 Buenos dias, Puerto Rico. Good morning and welcome to the ICAN 79 Community Forum. It is truly an honor to stand before you today here in the beautiful city of San Juan. On behalf of ICAN, I would like to thank our generous sponsors and hosts. I would also like to express my gratitude for the warm reception we have received. The last time ICAN held an in-person meeting here was in March of 2018, not long after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. The resilience of the people of San Juan is remarkable. I am heartened to see that the city has been rebuilt and is even more vibrant than before. We are honored here to be joined by dignitaries from the Senate, government and academia representatives, the CEO and president of DotPR, esteemed guests, and the Internet community. Whether you are here today in person or joining us online, your presence underscores the strength of our shared commitment to the future of ICAN and to ensuring a secure, stable, and unified global Internet. As we embark on the first ICAN public meeting of 2024, I want to first reflect a bit on last year, which was defined by changes and major milestones for ICAN. 2023 began with the appointment of a new interim president and CEO, and September marked ICAN's 25th anniversary, which we celebrated together at the annual general meeting in October. Throughout the year, we navigated the dynamic and complex digital landscape to fulfill our mission. Perhaps the most significant development for ICAN last year began when the board formally initiated the process to open the next round of new generic top-level domain applications. Months of collaboration ensued, involving the community, organization and board, resulting in significant progress towards the launch of the next round in April 2026. This ambitious endeavor underscores our commitment to expanding the domain name system with inclusivity in mind. Over the past year, the ICAN board continued to build on our commitment to strengthen collaboration with our Internet ecosystem partners, particularly with the numbers community. These collective efforts and problem-solving have resulted in measurable progress towards our common goals. Members of org and the board now have regularly scheduled meetings with our RIR colleagues. Also, this past January, we met with the board of the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Adresses Registry to leverage our synergies and strengthen our partnership with the five RIRs. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank each of you for your tireless efforts to achieve our shared goals and fulfill our mission in the past year. Your commitment to collegiality, compromise, and creating a safe and inclusive environment is truly commendable. At the start of another transformative year for ICAN, I can see that we are united in our belief in a unified global Internet. Last year marked another major milestone for ICAN, for only the third time in the organization's history, the board took the first crucial steps in the development of ICAN's strategic plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030. The strategic plan serves as a roadmap for the next five years and consists of specific, tangible objectives that will enable us to continue to fulfill our mission while striving towards our collective vision for the future. In other words, the strategic plan is the foundation for everything we do. However, charting a course for the next five years is not for the board to undertake alone. It is a collective effort that must involve all of ICAN, the board, the community, and the organization. Your unique insights are essential for developing strategies that will help ICAN anticipate challenges and seize opportunities in a rapidly evolving Internet landscape. Many of you are already actively involved in the strategic planning process, which is still in its early stages. As the process advances, I encourage all of you to review what we have done so far and to contribute your ideas and feedback. In particular, I urge you to participate in the strategic planning session that is happening on Wednesday. The board is working to fulfill its critical responsibility of selecting ICAN's next president and CEO. Last year, we held listening sessions with stakeholders from across ICAN and the Internet ecosystem, whose input helped shape the candidate profile and position description. I mentioned a year ago that ICAN is at an inflection point and faces a gamut of challenges. In the next president and CEO, we are looking for an individual with transformational leadership who inspires action to effectively and relentlessly execute on multiple fronts and will modernize the organization and its processes, implement policies successfully and in a timely manner, build even stronger partnerships within the ecosystem, reshape ICAN to be an exemplar multistakeholder model and work effectively on the global stage with other world leaders in this critical space to reaffirm an inclusive multistakeholder Internet governance paradigm. The search process is ongoing but well advanced. It has yielded an experienced and diverse candidate pool from across the globe. The board is diligently working towards identifying the individual who has the right temperament and balance of personal management and technical skills to lead ICAN during these exceptional times and into the next chapter of its journey. Indeed, we achieved much in the past year with the culmination of many areas of work. However, there is no time for rest. We face numerous challenges ahead and we must remain at the ready, sustaining a commitment to timely project delivery is crucial and recognizing the efficacy of collective effort will propel us further and faster. As we navigate to pursue our goals and navigate our own challenges, we must also recognize the mounting pressures on the multistakeholder model of Internet governance. This model, driven by collaboration and shared responsibility, has produced a consistently stable and functioning domain name system for over 40 years amid exponential growth in Internet traffic and users. Multistakeholder governance has allowed the Internet and the digital economy and services to flourish while protecting it against unilateral decision making and top-down control. This model empowers participants from all sectors to come together as equals to share their views and work towards consensus-based decisions. This broad inclusivity and democratic participation has yielded a system of voluntary standards, best practices, cooperation, and trust. In 2005, the international community, including all governments, accepted the multistakeholder model of Internet governance during the World Summit on the Information Society. They recognized the vital roles of all parties in maintaining and evolving the Internet as a global resource. Next year, the United Nations will review the WSIS outcomes and the UN General Assembly will have the opportunity to reaffirm and improve on the achievements of the WSIS. The discussions have already begun amid the consideration of a proposed global digital compact which is expected to be adopted at the UN Summit of the future in September 2024. At this watershed moment for multistakeholder Internet governance, ICANN, along with our technical partners, must showcase the strengths of this multistakeholder model and contribute our insights to the broader global conversation about the Internet's role in shaping a sustainable and inclusive future. As we embark on this new year, we must continue to be bold, resilient, and agile. We must continue to challenge ourselves, to take a hard look at our processes, and to experiment with new ideas and approaches. It is only through evolution that we can continue to deliver the most impactful outcomes expediently, yet without sacrificing quality. We are strongest when you work as one and together we can overcome any obstacle we find in our way. The current times are complicated. The global geopolitical landscape is fraught with aggression. As is typical with such situations, unthinkable collateral damage is done to innocent and good people. From different walks of life, from different fates, and from different ideologies. Emotions and sensitivities are high. I urge all participants, whether you are here in person or online, to focus on the work that needs to be done here at ICANN 79. Please rise above the fray and reach out to each other in good faith and on the grounds of our common humanity. I implore you to take the high road and think before you say or do something that could be potentially hurtful to someone. We are here to further the mission of ICANN, and I ask that we immerse ourselves in the work and spirit of that mission. At this community forum, the board is looking forward to the discussions, collaboration, and insights that will unfold over the next few days. The internet's identifier systems continue to evolve and ICANN remains committed to promoting a unified and reliable internet within a sound framework of global multi-stakeholder governance. Only the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance will allow us to continue to meet the needs of internet users, including those who are online today, as well as the next few billions who are not yet connected. Your dedication to our mission serves as a powerful reminder that, together, we can build a future where the internet remains a force for good. On behalf of the ICANN board, thank you for your hard work and commitment. Let's desayu una exitosa reunión y que disfruten Puerto Rico.