Email from ICANN Monday, 05 January 2026 ICANN Community Digest The Digest will resume publication in the new year on 05 January 2026. Click here to learn more about the New gTLD Program Applicant Support Program Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program 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 NEXT WEEK: ICANN85 Community Childcare Grants Program: Apply Now Information Sharing NEW: Last Call: Nominations for the ICANN Community Excellence Award NEW: Celebrating Our Achievements in 2025 NEW: Cheers to a Successful Year at ICANN NEW: A Year of Progress on the Path to Opening the 2026 Round of New gTLDs NEW: ICANN Request for Information: Event Sponsorship Management NEW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Seeks Input on Updated Framework and Process NEW: Registry Service Provider Application Support During ICANN Office Closure Webinars NEXT WEEK: Register to Attend: Informational Webinar on ICANN's and PTI’s Draft FY27 Plans Next 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 🚨 CLOSES THURSDAY: ICANN Community Excellence Award: Now Accepting Nominations CLOSES FRIDAY: Call for Applications: NextGen@ICANN86 ICANN Request for Proposal: New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Background Screening Services Invitation to Provide Input for the 2026 ICANN Nominating Committee Cycle ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Safeguard Assessment Call for Nominations for ICANN Fellowship Program Mentors ICANN Request for Proposal: Evaluator Panels for String Similarity and Variant Strings for the new gTLD Program: 2026 Round Apply Now for ICANN and PTI Leadership Positions ICANNWiki Seeking Volunteers Public Comment NEW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Framework and Process Proposed GNSO Process for ICANN Board to Reverse Adoption of GNSO Policy Recs String Similarity Evaluation Guidelines for New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Proposed Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement - Spec 14 (Variant TLDs) Proposed Updates to the Trademark Clearinghouse Requirements ICANN FY27–31 Operating & Financial Plan, ICANN/IANA FY27 Op Plans & Budgets Draft PTI FY27 Operating Plan and Budget Events These events occur in January 2026. ICANN85 Register now NEXT WEEK: ICANN85 Community Childcare Grants Program: Apply Now The program facilitates the in-person participation of community members with children who are 12 years old or younger at ICANN Public Meetings and eligible ICANN events. DEADLINE: Friday, 16 January 2026, at 23:59 UTC Read more. Information Sharing NEW: Last Call: Nominations for the ICANN Community Excellence Award The award recipient(s) will be announced in March 2026 at ICANN85 in Mumbai, India. Read more. NEW: Celebrating Our Achievements in 2025 On behalf of the Board, I am grateful to your commitment to preserving a secure, stable, and interoperable Internet. Read more. NEW: Cheers to a Successful Year at ICANN We saw successes in promoting a more multilingual Internet by organizing the third annual Universal Acceptance Day, in combating Domain Name System Abuse through enforcing the contract amendments, and in many other areas. Read more. NEW: A Year of Progress on the Path to Opening the 2026 Round of New gTLDs In some ways, the real work still lies ahead of us, as we move from "standing up" the program to actually running it, processing applications, and ultimately, onboarding new gTLD registries. Read more. NEW: ICANN Request for Information: Event Sponsorship Management Potential providers may respond to this RFI to indicate their interest in this initiative, and to showcase their capabilities for the full end-to-end sponsorship management services within the sponsorship lifecycle. DEADLINE: 23 January 2026 Read more. NEW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Seeks Input on Updated Framework and Process The ICANN Ombuds is revising the framework to reflect the evolution of the Ombuds Office, to address emerging needs in the ICANN community, clarify process, and to further align with good-practice professional standards and processes. Announcement. Public Comment. NEW: Registry Service Provider Application Support During ICANN Office Closure If an RSP applicant encounters any issues, we encourage them to report it using the RSP portal. ICANN staff will address the issues immediately upon our return on 5 January. Read more. Webinars NEXT WEEK: Register to Attend: Informational Webinar on ICANN's and PTI’s Draft FY27 Plans The webinar will provide an overview of the draft plans for ICANN and Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) which will be posted for separate, concurrent Public Comments. The webinar will be presented at two different times, and community members can register for one or both of the sessions: 14 January 2026 at 00:00 UTC Read more and register. Next 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 CLOSES THURSDAY: ICANN Community Excellence Award: Now Accepting Nominations The Community Excellence Award recognizes ICANN community members who have deeply invested in consensus-based solutions and contributed substantively to the ICANN multistakeholder model. DEADLINE: 8 January 2026 at 23:59 UTC Read more. CLOSESFRIDAY: Call for Applications: NextGen@ICANN86 ICANN wants to hear from university students living and studying in the European region who are interested in the future of the Internet and participating in the Public Meeting. DEADLINE: 9 January 2026 Read more. ICANN Request for Proposal: New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Background Screening Services Its purpose is to safeguard registrants and the public interest by ensuring that corporations, organizations, and institutions are in good standing and eligible to operate a gTLD. DEADLINE: 23:59 UTC on 16 January 2026 Read more. Invitation to Provide Input for the 2026 ICANN Nominating Committee Cycle Specifically, it seeks feedback on the guidance and candidate job descriptions provided by the receiving bodies, as well as additional qualities, skills, or considerations that should be prioritized in candidate selection. DEADLINE: 21 January 2026 Read more. ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Safeguard Assessment The safeguard assessment provider will determine whether an applied-for string fits into one of the risk-based groups that will require specific safeguard public interest commitments (PICs) as contractual obligations in the 2026 Round registry agreement. DEADLINE: 22 January 2026 Read more. 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. Read more. 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 Read more. 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 Read more. 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 NEW: ICANN Office of Ombuds Framework and Process Open for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 23 December 2025 Closed for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 10 February 2025 Proposed GNSO Process for ICANN Board to Reverse Adoption of GNSO Policy Recs Submissions Opening Date: Thursday, 20 November 2025 Submissions Closing Date: Thursday, 22 January 2026 String Similarity Evaluation Guidelines for New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Submissions Opening Date: Wednesday, 26 November 2025 Submissions Closing Date: Thursday, 22 January 2026 Proposed Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement - Spec 14 (Variant TLDs) Submissions Opening Date: Wednesday, 10 December 2025 Submissions Closing Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2026 Proposed Updates to the Trademark Clearinghouse Requirements Open for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 18 December 2025 Closed for Submissions Date: Thursday, 27 January 2026 ICANN FY27–31 Operating & Financial Plan, ICANN/IANA FY27 Op Plans & Budgets Open for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 16 December 2025 Closed for Submissions Date: Thursday, 12 February 2025 Draft PTI FY27 Operating Plan and Budget Open for Submissions Date: Tuesday, 16 December 2025 Closed for Submissions Date: Thursday, 12 February 2025 See upcoming proceedings. See other public consultations. Events These events occur in January 2026. To learn more, please visit our community engagement calendar. ICANN Webinar: DNS101 ICANN's Training on Advanced DNS DNSSEC Workshop Jordan 2026 PTC'26 (MN)NUG ICANN Webinar Series for EMEA: Charting the Path Ahead for ICANN's DNS Abuse Mitigation Efforts Volume 8, Issue 01 | Archive | Next Issue: Thursday, 08 January 2026 STAY INFORMED: Subscribe here ICANN | 12025 Waterfront Drive Suite 300 | Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice