[kictanet] Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] EMEA Newsletter Issue #2
Bob Omondi
omondibob at gmail.com
Mon Oct 13 12:34:41 EAT 2014
FYI...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Yaovi Atohoun <yaovi.atohoun at icann.org>
Date: Sat, Oct 11, 2014 at 10:55 AM
Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] EMEA Newsletter Issue #2
To: AfrICANN list <africann at afrinic.net>
Hi all / Bonjour a tous
Please see below the second edition of our EMEA Newslettter. My apologies
for the size of the text.
Priere trouver dans ce message la deuxieme edition du Journal EMEA
(Europe/Moyen-Orient/Afrique). Nous vous ferons parvenir la traduction
lorsqu'elle est terminee. Mes excuses pour la longueur tu texte.
Thanks/Merci
-
Yaovi Atohoun
Stakeholder Engagement and Operations Manager – Africa
ICANN – www.icann.org
Mobile : +229 66015649 / 97891228
=============================================================
Issue #2
*Jump To:* Istanbul Hub Events <#148fe362255cb0a5_IHB> | EMEA News &
Activities <#148fe362255cb0a5_ENA> | Regional Insights
<#148fe362255cb0a5_IRI> | Spotlight <#148fe362255cb0a5_S> | Upcoming Events
<#148fe362255cb0a5_KRUIE> | News Highlights <#148fe362255cb0a5_NH>
Welcome to our second edition of the EMEA newsletter
We’ve had a busy quarter, especially last month in Istanbul with various
activities planned around the 9th Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Our newsletter provides a snapshot of activities within our Istanbul hub
along with highlights from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and
also a few insights into what we have been doing and why.
You will also find a special feature ‘Spotlight’ in this edition, which
highlights efforts in the EMEA community and stories of successful
multistakeholder collaboration designed to ensure the safeguarding of a
secure, stable and resilient global Internet. This issue’s spotlight is the
Lebanon Internet Center (LINC), a multistakeholder body mandated with
overseeing Internet policies in Lebanon. It is the first national
multistakeholder body in the Middle East launched earlier this year. LINC’s
CEO shares his thoughts with us.
We hope you find our news and features engaging and, as always, we welcome
your feedback.
*Happy Reading!*
*The EMEA Team*
ICANN’s Hub in Istanbul – Regional and Local Focus on Internet Activities
The opening of the Istanbul Hub marked a significant milestone in the
evolution of ICANN as it spreads its operational functions across three
global headquarters—Los Angeles, Istanbul, and Singapore. Since then, the
Istanbul hub office and its staff have served as both hosts and conveners
with events stakeholders for across all of its sectors. Additionally, the
hub provides full support to the engagement offices and their staff
throughout the EMEA, along with standard ICANN services in the following
areas: policy development, contractual compliance, operations, registries
and registrars’ services, communications, meetings, and Board support.
In our host city, Istanbul, we have been active in our outreach efforts on
several levels, meeting and collaborating with members of government,
business, academia, and civil society, a testament to ICANN’s commitment to
the region and to its globalization efforts. Hosting and convening meetings
of stakeholders from various sectors helps achieve ICANN’s engagement
efforts in Turkey and the EMEA region more broadly. From meetings with
researchers and scholars to planning a forum of DNS experts, ICANN
appreciates the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to globalizing
its services and resources for the multistakeholder community.
ICANN looks forward to expanding the Istanbul hub and further elevating its
work in Turkey and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.
*David Olive*
*Vice President, Policy Development Support*
*General Manager, ICANN Regional Headquarters –Istanbul*
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
_Istanbul Hub Events
Meeting with law students from the Bilgi University IT Law Institute
http://cyberlaw.bilgi.edu.tr/
Local Officials, ICANN President and CEO Launch .ist and .istanbul
The Municipality of Istanbul signed an agreement with ICANN for the
registration of .ist and .istanbul as domain extensions. Istanbul Mayor
Kadir Topbaş and ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehade attended the signing
ceremony on 2 September 2014 in Istanbul. “Istanbul will also have a
central presence on the Internet via the new '.ist' and '.istanbul'
domains,” said the Mayor Topbaş.
The Mayor said Istanbul was "in a position that can influence the world in
many fields" and that the municipality is exerting efforts to turn Istanbul
into "a hub for everything." Mentioning that few cities had their own
domain names, Mayor Topbaş continued, "I believe it is a great opportunity
to boost recognition of Istanbul and further expand its role as a financial
hub." He emphasized that the city became the first of 81 cities in Turkey
to have its own domain name.
Fadi Chehadé noted that Istanbul has managed to preserve its past while
building its future. "Istanbul is a unique city and imitated by others”,
Chehadé said. “It will now have more online visibility and websites will
benefit from those new domain names."
Broad Multistakeholder Participation as IGF 2014 Wraps Up in Istanbul
ICANN participated <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2014-08-25-en>
in this year's 9th Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
<http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/> meeting in Istanbul. The overarching
theme of the meeting was Connecting Continents for Enhanced
Multistakeholder Internet Governance
<http://www.igf2014.org.tr/about.igf.html>. This year's meeting built on
previous IGFs and furthered the dialogue on Internet governance and
emerging Internet issues. It also built on the success of this year’s
NETmundial in Sao Paulo, Brazil and promoted its outcomes. ICANN believes
that the IGF plays an effective role in fostering global multistakeholder
cooperation in Internet governance and strongly supports its continuation
beyond its 2015 mandate.
*Key IGF 2014 statistics*
- 2,374 onsite participants
- 1163 remote participants
*Onsite Participation by Region**Onsite Participation by Stakeholder Group*
Africa
Asia Pacific
Eastern Europe Host Country
Host Country
Latin America and the Caribbean
Western Europe and Others
215
423
153
706
158
714
Civil Society
Government
Intergovernmental Organizations
Host Country
Private Sector
Technical Community
836
542
98
516
289
Briefing by the Academic Community on Multistakholder Research Projects
On 3 September, the IT Law Institute at İstanbul Bilgi University and the
Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society, both members of
the Global Network of Interdisciplinary Internet & Society Centers (NoC
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/network_of_centers>), introduced a
preliminary report of ongoing research to members of the ICANN Board,
senior ICANN executives, members of the Turkish Internet Improvement Board,
and other Internet stakeholders.
As an academic community, an integral part of the multistakeholder Internet
governance approach, this group decided to make an academic contribution to
the ongoing debate on the distributed, decentralized Internet governance
ecosystem. They prepared a report based on the foundational principles of
NetMundial and framework for a global, collaborative, and decentralized
Internet governance ecosystem as described in the report of the Panel on
Global Internet Cooperation and Governance Mechanisms.
http://networkofcenters.net/event/evolution-internet-governance-ecosystem
Future Activities Planned in Istanbul
Taking place on the 18th November 2014 in Istanbul, is the Turkey DNS Forum
where participants from ICANN, registries, registrars, registrants, ccTLDs,
new gTLD applicants, policy makers, Internet service providers, IT
businesses, brand owners, and legal firms all will attend in an attempt to
build bridges between interested parties in Turkey and the world's experts
in these fields, to share experiences and best practices, inform the
audience of what is taking place in the domain name industry at a global
level, and to discuss emerging business opportunities.
The first edition of the forum is expected to be the building block for
future annual forums. The purpose of an annual forum is to spread the
message and introduce interested parties to the key players in the DNS
industry, hopefully leading to a stronger domain name industry in the
region. More details will be provided soon.
_
EMEA News & Activities
September 20143 SeptemberICANN signed an MoU with the Ministry of
Information Society and Administration. Read more here
<https://www.icann.org/news/blog/macedonia-and-icann-sign-cooperation-agreement>Skopje,
Macedonia8-11 SeptemberDNSSEC Workshop:
http://dnssec-deployment.icann.org/training/AMM/Amman, Jordan15 SeptemberDanish
IGF <http://www.fremtidensinternet.dk/> – Panel: Internet Governance – Who
is in Control. Speaker – Jean-Jacque Sahel, VP Stakeholder Engagement,
EuropeCopenhagen, Denmark17-19 SeptemberDNSSEC RoadshowYaounde, Cameroon17-19
SeptemberSouthern Africa IGF <http://giplatform.org/events/saigf-malawi> -
Speaker: Bob Ochieng Lilongwe, Malawi24-26 SeptemberDemo Africa
<http://www.demo-africa.com/events/event-details/demo-africa-2014>,;
Speaker: Bob OchiengLagos, Nigeria28-30 SeptemberConnect to Connect
<http://extensia-events.com/events/connect-2-connect-2014>,; - Main topic :
Internetworking in Africa; Speaker: Bob OchiengTanzania22
SeptemberPanel “Roundtable
on Internet Governance”
<http://www.chathamhouse.org/event/multi-stakeholder-model-internet-governance-developing-new-governance-model-21st-century>,
Speaker: Sally Costerton, Senior Advisor to the President, Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)London, UK23
SeptemberTunisian
ICT Association Panel on “Internet Governance, present situation and new
approaches”, Speaker: Baher Esmat, VP, Stakeholder Engagement, Middle
East Hammamet,
Tunisia
October 20142-3 OctoberHigh Level Workshop on Internet Governance
<http://www.smartrwandadays.rw>, ICANN Africa team and Mike Silber, ICANN
board Member will be speaking. Kigali, Rwanda
Government Engagement Group Activities8 SeptemberUN New York briefing
hosted by the Polish and Mexican Permanent Missions to the UN - 40
attendees and active dialog with China, Egypt, the Philippines, Turkey and
othersNew York15 SeptemberRegional IGFMacedonia22 SeptemberLunch briefing
in Geneva to all missions and most IGOs and Internet organisations -
Keynote by Fadi ChehadeGeneva29 SeptemberParis meeting convened by SG OIF
of the steering committee on Forum de la Langue FrançaiseParis1 OctoberWTO
Public Forum: Presentation on Internet and Trade by ISOC and ICANN
_
ICANN Regional Insights
The Internet Governance Forum: From Dialogue to Action
*By Baher Esmat, VP Stakeholder Engagement, Middle East*
IGF Photo Gallery:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/icann/sets/72157647157492522/
When the Internet Governance Forum (IGF <http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/>)
came to birth nine years ago, many perceived it as a mechanism for damage
control. During its first couple of years, skepticism was rife about both
its continuity and its ability to address controversial IG issues. However,
over time, the IGF succeeded in bringing different stakeholders closer by
offering them an open space for dialogue, very much like the Internet
itself, where they can debate IG related issues. It has even gone further
in building bridges of trust and knowledge transfer across stakeholders.
The 9th IGF meeting was held in Istanbul, Turkey during 2-5 September 2014,
bringing together more than 3,500 onsite and remote participants. This is
credit to how the IGF has become a meeting point for those who are
interested in the broad spectrum of Internet Governance, to come together,
engage in discussions, interact with one another, and perhaps launch new
ideas and initiatives. In fact, the very first IGF meeting took place the
same year Twitter was created and Facebook was opened to the public. This
was only eight years ago, yet the Internet has evolved tremendously since
then. While one could argue that the IGF has evolved at a much slower pace
than the Internet, the fact of the matter is that it is the IGF
participants who have been shaping its evolution in a bottom-up,
multi-stakeholder fashion, which by its very nature takes time to develop
and thrive. But nevertheless, the IGF has continued to improve,
particularly following the recommendations
<http://unctad.org/meetings/en/SessionalDocuments/a67d65_en.pdf> of the
CSTD working group on improvements to the IGF.
This year’s IGF had a lot on the agenda, covering the current affairs of
Internet Governance with a wide range of topics inclusive of ICANN
accountability, network neutrality, Internet rights, digital trust,
empowering youth, spam, content creation, to name just a few.
Improvements to the IGF this year were manifested in many aspects that may
be hard to cover in full here; but some are worth noting. In an attempt to
make outcomes of the IGF more visible and tangible, the MAG Chair has put
an open call for information on concrete actions and decisions taken by
organizations as a result of their participation in the IGF. Feedback along
with a summary document is available online
<http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/documents/contributions/call-for-information>.
Best practice forums have been introduced with an aim to have more informed
discussions on specific topics and produce outcome documents. The IGF
website has been given a facelift and become in some parts more
streamlined. On the financial side, an IGF Support Association has been
launched
<http://www.internetsociety.org/news/new-association-launched-support-internet-governance-forum-and-its-essential-role-addressing>
to support and complement existing funding, and to strengthen the IGF
secretariat as well as regional and national IGFs.
As in previous IGF meetings, ICANN was present
<https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2014-08-25-en> in Istanbul with
staff, Board, and community members organizing and taking part in various
sessions. The IGF offers ICANN the opportunity to reach out to a wider
community that is not regularly present at ICANN meetings. The ICANN Open
Forum attracted more than 100 participants who came to hear from ICANN
leadership and have a dialogue with them on any issues related to ICANN.
This year, the issue of IANA stewardship transition and ICANN
accountability was the subject of discussion in several sessions. A Town
Hall meeting was held on Day 1 to further engage with community and clarify
any points in relation to the Enhancing ICANN Accountability and Governance
Process <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-08-2014-09-05-en>. This
was yet another opportunity for ICANN to listen to community members and
assure them that we are taking their feedback seriously.
Statistics in the Chair’s summary
<http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/documents/igf-meeting/igf-2014-istanbul/246-chairs-summary-igf-2014/file>
show that almost half of the IGF attendees this year were from developing
countries. Enhancing participation from developing countries and involving
new stakeholders was one of the key recommendations of the CSTD working
group. Obviously, IGF Istanbul has made progress in this direction. Another
issue the IGF has been looking into is how to strengthen its linkages with
regional and national IGFs. Such regional and national forums, particularly
those in developing countries, deem the global IGF as the place where they
can showcase their work and at the same time get to learn from other
experiences and return home with homework to do. As one participant from
Yemen told me during the meeting “there is a lot going on in Internet
governance and we’ve got enormous work to do back home”. So, “action” is
what the IGF community is after, and many have felt that the IGF this year
was more focused on the action side of the things, or as the Chair’s
summary puts it: “From dialogue to action”.
The importance of the 7th annual conference of registries and registrars in
Baku this year
*TLDCON-2014 was held on Sept.10-11 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan*
*By Michael Yakushev, VP Stakeholder Engagement *
Traditionally this conference attracts not only regional companies and
organizations, but also a wider number of stakeholders and jurisdictions.
This year more than 100 delegates from 24 countries gathered in Baku.
The TLDCON-2014 was preceded by a regional ENOG conference, organized by
RIPE NCC. The week was packed with interesting and fruitful discussions, by
both the IP/Telecom and DNS business communities, on the most current
Internet issues. Naturally, discussions focused on the new technical issues
and legal challenges that arise with the evolving nature of the Internet
and its ecosystem; becoming more complex and more diverse.
The DNS industry, which was considered at the TLDCON-2014 as a
‘cornerstone’ of the Internet infrastructure, is heavily influenced by the
nGTLDs Program, and we can see not only rapid regional development of some
new domains, but also a certain decline of the growth rate of many ccTLDs,
and failed expectations of the business success of other new GTLDs. This
factor raised discussions on the future of the Internet, its technical
infrastructure and its role in the global economic processes. Which is
healthy and helps bring more awareness to the issues and processes that
need to be followed in order to circumvent and overcome the hurdles faced
with the growth of the Internet.
Both events (TLDCON and ENOG meeting) are important for our regional
efforts to engage stakeholders, to share best practices, and to understand
better regional and global trends in the development of the network
infrastructure, Internet-related business, and government regulation.
Events in Baku were really cross-regional: people came there not only from
the region of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but also from different
Western and Southern European Countries, United States, and Asia. There
were also proposals on better integration of such regional events into the
overall ICANN meetings strategy, as many ‘Regional-specific’ issues may be
fruitfully discussed and solved at the regional (or cross-regional) level,
saving more room for global questions of the Internet Governance at ICANN
meetings.
ICANN had good presentation at the TLDCON-2014 by myself, Patrick Jones -
Global Stakeholders Engagements Senior Director, and Sarmad Hussein-IDN
Program Senior Manager. Issues like new GTLD Program implementation,
development of the L-Root infrastructure, IDN Variants and Label Generation
Panel for Cyrillic names, NTIA transition project, and forecasts for the
“Internet-2020”, were covered. All such issues are among the most discussed
in the local technical and business communities. A lot of commercial
companies and government agencies expressed their interest to the possible
new cycle of the nTLD program. Many regional companies would like to
install L-Root servers for improving their global connectivity. As the
official languages of many countries in the region are based on Cyrillic
letters, and there may be new IDN gTLDs in the future, the corresponding
technical issues should be solved as soon as possible. And, finally, any
proposals for the regulation and/or technical projects should be based on
the vision, what the main trends in the Internet development are now and
may be visible in the future.
Further information on the conference may be found at
http://meeting.cctld.ru/en/.
>From Westphalia to Sao Paulo: building our future (governance) together
*By Jean-Jacques Sahel, VP Stakeholder Engagement, Europe*
Evolution is happening at an exponential rate in our time. You need only
remember, the Radio took 38 years to reach a market of 50 million users;
Television took 13 years to reach 50 million users - and the Internet took
only about 4 years to reach the same number. Today, close to 3 billion
users have increasingly come to rely on Internet access to facilitate
basic, everyday needs and aspirations, all over the world. In less than one
generation, the Internet exploded in the number of users, mobility, data
volumes, economic importance, and global reach.
These achievements are due in some significant part to the Internet’s
peculiar bottom-up, multi-stakeholder model of governance which, by
bringing together different stakeholders' particular remit and expertise,
helped to achieve a scalable and robust Internet.
Yet, for all the progress enabled by the multi-stakeholder model we are
mindful that the Internet is relatively young, and likewise is our
pioneering system of governance. The very pace and magnitude of the
Internet’s development has also brought with it a whole set of new
challenges we have to address as we build our future Internet governance
together. It is a long road ahead of us. Relying on, and improving, our
decentralized, collaborative, multi-stakeholder model of governance is the
best way to address these new challenges and evolve the way the Internet is
governed in the future. One of the major steps in consolidating and
improving the model is happening right now with the transition of oversight
for the IANA functions, and the accountability & governance review that
comes with this change.
It is perhaps interesting to look at what the multi-stakeholder model often
gets compared to, or contrasted with: the nation-state model enshrined in
the treaties of Westphalia in 1648; when the major powers in Europe agreed
on a number of peace treaties aimed to end the wars that had plagued much
of continental Europe for most of the century. As often, nothing happens
overnight. The model did not achieve its aim of peace immediately: France
and Spain were at war for another 11 years after the treaties were signed.
In short, what this experience could tell us is: give peace – and
multi-stakeholderism – a chance to develop.
It is incumbent on us all to engage positively and constructively towards
improving our processes, and to allow for the necessary time for the model
to develop and thrive – we are after all, experimenting with a model, which
could solve more than just the Internet’s problems. Just over 20 years ago,
Samuel Huntington famously raised the prospect of a looming ‘clash of
civilizations’, of cultural conflicts. Others since – and many more
recently, in the wake of the multiplication of regional and transnational
conflicts – have expanded to talk about the end of the nation-state system
as initiated in 1648. As we enter the 21st century and are waking to the
realization of the immense benefits of the Internet - our first truly
global tool of human ‘inter-connectedness’ - the multi-stakeholder model
presents an interesting evolution in governance possibilities. One that
could not replace, but coexist with and relieve, the nation-state system.
Over the next year, in taking forward the Net Mundial Roadmap and
transitioning the USG oversight of IANA to the ‘global multi-stakeholder
community’, we have a great chance - and a common responsibility: to work
together to build on and reinforce the multi-stakeholder global model of
governance that has permitted the Internet to serve the whole world so
amazingly over the past quarter of a century. As someone stated once:
‘Internet Governance in in Your Hands’. Or as I would say, in my
understated fashion: ‘the future is in your hands’ – together we can build
a better and evolving Internet that serves all of our needs and
aspirations.
Monetization of the Africa domain name space
*By Pierre Dandjinou, VP, Africa*
Domain monetization is one of the largest and most profitable online
industries. Simply put, a company or an individual decides to purchase
domain names either to sell, lease, or to park them with the purpose of
making money. The ROI (return on investment) rate through domain
monetization depends on the entrepreneur’s plans and initiative. Registries
and registrars also can reap benefits through the potential of domain
monetization. Why should one discuss monetization in Africa? The recently
held Africa Domain Name Forum in Abuja Nigeria offered many examples of how
African registries and registrars have taken advantage of new opportunities
through investment and monetization. Moreover, registries feel the need to
increase their customer base; hence the necessity for engaging in targeted
marketing activities. The ICANN African strategy calls for a series of
initiatives including capacity building that could boost the African domain
name market and business. One obvious result of increased monetization of
the domain name space in Africa is the potential transformation of the
current ecosystem, with a total of approximately 1,200,000 registrations
(out of a population of 1.2 billion). Of these, nine hundred thousand
(900,000) are solely from South Africa. This alone shows how much work we
need to do to fully capitalize on the domain industry. Indeed there are
different methods of monetizing domain names:
- Developing Affiliate Websites
- Developing Pay Per Click(PPC) Websites , which originates from PPC
advertising systems such as Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network.
- Domain Parking
- Domain Leasing – Renting the domain name to advertisers or other
interested parties
- Domain Purchase and Resale
- Domain Development which entails development of a website with unique
content and a business model
For African registries, one way of monetizing is the development of
registrar and reseller friendly TLD policies. Other avenues include the
development of local content and scalable automated registry platforms as
well as through the improvement of the technical and business capacity of
registry operators through continuous training and packaging of domains as
a service and not as a commodity.
For registrars and resellers, the reduced taxation, which has a direct
impact on the overall cost of domains, should be the norm as this will lead
to a reduction in the cost of registering domain names. Consequently,
African Governments should also consider tax waivers for ccTLDs to promote
uptake.
Marketing is another key element, which starts by the registries offering
reliable and predictable service to their clients. Hence, the technical
staff plays as equal a responsibility in marketing as the business staff by
ensuring stable, reliable and secure registries.
Moreover, registries should look for agile and adapted payment solutions.
For example, e -payment and cash payment should run in parallel. Many
online payments solutions (especially PayPal) exist but have yet to be
implemented in most parts of Africa.
As was noted in the Africa strategy, there is a need to build capacities
for business development within African ccTLDs and registrars; issues
pertaining to quality of service (QoS), and quality of experience (QoE) as
well as trademarks and Intellectual property concerns should be considered
and embedded within comprehensive and operational policies and procedures.
In so doing, one paves the way for the advent of an African business and
industry of the domain name.
The Story behind ICANN’s BCG Road show
*By Chris Mondini, VP Stakeholder Engagement, Global Business and North
America*
The work of ICANN in coordinating the names and addresses of the Internet
helps keep it global, expanding and interoperable. Furthermore, increased
access to a global, expanding, and interoperable Internet is good for
business and national economies. Support for this point can be found in the
Boston Consulting Group’s report on E friction, “Greasing the Wheels of the
Internet Economy”
<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/bcg-internet-economy-27jan14-en.pdf>
.
The BCG report came out in January, and continues to resonate with
governments and business leaders around the world by providing a clear
roadmap of how businesses and national economies can continue to benefit by
fully embracing a global, borderless Internet.
Why did ICANN commission the research? In part because much of the current
reporting in global Internet governance has focused on the “doom and gloom”
scenarios of an Internet fragmented or “balkanized” by a patchwork or
national regulatory regimes. And in part, not much research has been done
on the effect of barriers and hurdles in the online world, and the drag
they have on economic growth. The E friction report has made it easier to
identify the areas of friction that hold back the digital economy and at
the same time has helped ICANN to emphasize the opportunities for
advancement that come from making the most of the ever expanding, globally
interoperable Internet.
This last point is especially useful for business users of the Internet and
the Domain Name System. In conducting their research, BCG found that Small
and Medium Enterprises with a robust web presence, who make the most of
online marketing, sales and systems management, and who embrace cloud
computing can considerably grow their revenues.
By creating an index and measuring the performance of 65 countries, BCG has
provided a valuable benchmark against which future gains can be measured.
But it is all predicated on an Internet that remains borderless and
interoperable, hence complementing other reports that highlight the
benefits of reducing or eliminating barriers to Internet access and its
affect for both countries and companies.
Each ICANN-BCG roundtable gathers a mix of government officials and
business leaders and takes on its own regional characteristics. A
representative from a global telecommunications firm described the
discussions a “crisp and brisk … full of innovative thinking and
interesting people”. Another participant asserted: “the world needs to know
about the risks faced by the global Internet. It is up to business to help
governments understand what’s at stake”.
In creating a country index, BCG has opened the door to possible future
iterations of the report to see how countries perform. In the meantime, at
least one ICT ministry has reported that they will use the report as a menu
of ways to work with business to improve their country’s friction score.
The report has also successfully underscored ICANN’s role as a partner in a
shared aim to maintain an open, scalable and interoperable Internet.
ICANN Business Engagement meeting successfully held in Africa
*By Bob Ochieng, Manager; Stakeholder Engagement - East Africa*
ICANN's work is crucial to the interoperability and growth of the Internet
on which so many businesses depend regardless of geographical location..
Furthermore, ICANN is an open and participatory model – business advantage
and useful information can be gained simply through participation. Knowing
– and actually shaping – Internet policy related to the Domain Name System
and other unique identifiers is a primary reason many companies participate
today. But while participation has increased over the years, private sector
involvement in general, especially in Africa, is minimal. This has prompted
ICANN to engage this constituency to stimulate better and meaningful
participation from across the world.
And so as curtain came down on the 9th global IGF in Istanbul, Chris
Mondini headed to Nairobi, Kenya where he convened a business engagement
roundtable.. The event was titled “Sustaining the power of the global
Internet for transformative economic growth” and was designed to encourage
participants to focus on the Internet as a global business resource with
the potential of contributing significantly to the growth of a national GDP
as evidenced by the recent report by the Boston Consulting Group on
“e-friction”. This meeting was just the first of many that will be held in
various parts of Africa, targeting the business sector in line with the
Africa strategy.
In preparation for the Nairobi meeting, we collaborated with the Ministry
of ICT, the Director General of the Kenya regulator (Communications
Authority - CA) and key Telco’s and ISPs in Kenya while coordinating with
the ISP Association in Kenya (Telecommunications Service Providers
Association – TESPOK) and KeNIC (.KE registry) to widen our reach to the
community. The two-day meeting engaged over 60 participants from two groups
of business stakeholders, namely, telecommunications businesses - those
involved in the ICT business including Telco’s – as well as other
businesses involving banks, and the Chamber of Commerce. The mixed panel
presentation areas focused on the ICANN Africa Strategy and the BCG report
with a panel discussion on Business Engagement – the How & Why Engage?
It was stressed during the panel discussions that the BCG report is meant
to stimulate countries and its policy makers to refocus their attention in
addressing key areas of e-friction (infrastructure; industry; information;
and individual) by having all parties siting on the same side of the table
to deliberate.
All in all, the reception to the panels was positive with candid and
constructive engagement from the attendees. The key takeaways from our
panel was how to localize the data presented to better engage the African
business community, and the recognition that there is definitely a need to
spread this engagement through other parts of Africa.
_Spotlight
The Lebanese Internet Center (LINC) – A Democratic Multistakeholder
Governance Initiative in EMEA
*By Nabil Bukhalid, CEO*
The Lebanese Internet Center (LINC) is a public/private, not-for-profit
organization characterized by a democratic multistakeholder governance
structure (Figure 1). LINC’s strategic alliance between civil society
organizations, corporations, syndicates, universities, research
organizations and the government of Lebanon emanated from major and long
standing gaps in Internet governance in Lebanon affecting the
sustainability and growth of the Internet and more specifically the
operation and business continuity of the Lebanese Domain Name Registry
(LBDR).
LINC is initially responsible for the Internet’s Lebanese top-level domain
(.lb ccTLD and .لبنان AIDN), including the registration of domain names,
and the administration and technical maintenance of the national
domain-name registry infrastructure. LINC will also promote the positive
development of the Internet in Lebanon. A share of the fee that LINC
intends to charge for domain name registration will be invested in capacity
and community building activities and projects that promote the positive
development of the Internet in Lebanon.
There are currently less than 4,000 registered .lb domains. LINC intends to
file with ICANN for the re-delegation of the .lb ccTLD, apply for the
.لبنان AIDN, and develop the DNS industry in Lebanon by establishing
friendly, efficient, secure and competitive registration processes based on
the registry/registrars business model. LINC aims to grow into the natural
choice for companies, organizations and individuals that want a domain name
associated with Lebanon by providing the best services to the local
Lebanese market, the globally spread Lebanese diaspora and the global
market at large.
The necessity for a multistakeholder body to assist in the amalgamation of
different and competing interests was pinned by Fadi Chehadé, ICANN CEO,
during a reconnaissance visit to Beirut in February 2013. The partners
engaged in long sessions of critical thinking on governance structure
outcome, impact and alternatives and, while they acknowledged that
multi-stakeholder governance will introduce complex processes with insecure
outcomes, they made a conscious decision that multi-stakeholder governance
is a strategic and preferred option for the Internet governance in Lebanon.
On June the 2nd, 15 months later, Fadi Chehadé returned to Beirut to
celebrate with Lebanon the launching of LINC from the Ministry of Economy
and Trade.
As the incumbent .lb registrar and one of the key facilitators in the
making of LINC, I would like to share my reflections and observations on
the multi-stakeholder building process:
- In a multi-stakeholder development initiative, the democratic process
is as important as the outcome. Democracy is a complex and testing
evolutionary process.
- The Internet is a network of complex interdependent networks at the
physical, economical, political and social levels. With growing complexity
and interdependence comes growing needs for collaborative efforts.
- In a multi-stakeholder development process confrontational parties
develop trust relationships as a byproduct of: working together; sharing
problems, concerns and dilemmas; and facilitating the exchange of
information and the alignment of goals. Trust-building among the
stakeholders is crucial for success.
- Engaging in multi-stakeholder governance efforts opens the way to
gradually introduce multi-stakeholder practices and get them transcribed in
governmental policies and regulations.
- The execution of multi-stakeholder governance requires from the
partners to address the sustainability issues. The partners should secure
sustainable means to finance the operation while neutralizing the power of
money. I.e. since power equal money, the corporate partners’ financial
might should not give them additional privilege over the NGOs, etc.
- Interest diversity is at the core of multi-stakeholder governance, the
more diverse interests are; the more diverse stakeholders should be
involved in order to increase the effectiveness of the process. The target
is to engage all stakeholders and leave nobody out. The price to pay is
that this makes collaboration more complex and difficult.
- Interest diversity in a dynamic and continuously evolving and mutating
environment, such as the Internet, require a dynamic and flexible
multi-stakeholder governance structure. Interests can change over time, new
parties might want to enter the partnership and others might want to exit.
- The success of the multi-stakeholder process dictates utmost
transparency and open communication.
- Participation in a multi-stakeholder initiative requires considerable
resources and consumes a lot of time.
_Key Regional Upcoming ICANN Events
Please view the ICANN calendar for a more detailed look at all events
<https://features.icann.org/calendar?keys=&field_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_region_value=All&field_event_source_tid%5B%5D=19&field_event_source_tid%5B%5D=24>
in the ecosystem.
October 201412-16 OctoberICANN51Los Angeles, USA19 Octobercollaboration
with I* organizations to monitor Internet related resolutions and
discussions at ITU PP 14 in Busan, Korea – [Government Engagement Group
Activities]Busan, Korea22 OctoberJoint IIC-ISOC-London School of Economics
workshop on IG evolution;
http://www.iicom.org/iic-chapters/iic-uk-chapterLondon,
UK30 October“The Internet Today and Tomorrow”: ICANN – NASK- Polish
Government-FOSSF Workshop Warsaw, Poland
November 20144-7 NovemberRIPE 69 <https://ripe69.ripe.net/>London, UK4-5
NovemberWorkshop on building sustainable domain names business in Africa
and the Middle East - Organizers: ICANN, NTRA (Egypt), AfICTA (African ICT
Association).Cairo, Egypt5-6 NovemberWorkshop on Investigating DNS
Abuse/Misuse for Law Enforcement Agents; ICANN team participating.
Organizers: Lebanese University and Ministry of InteriorBeirut, Lebanon18
NovemberTurkey DNS Forum
<https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Turkey+DNS+Forum>Istanbul, Turkey19-21
NovemberRegistry Roadshow Workshop
<https://community.icann.org/display/RH/Agenda+for+Registry+Roadshow+Workshop>Istanbul,
Turkey24-25 NovemberInternet Day Sweden <http://internetdagarna.se/english/>:
Panel “Internet governance – who will shape the future of the Internet?”
and a panel session on the new gTLDs Speaker: Jean-Jacques SahelStockholm,
Sweden26-27 NovemberArab IGF Beirut, Lebanon - Theme: “Arab Perspective for
Shaping the Future of the Internet”
http://beta.igfarab.org/ArabIGF2014.jspBeirut,
Lebanon
December 20147-10 DecemberITU Telecom World 2014
<http://www.itu.int/en/ITUTELECOM/Pages/world2014.aspx> - Panel “The Next
Big Internet Step: Moving to IPv6 to Enable Everything” Speaking: Baher
Esmat
<http://www.itu.int/net4/Telecom/webs/TelecomWorld/session/description/C-00000418/http://www.itu.int/net4/Telecom/webs/TelecomWorld/session/description/C-00000418/>Doha,
Qatar18-19 DecemberAfrica Telecom People 2014Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
ICANN51 in Los Angeles
This could very well be one of the largest international Internet
conferences of the year. The meeting is filled with interesting and
engaging sessions on a wide variety of topics, such as:
- The SO/AC-Led High Interest Topic Session, which will discuss the role
of government representation in ICANN
- Enhancing ICANN Accountability, which will address the issue how ICANN
can remain accountable in the absence of its historic contractual
relationship with the U.S. government, and the
- Community Discussion with the ICG where the IANA Stewardship
Coordination Group (ICG) will discuss the transition.
Registration for ICANN51 is free – just go to
https://registration.icann.org/. If you can’t attend in person, remote
participation is highly encouraged – and easy to do. Just visit the online
schedule and select the session you’re interested in – almost all have
options for joining in from wherever you are.
_ICANN News Highlights
Accountability / NTIA IANA Functions Stewardship transition
You need to be involved. All of the Accountability track information can be
found here:
https://community.icann.org/category/accountability
https://www.icann.org/en/stewardship
NMI launch in Geneva
The Initiative is being undertaken by the World Economic Forum, in
collaboration with various partners including ICANN and key governmental,
industry, academic and civil society stakeholders.
This collaboration will facilitate a distributed environment of effective
multistakeholder cooperation through innovative and legitimate mechanisms
to:
1. Help solve global Internet challenges, especially the non technical
ones
2. Inform and equip capacity development initiatives to ensure global
participation in Internet cooperation, especially from under-represented
regions;
3. Build trust in the Internet and its governance ecosystem.
For more information:
http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-internet-governance
GDD News
- ICANN Approves Name Collision Occurrence Management Framework |
Special IP Address (127.0.53.53) Alerts System
- Administrators of Potential Issue: http://goo.gl/vlDDMa.
- Current statistics
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/statistics> as the
applications work their way through to the Internet:
- Over 300 strings have been delegated. You can view them here
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings>.
- Look here to view the “new gTLD programme” timeline
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/timelines>.
- For more information about the GDD, follow this link:
http://goo.gl/4A7wDQ.
Latest posts by Fadi Chehadé
*Internet Governance is in Your Hands*
Who will run the Internet and how?
The question is now galvanizing the mainstream media. Numerous stories are
appearing on both the reportorial pages (i.e. WEF unveils 'crowdsourcing'
push on how to run the Web)
<http://news.yahoo.com/wef-unveils-crowdsourcing-push-run-210507320.html>,
and on the opinion pages (i.e. The Internet Power Vacuum Worsens
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/l-gordon-crovitz-the-internet-power-vacuum-worsens-1410124265>).
In that context, this seems like an appropriate time to set the record
straight and to correct some inaccuracies that are being spread across the
media landscape.
Read More >>
*An Initiative for Action*
Back in May, I wrote a blog titled "Turning Talk into Action after
NETmundial."
<https://www.icann.org/news/blog/turning-talk-into-action-after-netmundial>
In it, I promised to work tirelessly on coalescing governments, private
sector and civil society to operationalize the NETmundial roadmap. I did
not make this promise lightly
Read More >> <https://www.icann.org/news/blog/an-initiative-for-action>
"We Need Your Input"
Public Comment is a vital element of ICANN’s decision-making process. Here
is an opportunity for all stakeholders to provide input and feedback on all
facets of ICANN’s work. Find and participate in Open community discussions,
review past work and browse upcoming topics. Visit
https://www.icann.org/public-comments#open-public
Stay in touch!
We hope this edition gave you a glimpse into the issues at hand in our
region, and our ongoing community activities to help pave the way to a
sustainable multistakeholder governance enabling our Internet to stay open,
secure, stable and resilient. Our newsletter focuses primarily on Europe,
the Middle East and Africa.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on the newsletter, and perhaps
suggestions you might have on topics of interest.
On ways to participate at ICANN, please browse here
<https://www.icann.org/search/#!/?searchText=participating>.
For more information, please send an email to: emea.newsletter at icann.org.
*Luna Madi*
*EMEA Communications Director*
ICANN Europe, the Middle East and Africa Offices
*Istanbul, Turkey Hub Office*
*Tel: +90.212.381.8727*
*Geneva, Switzerland Engagement Office*
*Tel: +41 22 819 1844*
*Brussels, Belgium Engagement Office*
*Tel: +32 2 894 7400*
<https://twitter.com/ICANN> <https://www.facebook.com/icannorg>
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