Fostering Digital Inclusion: A Dialogue on ICANN's Role in International Development and Internet Governance

This post was created following a discussion with Steve Chan of ICANN in Los Angeles, California. To learn more about ICANN, head to the bottom of the article!

*The information shared is only for context and does not constitute an official endorsement of Internatnotes Blog.

As part of my summer mentorship, I learned about an organization that associates with the field elements I’ve spent this past year delving into: ICANN. Although this was not the first time I had heard of the organization’s existence, I can frankly acknowledge that I had little understanding of its characteristics and functions before this exposure. 

Firstly, I’ll illustrate the reason for my encounter: my summer research included a portion dedicated to the properties of the current domain name system—otherwise known as DNS—and moreover, how the recent developments in ICANN’s gTLD application process will contribute to future possibilities in corporation and business security. Specifically, my research centered on the implications of the new .Brand domains on brand security. 

While my study and research period became an excellent learning opportunity, the purpose of this particular post will not primarily consist of those contents. With this said, given my new sense of knowledge in this field, I was fortunate to speak with Steve Chan, ICANN’s Vice President in Policy Development Support and GNSO Relations. 

The purpose of our discussion was to serve not only as an additional way to immerse myself in understanding the future of the DNS field in the years following the gTLD applications—connecting international commerce communities through the web’s global interface—but also to understand how Chan found himself in the critical field of internet governance. 

Before proceeding, I’ll address the significance of ICANN in maintaining the current domain name systems and internet security. 

The Role of ICANN

ICANN—also known as the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers—was formed in 1998 as a non-profit organization that sought to address the allocation of domain names and internet addresses, easing the workload for individuals such as Jon Postel, who assisted in the development of initial DNS structures and interfaces. Some of the tasks of the organization today include: ensuring proper IP address allocation and limiting IP duplication—an effort they work with the RIRs, Regional Internet Registries; certifying registries and registrars in the domain community; granting new gTLDS; and managing a platform of which representatives from a variety of sectors, whether business, governmental, or technical, can collaborate on new policy to improve the state of the current top-level domain model.

As of the present time, ICANN works to maintain internet security and efficiency through a variety of settings. Firstly, the entity is made up of its organizational faculty, who are led by the CEO; the ICANN board, including field leaders in different sectors that include 16 voting members and 4 non-voting members; and the ICANN community, who are comprised of groups such as the GNSO, specializing in generic top-level domains or the ccNSO, specializing in country code top-level domains. 

Furthermore, ICANN hosts three annual conferences in order to facilitate its institutional development, research, and outreach: a community forum, a policy forum, and an annual general meeting. Each of these meetings is selected to be hosted in varying locations each year, covering the corners of the globe. 

As of the time of writing, the most recent meeting, ICANN83, occurred in Prague, Czech Republic.

Speaker Insights

I began my discussion with Chan on understanding his professional background and career journey to better interpret how one's journey to this field may come to be, especially as I’m just now establishing my initial steps in the field as a student. 

Chan studied as an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a Business Economics major, despite his original goal to obtain a degree in computer science. He explained this shift in his academics by addressing that his father had been in the field of economics and finance at the time, and therefore, Chan believed that there could be a “forward path” in his future. 

However, as one could interpret, this was not the field that Chan would eventually find himself in, but he emphasized in our discussion that “your major does not always translate to what you do in life.” Although I’m aware of this narrative—specifically as my past conversation with Jane Doe had included her unique journey to cybersecurity—I find it somewhat frightening.

Additionally, I’d learned that Chan worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car as an undergraduate, and while this may not be considered as a traditional internship once may find themselves in college—especially when it does not relate to one's major—Chan described it as a place where he got “good work experience” due to the skills that he had gained in interpersonal communication and managing a variety of people. 

As Chan continued his professional pursuits, gaining a role in brand management, and later, with the assistance of a colleague, finding himself at One Global Place, which was soon acquired to become part of ICANN.** In the years since his introduction to the company in 2008 and becoming a gTLD Process Coordinator, he has advanced through the ranks and has now reached his current Vice President position. 

As a Vice president, Chan typically finds his week to week basis serving as a mentor in policy research in developing upcoming DNS frameworks and frequently works with the GNSO, Generic Names Supporting Organization Council, which comprises various representatives of registrars—instituions that manage companies’ domains—and registries—instituions that have acquired their own domains but do not manage them, unlike groups that own gTLDS—and additional assemblies. 

2026 gTLD Application Discussion

With an introductory understanding of my collaborator’s role, I began debriefing with him regarding the new upcoming gTLD application cycle.  According to Chan, who joined the policy development team at ICANN relatively close to its first gTLD application cycle in 2014, the recent frameworks for the upcoming application cycle were just finalized after years of development and review, which allowed for their upcoming implementation. 

Furthermore, it was described as a “target date” established by the community. 

Moving on, with my curiosity in understanding the possible changes and improvements in policy for this round, I began inquiring once more. 

The development of the new application cycle began in the spring of 2021, where the GSNO council had an Operational Design Phase which resulted in a public comment period between the months of April and June, and during this period, ICANN’s board of directors began considering a future application round given the progress that ICANN’s policymakers had made throughout the previous decade. Following the public comment period, over 40 subjects had been addressed by community members seeking greater clarity or improvement in policy frameworks. 

Furthermore, while Chan felt that there were many continuities in this cycle, due to its initial success and efficiency in the first round, there were some new developments that began to occur in preparation for the new cycle. 

For instance, a change that he addressed was the complexity of the application process itself.  In response to prior inefficiencies,  I was briefed on how this cycle will include a more streamlined process by which duplicative information is submitted in applications, ensuring applicants' continuity and, for ICANN, decreased costs in the reviewing process.

Moreover, a possible future for ICANN could include ongoing applications, which would eliminate companies’ waiting for application cycles. For instance, this gTLD application cycle is opening roughly fourteen years after the prior one. 

With these new processes in place, Chan states that his hopes are that there “is a greater diversity, choice, and competition” in applications. Likewise, his hopes are that ICANN will be able to broaden its efforts to less advantaged parts of the globe in this upcoming application period. At last, my discussion with Chan revealed to me an immediate truth on the future digital landscape: multi-national organizations such as ICANN with its stakeholder model will continue to foster connections with the international cyber community for years to come, as more brands seek to create their own digital property through a TLD. 

What is ICANN? Founded in 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a critical global non-profit that ensures the stable and secure technical coordination of the internet's addressing system (the Domain Name System, or DNS). Because its policy decisions—developed collaboratively by governments, global businesses, and civil society—govern crucial areas like domain name creation and ownership, ICANN is vital to international commerce, brand security, and global digital policy.