The body responsible for the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) will organize sessions on the unique opportunity that arises every decade for new top-level domains and the urgent need to defend the global and participatory model of the Internet
/PRNewswire/ –La Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN), the nonprofit organization that coordinates the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS), will lead crucial discussions about the future of digital identity through the upcoming expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and the growing geopolitical debate over Internet governance in the Web Summitthis year in Lisbon, Portugal.
Web Summit attendees are invited to join ICANN for the following sessions:
- The geopolitics of the Internet: Unity or division?(November 11, 3:20 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Western European Time, on Stage 13 of the Government Summit): Kurtis Lindqvist, President and CEO of ICANN; Sally Wentworth, president and CEO of the Internet Society; and Steve Clemons, editor-at-large of The National Interest, will discuss how cross-border global collaboration can protect against geopolitical pressures and why the outcome will determine whether the Internet remains a shared resource or fragments into competing systems.
- Revolutionize your online presence with a new domain(November 11, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Western European Time, at Masterclass 5): Join Theresa Swinehart, Senior Vice President of Domains and Global Strategy at ICANN; Nisha Parkash, Director of Domain Management at Sky Group; and Patrick Hauss, CSC France Regional Director, to discover how custom domains can improve brand visibility, security and customer experience. This session is aimed at CMOs, brand leaders and CTOs preparing for the next round of gTLD applications in April 2026.
This is a crucial moment for the digital world. The future of the internet and its governance are at stake, in a context of great innovation and opportunities. During ICANN sessions, participants will understand why it is critical that we, as a society, never take the Internet for granted or allow it to fragment, and how organizations can secure and protect their unique identities on this easily accessible global resource.
ICANN is preparing to launch the New gTLD Program: Round 2026. The application period, expected to open in April 2026, offers businesses, communities and organizations the opportunity to acquire their own unique gTLDs. A custom gTLD, such as .brand or .city, is a powerful tool to improve brand visibility, build consumer trust, and foster innovation in a competitive digital marketplace. The 2026 Round will expand the availability of Internationalized Domain Names, making the internet more accessible and inclusive for users of non-Latin alphabets.
“This new round of new gTLDs represents a significant milestone in the evolution of the Internet,” said Kurtis Lindqvist, President and CEO of ICANN. “We are empowering organizations to create their own unique digital identities, fostering competition and consumer freedom of choice. At the same time, we must ensure the protection of the multi-stakeholder Internet governance model that makes this innovation possible. At the Web Summit, we look forward to engaging with world leaders about the opportunities ahead and the threats we must collectively address to ensure a single, open and interoperable Internet for the next generation.”
For more information about the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, visit:https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/.
About ICANN
ICANN’s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To communicate with another person on the Internet, you need to enter an address (a name or number) into your computer or other device. This address must be unique so that computers know how to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers around the world. ICANN was founded in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from around the world.
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