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Register Now for the ICANN62 Policy Forum
Panama City, Panama, 25-28 June 2018
 
ICANN62 starts in just six weeks. The program focuses on policy work and cross-community dialogue, with topics driven by ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees.
 
Before booking your flight, read the travel information on the ICANN62 website. For information about whether you need to obtain a visa to enter Panama, visit the Government of Panama's Immigration website.
 
Register now! We hope to see you in Panama City.
ICANN Stresses the Need for Local Initiatives at eCommerce Week in Geneva
April 16-20, ICANN joined the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva for eCommerce Week. Tarek Kamel, ICANN's Senior Advisor to President and SVP of Government and IGO Engagement, participated in a session on how developing countries can overcome existing barriers related to international e-commerce platforms. Kamel commented that the Internet is a "real equalizer and a driver for social development." He added, "I am impressed by localization initiatives. Local content on local platforms is a stable and suitable way to meet demands of the local communities, making a real difference. We need to leverage the Internet to benefit all."
 
Kamel emphasized how ICANN has played a part in this endeavor through the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) - in Chinese, Cyrillic, Arabic and other languages. "We have seen how domain names in local languages can be really helpful, not least in encouraging local content."
ICANN Participates in the First Baltic Domain Days
On 19-20 April 2018, the first Baltic Domain Days event was held in Riga, Latvia. The host, nic.lv, celebrated its 25th anniversary during the event. Over 100 attendees from all three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) discussed topics such as responsibility of content, domains and cybercrime, domain name take-downs, and blocking trends - and of course, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
 
Attending from ICANN were Chris Disspain, ICANN Board Vice Chair, Bryan Schilling, Consumer Safeguards Director, and Gabriella Schittek, Global Stakeholder Engagement Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. A strong supporter of regional events, ICANN hopes that the Baltic Domain Days become a tradition.
ICANN Discusses Cybersecurity Topics at the 9th Russian Internet Governance Forum
On 6 April, the 9th Russian Internet Governance Forum (RIGF 2018) was held in St. Petersburg. The event took place right before the 24th anniversary of .ru, the world's fifth largest ccTLD and ninth largest TLD overall.
 
As has been the tradition, this year's RIGF was hosted and organized by the Coordination Center for TLD .ru/.рф. Cybersecurity was the theme of the conference, and it permeated all sessions. Topics included fake news, artificial intelligence, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) cooperation, and international cooperation to address global cyberthreats. In the session on international cooperation, Jonne Soininen, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) liaison to the ICANN Board, pointed out that Internet is by definition global, so no global challenges can be effectively addressed without cooperation. But he stressed that "oversecuritization" of the Internet could make it noninteroperable. ICANN's Alexandra Kulikova, Global Stakeholder Engagement Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, joined the plenary session, and discussed the increased global demand for capacity building in the area of Domain Name System (DNS) abuse.
The 5th Middle East DNS Forum Wraps Up Successfully
The fifth edition of the Middle East DNS Forum took place in Ankara, Turkey, on 25-26 April, hosted by the
Information and Communications Technology Authority of Turkey (BTK). The rich array of topics included DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), root zone key signing key (KSK) rollover, GDPR, new generic TLDs (gTLDs), IDNs, and Universal Acceptance.
 
The forum was preceded by a three-day DNSSEC "train-the-trainer" workshop, and was followed by a one-day workshop on DNS Abuse and Misuse for local LEAs, CERTs, and other cybersecurity agencies.
 
We will be evaluating the forum over the next few months to find ways to improve it in the future. To learn more about the forum, visit 

A Week of Engagement in Pakistan
Baher Esmat, ICANN's VP of Stakeholder Engagement for the Middle East, visited Pakistan to attend a cybersecurity event in the last week of March. One of ICANN's main objectives of Esmat's visit was to start the work on Universal Acceptance in Pakistan with government and industry stakeholders. Esmat also conducted sessions on this topic with key software industry players from the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), the Open Source Foundation of Pakistan, and the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT (P@SHA).
 
We'd like to thank ICANN partners from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and the Islamabad Internet Society Chapter for organizing these sessions.
ICANN Engages with Law Enforcement Agencies
As part of our continuous efforts to engage with new stakeholders and develop capacities in the Middle East, we held several workshops in April with law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
 
ICANN was invited by Interpol to participate in the 11th Middle East and North Africa Working Group Meeting on Cybercrime for Heads of Units on 4-5 April, in Algiers, Algeria. Among the discussion topics was the GDPR and its impact on WHOIS. 
 
The Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR) team in ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) organized a workshop entitled "DNS Abuse and Misuse." The workshop was held first in Tunis, Tunisia, on 17 April, and then in Ankara, Turkey, on 27 April. LEAs, CERTs, and other entities related to national cybersecurity, learned how to conduct investigations related to domain names.
ICANN Continues Its Active Role at the AIS Through ICANN Day and Workshops
ICANN sponsored and participated in the Africa Internet Summit (AIS) in Dakar, Senegal, from 29 April - 11 May. The organizers of this annual summit are the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) and the African Network Operators Group (AfNOG).

ICANN's main activities at AIS were:
  • ICANN Day
  • AIS plenary presentations
  • Special workshop for ICANN-accredited registrars in Africa
  • ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) capacity-building workshop
  • Launch of the Five-Year Africa Strategy Implementation Report
Read more in Pierre Dandjinou's blog.
Annual IANA Functions Audits Validate ICANN Systems Controls
The ICANN organization has completed audits of the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) Registry Assignment and Maintenance Systems (RAMS) and the Root Zone Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) services provided as part of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. International accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted the audits for the period of 1 October 2016 through 30 November 2017.
 
For the fifth consecutive year, a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 audit of PTI's RAMS shows that the ICANN organization has the appropriate controls in place to ensure the security, availability, and integrity of IANA request processing. For the eighth consecutive year, SOC 3 certification has been achieved for the management of the DNSSEC root key signing key, which is the trust anchor of the Domain Name System.

Read the full announcement.
News and Updates on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 
Stay up to date with the latest ICANN organization news about data protection and privacy. Click here for GDPR announcements, blogs, and updates.
Call for Proposals for ICANN DNS Symposium 2018 
The ICANN Domain Name System (DNS) Symposium (IDS 2018) will be held on 13 July 2018, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It takes place back-to-back with this trimester's conference of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF 102).

ICANN is soliciting proposals for presentations for IDS 2018. We'd like you to share experiences, data, or innovative thinking on how we might improve the DNS, or how we might foster innovation by adapting the DNS to support emerging identifier needs. 

Proposals are due by 1 June.  Learn more about IDS 2018.
View the Latest Quarterly Stakeholder Update 
On 9 May, ICANN posted its Quarterly Stakeholder Update for the quarter ending 31 March.  Learn more. 
 
ALAC Ratifies Statement on Draft NCAP Plan 
On 22 April, the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) ratified a statement on the Draft Project Plan for the Proposed Name Collision Analysis Project (NCAP). The ALAC supports the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) in its efforts to address the issue of name collisions, while encouraging clarity on the bidding process for work contemplated in the draft project plan.
 
View all recent ALAC statements.

Public Comment: CSC Charter Review Team's Initial Report 
The Customer Standing Committee (CSC) Charter Review Team seeks comments and input on proposed changes to the CSC charter, as included in its initial report. The proposed changes to the charter:
  • Mandate the CSC to agree with Public Technical Identifies (PTI) on minor changes to the service levels without needing to go through an extensive public comment process.
  • Reflect that CSC and PTI have agreed on Remedial Action Procedures (RAP) - a formal escalation methodology in case of poor performance by PTI.
  • Include an arrangement for dealing with changing circumstances of appointed members.
The deadline for comments is 1 June 2018.
New ccNSO Council Leadership Team Appointed
The Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Council reappointed Katrina Sataki as chair and Byron Holland as vice chair, and appointed Debbie Monahan as vice chair. See the list of ccNSO Council assignments.
 
Following the sudden passing away of Ben Fuller, the ccNSO anticipates appointing a new liaison to the GNSO soon. For more information, see the call for volunteers.
GAC Maintains Active Post-ICANN61 Agenda 
On 11 April 2018, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) participated in a call with members of the ICANN Board. Topics were the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and International Governmental Organization (IGO) reserved acronym protections. Dialogue continues on both matters.
 
By acclamation, the GAC selected a new vice chair on 18 April 2018. Thiago Jardim from Brazil fills the seat of Milagros Castañon from Peru. The GAC is also working on:
  • Developing feedback for next steps on the resolution of the Action Request Register (ARR).
  • Considering first steps for evolution of the current GAC Operating Principles.
  • Planning the agenda for the upcoming High Level Government Meeting to be held with ICANN63.
On 26 April 2018, the GNSO Council adopted its review of the ICANN61 GAC Communiqué and transmitted it to the GAC and the ICANN Board.
Pre-ICANN62 GNSO Webinar 
In June, the GNSO is hosting a webinar on GNSO policy development processes (PDPs). The goal is to help prepare ICANN62 participants to engage in policy development activities. The leaders of major GNSO PDPs will give overviews of their topics, current issues being discussed, and what to expect at ICANN62.
 
Attendees are encouraged to prepare by reading the GNSO Policy Briefings, to be published before the webinar, and to bring their questions. This webinar complements the Pre-ICANN62 Policy webinar, an overview of the activities of all Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees.
 
Stay tuned for the announcement!
Get Involved in Reviews 

Take the SSAC2 Review Survey
Do you have experience with the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) or suggestions for improving it? Share your input by completing the SSAC2 Review survey.
 
Participate in the Public Comment on Draft Final Report of the RSSAC2 Review
Comment on the Draft Final Report of the second review of the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC2 Review).
 
Help ICANN Seek Candidates to Conduct the ccNSO2 Review
Share this Request for Proposal (RFP) to help ICANN seek candidates to conduct an independent assessment of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO2 Review).
 
Visit the Review Status Update Table for the latest status on all active Specific and Organizational Reviews.

ICANN Organization's IDN Programs Director Recognized for Work in Pakistan 
On 23 March 2018, Sarmad Hussain, ICANN's Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Programs Director, received the President of Pakistan's Pride of Performance Award. The Government of Pakistan confers this prestigious award on citizens who demonstrate excellence in their field. Hussain's work, which focuses onenabling people around the world to use domain names in local languages and scripts, was recognized for advancing the computing of languages spoken in Pakistan. Congratulations, Sarmad!
Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG)
Now on Twitter 
The UASG has launched a new social media channel on Twitter. By engaging directly with CIOs, developers, Internet associations, and UASG partners, the UASG aims to raise awareness about Universal Acceptance (UA) and Email Address Internationalization (EAI). UA and EAI are essential to ensuring that all Internet applications and systems can accept, validate, store, process, and display all domain names
 
Get the latest news - follow @UASGTech on Twitter!
Join us at these upcoming events in the EMEA region:
Learn more about how ICANN will be participating in regional events near you.