Email from ICANN

HIGHLIGHTS:

· NEW: Russ Weinstein Appointed ICANN Senior Vice President, Policy Development Support

· NEW: Apply Now for ICANN Leadership Positions

Webinars

NEW: DNS Training Webinars for ISPs
NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: The DNS Ecosystem
NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: ICANN & ISPCP
NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: DNS related threats

From: ICANN Community Digest <digest@icann.ccsend.com>
Reply-To: "policyinfo@icann.org" <policyinfo@icann.org>
Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 10:02 AM
To: Julie Bisland <julie.bisland@icann.org>
Subject: [Ext] NEW: Russ Weinstein Appointed ICANN Senior Vice President, Policy Development Support

Thursday, 16 January 2025

ICANN Community Digest

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

to help ICANN community groups track requests and follow updates.

Click Here to Learn More about the RDRS Pilot Program [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

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

Write to us at policyinfo@icann.org!

Table of Contents

ICANN82

· ICANN82 Community Childcare Grants Program: Apply Now

Information Sharing

· NEW: Russ Weinstein Appointed ICANN Senior Vice President, Policy Development Support

· NEW: SSAC in 2025: Open, Engaged, and Accessible

· NEW: Reflecting on 2024: A Year of Progress in Technical Engagement Across the World

· ICANN Opens Application Period for New gTLD Applicant Support Program

· ICANN Opens New gTLD Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program

· Next Round Champions Toolkit Available in the Six ICANN Languages

· ICANNWiki Seeking Volunteers

Webinars

· NEW: DNS Training Webinars for ISPs

· NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: The DNS Ecosystem

· NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: ICANN & ISPCP

· NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: DNS related threats

🔥 Action Items 🔥

· NEW: Apply Now for ICANN Leadership Positions

· ICANN Extends Deadline for NextGen@ICANN83 Program Applications

· Call for Volunteers - GNSO Latin Script Diacritics PDP Working Group and Working Group Chair

· Call for SOs/ACs: Nominate Fellowship Mentors and Selection Committee Members

Public Comment

· TOMORROW: Continuous Improvement Program Framew [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]ork [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

· IANA 2030 Strategy: Draft PTI Strategic Plan covering 2025 to 2030

· Phase 2 Final Report on the EPDP-TDNs for ICANN Board Consideration

· Third Proceeding for Proposed Language for Draft Sections of Next Round AGB

· Proposed Updates to the Operating Standards for Specific Reviews

· ICANN FY26-30 Operating & Financial Plan, ICANN/IANA FY26 Op Plans & Budgets

· Draft PTI FY26 Operating Plan and Budget

Events

· These events occur in January 2025.

ICANN82

ICANN82 Community Childcare Grants Program: Apply Now

Grants of up to $750 per family are available for ICANN Public Meeting participants who meet the criteria, are bringing children, and will incur expenses associated with babysitting or local childcare services.

Deadline: Friday, 24 January 2025

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

Information Sharing

NEW: Russ Weinstein Appointed ICANN Senior Vice President, Policy Development Support

ICANN announced on Monday, 13 January that Russ Weinstein, Vice President, GDD Accounts and Services, has been appointed Senior Vice President of Policy Development Support.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

NEW: SSAC in 2025: Open, Engaged, and Accessible

In 2024, the SSAC underwent significant transformation, prioritizing openness and transparency in its operations and a deliberate shift toward greater engagement and accessibility.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

NEW: Reflecting on 2024: A Year of Progress in Technical Engagement Across the World

By expanding regional engagement, advancing DNS security, and fostering collaborations, last year solidified our foundation for achieving further milestones in 2025 and beyond.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

ICANN Opens Application Period for New gTLD Applicant Support Program

ICANN has opened the application submission period for the Applicant Support Program (ASP), part

the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round. The ASP provides financial and

nonfinancial assistance to qualified, eligible entities who plan to apply for a new gTLD. The application

window will be open for 12 months.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

ICANN Opens New gTLD Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program

ICANN has opened the Registry Service Provider (RSP) Evaluation Program for the New Generic TopLevel Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round. The RSP Evaluation Program was created to streamline the evaluation of gTLD applications by separating the evaluation of the technical aspects of operating the gTLD from the application for the name.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

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.

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]. Then, make sure to read the short content guide [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net] to get a feel for what belongs in the wiki. Also, feel free to take a look at some data source suggestions [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net] on where to find reliable data. Happy editing!

Webinars

NEW: DNS Training Webinars for ISPs

ICANN's Technical Engagement team from the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, in collaboration with the Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers (ISPCP) constituency, is excited to announce a series of training sessions focusing on topics related to the Domain Name System (DNS). These sessions are intended for all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) globally.

Please see the Sessions for ISPs below.

NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: The DNS Ecosystem

Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 15:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC

Learn more and Register now [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: ICANN & ISPCP

Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025, 15:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC

Learn more and Register now. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

NEW: Webinar - DNS Training Session for ISPs: DNS related threats

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025, 15:00 UTC to 16:30 UTC

Learn more and Register now. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

Action Items

NEW: Apply Now for ICANN Leadership Positions

The Nominating Committee (NomCom) of ICANN is accepting applications for key leadership positions within ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), and the ICANN Board of Directors.

The deadline to submit applications is 28 March 2025 at 23:59 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

ICANN Extends Deadline for NextGen@ICANN83 Program Applications

Prospective applicants now have until 24 January 2025 to submit their applications.

Read more. [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

Call for Volunteers - GNSO Latin Script Diacritics PDP Working Group and Working Group Chair

What This PDP WG Will Do

The Latin Script Diacritics PDP WG will examine a single issue, seeking the appropriate mechanism in order to allow a single registry operator to simultaneously operate both ASCII gTLD and the Latin script diacritic version of the gTLD in circumstances where the gTLDs are NOT variants of each other.

Who Should Join

The Latin Script Diacritics PDP WG is structured as an Open Model where it will be open to all parties interested in participating. A detailed list of the WG Member skillset can be found here [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

WG Chair

The GNSO Council will appoint 1 qualified, independent, and neutral Chair for the WG. A detailed list of the WG Chair’s responsibilities and expectations can be found in the charter [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

How to Join

Community members who wish to join the Latin Script Diacritics PDP WG should contact the GNSO Secretariat at gnso-secs@icann.org by Monday, 27 January 2025.

An EOI is requested for the role of Chair. Those who wish to serve as the Chair of the WG should complete the EOI and send it also to the GNSO Secretariat at gnso-secs@icann.org by Monday, 20 January 2025. The EOI form can be downloaded here [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

Call for SO/ACs to Nominate Fellowship Program Mentors and Selection Committee Members

ICANN invites its Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) to nominate volunteers to serve as mentors in its Fellowship Program and to serve on the Fellowship Program Selection Committee. Each group is welcome to nominate one individual for each role.

Interested SOs/ACs should select their respective Fellowship Program mentor and Selection Committee representative no later than 31 January 2025 and notify ICANN Fellowship Program Manager Siranush Vardanyan at siranush.vardanyan@icann.org. Individual self-nominations will not be considered.

Mentors:

• Mentors generally must plan on a time commitment of approximately 30-40 hours before, during, and immediately after each ICANN Public Meeting. This includes extensive pre-meeting preparation, on-site support for their assigned fellows, and post-meeting reporting.

• Each mentor will serve a term that includes three consecutive ICANN Public Meetings, beginning with ICANN84 (from ICANN84 - ICANN86 inclusive).

• Mentors are expected to follow Fellowship Program guidelines to help ensure consistency in capacity development opportunities for fellows and to help fellows actively participate in ICANN's work.

• Mentors will receive travel funding support (if applicable).

Selection Committee Members:

• Members should plan on a time commitment of approximately 30-40 hours over four to five weeks for each Public Meeting.

• Selection Committee members will typically serve for two years, which encompasses six Public Meetings.

• Work for this role will begin in April 2025 to select fellows for ICANN84.

• Selection Committee members will not receive travel funding support.

For more information on the guidelines and expectations, please go here for additional details on the Mentorship program and here for additional details on the Selection Committee.

Mentors cannot serve on the Selection Committee while serving their terms as mentors.