Malayali elected to ICANN policy board

Ajith Francis | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements:

Hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Ajith Francis has been elected to the influential political board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

ICANN outlines global Internet domain policy. Mr. Francis, who has been active in the Internet political ecosystem for nearly a decade, will now play a significant role in ICANN’s policy-making process, particularly in the area of ​​generic names, according to the statement. He was elected unopposed to the prestigious 21-member board, which is often referred to as ‘the ICANN Parliament’, the statement said.

Based in Berlin, Mr. Francis is currently Senior Policy Manager at the Public Interest Registry, a subsidiary of ICANN that regulates .org domains. He studied at Sciences PO University in Paris and at George Washington University in Washington DC.

He has worked with Google, the Planning Commission of India and the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network, a Paris-based think tank.

Published – 20 June 2026 9:00 PM IST