Sep, 2004 : ICANN is calling on the African community

Final - 9/16/04- embargo: 530p South Africa, 430p London, 1130a D.C., 830aL.A.

ICANN Highlights Africa's Expanding Internet Role at Highway Africa

Engages African Community for Proposal on Regional Office

Grahamstown, South Africa - September 16, 2004 - At Highway Africa 2004today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned of Names and Numbers (ICANN)president and CEO Paul Twomey , along with ICANN board member Mouhamet Diopof Senegal, discussed the growing involvement of Africa in the core Internetstructures. ICANN also invited the African community to engage with ICANNin identifying appropriate modes and locations on the African continent foran ICANN regional presence and how a local presence can assist withoperational issues.
Comments should be sent to the email address
regional-offices@icann.org
An archive of these comments will be available at
http://forum.icann.org/lists/regional-offices/

"ICANN has been working to foster greater global participation, and apresence in Africa will support improved communications and understanding oflocal issues", stated Twomey. "A regional presence also will allow ICANN tohand off operational issues across time zones to expedite processing andresponsiveness. We are seeking input from the African community on the keyform and functions most important to Africa."

Responsibilities of an African regional presence will include:

• Supporting and engaging local community members, such as At-Largeorganisations, members of the technical community and Country Code Top LevelDomains, on specific issues of concern to the region;
• Interacting with regional governments to identify outreach efforts;
• Providing support for and the establishment of the African RegionalInternet Registry, AfricNIC, currently in the application process;
• Facilitating local input and liaison for ICANN's SupportingOrganizations and Advisory Committees that form an essential component ofICANN's bottom-up, consensus-based policy development process.ICANN will seek participation of local entities in establishing an Africapresence, including potentially the donation of infrastructure, officespace, and staffing.

"ICANN's participatory multi-stakeholder model encompasses therepresentation and involvement of all regions of the world," said Diop. "Itis important that the Africa region is involved in the core structures andtechnical policy making for the Internet's systems of unique identifiers.Africa has an opportunity, and indeed a responsibility, to support oneglobal interoperable Internet that facilitates technology and economicgrowth worldwide."

"With increased interaction between civil society, business, and governmentsacross the African continent, we are seeking to ensure Africa's informationand communications technology will be aligned with and integral to Internetgrowth and development," said Twomey.

AfriNIC formally filed its application in early September 2004 to start thereview and technical processes for it to become a Regional InternetRegistry.

Earlier this month, ICANN certified the Internet Society Congo (ISOC) as anew member of ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee. ISOC Congo is anon-profit association with approximately 200 members; it providesinformation on Internet-related issues to users in the Democratic Republicof Congo and promotes the Internet in the Congo.

Moving to establish an Africa regional presence is part of ICANN'scommitment to preserving the operational stability and security of theInternet, promoting choice and competition for registrants, and achievingbroad representation of the global Internet community.

About Highway Africa 2004Highway Africa is the world's largest annual gathering of Africanjournalists and the only event of its kind in Africa. In its 8th year,Highway Africa 2004's theme is "Media making the Information Society." Morethan 300 of delegates are attending from across Africa. The conference isorganized by the Rhodes University Department of Journalism and MediaStudies and co-hosted by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC),with the SA Department of Communications contributing as a partnerinstitution. For more information please visit: www.highwayafrica.za

About ICANN
ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit responsiblefor coordinating Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocolidentifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-LevelDomain name system management, and root server system management functions.For more information please visit: www.icann.org

Media Contact:Media inquiries, please contact Kieran Baker, ICANN + 1-310-774-1742 or in London on +44-207-067-2546.