Sent on behalf of Tripti Sinha, Chair, ICANN Board of Directors

Dear Country Code Names Supporting Organization Council Chair and Vice Chairs,

While 2025 is already well underway, the Board and I are looking forward to a year full of exciting milestones for ICANN, as we continue to work together on multiple fronts under the leadership of our new CEO, Kurtis Lindqvist.

The ICANN82 Community Forum will be our first Public Meeting of 2025, and we are happy to welcome you to Seattle, Washington, 8-13 March. We also hope to see you online, before this important meeting, for our now-usual open engagement session during Prep Week. This session will be held on 24 February at 15.00 UTC.

This 60-minute session allows interested community members to engage directly with the Board on specific topics. The format will be the same as previous sessions, with two breakout rooms, each hosted by different Board members and focused on distinct topics. After a brief welcome, participants will be invited to join one of the two breakout rooms for a 45-minute discussion with the Board hosts and they will have the flexibility to move between the breakout rooms. The session will conclude with a summary from each Board host on the discussions held in their respective breakout rooms.

Topic 1:  Advancing the Global Public Interest at ICANN

Led by Becky Burr and Chris Buckridge

Format of the engagement: discussion and input

Description: This session will provide an overview of ICANN's ongoing efforts to understand and address the global public interest (GPI). Participants will learn about key tools, such as the GPI Framework and Checklist, developed in consultation with the community to help identify and address GPI considerations in ICANN's work. During the session, attendees will be invited to provide feedback on the checklist, explore ways to improve it, and discuss how it can support ICANN's bottom-up, community-driven processes.

Topic 2: Updating ICP-2
Led by Christian Kaufmann and Alan Barrett
Format of the engagement: discussion and comments
Description: This session is intended to gather community inputs to inform ICANN's continued engagement in the development of the updated ICP-2 document currently under discussion, and encourage ICANN community awareness and participation in the process. 

Please note that ICANN staff will support this engagement session and take notes. However, there will be technical limitations in the breakout rooms, including the absence of interpretation and transcription services.

The Board looks forward to this engagement opportunity and encourages your active participation. 

During ICANN82, we will listen carefully to your specific needs during our bilateral sessions. In keeping with our established practice, we will also ask question(s) of your group ahead of our joint session in Seattle. (Please feel free to select the question(s) you have the time to discuss during the session)

What is your perception, from your respective countries, of the effectiveness of ICANN's outreach activities related to the Next Round: ASP, RSPs, and the Next Round itself? Do you have suggestions to improve this outreach?

We kindly request that you send any questions you would like the Board to address during our face-to-face meetings to Board Operations (board-ops-team@icann.org). Given the limited time for these meetings, please prioritize your questions in order of importance. We would appreciate receiving your questions no later than Friday, 21 February 2024.

Looking forward to our discussions during Prep Week and ICANN82!

Thank you for your constant commitment to our mission.

Best regards,

Tripti Sinha

Chair, ICANN Board of Directors