[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org [To: liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org; council[at]gnso.icann.org] http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22may09-en.htm Application Round Opens for Seoul Meeting Fellowships Program ensures global representation at ICANN's International Public Meetings 22 May 2009 MARINA DEL REY, Calif. : The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has launched the eighth round of fellowship program applications for its 36th International Public Meeting to be held in Seoul, Korea from 25-30 October 2009. For this meeting, the National Internet Development Agency of Korea ( NIDA) is partnering with ICANN to support the fellowship program and increase participation from the Asia Pacific region. "Just like the Internet, ICANN is global in scope in its operations," said Theresa Swinehart , ICANN's Vice President, Global and Strategic Partnerships. "Our fellowship program has had a lot of success at our last six meetings in making sure global voices are heard in the wide variety of public forums that it holds." For the Sydney Meeting, there are 33 fellows from 28 countries, chosen from 97 applications received. 15 of the fellows are alumni from at least one of the past six programmes; 12 fellows are first-time attendees to any ICANN meeting and 6 have attended past meetings, but are first time fellows. Priority is given to applicants who are current residents of developing and least developed nations and interested in participating in ICANN and its supporting organizations, such as the Governmental Advisory Committee, the Country Code Names Supporting Organization, and the Generic Names Supporting Organization. The fellowship will assist in covering airfare, hotel and a stipend. Recipients will be expected to actively participate in and contribute to ICANN processes. As always, registration for ICANN's meetings is free for anyone wanting to attend. Applications for the meeting in Seoul will be accepted from now until 1200 PDT ( UTC -7) on 6 July 2009. More information, as well as a link to the application for a fellowship, is available online at: http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/ About ICANN: ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers such as domain names (.org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security, stability, and interoperability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org. Media Contacts: Brad White Director of Media Affairs Tel: +1 202 429 2710 Email: brad.white@icann.org International: Andrew Robertson Edelman (London) Ph: +44 7921 588 770 E: andrew.robertson@edelman.com