Backend registries still needed in Round two?

Not fast enough today :-)
I wasn't fast enough today to ask my question during the Registry Service Provider Certification conference at ICANN 57 (Hyderabad). As a non native English writer, I need to write down my questions before posting them because it does not look nice when a question comes with a mistake or a mistype (and when it is read as such by the entire audience). Unfortunately, I could post it but far too late and from a potential dotBrand future new gTLD applicant prospective, it is to me a very important question so here it is:

Google recently revealed "Nomulus", a backend registry tool to operate a Registry. Since Google Registry (Charleston Road Registry Inc.) is already technically certified by the ICANN since it uses Nomulus for its TLDs; will future users of Nomulus need to become certified as backend registries too?

I understand that such question might not please backend registry providers, but since Nomulus is already in use and hosted on Google's technical platform (Google Cloud Platform); why would future new gTLD applicants have to deal with the technical aspect of running a registry when it could be just a matter of choosing a provider...just like when registering a domain name?

I emailed my question to the ICANN.

New domain name registration volumes
The .食品 (food in Japanese) new gTLD increased its number of registrations from 1 to 13 in one week (see the Catering new gTLD report). The .NIKON dotBrand new gTLD goes from 1 to 17 domain names registered since last week (see the Photography new gTLD report). In the City new gTLD report, the .BARCELONA has 2,100+ more registrations.
Domain name registration volumes: 

• New gTLDs related to CITIES; 
• New gTLDs related to CATERING; 
• New gTLDs related to PHOTOGRAPHY. 

Since most new gTLDs have launched, reports will be updated on a monthly basis starting January 2017.

What you missed in our previous Newsletter:

1. Verified Top-Level Domains Consortium;
2. Balancing a robust defense with an exciting attack in the domain name world;
3. High-Bid Auctions Deflate the .nyc TLD;
4. The Extreme Power Of Generic Domain Names;
5. Program Reviews & Policy Timeline (Projected);
6. The new gTLD program introspective;
7. Cooking Up The Perfect Domain Name;
8. We don’t run Internet, we enable it: ICANN.

Recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

Note to our readers: starting January 2017, the content of our Newsletter will be sent by email only. It will not be made available online anymore on www.newsletter.domains.