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ICANN84 Newsletter
28 October 2025
| | | ICANN Board Honors Alfredo Calderón with Dr. Tarek Kamel Award for Capacity Building | |
The ICANN Board announced that Alfredo Calderón is the recipient of the 2025 Dr. Tarek Kamel Award for Capacity Building. ICANN Board Chair Tripti Sinha announced the Board’s selection during the ICANN84 Welcome Ceremony.
The ICANN Board recognizes Calderón’s significant efforts in capacity development on a local, regional, and global scale. Calderón’s leadership in founding and running the North American School of Internet Governance and the Virtual School on Internet Governance earned him the deep appreciation of the ICANN Board.
Calderón participated in the award ceremony and thanked the ICANN Board for its recognition. A video of the award ceremony will be published later.
The Dr. Tarek Kamel Award for Capacity Building was established in honor of the late Dr. Tarek Kamel, an Internet pioneer known for his contributions to global Internet governance. The award recognizes members of the ICANN community who have made significant contributions to national, regional, or global capacity development programs related to ICANN’s mission.
Read the full announcement to learn more.
| | Read the 2025 NomCom Year in Review Report | |
The ICANN 2025 Nominating Committee (NomCom) has published its Year in Review Report, which reviews its progress since convening at the conclusion of the ICANN81 Annual General Meeting.
The report opens with a message from the 2025 NomCom Chair, followed by an overview of the leadership positions the committee was tasked with filling. It outlines the criteria provided to the NomCom for identifying potential candidates and describes the committee's outreach efforts and preselection process. The report then presents the final selections, followed by a review of key milestones, meetings, and training sessions conducted throughout the selection process.
The 2026 NomCom will be seated at the close of ICANN84. Read this announcement for a list of open positions.
| | ICANN84 NEWS AND RESOURCES | | | |
ICANN invites you to join us for the Academic Hour at the ICANN engagement booth during ICANN84. The second session will take place Wednesday, 29 October, from 14:30 to 15:30 GMT/UTC.
The Academic Hour at ICANN84 is an opportunity for the community to engage with ICANN organization team members on how to raise awareness of, encourage participation in, and support capacity building on ICANN issues. ICANN actively engages with the academic sector on a regular basis to foster a globally knowledgeable and informed public – including students, educators, and researchers – about the Internet ecosystem and ICANN's role.
Whether you’re new to ICANN and Internet governance or deeply involved in academic research, we welcome your insights and participation!
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The ccTLD News Session at ICANN84 brings together case studies and fresh perspectives from around the world, showcasing innovation, accountability, and growth. Highlights include .ng’s initiatives in driving innovation and partnerships, .no’s approach to maintaining a safe and well-regulated domain through rules, oversight, and collaboration, and .co’s process for selecting a new registry operator. .dk shares its transition to a domain management model handled exclusively by registrars, while .am demonstrates how Armenia’s digital identity connects with global opportunities through security, engagement, and innovation. The session remains a vital platform for ccTLDs to exchange insights, share experiences, and strengthen the global community.
ccTLD News Session | 28 October, 10:30–12:00 GMT/UTC
| | All Welcome to Join SubPro IRT Work Sessions | |
The New gTLD Program team will provide overviews of various Applicant Guidebook topics at ICANN84. Although the titles indicate a SubPro IRT Work Session, the sessions have been repurposed as open community sessions. All are invited to bring their questions and join the team for these discussions.
SubPro IRT Work Session (5 of 6) | 29 October, 9:00–10:00 UTC
SubPro IRT Work Session (6 of 6) | 29 October, 16:30–17:30 UTC
| | Review of Reviews: Shaping the Future of ICANN Reviews at ICANN84 | |
The Review of Reviews Cross Community Group will convene at ICANN84 to continue its comprehensive evaluation of ICANN’s review processes. These plenary sessions provide a platform for collaboration as the community works to build a stronger, more effective system of reviews. Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to this milestone effort.
Review of Reviews - Session 2 of 2 | 30 October, 13:15–14:30 GMT/UTC
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Have Your Say: Draft LAC Regional Strategic
Plan (FY26–30)
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The ICANN Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) community is invited to review and share feedback on the draft LAC Regional Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030.
Developed by the LAC Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) team together with the LAC Strategy Council, this draft reflects input collected through surveys, webinars, and consultations with stakeholders across governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and the technical community.
The plan outlines regional priorities to strengthen participation in ICANN’s multistakeholder model, support technical and capacity-development initiatives, and advance ICANN’s global mission while addressing the unique needs of the LAC region.
Your input is essential to ensuring the plan reflects our community’s diverse voices and priorities.
Please review the draft and submit your comments by 29 October 2025.
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Raúl Echeberría is a widely recognized Uruguayan expert in Internet development, governance, and digital policy. In the early 1990s, he was among the pioneers who helped bring the Internet to Uruguay. Since then, he has played influential roles in the local, regional, and global digital ecosystem. Echeberría joined the Latin American Internet Association as Executive Director in 2020. He previously worked as the Vice President for Global Engagement at the Internet Society (ISOC), where he had also served as a member and chair of the Board of Trustees.
Echeberría was one of the founders of LACNIC, the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean, and led the organization as CEO for 12 years. His leadership extends to international spaces, including the Working Group for Internet Governance, the World Summit on the Information Society, the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum, NetMundial, and the IA Action Summit. He also serves in volunteer roles with CETIC.br, CETIS, UNESCO, ISOC Uruguay, and the Global Cyber Alliance.
His contributions have earned him national and regional awards, including LACNIC’s Trayectoria and the “Julio Granato” award presented by the Uruguayan IT professionals Association (ASIAP).
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As founder and managing director of Top Tech Samoa, a Samoa-based technology company, Filimoni Pelenato is involved in promoting digital development within Samoa and across the Pacific through business and community outreach. An information technology network engineer with over a decade of experience in the public and private sector, he also serves as an executive member of the Samoa Information Technology Association.
Participating as an ICANN Fellow at ICANN82 in Seattle was a transformative experience for Pelenato, because it enabled him to connect Pacific Island issues with global Internet policy and helped him network with mentors and peers. In addition, the ICANN Fellowship helped him grow into a more confident contributor, better equipped to engage in global discussions affecting Samoa and the Pacific Islands.
ICANN84 will be his second fellowship experience. He is now interested in strengthening Samoa’s role in global Internet governance and promoting digital readiness in Small Island Developing States.
| “The ICANN Fellowship showed me that even small voices from remote places like Samoa can help shape the Internet’s future.” | | | |
A software engineer with a degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Saksham Jain has been engaged with the ICANN community since 2022 when he joined .auDA, Australia’s domain administrator, as a compliance officer. He currently works as a software engineer with .auDA and is keenly interested in Internet governance, especially in areas where he can apply his technical skills to fields such as DNS Abuse and registry security.
Jain has participated in .auDA initiatives such as APIGA Australia 2024 as a group leader and has contributed to .auDA’s strategy discussions on DNS Abuse, Domain Name System Security Extensions, and registry security. He also serves as president of the RMIT Computer Science and IT Society.
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“If the next generation will inherit the DNS, let them help run
it now.”
| | | ICANN COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT | | |
Mon Perez
Member, Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), .sg
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"I joined the ccNSO because I’m part of the team managing the .sg ccTLD. I also wanted to learn from other ccTLDs, apply their best practices to ours, and share what we do at .sg. Lastly, I wanted to help combat DNS and domain name abuse."
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Marta Dias
Member, Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), .pt
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"I joined ccNSO mainly to engage with the community, learn from other ccTLDs, and, whenever possible, to have a voice in current discussions while ensuring that .pt is represented and recognized on the ccTLD map. It has proven to be an effective platform for collaboration!"
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