ICANN to work with stakeholders on a DNS framework in India

Source: ICANN. The opening ceremony for ICANN57.

India’s Minister of Law & Justice and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has reiterated India’s commitment to the multistakeholder model during the opening ceremony of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN’s) 57th Public Meeting.

The meeting, also known as ICANN57, continues till 9 November in Hyderabad, India, and has convened thousands of Internet community members (both on-site and remotely) to discuss and develop policies related to the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) framework. It is hosted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), with support from the government of Telangana, India.

“India has supported the multistakeholder model of Internet governance and we are happy to note that the IANA stewardship transition has taken place. The Internet is a great equaliser and helps to connect all. It is now time to look ahead, to build the Internet of the future with the participation of all stakeholders,” said Prasad.

To expand India’s participation in the multistakeholder model, ICANN will work with India’s stakeholders, including the government of India, to develop a structured framework focusing on fostering the development of the DNS industry in India. The framework will concentrate on capacity building for India’s stakeholders, gearing them up for active participation in ICANN and the multistakeholder model of Internet governance.

“With the IANA stewardship transition behind us, our top priority now is to focus on our revised mission and new bylaws, and working together with the empowered community. Expanding our outreach is key to our mission. In this context, we are keen to further deepen our ongoing engagement in India. As the second-largest group of Internet users globally, we welcome India’s voice and participation,” said Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO.

India currently leads the world with seven internationalised country code top-level domains delegated and eight more have successfully passed evaluation. There is also a Neo-Brahmi script panel in place that is defining the rules for the nine scripts used in India for evaluating future top-level domain applications work. This will serve communities using these scripts globally, paving the way for a multilingual and more inclusive Internet.

ICANN57 is the first post-IANA stewardship transition public meeting and also the first annual general meeting under the new meetings strategy.

ICANN Board Chair Dr Stephen Crocker added, “The world is watching closely to see how a post-transition ICANN community handles its new-found role. And much of that focus will be on those of you who are involved in enhancing ICANN’s accountability and transparency.”

ICANN also announced 2016 Leadership award winners. The ICANN Leadership award is given annually at the general meeting to outstanding member(s) of the ICANN community who over time have demonstrated a commitment to protecting and promoting the multistakeholder model. The winners this year all played important leading roles during the IANA stewardship transition:

• IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) – Alissa Cooper, and Mohamed EL Bashir, Vice Chair; and Patrik Fältström, Vice Chair
• Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG – Accountability) – Mathieu Weill, León Sánchez and Thomas Rickert, Co-Chairs;
• Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions (CWG) – Lise Fuhr and Jonathan Robinson, Co-Chairs
• Consolidated Regional Internet Registries IANA Stewardship Proposal Team (CRISP Team) - Izumi Okutani, Chair and Nurani Nimpuno, Vice Chair
• IANAPLAN Working Group (IANAPLAN WG) - Marc Blanchet and Leslie Daigle, Co-Chairs

ICANN meetings are held three times a year in different regions to enable attendees from around the world to participate in person. These meetings offer a variety of sessions such as workshops, open forums and working meetings on the development and implementation of Internet policies.

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