Email from ICANN

Monday, 09 February 2026

ICANN Community Digest

Click here to learn more about the New gTLD Program

2026 Round Applicant Guidebook

2026 Round Vendor Sourcing Timeline

The ICANN organization Policy Development Support function publishes this twice-weekly digest

to help ICANN community groups track requests and follow updates.

Do you have any ideas for improving the ICANN Community Digest?

Write to us at policyinfo@icann.org!

Table of Contents

ICANN85

Register now
Prep Week Schedule
NEW: ICANN85 Schedule Now Available

Information Sharing

NEW: GNSO’s DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP-1 Observer Enrollment
NEW: ICANN and UNESCO Announce Schedule of Events for UA Day 2026
NEW: ICANN Announces Recipients of the ICANN86 Fellowship

Webinars

Webinar - Emerging DNS Abuse Trends and Mitigation Strategies

2026 Round

ICANN Materials Provide Prospective New gTLD Applicants Clarity on Key Topics
Next Round Champions Toolkit Available in the Six ICANN Languages
Call for ASP Mentors

🚨 Action Items 🚨

TOMORROW: Call for Nominations for ICANN Fellowship Program Mentors
TOMORROW: ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Evaluation Quality Control
NEXT WEEK: ICANN Request for Proposal: Evaluator Panels for String Similarity and Variant Strings for the new gTLD Program: 2026 Round
NEXT WEEK: Apply Now for ICANN and PTI Leadership Positions
ICANNWiki Seeking Volunteers

Public Comment

TOMORROW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Framework and Process
TOMORROW: ICANN FY27–31 Operating & Financial Plan, ICANN/IANA FY27 Op Plans & Budgets
THURSDAY: Draft PTI FY27 Operating Plan and Budget
Latin Script Diacritics PDP Initial Report
Name Collision Procedure Documentation
Proposed Root KSK Algorithm Rollover

Events

These events occur in February 2026.

ICANN85

Prep Week Schedule

NEW: ICANN85 Schedule Now Available

ICANN is hosting the ICANN85 Community Forum from 7–12 March 2026 in Mumbai, India. The schedule for the hybrid event, which will accommodate both in-person and virtual participation, is now available on the ICANN85 Community Forum website.

Information Sharing

NEW: GNSO’s DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP-1 Observer Enrollment

While the PDP membership is structured as a representative model, all of the ICANN community are also free to enroll as an Observer to follow the deliberations of the PDP. To enroll as an Observer, enrollments will be fielded through ICANN Join. If you have not used ICANN Join before, please follow the first-time user instructions below. Accessing ICANN Join does require having an ICANN Account.

ICANN Join Instructions

NEW: ICANN and UNESCO Announce Schedule of Events for UA Day 2026

UA Day 2026 will be held through the end of May and will feature more than 30 events in over 30 countries. ICANN and UNESCO invite the UA community around the world to take part in these events and help achieve a more multilingual global Internet.

NEW: ICANN Announces Recipients of the ICANN86 Fellowship

A total of 40 fellows residing in 34 countries will take part in the meeting 8–11 June 2026 in Seville, Spain.

Webinars

Webinar - Emerging DNS Abuse Trends and Mitigation Strategies

Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 11:30 UTC to 12:30 UTC

Read more and register.

2026 Round

ICANN Materials Provide Prospective New gTLD Applicants Clarity on Key Topics

ICANN org is developing supplemental, complementary materials to aid prospective generic top-level domain (gTLD) applicants in understanding the Next Round application requirements, and how to navigate the application and evaluation processes.

Blog.

Key Topic Overview Documents.

Next Round Champions Toolkit Available in the Six ICANN Languages

ICANN is working with the community to identify potential Applicant Support Program (ASP) applicants – especially in regions that are currently under-represented in ICANN. If you are interested in helping to raise awareness among your own contacts or communities, please use the materials in the Next Round Champions Toolkit.

To stay up to date on the New gTLD Program: Next Round and ASP, join the mailing list: nextroundinfo@icann.org. ASP leads, targets, and ideas can be sent to engagement.newgTLDprogram@icann.org.

Call for ASP Mentors

ICANN is seeking volunteer mentors who would like to offer their expertise to supported applicants as part of the ASP in the new gTLD Program: Next Round. ICANN is looking for mentors who can share insights and experience across ICANN Languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, or Spanish) to support diverse gTLD applicants.

Mentors may play a role in: advising applicants on navigating the gTLD application process and DNS industry; identifying resources; providing guidance; sharing experiences as appropriate; and helping supported applicants navigate the ICANN community and Public Meetings. If you or someone in your network might be interested, please refer to the mentor registration announcement for more information.

Questions about the ASP or becoming a supported applicant Mentor can be sent to globalsupport@icann.org.

Action Items

TOMORROW: Call for Nominations for ICANN Fellowship Program Mentors

Interested SOs/ACs should select their respective Fellowship Program mentor representative to serve for the ICANN87–ICANN89 meetings, and notify ICANN Fellowship Program Manager Siranush Vardanyan via email at siranush.vardanyan@icann.org no later than 10 February, 2026.

TOMORROW: ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Evaluation Quality Control

As was the case in the 2012 Round of the New gTLD Program, administration of the QC process will be outsourced to a third party to preserve independence with the objective of ensuring that the evaluation processes are transparent, consistent, and repeatable across all applications.

DEADLINE: 10 February 2026

NEXT WEEK: ICANN Request for Proposal: Evaluator Panels for String Similarity and Variant Strings for the new gTLD Program: 2026 Round

The selected provider(s) will also be required to collaborate with ICANN on the development of evaluation guides for the work conducted by the panels, ensuring that the evaluation processes are transparent, consistent, and repeatable across all gTLD applications.

DEADLINE: Wednesday 18 February, 23:59 UTC

NEXT WEEK: Apply Now for ICANN and PTI Leadership Positions

The selected individuals will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe to help shape the policy development and technical coordination of the Internet's unique identifiers.

DEADLINE: 18 February 2026

ICANNWiki Seeking Volunteers

ICANNWiki is seeking volunteers to assist with creating and editing articles and content for the site. Do you want to help? Getting started is as simple as requesting an account. Then, make sure to read the short content guide to get a feel for what belongs in the wiki. Also, feel free to take a look at some data source suggestions on where to find reliable data. Happy editing!

Public Comment

TOMORROW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Framework and Process

Open for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Closed for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 10 February 2025