Members of the ICANN community, Board, and organization (org) will participate in the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), to be held as a hybrid meeting from 6 to 10 December 2021. Hosted by the government of Poland, this year's overarching theme is: "Internet United," conveying that the Internet connects all its users into one community, responsible for its shape and functioning.
The ICANN org's virtual sessions will look at several important topics in the pursuit of protecting online users and bringing the next billion people online. These topics will be addressed within the main IGF focus areas of economic and social inclusion and human rights, universal access and meaningful connectivity in addition to the emerging and cross-cutting issue area of security, stability, and resiliency.
Our Open Forum will explore the role and work of ICANN org in facilitating "meaningful connectivity," in furthering digital inclusion, and in raising awareness of how development of local content, skills and capacity is critical to continued economic development. The session will discuss the work spearheaded by the ICANN community with the goal of better adapting the Internet to the diverse languages and cultures of the world. Key to that goal is the New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program, Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and Universal Acceptance (UA). During this interactive session, participants will be able to engage in an open dialogue and exchange views with ICANN's leadership on these critical topics.
In the workshop "The State of DNS Privacy Technologies," ICANN org seeks to improve the understanding of the technical underpinnings of the Internet among non-technical stakeholders. Subject matter experts will discuss the current state of various Domain Name System (DNS) privacy technologies and how these developments can affect the Internet's operation. This will be a 90-minute, town-hall-style discussion enabling IGF participants to openly discuss, debate, and share their experiences with DNS privacy technologies.
ICANN org will also address the global IGF multistakeholder participants with targeted programs put in place for parliamentarians and participants of the youth track.
The following is a list of ICANN org's scheduled sessions during the IGF2021:
Date | Session | Time (UTC) | Location |
---|---|---|---|
6 December | Pre-Event: | 13:00–14:00 | Conference Room 8 |
9 December | Workshop: | 10:15-11:45 | Conference Room 6 |
9 December | Open Forum: | 16:05–17:05 | Ballroom B |
In addition to the above ICANN-organized events, ICANN community members will participate in or host numerous other workshops and sessions. Moreover, Göran Marby, ICANN president and CEO, has been invited to participate in the high-level exchange panel, "Governance Models to Promote Inclusive and Diverse Business Development – What Stands in the Way?" Attendance is free for the IGF, and to participate, registration is required.
The IGF offers a platform for diversity through which the discussions that take place are crucial to facilitating the use of the Internet by the next generation. It is a positive example of an effective platform for a constructive dialogue across the Internet's global, multistakeholder community.
We look forward to participating in this year's edition and being part of these discussions.