[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2016-06-23-en ________________________________ Milestone: The Number of At-Large Structures Reach 200 23 June 2016 [Celebrating 200 At-Large Structures Milestone]<https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/assets/celebrating-200-atlarge-als...> Today, we celebrate an exciting milestone in the history of the At-Large Community - the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) has accredited the 200th organization as an At-Large Structure (ALS).
From the Arctic to the Cook Islands, ALSes form the basis of the At-Large community, which represents the best interests of Internet users in ICANN's multistakeholder model. Across the world's five geographic regions, 92 countries and territories now have ALSes, with 42 ALSes in Africa, 44 in Asia Pacific, 37 in Europe, 50 in Latin America and the Caribbean Islands, and 27 in North America.
Since September 2003 when the first ALS, the Internet Society Italy Chapter, was accredited, the At-Large Community has seen a steady increase of ALSes. In the past five years, the At-Large Community has gained approximately 14 ALSes each year. An ALS is a wholly independent organization from ICANN. Whether it is an Internet-related consumer rights groups or an academic organization, ALSes share the passion in furthering the development of Information and Communication Technologies and contributing to policy activities that influence the technical coordination of the Domain Name Systems. In fact, about 33% ALSes are Internet Society Chapters. The ALS accreditation process recognizes that these groups meet ICANN's criteria for involving individual Internet users at the local or issue level, as well as for promoting individuals' understanding of and participation in ICANN. Within ICANN, they actively contribute to policy advice development activities and play a key role in ICANN's regional outreach strategies and civil society engagement. They work to ensure that the Internet continues to serve the global public interest. To learn more about ALSes, please visit: https://atlarge.icann.org/alses.