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Highlights of the September ICANN Board Workshop

24 September 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.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors convened in Los Angeles, California, 6–8 September to continue our work in several areas. I'm pleased to report on the progress made on a number of initiatives that are of interest to the community.

Each Board Workshop begins with series of closed sessions to update the Board on a variety of topics. During this time, the Board was briefed on the status of current lawsuits and had the opportunity to ask questions.

The New Generic Top-Level Domains Program: Next Round

In addition to several critical decisions regarding the resolution of contention sets in the Next Round, the Board decided on several other topics that impact the program. The Board adopted the pending recommendation from the Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process Phase 1, as well as advice from the Security and Stability Advisory Committee in relation to Name Collision Analysis. These are key components in establishing the gTLD evaluation fee.

The Board also agreed to use a portion of the auction proceeds from the 2012 Round of the New gTLD Program to help fund direct support to qualified applicants in the Applicant Support Program (ASP). The Board also spent time preparing for the consultation with the Governmental Advisory Committee on advice we received at ICANN80 related to the ASP.

Registration Data Request Service

The Board had a productive discussion around the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) demand, usage metrics to date, and improvements that have been made to the service. We plan to have more in-depth conversations with the community later this year as we approach the one-year mark since launching the service.

Pilot Holistic Review

The Board received an update on the community work being carried out to appoint the Pilot Holistic Review Team and name the team's leadership in preparation for the pilot. The Board also adopted the Pilot Holistic Review Operating Standards, which will guide the work of the review team in the months to come.

Audit Committee Training

The Board Audit Committee attended an annual training that highlighted best practices of audit committees and the important role they play. The session focused on the responsibilities of these committees, current trends in auditing, prioritization, and effectiveness.

Board Governance

The Board Governance Committee reviewed the membership slates for Board committees, working groups, and caucuses. Although the committee did not complete its slating discussion, it is working toward the goal of completing the slating in time for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November.

Speaking of which, the ICANN81 AGM takes place 9–14 November in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye. Be sure to register in advance if you plan to attend in person. My colleagues and I look forward to seeing you there.

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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