On behalf of the ICANN organization, I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the hybrid ICANN76 Community Forum. More than 1,200 people attended in person, and more than 800 joined virtually.
I would especially like to thank everyone for fostering an overwhelmingly positive and collegial environment, in which we were able to make real progress toward our shared goals. The ICANN community, Board, and organization advanced the discussion of and policymaking around the most pressing issues that ICANN is facing, including Domain Name System abuse, the future of technical Internet governance, and the next round of new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications.
In one of the most significant outcomes of ICANN76, the Board adopted 98 recommendations from the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process Final Report and directed the organization to deliver a comprehensive implementation plan by 1 August 2023. This step marked a major milestone for ICANN, and my team at ICANN are hard at work on the plan. We should all be proud of holding another productive and inclusive ICANN Public Meeting.
I'm also pleased to report that since the meeting, ICANN's contracted parties have voted to approve proposed contract amendments that would improve the WHOIS system by updating the underlying technology with the more secure and capable Registration Data Access Protocol. Next, the Board will consider the proposed amendments.
Moreover, ICANN has just supported the Universal Acceptance Steering Group in holding the first-ever UA Day, which was celebrated with nearly 50 events in more than 40 countries. During this global event, ICANN staff shared our progress on achieving UA-readiness in our internal systems. We are also committed to promoting UA in the next round of new gTLD applications, to help create a more diverse, multilingual, and inclusive Internet.
In light of these recent successes, let's maintain this positive momentum as we embark on the next chapter of ICANN's history and prepare to launch the next round of new gTLD applications and to face unprecedented challenges.
My team and I look forward to seeing you again at ICANN77 in June, and to further advance our mission of ensuring a unified, global Internet.
