TOP NEWS

By Kurtis Lindqvist, ICANN President and CEO

On behalf of the ICANN organization, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the ICANN84 Annual General Meeting (AGM), which took place 25–30 October in Dublin, Ireland. In total, 1,594 people attended ICANN84 in person, including 104 first-time attendees, while 526 people participated virtually.

It was wonderful to spend time in Dublin, among friends and colleagues in the local Internet community, for ICANN’s second meeting in the city. I had many opportunities to meet with community leaders and have meaningful discussions about their priorities and how we can achieve our shared goals.

I’m pleased to report that the AGM continued to build on the steady momentum generated over the past year in support of the 2026 round of applications for new generic top-level domains, the ICANN Grant Program, and the evolution of ICANN reviews. This progress would not have been possible without an engaged and dedicated multistakeholder community.

Read my blog to learn more.

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 shared in the near future.

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.

ICANN Announces ICANN86, ICANN87, and

ICANN89 Locations

ICANN has announced the locations for ICANN86, ICANN87, and ICANN89, taking place in 2026 and 2027.

Seville, Spain, has been selected as the location in the Europe region to host the ICANN86 Policy Forum, which will be held from 8–11 June 2026. 

Muscat, Oman, has been selected as the location in the Asia Pacific region to host the ICANN87 Annual General Meeting, and will take place from 17–22 October 2026. Muscat was originally scheduled to be the location for ICANN84, but was postponed.

Vancouver, Canada, has been selected as the location in the North America region to host the ICANN89 Policy Forum. ICANN89 will be held from 14–17 June 2027.

Read the announcement to learn more.

ICANN Board Adopts Next Round Applicant Guidebook

ICANN’s Board of Directors formally adopted the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) for the 2026 round of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program at the ICANN84 Annual General Meeting in Dublin.

"Adoption of the AGB is a significant milestone on the path to opening the gTLD application window. The Board is pleased and proud to have adopted the AGB," said ICANN Board Chair Tripti Sinha. "This is a testament to the dedication of the community and ICANN staff, working together over many hours to implement the next round of the New gTLD Program."

The guidebook establishes the requirements and processes for all entities applying for gTLDs. It is based on more than 300 outputs from community-developed, consensus policy recommendations, and is the culmination of more than 250 hours of Implementation Review Team meetings and detailed discussions around policy and implementation.

Read the announcement to learn more.

Advancing the Review of Reviews During ICANN84

The Review of Reviews Cross Community Group (CCG) continued managing a fundamental evaluation of the reviews set out in the ICANN Bylaws, as a whole system, including their implementation. As part of its fact-finding phase, the Reviews CCG hosted two plenary sessions during ICANN84 to collect input on its draft Purpose of Reviews statement, and to gather views on how to shape a refreshed review system. This was also a topic of discussion in a number of community group sessions as well as in joint Board sessions.    

The Reviews CCG will build on the feedback from ICANN84 and input received in subsequent webinar sessions held on 18 November to inform the development of draft proposals it plans to prepare for discussion at ICANN85.   

Community participation is essential to this effort. Whether you have experience with past reviews or are new to the topic, your ideas and perspectives are welcome. You can visit the Review of Reviews community work space to learn more, share your input, and get involved.

RDRS Continues as ICANN Seeks Community Input on Next Steps

The ICANN Board adopted a resolution to continue the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) for up to two additional years and concurrently published the RDRS Policy Alignment Analysis for Public Comment. This follows productive discussions during ICANN84 in Dublin.

The RDRS provides a centralized system for consumer protection advocates, cybersecurity specialists, government officials, intellectual property professionals, law enforcement, ICANN community members, and others with a legitimate interest to request access to generic top-level domain nonpublic registration data. The voluntary pilot began in November 2023 and provides users the ability to send requests to participating registrars. Key features include legal document upload, template creation, and request tracking.

ICANN is seeking input to help inform how RDRS evolves via the Public Comment proceeding on the RDRS Policy Alignment Analysis.

Learn more and submit comments before 9 December 2025.