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Chair’s Blog: April Board Workshop Preview

26 April 2023
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.

The ICANN Board has continued to build on the positive momentum that was created during ICANN76 in our work to support the ICANN Community and our mission.

One important area of focus is the selection of ICANN's next President and CEO. As the CEO Search Committee Chair Chris Chapman wrote in a recent blog, the Board is holding Listening Sessions with stakeholders from across the Internet community to gather input on ICANN's future and leadership needs.

The next public Listening Session will take place on 16 May at 14:00–15:30 UTC. Please visit the Search Committee webpage for more information.

In the meantime, during the next Board Workshop, taking place 27–30 April in Brussels, we will hold several Listening Sessions with ICANN's Community groups and other parts of the Internet ecosystem. However, the search for ICANN's next leader is not the only item on the agenda. There are several other key areas of focus:

  • Next Round of New gTLDs: ICANN Organization staff will update the Board on the latest developments in their work to launch the next round of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). This update will include the status of the ICANN Community's work on four deliverables and an overview of the process for developing an Implementation Plan.

  • Contract Amendments: The ICANN contracted parties have voted to approve proposed amendments to the Base gTLD Registry Agreement and 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement that would improve the WHOIS system by updating the underlying technology with the more secure and capable Registration Data Access Protocol. During the workshop, the Board will consider whether to approve the proposed amendments.

    Negotiations regarding the addition of contractual obligations intended to mitigate or disrupt registrations engaged in Domain Name System abuse are ongoing. The Board will receive an update on the progress, including the timeline for the Public Comment proceeding.

  • Registration Data Request Service: ICANN Organization staff will update the Board on their progress in developing the Registration Data Request Service, including communications and engagement efforts for both requestors and registrars.

  • Advice Improvements Project: The Board will review proposed improvements to the Board's process for considering advice received from the ICANN Advisory Committees (ACs). These proposed improvements, which aim to enhance predictability and transparency, are part of the Advice Improvements Project that the Board launched following consultations with the ACs.

  • Planning: The Board will consider whether to adopt the Proposed FY24–28 Operating and Financial Plan and the Proposed FY24 Operating Plan and Budget, which were published last week. Under ICANN's Bylaws, following the Board's adoption of these plans, the Empowered Community may consider whether to reject the plans as adopted. If there is no Empowered Community rejection process pending, the plans will take effect on 1 July 2023.

    The Board will also hold a strategic outlook trend identification session to discuss emerging issues that could impact the ICANN Strategic Plan. The strategic outlook sessions are held annually with the ICANN Community, Organization, and Board.

After the workshop, I will share another update on our progress and what work remains as we approach ICANN77 in June. For now, I am assured that everyone is working hard to meet our deadlines and to ensure another productive ICANN Public Meeting.

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.

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