Statement of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling on ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade’s announcement that he plans to leave the organization next year:
“Fadi Chehade has served as CEO of ICANN with tireless dedication, and I greatly appreciate his ongoing commitment to improve the accountability and transparency of the organization. NTIA remains committed to the responsible and timely transition of our stewardship of the Internet Domain Name System consistent with the conditions that NTIA outlined in 2014. A successful transition does not depend on the leadership of a single individual, but rather the engagement of the global multistakeholder community working collaboratively to ensure that the Internet remains open, secure, and resilient. I urge the community to remain focused on the important task of developing a transition proposal, including enhanced accountability mechanisms, that fully meets our conditions and can be implemented in a responsible and timely manner.”