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Chair’s Blog: Recapping the March Board Workshop and ICANN85

30 mars 2026
Par
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.

On behalf of the ICANN Board of Directors, I would like to thank everyone who took part in the ICANN85 Community Forum in Mumbai, India. As a multicultural, multilingual democracy, India is a fitting gathering place for our diverse, multistakeholder community.

ICANN85 came at a busy and consequential time for ICANN, as our last Public Meeting before the launch of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: 2026 Round. Key areas of discussion included preparations for the 2026 Round, lessons learned from the World Summit on the Information Society 20-year review process, and the evolution of ICANN reviews.

The Board discussed these topics during our three-day workshop immediately prior to ICANN85, as well as in our joint sessions with community groups. ICANN85 culminated with the Regular Meeting of the Board on 12 March, during which we passed several resolutions. Here are the highlights of the Board's activities in Mumbai:

2026 Round: During our workshop, the Board received a status update on ICANN's readiness to open the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round application window and to begin processing applications. We also discussed the additional funding request for the Applicant Support Program.

At the public Board Meeting, we adopted three resolutions related to the 2026 Round. The Board approved the 2026 Base Registry Agreement, paving the way to open the application window on 30 April 2026. In addition, the Board approved the extension of several New gTLD Program contracts and approved advance contracting and disbursement for the third batch of evaluation vendors for the program.

SSAD: The Board voted to not adopt the 18 policy recommendations for a System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) from the Generic Names Supporting Organization's (GNSO) Final Report of the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Phase 2 Expedited Policy Development Process. This decision, in keeping with advice from the GNSO Council, recognizes the interdependence of the 18 recommendations and allows policy development to continue, including work on the necessary enhancements identified by the Board and community through lessons learned from the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) pilot.

We believe this action is in the best interests of ICANN and the ICANN community and will serve the global public interest by allowing the GNSO to make the necessary modifications to the recommendations and align the various policies affecting requests for nonpublic gTLD registration data as outlined in the RDRS Policy Alignment Analysis.

Reviews: The Board discussed the work of the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group, both at our workshop and during our meetings with community groups. In those conversations, the Board reiterated the importance of keeping the redesigned reviews framework simple and sustainable. We are grateful for the community's participation in this dialogue and its careful consideration of this key component of ICANN's accountability, transparency, and effectiveness.

NomCom: The Board adopted a resolution directing the ICANN organization (org) to publish a proposed update to the Nominating Committee (NomCom) Standing Committee Charter for Public Comment. The Board Governance Committee developed the proposed charter update with the aim of making it easier for the Board to successfully seat the committee by expanding the pool of eligible candidates.

Strategic Planning: During our workshop, the Board held an environmental scan brainstorming session. This is part of ICANN's annual strategy review process, which aims to identify the emerging trends, opportunities, and threats that may impact our Five-Year Strategic Plan. Community members took part in similar sessions during ICANN85, ensuring an array of opinions and perspectives. Next, the Board Strategic Planning Committee will review the collected insights and assess whether the Strategic Plan remains aligned with current realities.

RIR Governance: The Board received an overview of the ongoing effort to update Internet Coordination Policy 2 and reviewed the Address Supporting Organization's (ASO) status report on the remaining open issues. The ASO Address Council continued this work during ICANN85, with the goal of publishing the next draft of the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) Governance Document after the current cycle of RIR meetings. As this work approaches a conclusion, the Board looks forward to reviewing the RIR Governance Document and considering it for approval.

The Board is grateful to our dedicated community volunteers, the ICANN org staff, and our gracious hosts and partners in India for their work to ensure a successful meeting, despite global conflicts and travel disruptions. Let us build on this momentum to the successful launch of the 2026 application round and beyond!

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.