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UA Day Celebrated Across Latin America and
the Caribbean
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By Daniel Fink, Stakeholder Engagement Director, Brazil
Thank you to ICANN’s Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) community for successfully completing a brilliant set of
UA
Day [r20.rs6.net] events. I appreciate the hard work of the Latin American and Caribbean Islands Regional At-Large Organization (LACRALO), the Latin American
and Caribbean Network Operators Group (LACNOG), and the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG).
Our first event occurred on 1 March during a CaribNOG meeting in Grenada, followed by a workshop in Aguascalientes, Mexico, promoted by LACRALO. In total, 12 LAC regional events
are being held between March and May, all led by the community. This is a great achievement.
During the
LACNOG
event [r20.rs6.net], multiple participation hubs were organized for university students in Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, and the Plurinational State
of Bolivia. Fantastic.
Now, we are establishing regional UA initiatives with the help of LACRALO and LACNOG to seize the opportunities uncovered during the UA Day events. Congratulations to everyone for
advancing our region toward a multilingual Internet.
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Join the Next ICANN CEO Search Listening Session
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The ICANN Board has formed the
CEO
Search Committee [r20.rs6.net] to compile a list of candidates to be ICANN's next President and CEO. The committee is tasked with creating a candidate profile,
which will be published before ICANN77
[r20.rs6.net] in June and presented during the meeting.
To gather input from the ICANN community and the broader Internet ecosystem, the Search Committee has scheduled a series of Board Listening Sessions. The next community Listening Session
will be held via Zoom on 16 May at 14:00–15:30 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Visit the
Search
Committee webpage [r20.rs6.net] for more information.
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Global Internet Community Comes Together for the First UA Day
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The global Internet community recently came together for the first-ever
UA
Day [r20.rs6.net] to mobilize key stakeholders around Universal Acceptance (UA).
More than 50 events took place on and around 28 March in more than 40 different countries. UA Day events consisted of awareness and technical training sessions aimed at helping top
technical and language communities, governments, and domain name industry stakeholders to better understand the benefits of UA and how to make their systems UA-ready.
UA ensures that all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language, or character length, can be used equally by all Internet-enabled applications, devices,
and systems.
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An Update from the 2023 Nominating Committee
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By Vanda Scartezini, 2023 NomCom Chair
I am pleased to report that the 2023 Nominating Committee (NomCom) has received an unprecedented 155 completed applications for this year’s open ICANN leadership positions. The application
period closed on 30 March.
Out of 155 applicants:
·
39 percent are from Africa.
·
25 percent are from Asia, Australia, or the Pacific Islands.
·
9 percent are from Europe.
·
15 percent are from Latin America or the Caribbean.
·
12 percent are from North America.
·
27 percent are female, 59 percent are male, and 14 percent did not disclose.
For details on the open positions and the next steps, read my
blog
[r20.rs6.net].
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Register Now for ICANN77
Registration is now open for the
ICANN77
Policy Forum [r20.rs6.net], which will be held 12–15 June both virtually and in- person in Washington, D.C.
The online-only ICANN77 Prep Week will take place from 30 May to 1 June. Visit the
ICANN77
webpage [r20.rs6.net] to view the Prep Week schedule.
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Caribbean Participation at LACRALO
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At the recent monthly LACRALO meeting, the new LAC Strategy Council Representative from the Caribbean was announced: Simone Joseph-Ollivierre, a member of ISOC and the At-Large Structure
(ALS) from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Joseph-Ollivierre is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has served as an Information Technology Officer and ICT for Development Project Officer at the CARICOM
Secretariat.
Several ALSes from the Caribbean attended the LACRALO meeting, including those from Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad
and Tobago.
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ICANN76 marked the first time that Bahamas, represented by Ambassador at Large Ron Pinder, has participated in an ICANN
Public Meeting.
During the Community Forum, Pinder served as an ICANN fellow. He focused on the Governmental Advisory Committee and LACRALO, while also participating in sessions on intellectual
property and other topics.
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Don't Miss the Latest LAC News
To facilitate and enhance communication with the LAC Internet community, ICANN’s LAC regional team created a mailing list as a platform to share news, events, and other essential updates.
Every message will be sent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
Sign
up today [r20.rs6.net]!
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GETTING TO KNOW THE ICANN COMMUNITY
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Gerry E. George
President, ICT Association of Saint Lucia
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Gerry E. George has over 25 years of professional information and communications technology (ICT) experience. He has served as a Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission of Saint Lucia since 2011. He is the President of the ICT Association of St. Lucia, and since 2023 he has served on the American Registry for Internet Numbers Advisory Council. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in management
information systems.
George is a strong advocate of digital inclusion and broadening ICT development. He is an impassioned member of CaribNOG and the Caribbean ICT Stakeholders Virtual Community, and
a participant in international ICT organizations, where he focuses on ICT policy, legislation, and regulations.
George’s first ICANN meeting was ICANN49 in Saint Lucia, and he has been involved ever since.
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ccNSO Welcomes First IDN ccTLD Manager as Member
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Last month, the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt officially joined the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) as a member. The NTRA is
the first manager of an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) country code top-level domain (ccTLD) to join the ccNSO since its creation 20 years ago.
This milestone reflects the growing importance of IDN ccTLDs and the increasing recognition of their role in enabling linguistic and cultural diversity on the Internet. From starting
the discussion of IDN ccTLDs in 2006, to the launch of the Fast Track Process in 2009, and finally to the ICANN Bylaws Amendments in 2022, the ccTLD community has worked hard to enable IDN ccTLD managers to join the ccNSO.
Membership in the ccNSO is open to any ccTLD manager. A ccTLD manager is the organization or entity that is responsible for managing a ccTLD and is listed in the
IANA
Root Zone Database [r20.rs6.net]. The ccNSO now has 174 members.
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Public Comment: EPDP-IDNs Phase 1 Initial Report
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The
Phase
1 Initial Report [r20.rs6.net] on the Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP-IDNs) is available for
Public
Comment [r20.rs6.net] until 5 June.
The EPDP-IDNs Team is seeking input on its 68 preliminary recommendations on the definition of IDN generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and the management of IDN variants at the top-level.
The EPDP Team will hold a webinar
[r20.rs6.net] on 17 May at 11:00–12:30 UTC to review the key recommendations and facilitate participation in the Public Comment proceeding.
The EPDP-IDNs Team’s efforts build on the existing work on IDNs, specifically the recommendations of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (PDP). The EPDP-IDNs
Team aims to fill the gaps not addressed by the PDP, such as how to allow for variant gTLD applications in future rounds of new gTLDs.
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Next Round of New gTLDs:
Forming the Implementation Review Team
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By Lars Hoffmann, Senior Director, Policy Research and Stakeholder Programs
ICANN is in the process of forming the Implementation Review Team (IRT) to support the implementation of policy recommendations for future rounds of new gTLDs.
During ICANN76, the ICANN Board
directed
[r20.rs6.net] the ICANN organization to produce a comprehensive Implementation Plan by 1 August 2023. The plan will contain information on infrastructure development,
timelines, and the anticipated resource requirements to open the next round of new gTLD applications.
Having
consulted
[r20.rs6.net] with the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council at ICANN76, ICANN is piloting an "Open + Representative model" for the upcoming IRT. This
model will provide a structure that allows for the efficient resolution of issues that may arise.
For more information about the IRT, read my
blog
[r20.rs6.net] and this
announcement
[r20.rs6.net].
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ICANN Around the World
Regional Offices:
Los Angeles, U.S.A. (Headquarters)
Brussels, Belgium
Istanbul, Turkey
Montevideo, Uruguay
Singapore
Engagement Centers:
Beijing, China
Geneva, Switzerland
Nairobi, Kenya
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
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