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Join
us for ICANN54
in Dublin from
October 18 to
22
Jean-Jacques
Sahel -VP
ICANN, Europe
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As
I write this,
the heat is
increasing
across much of
Europe this
summer.
Similarly, it
also feels
like the heat
is on for
ICANN54 in
Dublin.
Advanced
proposals by
the ICG
concerning the
IANA functions
stewardship
transition and
the parallel
CCWG
Accountability
promise
engaging
discussions
for the
upcoming
meeting, which
many are
already
billing as a
key milestone
in the history
of the
Internet.
This
could indeed
be the
meeting, which
marks
approval, or
at least the
firming up,
for the set-up
by which ICANN
becomes
independent,
with the
Internet's
global
'multistakeholder'
community
truly in
charge of the
destiny of the
Domain Name
System and
Associated
Protocols and
Numbers.
ICANN54
will also be
eventful with
important work
ranging from
covering IDNs
to privacy and
proxy
services, from
Internet
Governance to
Human Rights
and Public
Safety - and
much, much
more.
All
that with the
backdrop of
charming
glorious
Dublin, one of
Europe's most
successful
'mini Silicon
Valleys' and
home to the
glorious
Dubliners.
Look
forward to
seeing you
there!
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Bringing
it All Back
Home; ICANN
Dublin 2015
By
Maria Farrell,
ICANN civil
society (NCSG)
and
InterConnect
Communications
The
Irish Internet
community is
as vibrant and
varied as they
come, with a
mix of
multinationals
and home-grown
talent.
Because of our
educated
population and
rather
convenient
location, many
global tech
firms have
made Dublin
their European
HQ.
When
the ICANN
community
touches down
in Dublin this
October, they
will be right
across the
river Liffey
from Dublin's
tech centre,
'Silicon
Docks', which
houses
operations
from Google,
Twitter,
Facebook, and,
most recently,
AirBnB. This
roll call of
big box names
shows
Ireland's
long-requited
love affair
with all
things
American,
though some
economists
worry that we
spend too much
time (and
money)
attracting
firms from
abroad, and
not enough
building our
own native
tech
sector.
But the
tech community
is busy
ensuring that
our current
success lasts.
INEX, IP
peering
association
and the host
of the Dublin
meeting,
brings
together
professionals
from across
the sector for
regular and
lively
meetings.
Digital
Rights Ireland is
an
all-volunteer
organisation
fighting to
ensure a
positive
impact of the
Internet on
individuals
and our
future. The Irish Internet Association
brings
together
people from
all over the
sector and the
country for
training,
networking,
lobbying and,
of course,
networking. It
also works
with the
.IE
registry on
an annual 'Dot
IE Net
Visionary
Award', won in
2014 by
Blacknight
registrar
founder,
Michele
Neylon.
Which
brings us to
Irish people
in ICANN. A
friend who
works in the
European
Commission
says Irish
people have
never yet
encountered an
international
organisation
they don't
want to get
involved in
and also pull
in all their
family and
friends, too.
From small
beginnings,
the number of
active ICANN
community
members from
Ireland is
growing. That
includes
former Board
Director
Dennis
Jennings,
Registrar
Constituency
Chair Michele
Neylon of
BlackNight,
former staffer
and GNSO NCSG
Councillor;
yours truly,
and rising
NCUC star
James Gannon.
You can expect
to see us and
a great Irish
contingent at
the Dublin
meeting and
yes, the
national
stereotypes
are pretty
much all true;
we will be the
ones at the bar
talking to
anyone and
everyone,
delighted to
finally be
hosting our
life-long
ICANN friends.
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ICANN
EMEA HUB
ACTIVITIES
& REGIONAL
HIGHLIGHTS
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Global
Support Team
Expands -
We're
happy to
welcome two
new Global
Support hires Seda
Akbulut and
Koray Nicolas
Namer to our
hub in
Istanbul.
Languages now
covered from
the Hub
support will
be English,
French, German
and Turkish.
Visit our
global support
website here
or contact the
team via email
globalsupport@icann.org.
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10th
International
Electronic
Communications
Regulators
Conference:
Future of
Mobile: 4G and
Beyond - May
7-8
The
event kick
started with
the Chairman
of the Turkish
Information
and
Communication
Technologies
Authority
(ICTA), Dr.
Tayfun Acarer,
welcoming the
attendees.David
Olive was
invited to be
on a panel
with
international
experts, where
he described
the role of
ICANN and
shared the
results of two
important
studies
conducted for
ICANN by the
Boston
Consulting
Group on reducing
friction in
the Internet
economy and
suggested
policies to
follow to
harness the
Internet as a
pervasive,
growing
economic
force.
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Meeting
with Law
Students at
Bahcesehir
University
On May
5, Professor
Elif Kuzeci of
the Faculty of
Law of
Bahcesehir
University in
Istanbul
invited David
Olive as a
guest lecturer
to talk about
ICANN and
Internet
Governance to
the ICT law
students.
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TÜTED
- Celebrating
Information
Technology
&
Telecommunications
Day -
May
29 - TÜTED, a
leading
Telecommunications
Industry
Association in
Turkey,
invited ICANN
VP and General
Manager David
Olive to be a
keynote
speaker, where
he noted Dr.
Acarer's work
with ICANN and
the ICT
Community in
Turkey since
the hub
offices opened
two years
ago. More on
the event is here.
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ISOC's
InterCommunity
2015
Conference-
July 7-8
ICANN
attended
InterCommunity
2015, the Internet
Society's
(ISOC)
first
virtual
meeting of its
entire
community,
where the 2015 Global Internet Report was
released by
ISOC. Key
Takeaways from
the report:* 3
billion
Internet users
were likely by
May 2015.
* Mobile
Internet
penetration is
forecasted to
reach 71% by
2019.
* Usage
per device is
forecasted to
more than
triple by
2019.
* 192
countries have
active 3G
mobile
networks,
which cover
almost 50% of
the global
population.
* Smartphone
sales are the
majority of
mobile
handsets sold
worldwide;
tablet sales
will soon
exceed total
PC sales.
* While
there are at
least five
mobile
platforms,
Android has an
84% share of
smartphones,
and 72% of
tablets.
* There
are well over
1 million apps
available,
which have
been
downloaded
more than 100
billion times.
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SEEDIG
and EuroDIG:
An eventful
and successful
'Bulgaria DNS
week' in June
Bulgaria
became the
European
Internet
capital this
year, starting
June 1 with a
'roadshow' in
cities such as
Varna to beat
the DNS
industry's
drum with the
local business
community.
On
Wednesday 3
June, the
'premiere' of
the South
Eastern Europe
Dialogue on
Internet
Governance
(SEEDIG)
started with
the first ever
roundtable
discussions
taking place
just before
the start of
EuroDIG, which
itself was yet
another
success this
year, with
hundreds of
participants,
a flurry of
exciting
topics and
increasingly
strong
discussions
and outcome
documents.
This
series of
events and the
formal birth
of SEEDIG
marked an
important
anniversary:
It brought us
back to just
12 months
before, when a
handful of
ICANN
'regulars'
from the
region met
informally
during the
ICANN 50
London
meeting. We've
all known for
a while that
the SEE
community in
ICANN is
vibrant and
full of
dynamic,
dedicated
characters,
but we all
knew that more
could be done
to strengthen
it. So we
created what
started as a
simple mailing
list:
ICANN-SEE. It
grew from an
initial 10
members to
close to 100
today, and has
helped members
exchange
ideas, promote
events,
recruit
speakers and
panelists for
public
meetings,
events and so
on. The
result? An
increasingly
growing number
of activities,
networks and
contacts
across the
region, with
events growing
larger in
attendance,
from Belgrade
to Bucharest,
from Varna to
SEEDIG in
Sofia. Suffice
to say, the
simple mailing
list grew to
so much more.
Going
forwards, we
are excited to
see many more
such
activities
being lined
up: the first
Bosnian IGF,
the Domain
Name Forum
reconvening in
Sofia in
December (see
details
below), and we
are already
looking
forward to
events in
Bucharest,
Belgrade,
Skopje and
more in 2016.
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By
Andrea
Beccalli
ICANN
participated
at DomainFest,
a
commercially
focused
content,
networking,
and sessions
that focus on
the
innovation,
opportunity,
and the
business of
the domain
name
industry. The
DomainForum
during that
week,
organized by
Iliya
Bazlyankov,
Chair of the
Executive
committee at
CORE, gathered
a panel of
industry
experts and
other
stakeholders
from the
community. The
event was a
perfect
example of the
multistakeholder
nature of the
DNS industry
and a great
opportunity to
share our
expertise and
interact with
the vibrant
and growing
Internet
community from
South Eastern
European.
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"The
importance of
fostering
initiatives
for the local
DNS industry"
By
Iliya
Bazlyankov,
CORE
Association
Our
team has the
honor of
contributing
to the
national and
regional
development of
the Internet
by broadening
the
understanding
of topics like
the impact of
the new gTLDs,
a multilingual
Internet and
Internet
governance.
Organizing
or hosting
events like
the
ICANN-Studienkreis
in 2014,
EuroDIG,
DOMAINfest,
Bulgarian
Internet Week,
SEEDIG in 2015
and the annual
Domain Forum
(since 2011)
is being done
with the goal
of presenting
to the local
community
highly popular
topics from
ICANN and
other
international
meetings.
Additionally,
they serve the
purpose of
introducing
the community
to
international
specialists;
and also
present an
opportunity
for people
from the
region to
attend events
that are
usually far
away and not
really
accessible to
them. This
way, without
travelling,
people are
able to share
their points
of view and
discuss in an
informal and
open manner
the current
and emerging
Internet-related
issues that
are relevant
to them.
We
will continue
to work on
more events
with more
international
attendees, and
perhaps even
one-day work
on hosting an
ICANN meeting!
We all do our
best for the
goal of having
an accessible
and convenient
Internet for
people all
over the
world!
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New
Domains - New
Business
Prospects
The
Meeting of
Domain
Industry
Representatives
from Eastern
Europe -
Central Asia
region
(DOMINO-2015),
which has
become a
tradition, was
held near
Moscow. It was
organized by
the Russian
Technical
Center of
Internet. It
was both
pleasant (as
always,
organizers
brought...
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ICANN
Media Briefing
in Dubai, UAE
In
May, we hosted
a key media
briefing in
Dubai, focused
on the
development of
the Internet's
Domain Name
System (DNS)
in the Middle
East.
Participants
in the panel
discussion
included the
UAE's
Telecommunications
Regulatory
Authority,
Etisalat and
Domain Name
sector
companies ARI
Registry
Services,
CentralNIC
Group and
AEServer.
Coverage can
be seen
here.
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Middle
East and
Adjoining
Countries
School on
Internet
Governance -
May 25-29,
2015
The 2
nd
edition of the
regional
school on
Internet
Governance
(AKA MEAC-SIG)
was held in
Tunisia and
hosted by ISOC
Tunisia
Chapter. The
5-day agenda
covered
Internet
governance
topics such as
history, DNS,
IP Addressing,
Human Rights,
Privacy,
Security,
Social Media,
and the top IG
related events
and
discussions of
this year. The
school
attracted 30
students from
13 different
countries.
More
information
can be found
here.
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L-Roots
deployed in
Pakistan
ICANN
has
successfully
joined effort
with partners
in Pakistan to
increase the
Domain Name
System's (DNS)
overall
stability and
resiliency
against
certain types
of cyber
threats, such
as Distributed
Denial of
Service (DDoS)
attacks. As a
result, three
L-Root
instances have
been deployed
to date. Read
more:
NAYAtel
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DNS
Operations and
DNSSEC
Workshop -
July 27-30,
2015
This
workshop was
the first
novice
technical
workshop to be
held under the
helm of the
DNS
Entrepreneurship
Center
(DNS-EC) in
Cairo, Egypt.
The 4-day
workshop
covered DNS
technicalities
and how to
deploy DNSSEC.
The workshop
attracted more
than 20
students from
7 different
countries in
the Middle
East and
Africa, and
was co-trained
by three
trainers two
of which were
trained as
part of the
DNS-EC
train-the-trainers
program. More
information
can be found
here.
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Middle
East DNS Study
Launched
EURid
was selected
by ICANN in
mid June to
develop the
DNS study in
the Middle
East and
adjoining
countries.
Read
More
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The
Middle East
Strategy two
years Later
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Africa
DNS Forum
By
Pierre
Dandjinou -
ICANN VP,
Africa
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ICANN
Receiving a
thank you
Award for
Sponsoring the
Africa DNS
Forum
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The
third edition
of the Africa
DNS Forum was
an absolute
success,
demonstrating
how this event
has grown over
the past three
years.
Throughout the
event, there
was consistent
attendance,
and rich
debates that
highlighted
the potential
for
cooperation,
that the
Nairobi
gathering made
possible.
The
dialogue
between
African
registrars and
registries
started in
Durban in
2013, with the
Kenyan DNS
Forum moving
it to yet
another level
as other
stakeholders
in the DNS
industry
joined and
shared their
perspectives.
Key
discussions on
the DNS took
place with
reflections on
costing
strategies,
marketing
ideas and
technical
solutions, in
addition to
touching upon
a critical
area - the
availability
and
accurateness
of statistics
and data
pertaining to
African DNS
industry. The
potential for
developing
strategic
partnerships
in this field
are immense.
ICANN,
through its
Africa
strategy and
the support of
all its
departments,
will continue
the journey
with current
partners and
look forward
to expanding
the group of
partners. Our
DNS
entrepreneurship
centre in
Cairo is ready
to proceed
with capacity
building
workshops and
events in both
technical and
business
areas, and we
hope to launch
other centers
in Sub-Saharan
Africa and
partner with
existing
incubators and
accelerators
to deploy
special
programmes on
DNS
entrepreneurship for
young
entrepreneurs
interested
in venturing
and seizing
the potential
of this
under-utilized
industry in
Africa.
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ICANN
Media Briefing
in Nairobi,
Kenya
We
hosted a press
briefing in
Nairobi to
discuss
Africa's role
in helping
shape the
future of the
organisation,
the Internet's
Domain Name
System (DNS)
and the
African Domain
Name Market.
A key focus of
the briefing
was the
opportunities
these changes
will afford
businesses,
entrepreneurs
and Internet
users across
Africa. The
event was well
attended by
leading media
houses in East
Africa. Pierre
Dandjinou
interview on
CNBC Africa
can be seen
here
and other
coverage here.
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The DNSSEC Journey
Continues to
Advance In
Africa
Developing
the domain
name industry
in Africa is
an important
and central
objective of
the
ICANN AFRICA
Strategy.
Focusing on
the importance
of the Domain
Name System Security Extensions
(DNSSEC), a
direct
contributor to
the security
of the
Internet, and
providing
mechanisms to
help
prevent DNSdata
spoofing and
tampering.
This is how
the
"DNSSEC roadshow
project" was
conceived.
Through it, we
have lead
efforts to
drive
awareness and
understanding
of the
importance of
the DNSSEC, as
well as
building
capacity
toward ccTLD DNSSEC adoption
in AFRICA.
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DNS today
without DNSSEC is
a "forgiven"
system
"Forgiven
system" may
sound too rude
but it seems
to be the
reality. The
title of this
blog is from a
statement made
by one of the
participants
during a
breakout
session on
DNSSEC during
the 2015
edition of the
AfricaDNS Forum
in Nairobi,
Kenya.
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Section
Heading H
Building
Capacity
Other
events the
Africa ICANN
team
participated
in include:
ere
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Training
of trainers'
workshop on
Internet
Governance
Ouagadougou, Burkina
Faso: 27-31
July
A
'premiere' in
francophone
Africa, this
workshop was
an opportunity
for deepening
concepts and
strategies
around the
global
Internet
governance
ecosystem.
Pierre and
Yaovi from
ICANN were key
contributors.
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Connect
to Connect
Summit
in Dar es
Salaam,
Tanzania,
where Bob
presented the
BCG report
discussing
e-friction and
also hosted a
workshop on
the IANA
Stewardship
Transition.
For more
information
visit here.
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Highway
Africa 2015,
Grahamstown,
S. Africa
29-31 August
ICANN
held two main
sessions, one
on the future
of Internet
Governance and
the Role of
Africa in the
Internet
Ecosystem and
the other on
the Domain
Name System
(DNS) Economy
in Africa.
Awareness on
these topics
is key. This
is one of the
many ways we
are reaching
out to the
media in
Africa through
these
sessions,
providing more
background
information,
briefing on
the current
situation with
the challenges
and
opportunities
ahead in the
regional
market and how
to participate
and become an
active part of
the community
and Internet
ecosystem.
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IANA
STEWARDSHIP
TRANSITION
UPDATE
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The
transition of
IANA's
stewardship is
now another
step nearer as
two key
proposals are
opened for
public
comment:
To
stay updated
on
the IANA Stewardship
Transition and
Enhancing
ICANN
Accountability
Public Comment
Periods and
the latest
news click here.
Must
Watch:
Watch
Theresa
Swinehart's
video update
on NTIA's
Announcement
to Extend the
IANA
Functions
Contract
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IANA
Stewardship
Transition
Timeline:
As
shown by Fadi
Chehadé, ICANN
President and
CEO, during
the opening
ceremony of
the ICANN53
meeting in
Buenos Aires
in June this
year, these
are the three
identified
phases of the
IANA
Stewardship
Transition.
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The
second batch
of new gTLD
case studies
(.INK,
.ORGANIC,
.REALTOR,
.XYZ) is now
available.
This
is part of
ICANN's global
efforts to
raise
awareness of
and interest
in new gTLDs.
These case
studies tell
the story of a
TLD, including
its background
and business
objectives.
They are
intended for
use as
educational
resources. We
will continue
to publish new
case studies
on this
webpage on an
on-going
basis. All
registries are
invited to
partner with
us to develop
case studies.
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Resolving
the Release of
Two-Character
ASCII Labels
with Comments
Since
ICANN launched
the
Authorization
Process for
the Release of
Two-Character
ASCII Labels,
over 249,000
letter/letter
two-character
domains have
been
authorized
across
approximately
560 new
generic
top-level
domains, and
the numbers
are growing
weekly.
However,
approximately
3 percent of
requested
labels have
not yet been
authorized for
release due to
concerns
expressed by
governments.
In
mid-August,
ICANN
published a
draft process
to fully
consider
comments
received and
evaluate the
labels that
have been
withheld thus
far.
Learn
more
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DEVELOPMENT
& PUBLIC
RESPONSIBILITY
DEPARTMENT
(DPRD)
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At-Large
Onboarding
Program
Launches
The
aim of this
new
staff-initiated
program is to
facilitate At-Large
Structure
(ALS) and
individual
member
participation
within the
Regional
At-Large
Organizations
(RALOs) and to
promote policy
development
activity
within
At-Large and ICANN. To
learn more
please visit
this
page.
ASO
Address
Council
Selects Ron da
Silva to Serve
on Board Seat
9
The
ASO Address
Council has
selected Ron
da Silva to
replace Ray
Plzak on seat
9 of the Board
of Directors.
Mr. da Silva
will serve a
three-year
term beginning
after the
Annual General
Meeting at
ICANN54. Learn
more here.
GNSO
Council Adopts
Translation
and
Transliteration
of Contact
Information
Final Report
On
24 June 2015,
the GNSO
Council
adopted
the
Translation
and
Transliteration
of Contact
Information
Policy
Development
Process
Working
Group's Final
Report,
containing
seven
recommendations. The
recommendations
include the
conclusion
that it is not
desirable to
make
transformation
of contact
information
mandatory due
to the costs
outweighing
the
benefits. Read
the Final
Report here.
Security
and Stability
Advisory
Committee
(SSAC)
Publishes
SAC070
The SSAC
has published
SAC070:
SSAC Advisory
on the Use of
Static
TLD/Suffix
Lists. This
advisory
investigates
the security
and stability
needs
surrounding
the growing
use of Public
Suffix Lists
(PSLs) on the
Internet. Read
the advisory here.
Get
Involved:
The
full list of
issues open
for public
comment, plus
recently
closed and
archived
public comment
proceedings
can always be
found on the
Public
Comment web
page.
Also
check the
Upcoming
Public Comment
page, which
provides
information
about
potential
future public
comment
opportunities.
The page is
updated after
every ICANN
public meeting
to help
individuals
and the
community set
priorities and
plan future
workloads.
|
KEY
UPCOMING
EVENTS TO
PARTICIPATE
IN:
For
a more
detailed look
at where we've
been and will
be
participating
in, please see
here.
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17
September
|
ICANN54
pre-event for
Irish Internet
community
|
Dublin,
Ireland
|
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30
September
|
Second
Edition "Internet
Today and
Tomorrow"
Workshop
|
Warsaw,
Poland
|
|
|
|
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1 October
|
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
IGF
|
Sarajevo, Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
|
|
|
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7-8
October
|
Cybersecurity
Event
|
Lisbon,
Portugal
|
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4-5
November
|
International
Domain Name
Conference
(RNIDD)
|
Paris,
France
|
|
|
|
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4
December
|
Domain
Name Forum
|
Sofia,
Bulgaria
|
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13-16
September
|
GCC
Cybersecurity
Summit 2015
|
Abu
Dhabi, UAE
|
|
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7-8
December
|
e-AGE
2015
|
Rabat,
Morocco
|
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14
- 15 September
|
CTO
Forum
|
Nairobi,
Kenya
|
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24
September
|
DEMO
Africa
|
Lagos,
Nigeria
|
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24
- 25 September
|
East
Africa IGF
|
Kampala
Uganda
|
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8-9
October
|
ATP
2015
|
Abidjan,
Cote d'Ivoire
|
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18-21
October
|
SMART
Africa
|
Kigali,
Rwanda
|
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28
Nov -4
December
|
AFRINIC
|
Brazaville,
Congo
|
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