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ICANN is pleased to announce the successful completion of String Evaluation on proposed a IDN ccTLD string for Syrian Arab Republic.

Details of the successful evaluation are provided here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/string-evaluation-completion-s-en.htm#sy.

The IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved by the ICANN Board at its annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea on 30 October 2009. First requests were received starting 16 November 2009. The process enables countries and territories to submit requests to ICANN for IDN ccTLDs, representing their respective country or territory names in scripts other than Latin. IDN ccTLD requesters must fulfill a number of requirements:

• the script used to represent the IDN ccTLDs must be non-Latin;
• the languages used to express the IDN ccTLDs must be official in the corresponding country or territory; and
• a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts).

The request and evaluation processes entail three steps:

1. Preparation (by the requester in the country / territory). Community consensus is built for which IDN ccTLD to apply for, how it is run, and which organization will be running it, along with preparing and gathering all the required supporting documentation.
2. String Evaluation: incoming requests to ICANN in accordance with the criteria described above: the technical and linguistic requirements for the IDN ccTLD string(s). Applications are received through an online system available together with additional material supporting the process at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/.
3. String Delegation: requests successfully meeting string evaluation criteria are eligible to apply for delegation following the same ICANN IANA process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs. String delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management.

At this time ICANN has received a total of 31 requests for IDN ccTLD(s) through the String Evaluation process, representing 19 languages. A total of 15 requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, four of these are delegated in the DNS root zone, and the rest are either already or ready for the requesting country or territory to initiate the application for String Delegation.

ICANN is looking forward to enabling the availability of all these strings in the DNS root zone, by completion of the String Delegation function, as well as finalizing the remaining received requests in String Evaluation, and receiving additional new requests in the Fast Track Process. A staff support function is available to help all countries and territories interested in participating in the Fast Track Process. Please email idncctldrequests@icann.org for any inquiries for participation.

Updates about received numbers of requests and the number of completions will continue to be provided on the Fast Track Process web page at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/.