ICANN Grant Program
The ICANN Grant Program is a funding initiative and ICANN department for allocating nTLD auction proceeds among efforts that support creativity and innovation that furthers ICANN's vision of a single, open, and globally interoperable Internet.
Overview
The fund supports efforts that benefit the development, distribution, and evolution of the Internet's unique identifier systems and supporting structures; provide underserved populations with capacity development and infrastructure support; advance open access, innovation, and open standards; and address diversity, participation, and inclusion across developing regions and in under-represented communities.[1]
The Senior Vice President of Planning and Chief Financial Officer runs the ICANN Grant Program department.
The program cycle moves through five stages:
- Planning
- This phase consists of setting up the department and the Independent Panel, generating outreach material, and designing the first cycle.
- Application Window
- This period starts with a call for proposals and ends with preparation for evaluation.
- Due Diligence, Assessment & Selection
- This phase is comprised of eligibility reviews (administrative, applicant, and application), an Independent Panel Assessment and recommendation process, a consolidation of the applications to be funded, and submission of selected applications to the Board for review.
- Award
- Awardees are notified, contracts are made between ICANN and the successful applicants, funds are distributed, and program rule compliance begins.
- Post Award/Cycle Close
- During this period, ICANN publishes reports on the program and winners and reviews the program, the cycle, and the winners' use of funds.
History
In 2012, the New gTLD Program received 1,930 applications, which resulted in 234 string contentions where two or more applicants sought the same or similar top-level domains. As of December 2022, 16 of the 234 contentions have been resolved via Auctions of Last Resort conducted by ICANN’s authorized auction service provider. ICANN refers to the proceeds generated from these auctions as “New gTLD Auctions Proceeds." The 2012 Applicant Guidebook outlined that auction proceeds would be reserved and earmarked until the uses of funds were determined and ensured to align with ICANN’s Mission and Core Values and maintain its not-for-profit status.[2]
In December 2016, the Cross Community Working Group on New gTLD Auction Proceeds was created to identify processes and mechanisms for allocating the proceeds. In December 2022, ICANN Organization began implementing the recommendations of this CCWG with the designing of the ICANN Grant Program.[3]