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Chair’s Blog: November Board Workshop and ICANN81 Preview

5 November 2024
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.

In addition to the ICANN Languages, this content is also available in

Before ICANN81, the ICANN Board of Directors will convene in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye, to prepare for the Annual General Meeting and to advance our work. I am pleased to announce that for this Board Workshop, two sessions are open to the public to attend via Zoom:

Commercial Stakeholder Group and Noncommercial Stakeholder Group Informational Session
Friday, 8 November 2024 | 13:30–15:00 TRT (10:30 UTC)

Security and Stability Advisory Committee Informational Session
Saturday, 9 November 2024 | 10:30–12:00 TRT (7:30 UTC)

During these sessions, the community group leadership will share information about their groups' roles in the ICANN ecosystem and how they fulfill them. The Board is eager to deepen its understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by the ICANN community, and I urge anyone involved in or interested in ICANN to attend.

For the remainder of the workshop, which is taking place 8–10 November, the Board will address other key matters including:

New CEO and Ombuds: The Board has invited the incoming ICANN President and CEO, Kurt Erik "Kurtis" Lindqvist, as well as the newly appointed Ombuds, Elizabeth Field, to the workshop.

Next Round: The Board will continue to consider outstanding issues related to the New Generic Top-Level Domain Program: Next Round. We will discuss the Governmental Advisory Committee's advice regarding auctions and the Generic Names Supporting Organization's supplemental recommendations on singular and plural strings. In addition, we plan to consider a resolution on the private resolution of contention sets, which I wrote about in a previous blog. Finally, the Board will receive an update on the policy issues being discussed by the Implementation Review Team, including Community Priority Evaluation.

RDRS: The Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) pilot launched in November 2023, so during this workshop the Board will review the usage data gathered in the past year. The Board also will be briefed on the discussion that took place during the Prep Week session on RDRS regarding the experiences of the last year and the possible continued operation of the service.

Internet Governance: The Board will receive updates on critical geopolitical, legislative, and regulatory developments, as well as significant updates about discussions and developments occurring at the U.N. and International Telecommunication Union. Looking ahead, we will discuss upcoming events such as the 2024 Internet Governance Forum in December, in which the ICANN organization and Board are playing an active role.

Strategic Plan: The Board will review and discuss the submissions received during the Public Comment proceeding on the draft Strategic Plan and Operating Plan Framework for fiscal years 2026–2030. Our goal is to ensure that the community's feedback is considered and addressed.

Finance: The Board will review ICANN's audited financial statements and the Board expenses report for fiscal year 2024 (FY24), which were published in October alongside the FY24 Annual Report. We will also discuss the ongoing efforts to address ICANN's budget deficit.

Risk Assessment: The Board Risk Committee will deliver its semiannual report to the Board, per the ICANN Risk Management Framework.

Staff Engagement Survey: The Board will review the results of the ICANN organization's annual staff engagement survey.

As usual, the workshop will include a Board Meeting, and you can find the agenda on the Board Activities and Meetings page.

The Board also will spend time preparing for ICANN81, which will include nine bilateral meetings with community groups and the Public Forum. In addition, the new members of the Board will take their seats at the Annual General Meeting, and we will bid farewell to departing members Harald Alvestrand, Edmon Chung, and Danko Jevtović. On behalf of the Board, I am very thankful for their contributions and dedication to our mission.

As we approach an exciting new chapter for ICANN, I am especially looking forward to engaging with the community at ICANN81, both in person and online.

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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