[kictanet] African Union latest on .africa

Sun May 15 17:42:58 EAT 2011

Thanks for the clarifications and answers

Regards

Norman

On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 1:16 PM, Nnenna Nwakanma <nnenna at nnenna.org> wrote:

> Hi people
>
>
>
>> On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 6:31 PM, Norman Boinett <nboinett at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I listened to DotConnectAfrica pitch a presentation on its efforts to
>>> register the dot africa domain at the AITEC conference held in Nairobi
>>> last
>>> year.
>>>
>>
>> I can try to answer your questions.  I was on that panel (if it was
>> the same AITEC mtg).
>>
>>  I don't know if? AU picked on the endorsement issue following the
>>
>>> realization of the importance of the TLD and its political, social and
>>> economic implications or its has been keen on it all the way. I am not
>>> sure
>>> about the level of participation of the AU in past and present IG issues
>>> and
>>> the part they play in internet governance matters
>>>
>> Well in this particular matter the ICANN DAG (the rules for new gTLDs)
>> say that if you are applying for a name that represents a continent,
>> you need 60% approval from governments in that region (i am
>> paraphrasing).  Both orgs that want to be the Sponsoring organisation
>> have sought approval from the AU in the past.
>>
> I think Moctar within the new Information Society Division of the AU will
> be the best to answer this.  Last week the Ghanian Vice Presidency seemed to
> imply that the AU will hold the .africa on Trust and ensure that the
> operator will do so on behalf of the African people.  Moctar, though, can
> update us
>
>   Can someone please
>>
>>> enlighten us on some of these issues;
>>> 1. what the AU has done on African Internet governance processes in the
>>> recent past and its implications on the internet governance community
>>>
>>
>>
>> They have helped to jump start a pan-African IGF recently. Announced
>> on this list in the last month.  I don't know if there any
>> implications of this frankly.  Its just one more conference to attend
>> on limited travel budgets IMO.
>>
> The Pan-Africa IGF is not yet started.  It is not a conference also.  It is
> an initiative to engage actors (Pan African and multinational) who have not
> found a niche in the regional initiatives.  Its main objective may be to
> strengthen national IG initiatives.  It may not need to host a pan-African
> event.
>
> An open forum has been booked for the Nairobi IGF so all interested parties
> can take the discussion further. The framework document is open and everyone
> is welcome to edit and contribute.
>
> It is on http://bit.ly/dKdUKe
>
>  2. Who should be most responsible for the registration and management of
>>> the
>>> dot africa TLD, organizations like DotConnectAfrica, AU or the Africa
>>> Intenet Governance Forum (if it exists)?
>>>
>>
>> There are many roles to play here.  The AU, as the relevant public
>> authority may have "sovereignty" over the name "africa" according to
>> my reading of the DAG.  They can choose on or more (or zero) orgs to
>> be the Supporting Organisation.  These orgs would run the Registry.
>> Then there is the back-end registry operator, which I would like to
>> see go to an all African org.  Then there are Registrars, of which
>> there are 4 (ICANN accredited) in Africa.   It is unclear if
>> registrars like Versign/GoDaddy, etc would be allowed to be registrars
>> for a .africa.
>>
>> The nascent African IGF would have nothing to do with .africa IMO, as
>> it is a discussion forum only, hasn't really been formed yet, and has
>> no decision making authority.
>>
> Co-sign.  The AU has a kind of panel of experts.  One or two should be on
> this list.  The Africa IGF is being modeled after the IGF Secretariat.. so I
> doubt it will (whenever it kicks off) be saddled with issues related to the
> management of .africa.
>
>  I hope this answers your query.
>>
>
> Hope I have been helpful
>
> Nnenna
>
>
> --
>
> Nnenna  Nwakanma |  Founder and CEO, NNENNA.ORG  |  Consultants
> Information | Communications |  Technology and Events  | for Development
> Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (+225)| Tel: 225 27144 | Fax  224 26471 |Mob.
> 07416820
> Accra, Ghana (+233) Tel: 0249561345 | http://www.nnenna.org |
> nnenna at nnenna.org
> Twitter  - @nnenna | Skype - nnenna75 | nnennaorg.blogspot.com
>
> Your multi-lingual development and event partners across Africa.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/nboinett%40gmail.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20110515/4d45c5bc/attachment.htm>