The ICANN Community Forum (ICANN 82) is being held in Seattle, US. The event brought together 1,136 internet experts on the forum site, with another 500 joining online.
At the official opening ceremony on March 10, the participants were welcomed by ICANN President and CEO Curtis Lindquist and Chairman Tripti Sinha. In her remarks, Tripti Sinha noted that the Community Forum brought together many experts who shared a common goal of supporting the global, safe, stable, compatible and open internet.
“This year, the world will unite to make important decisions on internet governance. It is important to remember that the internet has become a global instrument for change, and its development has always been a result of interaction between many interested sides: scientists, technical experts, governments, business, civil society, and end users. Everyone plays an important role in shaping, developing, and supporting the internet, and its governance requires everyone to participate,” Tripti Sinha noted.
She stressed that UN diplomats were currently discussing a review of the WSIS+20 initiative, and this opportunity should be used to strengthen commitment to multistakeholder internet governance.
“In 2025, the world order is changing and we are witnessing a global restructuring. As the world order is moving towards a new normal, ICANN is an institution of stability and reliability. Let us be an example of resilience and commitment to our shared mission of “One World – One Internet,” the ICANN Chairwoman concluded.
In addition to this, the Community Excellence Award 2025 was handed at the opening ceremony. The prize was awarded for the 12th time to community members who made a significant contribution in building and developing a multilateral internet governance model. This year, it honored Stephen Deerhake, a member of the ccNSO Council from North America.
Meetings between organizations within the ICANN structure, thematic sessions and seminars, as well as discussions of current challenges facing the internet community today are taking place on the sidelines of ICANN 82.
Experts of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ are taking part in the forum. For example, the center’s Deputy Director Irina Danelia attended working meetings of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO). The meeting of the ccNSO Strategic and Operational Planning Committee (SOPC) summed up the work on comments to the ICANN and Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) operating plan and budget for fiscal year 2026. Irina Danelia, who is the Vice Chair of SOPC, noted that the process was successful, and all participating teams coped with the tasks set. In her remarks, she stressed that the Committee members were constantly improving the methods of their work in order to simplify cooperation and increase its effectiveness. The team approach made it possible for all participants to get acquainted with each other’s positions, discuss proposals and develop consolidated comments.
During the meeting with the ccNSO members, representatives of ICANN working groups and committees made updates on their projects. Irina Danelia presented the SOPC’s work. She noted that the Committee had significant powers and included representatives of all ICANN geographic regions, but its tasks required significant time and resource costs, so it was open to accepting new participants.
“Last year, participation in the discussion of the ICANN 5-year strategic plan was among the key areas of our work. This year, the Committee focused on preparing comments on the ICANN and PTI operating plan and budget for 2026,” she added.
The forum continues its work, follow our updates.
