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Chair’s Blog: Previewing the May Board Workshop

30 April 2024
By
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Division of Information Technology. She leads Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) and the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). She has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her wide-ranging experience includes leadership positions in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy and policy. In her current role, she is the chief executive of the MAX, which operates a high-performance regional research and education (R&E) 100G network for advanced cyber-infrastructure services and research. She is also responsible for UMD's High Performance Computing service and strategy. Tripti is active internationally as the executive and operational head of UMD's global operation of DNS root services. She previously served as Co-Chair of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) from 2015-2018.

In the United States, she is very involved in the Internet2 community on activities related to the US national R&E Internet backbone. She is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Quilt whose mission is to provide advocacy for research and education networking on the US national agenda. She has served on many other non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards.

Tripti has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, she moved back-and-forth between the USA and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and has an understanding of Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Tripti 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 2024.

The ICANN Board is gathering in Paris this week for a three-day workshop. In addition to advancing our work in several key areas, my Board colleagues and I plan to attend the Contracted Parties Summit, which is also taking place in Paris on 6–9 May 2024. We are eager to directly engage with ICANN's contracted parties.

During the Board Workshop, the Contracted Parties House will brief the Board on the state of the domain name industry. This session, which is open to the public and available as a Zoom webinar, is taking place on Sunday, 5 May 2024, at 7:00–8:30 UTC.

Here is an overview of what the Board will focus on during the workshop:

AI Orientation: ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer staff will present an overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, with a particular focus on its use at ICANN. The session will show how advancements in AI have led to its use in Domain Name System (DNS) research, and how AI-driven large language models might be used by ICANN in the future. The Board will discuss the risks and benefits of various types of AI.

WSIS+20: The WSIS+20 Outreach Network is ICANN's approach to coordinating efforts leading up to the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) next year. The Board will receive an update on this project, as well as on the latest work related to the ongoing United Nations Global Digital Compact Negotiations.

Final FY25 Budget: The Board will review and consider for adoption the ICANN Operating and Financial Plan for fiscal years (FY) 2025–29 and the FY25 Operating Plan and Budget. After the Public Comment proceeding, ICANN reviewed the planning and financial assumptions and updated the plans with the latest forecast, a key step in the process.

GAC Advice: The Board will discuss and consider the Governmental Advisory Committee's (GAC) advice from the ICANN76 Communiqué related to intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). We will explore the dependencies between this issue and other areas of work concerning second-level protections for IGOs in the DNS. In addition, the Board will consider the GAC's advice from the ICANN79 Communiqué.

Next Round: The Board will review and discuss potential approaches to implementing registry voluntary commitments and resolving contention sets in the next round of new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications, which are informed by the input received during the community consultation. In addition, the Board will consider the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council's supplemental recommendations on the New gTLD Program: Next Round.

Strategic Plan: In the ongoing effort to develop the next ICANN Strategic Plan, the Board's Strategic Planning Committee will present the draft strategies for FY26–30 for the full Board's consideration and input.

As always, I will share the major outcomes after the workshop. Until then, I look forward to the opportunity to engage with many members of the ICANN community next week at the Contracted Parties Summit, and to exploring the most-pressing issues for ICANN-accredited registrars and gTLD registries.

Authors

Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Division of Information Technology. She leads Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) and the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). She has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her wide-ranging experience includes leadership positions in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy and policy. In her current role, she is the chief executive of the MAX, which operates a high-performance regional research and education (R&E) 100G network for advanced cyber-infrastructure services and research. She is also responsible for UMD's High Performance Computing service and strategy. Tripti is active internationally as the executive and operational head of UMD's global operation of DNS root services. She previously served as Co-Chair of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) from 2015-2018.

In the United States, she is very involved in the Internet2 community on activities related to the US national R&E Internet backbone. She is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Quilt whose mission is to provide advocacy for research and education networking on the US national agenda. She has served on many other non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards.

Tripti has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, she moved back-and-forth between the USA and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and has an understanding of Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Tripti 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 2024.

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