The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is sponsoring and participating in the Africa Internet Summit (AIS) from 29 April – 11 May 2018, in Dakar, Senegal. This annual summit is organized by the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) and the African Network Operators Group (AFNOG).
The AIS has evolved into a unique and important multistakeholder platform for information and communication technology. The summit brings together global and regional Internet industry stakeholders – including Af* and I* organizations – for a series of seminars, workshops, tutorials, and panels.
ICANN's main activities at the AIS include:
- 5 May: Special Workshop for ICANN-Accredited Registrars in Africa
The ICANN-accredited registrars based in Africa recently finalized the formation of the Afregistrar Association, part of the Af* family. Its main objective is to reinforce and strengthen the African domain name industry. It accomplishes this by increasing the number of ICANN-accredited registrars in the region, enforcing policy, and encouraging use of domain names both at the regional and national levels.
The workshop will offer ICANN organization staff and AIS participants additional insights into specific operational needs and the challenges facing our contracted parties in Africa. A detailed agenda is available here.
- 5 May: ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Capacity- Building Workshop
This workshop, co-organized with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, will build momentum on raising awareness among African GAC representatives and governments. The workshop will cover how to participate and contribute effectively to policymaking in ICANN. Tarek Kamel, ICANN's Senior Advisor to President and SVP of Government and IGO Engagement, and Chérif Diallo, GAC Vice-Chair Elect, will lead the discussions. The full agenda is available here.
- 6 May: ICANN Day
ICANN will host ICANN Day for the fourth year in a row. The session's goal is to raise awareness of ICANN's role in the Internet governance ecosystem and to foster ICANN's engagement in Africa.
This year's agenda will cover some of the current hot topics in the Internet governance ecosystem, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Pierre Dandjinou, ICANN VP of Global Stakeholder Engagement in Africa, will lead the sessions, and ICANN Board member, Mike Silber, will deliver a keynote address on the GDPR. Silber's keynote focuses on ICANN's efforts to ensure compliance with the GDPR and gives context on how the GDPR affects Africa. View the full agenda here.
- AIS Plenary Presentations
ICANN will also participate in plenary sessions covering topics including Domain Name System (DNS) abuse and mitigation, the root zone key signing key (KSK) Rollover, and Universal Acceptance.
For more information, visit the AIS website.
We thank everyone in advance and look forward to seeing you in Dakar!
