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First Quarter Update on the New gTLD Program: Next Round

24 February 2025
By
Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations

Lars joined ICANN in January 2013 as a Policy Specialist, supporting the GNSO in its policy development processes, after which he worked for ICANN’s Strategic Initiative function, where he oversaw ICANN’s organizational reviews. In August 2020, Lars took on the role of Senior Director for Policy Research within the Global Domains and Strategy function where his responsibilities included the policy and implementation lifecycle of community-developed consensus policies. On 1 November 2023 Lars was promoted to Vice President, New gTLD Program Management, acting also as the deputy program lead.

Prior to joining ICANN, Lars was an Assistant Professor of European Constitutional Law at the University of Maastricht. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He was born in Germany and speaks German, English, French, and Dutch, and he can sometimes solve a Rubix cube.

 and
Marika Konings

Marika Konings

VP, New gTLD Program Lead

Marika Konings joined ICANN in July 2008. In her current role as Vice President, new gTLD Program, Lead, she provides leadership and direction over multiple tracks of organizational activities toward implementation of a subsequent round of ICANN's new gTLD Program.

Previously, she served the organization as Vice President, Policy Development Support. In this capacity she supported and coordinated cross-functional activities that aid the development of global policies that advance ICANN’s mission of preserving the security, stability, and interoperability of the Internet. In addition, she was responsible for providing guidance, direction, and advice to staff across the Policy function in achieving organizational objectives.

Prior to joining ICANN, Marika was Director of European Affairs for the Cyber Security Industry Alliance. Before that, Marika spent seven years as senior consultant for a Brussels-based public affairs consultancy, where she represented health care and technology clients. Marika is a Dutch national and has a degree from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, in Culture and Sciences and a Master's Degree in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

As we prepare to gather next month in Seattle, for the first ICANN Public Meeting of 2025, we would like to provide an update on the status of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round.

Two critical programs launched late last year – the Applicant Support Program (ASP) and the Registry Service Provider (RSP) Evaluation Program. As of 19 February, ICANN has received 31 applications for the ASP from regions around the globe. Evaluation of these applications will be underway, and we expect applicants to learn whether they qualify for support within the next few months.

Applications for support may be submitted until 19 November 2025. The assistance provided to qualifying applicants includes non-financial support, such as pro bono professional services. The program team is currently recruiting volunteers to provide those services. The team also is creating a capacity-development program for supported applicants to help them prepare for the New gTLD Program application and evaluation, to understand what is involved in operating a registry, and how to participate in the ICANN multistakeholder community.

All gTLD applicants must identify a RSP that has been evaluated through the ICANN RSP Evaluation Program. As of 20 February, 41 entities have registered to be evaluated; each is being assessed on the technical aspects of operating a gTLD. The pre-evaluation stage of the program closes on 20 May 2025, and a list of successfully evaluated RSPs will be published in December 2025. The program will re-open concurrent with the application round opening in April 2026.

The team is honing in on several other milestones over the coming months, including the completion of the fourth Public Comment proceeding on the Applicant Guidebook (AGB), the essential "rule book" for the Next Round. The AGB, which ultimately must be adopted by the Board, consists of community-developed policy recommendations translated into rules and requirements that gTLD applicants must meet. The Public Comment period will remain open until 2 April 2025 and reviews draft language with regard to fees, contention set resolution, community priority evaluation, and registry voluntary commitments/public interest commitments, among other topics.

Another important area of focus is the development of the new gTLD Base Registry Agreement (RA). As the binding agreement between an approved gTLD applicant and ICANN, the RA sets forth the rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of the registry operator for a specific gTLD. ICANN is in discussion with the Implementation Review Team (IRT) on policy-related issues and the Registries Stakeholder Group to review proposed operational updates in the new gTLD Base RA. The new Base RA will be published for Public Comment following these discussions.

We hope you will join us for an implementation status update on 25 February 2025 (18:00 UTC) during ICANN82 Prep Week. To help you prepare for the meeting, the New gTLD Program: Next Round ICANN82 Status Update is available for your perusal. We look forward to seeing you, either in-person or remotely, and answering your questions at ICANN82. (See the ICANN82 schedule for further details).

While we have made a lot of progress, there is still much work to be done. Meeting program timelines requires a lot of effort for everyone – members of the IRT as well as ICANN org staff – and we are grateful for the continued support and dedication of all involved.

For more next round news and information, please visit the New gTLD Program website.

Authors

Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations
Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations

Lars joined ICANN in January 2013 as a Policy Specialist, supporting the GNSO in its policy development processes, after which he worked for ICANN’s Strategic Initiative function, where he oversaw ICANN’s organizational reviews. In August 2020, Lars took on the role of Senior Director for Policy Research within the Global Domains and Strategy function where his responsibilities included the policy and implementation lifecycle of community-developed consensus policies. On 1 November 2023 Lars was promoted to Vice President, New gTLD Program Management, acting also as the deputy program lead.

Prior to joining ICANN, Lars was an Assistant Professor of European Constitutional Law at the University of Maastricht. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He was born in Germany and speaks German, English, French, and Dutch, and he can sometimes solve a Rubix cube.

Marika Konings

Marika Konings

VP, New gTLD Program Lead
Marika Konings

Marika Konings

VP, New gTLD Program Lead

Marika Konings joined ICANN in July 2008. In her current role as Vice President, new gTLD Program, Lead, she provides leadership and direction over multiple tracks of organizational activities toward implementation of a subsequent round of ICANN's new gTLD Program.

Previously, she served the organization as Vice President, Policy Development Support. In this capacity she supported and coordinated cross-functional activities that aid the development of global policies that advance ICANN’s mission of preserving the security, stability, and interoperability of the Internet. In addition, she was responsible for providing guidance, direction, and advice to staff across the Policy function in achieving organizational objectives.

Prior to joining ICANN, Marika was Director of European Affairs for the Cyber Security Industry Alliance. Before that, Marika spent seven years as senior consultant for a Brussels-based public affairs consultancy, where she represented health care and technology clients. Marika is a Dutch national and has a degree from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, in Culture and Sciences and a Master's Degree in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

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