it.com ICANN GDS Contracted Parties Summit 2026 in Manchester

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On April 27-29, it.com Domains joined the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) GDS (Global Domains and Strategy team) Contracted Parties Summit 2026, held in Manchester, UK. Andrey Insarov, CEO of it.com Domains, Joe Alagna, Chief Strategy Officer, Alessandro Baruffi, Director of International Partnerships, Tess Diaz, Director of Channel Development, Rolandas Japertas and Natalija Japerte, Business Development Managers, and Sergey Gorbunov, Director of Registry Services, represented our company at the event.

The ICANN-hosted summit brought together accredited registrars and gTLD (generic top-level domain) registries (companies that own domain extensions and provide access to them) to discuss operational and strategic issues of mutual interest. Unlike traditional ICANN meetings, the event focused not on policy development but on practical interactions between market participants.

The summit program included one-on-one meetings with ICANN representatives, an opening reception, and sessions and working discussions over two main days. This format allowed participants to focus on exchanging experiences, developing partnerships, and discussing current industry challenges.

The it.com Domains team actively participated in the meetings and networking events, sharing their experience and gaining new insights from industry colleagues. The event also addressed issues of developing domain market infrastructure and preparing for the next stage of industry growth.


Tess Diaz and Natalija Japerte on the networking meeting with event’s participants

One of the summit’s highlights was a meeting with Jothan Frakes, a member of ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee and co-founder of NamesCon, one of the key global events in the domain industry. With over 30 years of industry experience (from DNS infrastructure to strategic domain business development) he shared valuable insights and expertise.


From left to right: Joe Alagna, Rolandas Japertas, Tess Diaz, Andrey Insarov, Jothan Frakes, Sergey Gorbunov and Alessandro Baruffi

As an event sponsor, it.com Domains supported the summit and used the opportunity to strengthen relationships with key market participants. Particular attention was paid to the capabilities of the company’s Registry Service Provider (RSP) platform, which allows organizations to launch and effectively manage their own domain zones.

Growth depends not just on what you create, but also on who you learn from and collaborate with. For it.com Domains, such meetings are an important part of our development; they help us gain a deeper understanding of the industry, maintain dialogue with its key players, and continuously improve. Events like the ICANN Contracted Parties Summit allow us to enhance our products, such as the RSP platform, making them genuinely valuable and sought-after by domain market participants,

said Sergey Gorbunov.

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