Greetings IRT members, As you may be aware, today was the application deadline for the Applicant Support Program (ASP). This represents a huge milestone for the program and one we couldn’t have reached without the contributions and advocacy of IRT members over the past 2+ years. We’re happy to report that the final number of applications submitted is 75. Of these, 1 has conditionally qualified for support and 2 have fully qualified for support. [cid:image001.png@01DC710D.FD491150] Applications are distributed across the ICANN regions as follows (does not include withdrawn applications): * Africa: 10 * APAC: 38 * Europe: 6 * LAC: 1 * N. America: 20 [cid:image002.png@01DC710D.FD491150] These results represent a significant achievement and progress from the 2012 ASP which received a total of 3 applications, 1 of which qualified for support. The enhancements we implemented in the ASP, based on policy recommendations and in consultation with the community, have resulted in a marked improvement towards the program’s goal of fostering diversity, encouraging competition, and enhancing the utility of the DNS. It is important to note as well that the ASP is intended to undergo continuous improvement, and that future iterations of the program will benefit from the data and lessons learned gained from the 2026 round. As a part of this effort, we are implementing continuous monitoring and evaluation in line with GNSO Guidance Process recommendations, and will continue to collect data throughout the lifecycle of the New gTLD Program and beyond. For more information on this undertaking, see our recent IRT presentation<https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SPIR/pages/581140481/2025-...>. Over the coming months, we will work to process the remaining applications in advance of the opening of the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round application submission period. During this time, we will continue to update the statistics on the ASP website<https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/en/application-rounds/round2/asp/stats> monthly with results as we receive them, and will provide updates to the community. Many thanks once again to everyone in the ICANN community who contributed to getting us to this significant milestone (especially the ASP IRT Sub-Track!). Kind Regards, Samantha Mancia, on behalf of the ASP team New gTLD Program Manager Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Office Telephone: +1 310 301 5800 www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org>
