Cross-Community Session: Universal Acceptance / IDNs

More than half of the world’s population uses the Internet. The vast majority of new Internet users are expected to come from Asia and Africa. The next chapter in the Internet’s growth will increasingly impact the global Internet community as it evolves to include more of the world. With a forecast of exponential growth, the number of Internet-connected devices is growing at an even greater pace. ICANN must play a role in ensuring a single, stable, interoperable infrastructure, including delivering the IANA functions, to address the needs of users and devices alike. Promoting and improving Universal Acceptance and the implementation of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) are necessary to reach a more diverse Internet user base. In addition, embracing the rapid evolution of emerging technologies, business and security models allows ICANN to maintain agility as the Internet evolves. These strategies will ensure ICANN improves the Internet’s unique identifier systems to better serve a broader and more diverse global user base and safeguards an open Internet for all. The goal of this panel discussion is to discuss how ICANN Org, the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), and the ICANN community can collaboratively work exactly on the achievement of the strategic objective to evolve the unique identifier systems to continue to serve the needs of the global Internet user base. - Session Leader: Maria Otanes