Logo
ICANN
ICANN
Filtered Search

Are you sure you want to sign out from http://www.icann.org?

If you want to sign out from both http://www.icann.org and ICANN Account, click here.

ICANN Blogs

Read ICANN Blogs to stay informed of the latest policymaking activities, regional events, and more.

Looking Ahead to the March Board Workshop and ICANN79

28 February 2024
By
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Division of Information Technology. She leads Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) and the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). She has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her wide-ranging experience includes leadership positions in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy and policy. In her current role, she is the chief executive of the MAX, which operates a high-performance regional research and education (R&E) 100G network for advanced cyber-infrastructure services and research. She is also responsible for UMD's High Performance Computing service and strategy. Tripti is active internationally as the executive and operational head of UMD's global operation of DNS root services. She previously served as Co-Chair of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) from 2015-2018.

In the United States, she is very involved in the Internet2 community on activities related to the US national R&E Internet backbone. She is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Quilt whose mission is to provide advocacy for research and education networking on the US national agenda. She has served on many other non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards.

Tripti has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, she moved back-and-forth between the USA and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and has an understanding of Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Tripti 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 2024.

As the first ICANN Public Meeting of 2024, ICANN79 is our first opportunity this year to come together as a community to solve problems and work together to ensure an inclusive, interoperable Internet for all. Whether you are attending this Community Forum in person or joining us online, your participation underscores the strength of our shared commitment to the future of ICANN and to a secure, stable, and unified global Internet.

Before the meeting, the Board will hold a three-day workshop to advance our work. Here is an overview of the agenda for the March Board Workshop, which is taking place 1–3 March in San Juan, Puerto Rico:

Strategic Plan: The Board will continue its work to develop the next ICANN Strategic Plan. As part of this effort, we invite you to join the community consultation session at ICANN79, where we will share the high-level outcomes of the environmental scan sessions conducted late last year, and the working draft vision statement for fiscal year 2030.

Next Round: The Board will review the initial community input on registry commitments in the next round of new generic top-level domain applications and prepare for the community consultation plenary session at ICANN79. The Board will also discuss the supplemental recommendations from the Generic Names Supporting Organization and how they affect the implementation timeline.

Grant Program: The Board will review the status of the ICANN Grant Program and upcoming milestones, including the opening of the first application submission period in March.

IANA: The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) team will provide a briefing on the transfer process for country code top-level domains, and the Board will discuss potential refinements to the process for reviewing transfer requests.

RDRS: The ICANN organization (org) team will provide an update on the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) and review current and planned work relating to proxy and privacy services.

ODP Consultation: After completing two Operational Design Phases (ODPs), ICANN org has begun the planned community consultation on the mechanism. The team will share its work to date with the Board and gather our perspectives to incorporate into the analysis.

Finance Update: The Board will receive an update on ICANN's finances, including the evolution of costs, an overview of ICANN's funding model, and a history of the fee structure.

The Board continues to work to enhance and deepen our engagement with the ICANN community. At ICANN79, we look forward to another full slate of bilateral meetings with community groups and constituencies, as well as a Public Forum and Public Board Meeting.

In addition, the Board has heard the community's concerns about the timing of the presentation of the annual ICANN Community Excellence Award. This award recognizes community members who have invested deeply in consensus-based solutions and contributed substantively to ICANN's multistakeholder model. This distinction deserves our appreciation and celebration, which is why, going forward, the award will be presented every year at the Community Forum Welcome Ceremony.

I wish everyone attending ICANN79 in person safe travels, and I will see you in San Juan or online.

Authors

Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Division of Information Technology. She leads Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) and the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). She has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her wide-ranging experience includes leadership positions in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy and policy. In her current role, she is the chief executive of the MAX, which operates a high-performance regional research and education (R&E) 100G network for advanced cyber-infrastructure services and research. She is also responsible for UMD's High Performance Computing service and strategy. Tripti is active internationally as the executive and operational head of UMD's global operation of DNS root services. She previously served as Co-Chair of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) from 2015-2018.

In the United States, she is very involved in the Internet2 community on activities related to the US national R&E Internet backbone. She is also Chair of the Board of Directors of The Quilt whose mission is to provide advocacy for research and education networking on the US national agenda. She has served on many other non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards.

Tripti has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, she moved back-and-forth between the USA and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and has an understanding of Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Tripti 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 2024.

You May Also Like