[kictanet] Africa at ICANN - Continent on the Move

[Alice Munyua]

Africa at ICANN - Continent on the Move 
<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121023_africa_at_icann_continent_on_the_move/>
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121023_africa_at_icann_continent_on_the_move/


<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121023_africa_at_icann_continent_on_the_move/#add_comment> 

By *Andrew Mack* <http://www.circleid.com/members/4199/>

There was one obvious take-away from this week's ICANN meetings in 
Toronto, and for once it was less about policy and more about geography. 
Simply put, Africa is really --- finally --- coming together at ICANN, 
with a new energy, new unity and lots of new participation from African 
participants. And from top to bottom, the ICANN community seems to be 
taking notice.

The evidence was everywhere... You could see it in the large number of 
African participants from all over the continent, and in active African 
engagement in the GAC. You could see it in the statements from the ICANN 
CEO, Board Chair and constituency leaders who came to the release of the 
new Africa strategy and praised both the strategy and the strategy 
process --- inclusive, fast-moving and importantly, driven by African 
stakeholders at ICANN, not imposed from above. You could also see it in 
the tremendous enthusiasm for the AUC-endorsed dotAfrica (.africa) 
application, which has become a real a focal point of an emerging 
"African Agenda".

Of course, the hard work is yet to be done.

All sides need to follow through to turn the strategy into real impact, 
to make sure that ongoing outreach becomes a reality, not just happy 
talk. We need to make sure the .Africa application --- which has support 
from more than 40 countries (and counting) isn't slowed down by the new 
batching process or any other noise. Nobody in the end was in favor of 
digital archery, but the system did have one thing right --- a 
preference for geographic, community and IDN names. Prioritizing Latin 
American and African applications makes sense given the history of 
"outreach", the small number of applications from these regions and the 
reality of the internet's growth. We believe a new "draw" system without 
a focus on underserved regions would send the wrong signal to the 
international internet community. It wouldn't do justice to the good 
work already initiated with support from the CEO, and in the end, it 
would be bad for ICANN.

As a long time Africa watcher at ICANN, I saw much to celebrate in 
Toronto. And I'd like to especially compliment new CEO Fadi Chehadé for 
creating the space for (and what seems like genuine interest in) the 
needs of the continent that has been underserved for so long. But while 
words are important, we're just getting started. Africa is showing that 
it is serious about playing a real, sustained role at ICANN. Hopefully, 
ICANN is serious as well.

*By Andrew Mack <http://www.circleid.com/members/4199/>, Principal at 
AMGlobal Consulting*


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