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Chair’s Blog: September Board Workshop Preview

9 September 2025
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.

As we approach the final quarter of the year, I am looking forward to meeting with my Board colleagues at our September Board Workshop, taking place 12–14 September in Madrid, Spain. The Board will continue our work on critical initiatives such as the New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program: Next Round and the Registration Data Request Service.

Next Round: The Board will receive an update on the implementation of the New gTLD Program: Next Round, including the outcomes of recent Public Comment proceedings on the draft Applicant Guidebook and the proposed Base Registry Agreement. We also will review the status of the Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program and the Applicant Support Program, as well as the proposed termination procedure for remaining applications from the 2012 round that were not successful.

RDRS: The Board will review the status of the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) pilot, which concludes in November. In addition, the Board will discuss the Generic Names Supporting Organization's (GNSO) ongoing work on the RDRS and the timing of a consultation with the GNSO Council on the future of the service.

WSIS+20: The co-facilitators of the 20-year review of the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society have published a zero draft of the WSIS+20 outcomes document. ICANN is preparing to submit feedback on the draft, and the Board is eager to discuss its implications for ICANN and the future of Internet governance.

If you missed the webinars that ICANN hosted last week to facilitate discussion of the zero draft, the recordings are available on the WSIS+20 Outreach Network webpage. ICANN will share the webinar recordings with the WSIS+20 co-facilitators to help inform their future deliberations.

Reviews: The Board will continue its discussion of ICANN Reviews, including updates on and goals for the proposed Review of Reviews Cross Community Group process.

IFR2: The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Naming Function Review is an accountability mechanism designed to ensure that Public Technical Identifiers meets the needs and expectations of its naming customers. The Board convened the Second IANA Naming Function Review (IFR2) in 2023, and the review team has submitted its final report to the Board. At this workshop, the Board will review the report and consider it for adoption.

Ombuds: ICANN Ombuds Elizabeth Field will share an update on the development of a revised Ombuds Office "Framework and Process" document with the Board.

Finance: The Board will receive an update on the ICANN organization's FY25 financials, including the ongoing efforts to maintain ICANN's fiscal responsibility.

Following the workshop, I will share an overview of the key outcomes. In the meantime, you can find the agenda for the 13 September Regular Board Meeting on the Board Activities and Meetings page.

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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