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ICANN Org Delivers ICANN Grant Program Design and Implementation Plan Update

20 October 2022
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.

Last week, the ICANN organization (org) provided an update to the ICANN Board on its development of the Preliminary Design and Implementation Plan for the ICANN Grant Program.

The ICANN Grant Program is based on the recommendations in the Final Report of the Cross-Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds. The community's recommendations were adopted by the ICANN Board in its 12 June 2022 resolutions. The Board directed ICANN org to produce a preliminary implementation plan in line with the ICANN Board Scorecard within 120 days. We are impressed with the depth of planning by ICANN org within this timeline.

The Grant Program is the culmination of years of work by the ICANN community. It is a testament to the multistakeholder model in action, as well as ICANN org's ability to deliver on the community's recommendations. The Grant Program will distribute the proceeds from auctions of last resort in the 2012 New gTLD Program. Once launched, the program will be open to applications from any eligible organization across the world for projects that are supportive of ICANN's mission. Through this program, ICANN will support creativity and innovation that furthers our vision of a single, open, and globally interoperable Internet.

Implementation of the ICANN Grant Program continues to be a priority for the Board and the org. Now that ICANN org has produced the Preliminary Design and Implementation Plan, it will complete the design and proceed with implementation. ICANN org will provide opportunities for engagement throughout the period of implementation.

ICANN org will continue to update the Board and community as work progresses toward the establishment of the program during 2023. The future distribution of this significant amount of funding is an exceptional opportunity to make a difference in the Internet ecosystem, in furtherance of ICANN's mission. We look forward to following this work closely and seeing the positive impact of the ICANN Grant Program on Internet users across the globe.

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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