Chair’s Blog: Recap of the October Board Workshop and ICANN87

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.
The ICANN87 Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place 17–22 October in Bali. This was the first ICANN Public Meeting in Indonesia, which as a diverse, multilingual country, was a fitting gathering place for ICANN's global community.
The AGM is a time of renewal, when the ICANN Board of Directors seats new members and bids farewell to those whose terms have ended. At the Regular Board Meeting on 22 October, the Board thanked outgoing members Nicolas Caballero, Sarah Deutsch, and León Sánchez for their many contributions. We also posthumously thanked Alan Barrett, who served on the Board with dedication and commitment until his passing in May. In addition, the Board recognized the 42 community leaders whose terms of service concluded this year.
During the Board Meeting, we acted on policy recommendations related to the selection and deselection of Internationalized Domain Name country code top-level domains. My colleagues and I would like to thank the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) for its hard work in developing this policy. While the Board did not adopt all proposed recommendations, we approved the majority of the proposal and committed to further dialogue with the ccNSO.
The Board also approved the transfer of $20 million in surplus funds from ICANN's Operating Fund to the Project Fund. The Project Fund provides resources to implement Board-approved community recommendations or any qualifying project.
We also welcomed new Board members Justine Chew, Niel Harper, and Ian Sheldon. Moreover, we held elections and appointed the members and leaders of each Board Committee. I am honored to continue to serve as Board Chair, alongside Vice Chair Sajid Rahman.
Before ICANN87 got underway, the Board held a three-day workshop. Here is an overview of the outcomes of our discussions:
2026 Round: The Board received an update on Reveal Day and related activities, such as the launch of the Application Publication System, as well as upcoming milestones for the New Generic Top-Level Domains Program: 2026 Round.
RSS Governance: The Board received an overview of the potential next steps in the work to evolve the governance of the Root Server System (RSS). We also discussed recent correspondence from the Registries Stakeholder Group and the Internet Architecture Board. To inform the Board's consideration of the RSS Governance Working Group's proposed functional model and phased implementation approach, the ICANN organization (org) will continue to develop a draft work plan that includes the expected milestones and estimated resources needed to charter the RSS Council.
Review of Reviews: Following a progress update on the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group's work, the Board discussed the implications of the group's request to extend the overall timeline in light of the timing provisions in Article 27, Section 27.6 of the Bylaws that pause ICANN's obligation to conduct Specific Reviews. Additionally, ICANN org presented possible approaches and timelines for the implementation of the anticipated recommendations.
Finance: The Board reviewed the audited financials for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) and the FY27 forecast. The Audit Committee of the Board noted that it was pleased with the results of the audit and congratulated ICANN org for a clean audit, with no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies noted by the external audit firm.
Policy Development: The Board reviewed the policy work underway, as summarized in the latest consolidated policy scorecard, as well as the policy development process overall. We identified an opportunity to increase the Board's awareness of the key issues at the center of policy development earlier in the process and will work with ICANN org to accomplish this efficiently and effectively.
Internet Governance: The Board received updates on preparations for