Email from ICANN

FYI--

From: ICANN Community Digest <digest@icann.ccsend.com>
Reply-To: "policyinfo@icann.org" <policyinfo@icann.org>
Date: Monday, February 23, 2026 at 10:03 AM
To: Julie Bisland <julie.bisland@icann.org>
Subject: [Ext] NEW: A Preview of the ICANN85 Community Forum

Monday, 23 February 2026

ICANN Community Digest

Click here to learn more about the New gTLD Program [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

2026 Round Applicant Guidebook [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

2026 Round Vendor Sourcing Timeline [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

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

· ICANN85 Schedule Now Available

· PRSP Pre-ICANN85 Briefing

· NEW: A Preview of the ICANN85 Community Forum

Information Sharing

· NEW: Press Release: ICANN CEO Highlights 2026 Domain Expansion Opportunities During Türkiye Visit

· NEW: Chair’s Blog: Recap of the January Board Workshop

· NEW: Kicking Off the Annual Strategy Review: Your Voice Matters

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 🚨

· ICANN Request for Proposal: Geographic Names and Reserved Names Panelss

· ICANNWiki Seeking Volunteers

Public Comment

· TODAY: Latin Script Diacritics PDP Initial Report

· Name Collision Procedure Documentation

· Fundamental Bylaws Amendments on IANA-Related Reviews and CSC Charter Update

· Standard Bylaws Amendment – Transition Article on Specific Reviews

· Proposed Root KSK Algorithm Rollover

Events

· These events occur in February 2026.

ICANN85

Prep Week Schedule [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

PRSP Briefing [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

ICANN85 Schedule [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

NEW: A Preview of the ICANN85 Community Forum

Whether you are a longtime ICANN community member, an occasional contributor, or joining us for the first time, I encourage you to take an active role.

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

Information Sharing

NEW: Press Release: ICANN CEO Highlights 2026 Domain Expansion Opportunities During Türkiye Visit

The discussion spanned Internet security, stability, and resilience, as well as the broader policy environment in which the Domain Name System operates.

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

NEW: Chair’s Blog: Recap of the January Board Workshop

The ICANN Board of Directors held its first workshop of 2026, marking a productive start to the year. We convened in Singapore from 23 to 25 January.

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

NEW: Kicking Off the Annual Strategy Review: Your Voice Matters

The annual strategy review is the process through which we ensure that the assumptions underpinning the Strategic Plan still hold, and to stay alert to emerging trends.

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

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net].

Key Topic Overview Documents. [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.

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]. 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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net] for more information.

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

Action Items

ICANN Request for Proposal: Geographic Names and Reserved Names Panels

Interested providers are invited to submit proposals that ICANN will then evaluate for capability and expertise. Because the work related to both panels is similar, ICANN intends to consolidate the work with a single provider.

Deadline: 13 March 2026

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

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]

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 [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net]source suggestions [danh45uab.cc.rs6.net] on where to find reliable data. Happy editing!