Request for Proposal: New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Safeguard Assessment

Request for Proposal: New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Safeguard Assessment

ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Safeguard Assessment 9 December 2025 Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) issued a request for proposal (RFP) to identify a qualified provider to conduct safeguard assessment as part of the string evaluation process of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: 2026 Round, which is scheduled to launch in April 2026. The purpose of the RFP is to invite prospective providers to submit proposals for ICANN to evaluate capabilities and expertise. The safeguard assessment provider will determine whether an applied-for string fits into one of the risk-based groups that will require specific safeguard public interest commitments (PICs) as contractual obligations in the 2026 Round registry agreement. These safeguard PICs relate to areas such as consumer protection, sensitive uses of strings, and regulated industries. This is a public RFP, meaning that any prospective vendor may participate. For a complete overview of this RFP, including the timeline, please consult this webpage . Indications of interest should be emailed to [email protected] no later than 23:59 UTC on 22 January 2026 and provide the following information: Name of the organization. Contact name. Contact email address. Official responses to the RFP should be electronically submitted using ICANN's sourcing tool by 23:59 UTC on 29 January 2026 . Access to this tool may be requested via the same email address. About ICANN ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world. You May Also Like ICANN Request for Proposal: Event Sponsorship Management ICANN Request for Proposal: Governance, Risk, and Compliance Solution ICANN Request for Proposal: 2026 Round Name Collision Initial Assessment of Applied-for Strings

Issued by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).