ICANNs vs. Blockchains

That post contrasts blockchains with "informal consortium" (a GitHub org) and does its analysis like you need one OR other.

This is not true. Unless you get very big, there is only a single client (website?), and you always need a Github org all users can trust. No smart contract can force a developer to implement a feature they don't like. The best that can happen is that a developer will claim, "I promise I will implement features voted by the blockchain" -- but this still relies on the goodwill. The developer might as well promise, "I will implement the Github issue with the most votes", no blockchain required.

So there is no need to wait for smart contracts or blockchain. If you want a federated system, write proctocols and reference implementations, and then search for people who are willing to host other nodes. If you want an open political process, set up a mailing list.