Approved Resolutions | Special Meeting of the ICANN Board | 27 July 2023

a. Revisiting Board Action on CCWG-Recommendation 7

No resolution taken.

b. New gTLD Program: Next Round Implementation Plan

Whereas, on 16 March 2023, the ICANN Board requested that ICANN organization deliver an implementation plan for opening the next round of the New generic top-level domain (gTLD) Program no later than 1 August 2023.

Whereas, the ICANN Board stated that the implementation plan required the satisfactory completion of four deliverables by the last day of the ICANN77 Public Meeting (15 June 2023).

Whereas, the four requested deliverables were delivered to the Board by the last day of the ICANN77 Public Meeting (15 June 2023).

Whereas, the Board authorized the ICANN Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to spend up to US$9 million from the remaining funds of the 2012 new gTLD round, to fund the implementation work through 31 October 2023.

Whereas, the Board directed the ICANN Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to prepare any request for implementation funding beyond 31 October 2023 to be submitted to the Board Finance Committee (BFC) in a timely manner, so that the committee can make a recommendation to the Board for its consideration at the ICANN78 Public Meeting.

Whereas, ICANN org delivered a draft of the New gTLD Program: Next Round Implementation Plan and plans to publish the plan on or before 31 July 2023 ("Next Round Implementation Plan").

Whereas, the Next Round Implementation Plan identifies a proposal for an overall timeline for implementation as well as a proposed process for funding requests to implement the New gTLD Program: Next Round.

Whereas, the Next Round Implementation Plan identifies a set of dependencies that are required to execute the deliverables outlined in the Plan.

Whereas, the Next Round Implementation Plan contemplates that the Board will authorize the overall funding of the work in tranches.

Resolved (2023.07.27.01), the Board acknowledges receipt of the Next Round Implementation Plan as requested in its 16 March 2023 resolution.

Resolved (2023.07.27.02), the Board acknowledges the dependencies to the timeline for opening the New gTLD Program: Next Round identified in the Next Round Implementation Plan and directs the ICANN Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to provide periodic updates to the Board on progress to resolve the dependencies and general progress on program implementation.

Resolved (2023.07.27.03), the Board acknowledges the Next Round implementation budget included in the Next Round Implementation Plan covers implementation activities necessary to progress the four core work streams through to the opening of the application period in Q2 2026 (with a goal of April 2026).  The Board directs the ICANN Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to continue to coordinate with the Board Finance Committee on periodic requests for implementation funding in a timely manner, so that the BFC may make recommendations to the Board for its consideration of approval of tranches of funding as implementation work progresses through identified milestones.

a. Ombudsman FY23 At-Risk Compensation

Whereas, the Compensation Committee recommended that the Board approve payment to the Ombudsman of his FY23 at-risk compensation.

Resolved (2023.07.27.04), the Board hereby approves a payment to the Ombudsman of his FY23 at-risk compensation component.

Resolved (2023.07.27.05), a portion of this action by the Board shall remain confidential as an "action relating to personnel or employment matters", pursuant to Article 3, section 3.5(b) of the ICANN Bylaws.