about its ongoing activities.

The Board looks forward to engaging with the community throughout the coming week, including during nine joint sessions with various stakeholder groups and constituencies. We also will hold a Board Meeting and Public Forum, where we invite attendees to ask questions and give feedback. Whether you are attending in person or online, I hope to see you at ICANN85!

Authors

Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is the President and CEO of Internet2, where she champions the organization’s core mission of enabling U.S. higher education and research institutions to collaborate on mission-critical technology services and emerging technologies. Internet2 also works with global National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). Sinha has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her experience spans leadership roles in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy, and policy.

Before joining Internet2, Tripti held two leadership roles at the University of Maryland: Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX), a regional research and education network. In these roles, she supported advanced, high-performance networking and research technologies, including GPU compute infrastructure optimized for AI workloads and investigating evolving quantum networking technologies.

She has served on many non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards, and was past Chair of The Quilt’s Board of Directors and former Co-Chair of ICANN’s Root Server System Advisory Committee.

Tripti has a Computer Science degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She holds executive education certificates from Harvard Kennedy School in Public Leadership and Policy, and in Global Innovation and Execution from Stanford University. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, Tripti moved back-and-forth between the U.S. and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and understands Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Sinha 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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