LOS ANGELES – 25 February 2019 – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced today that David Conrad has been appointed to oversee Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA) Services and Public Technical Identifiers (PTI). David will maintain his role as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at ICANN, as well as a member of the ICANN Executive Team.
"As CTO, David and his team play a critical role in executing ICANN's mission to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifiers," said Göran Marby, President and CEO, ICANN. "Delivering IANA services is an important part of what keeps the Internet running smoothly. David is a natural fit to oversee these synergistic functions, particularly given his current CTO role and having previously served as the General Manager of IANA Services."
"I've had the pleasure of working with David for many years and have always been rewarded by his perspective and support," said Kim Davies, Vice President, IANA Services, and President, PTI. "Moving the oversight of the IANA functions under David is a logical choice and allows us to align more closely with other technical activities his team undertakes."
"I'm delighted to rejoin the team that provides IANA services and PTI, as well as continue my role as CTO at ICANN," said Conrad. "I look forward to the opportunity to deepen the collaborative efforts of the Office of the CTO and the IANA Services teams in accomplishing our mission."
The IANA functions predate ICANN. In 1998, ICANN was established to be the home for the IANA functions. These functions coordinate the top-most level of the Internet's globally unique identifiers, and are provided by PTI, an affiliate of ICANN. The IANA team is responsible for the implementation of the IANA services and for maintaining the trust of the community to provide these services in an unbiased, responsible, and effective manner. Conrad first joined ICANN in 2005 and returned as the CTO in 2014. As the CTO, Conrad is at the heart of ICANN's mission to help maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet's system of unique identifiers. His role at ICANN has progressed into that of CTO.
Prior to joining ICANN, Conrad helped found a number of Internet startups, including Nominum, a firm focused on Internet name and address management products and services. He was also involved in the creation of the second Regional Internet Registry (RIR), Asia Pacific Network Information Center, which is the Internet address allocator for the Asia and Pacific Rim region. In 2011, Conrad provided senior-level advice and technical input for CloudFlare. Prior to that, Conrad was the Executive Director of the Internet Software Consortium during the development of the "BIND version 9" domain name server. He was also the seventh employee at the Internet Initiative Japan Corporation in Tokyo, and has held a number of software and infrastructure research and development positions throughout his career.
About ICANN
ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.