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<a
href="http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121023_africa_at_icann_continent_on_the_move/"
class="blue">Africa at ICANN - Continent on the Move</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="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/</a><br>
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By <a href="http://www.circleid.com/members/4199/" class="blue"><strong>Andrew
Mack</strong></a> </div>
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<p>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.
</p>
<p>
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".
</p>
<p>
Of course, the hard work is yet to be done.
</p>
<p>
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.
</p>
<p>
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.
</p>
<p><strong>By <a href="http://www.circleid.com/members/4199/"
class="blue">Andrew Mack</a>, Principal at AMGlobal
Consulting</strong></p>
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