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The Latest New gTLD Program Achievements

9 October 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.

On behalf of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program leadership team, we are happy to share an update on the status of implementation of the next round. The ICANN organization (org) continues to make steady progress on the path to opening the new gTLD application window in April 2026. Over the last few months, we have met several major milestones regarding the Applicant Guidebook (AGB), the Applicant Support Program (ASP), and the Registry Service Provider (RSP) Evaluation Program.

Applicant Guidebook Nearing Finalization

The AGB sets out the rules, procedures, and requirements for new gTLD applications and is therefore a foundational element of the program. Over the last few months, the team worked with the Implementation Review Team to review the 29 submissions received during the final Public Comment period on the complete draft of the AGB. We anticipate that the review and summary of those submissions (totaling 196 comments) will be completed in time to allow the ICANN Board to consider the AGB for adoption during its meeting at ICANN84. This timing ensures that the AGB is available at least four months before the new gTLD application window opens, as recommended by the community.

Processing ASP and RSP Applications

Following the successful launch of the ASP and the RSP Evaluation Program in November 2024, the teams continue to process applications. In August, ICANN announced that three candidates had conditionally qualified for ASP support; two are now fully qualified after having paid the requisite deposit. An additional 60 applications are in process. This already is a significant improvement compared to the 2012 Round, in which ICANN received a total of three ASP applications, of which only one qualified for support.

ICANN announced earlier this week that it will extend the ASP application submission deadline. While originally scheduled to close on 19 November, the application window now will remain open until 19 December 2025. However, applicants must enter organizational information in the system by 19 November in order to take advantage of the extension. In the meantime, the team is stepping up communications with applicants in the pipeline to identify challenges and provide resources to help these candidates complete the process. At the same time, ICANN's Stakeholder Engagement and Global Communications teams continue to spread the word about new gTLDs and the financial and technical assistance available to applicants.

The RSP Pre-Evaluation Program closed on 20 May 2025 with 35 RSP applications currently under evaluation and processing. In December, the team plans to publish a list of providers that have been successfully evaluated through the RSP program.

gTLD Application Processing

Implementation is on track as the gTLD Application Processing project continues to make headway. This entails the comprehensive review of a submitted application, including reviewing qualifications, conducting background checks, and various types of evaluations, depending on the gTLD type being applied for. Today, the TLD Application Management System (TAMS) development is at 63% completion; 30 business requirement documents have been drafted; and three of five Requests for Information and two of 16 Requests for Proposal have been completed. The completion of TAMS is key to being able to open the window for gTLD applications as scheduled.

A successful round depends on ICANN org being prepared, internally, to take in and process applications, and potential applicants being ready to submit strong applications for new gTLDs. As we move closer to the new gTLD application window opening, we expect activities focused on training and readiness to pick up.

With continued momentum and the collaboration with the community, we are optimistic that we will open the new gTLD application window in April 2026, as planned. If you would like to learn more, we invite you to read our pre-meeting status update and join us for our ICANN84 Prep Week session on 14 October 2025, and in-person or remotely at ICANN84.

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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