Charter Question 8: Engagement with the Public Sector and Intergovernmental Organizations

A practical and scalable mechanism for promoting Universal Acceptance (UA) within the public sector is to collaborate with intergovernmental and development organizations such as the World Bank and similar partners.

These organizations play a central role in funding digital transformation initiatives across multiple countries, often using performance-based or results-based financing models. ICANN could explore opportunities to integrate UA compliance into such frameworks by positioning it as a measurable deliverable within funded projects.

For instance, UA readiness—ensuring that websites, email systems, and digital platforms support all valid domain names and email addresses—could be incorporated as a disbursement-linked indicator. Under this approach, beneficiary institutions would be required to demonstrate UA compliance before accessing certain tranches of funding.

This model offers several advantages:

- It leverages existing accountability and monitoring systems.

- It aligns UA with broader development priorities such as digital inclusion, accessibility, and interoperability.

- It creates a strong institutional incentive for adoption at scale within government systems.

This suggestion is informed by a discussion with a Monitoring and Evaluation specialist working on a World Bank-supported project, where the idea of linking technical standards to funding conditions was seen as both practical and impactful.

Overall, embedding UA requirements into development financing frameworks could be an effective way to drive adoption at scale within the public sector.

Charter Question 9: Engagement with Academia

Academic institutions are generally motivated to keep their programmes aligned with emerging technologies. However, internal governance and approval processes for curriculum changes can be slow, which may delay the introduction of topics such as Universal Acceptance (UA).

To address this, ICANN org should adopt a combination of incentives and strategic alignment approaches:

First, ICANN could explore engagement with university ranking bodies and quality assurance frameworks to position UA within existing indicators such as digital readiness, internationalization, and innovation. While methodologies differ, many ranking systems already value digital transformation and global engagement. Aligning UA with these dimensions would make it more relevant to institutional priorities without requiring entirely new evaluation criteria.

Second, ICANN can lower adoption barriers by providing targeted support to universities. This may include:

- Seed funding or small grants for curriculum development

- Technical assistance and teaching resources

Such support would help institutions pilot UA-related content without needing to navigate lengthy approval processes upfront, while also building internal expertise and ownership.

Charter Question 8 (Public Sector):

Integrate UA compliance into development financing frameworks by collaborating with organizations like the World Bank. Making UA a condition for funding disbursement can drive large-scale adoption through existing accountability systems.

Charter Question 9 (Academia):

Promote UA adoption by aligning it with university ranking and quality assurance indicators, while also providing grants to help institutions overcome slow curriculum approval processes.