The North America (NA) Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) team had a noteworthy 2022. A key highlight from this year has been the return to face-to-face meetings, which provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with community members and meet new people. Given the number of activities and events our team was involved in, we would like to share with you some of the numbers.
The Year 2022 by the Numbers
The NA GSE team attended 106 external events in 2022 — 29 in person and 77 remotely. This includes 41 one-to-one meetings with various stakeholders and 54 third-party events.
In addition, the team organized several webinars throughout the year focusing on timely issues. In total more than 1,230 people attended these events. Topics ranged from issues affecting the Internet at the International Telecommunication Union to Canadian online safety legislation. The NA GSE team also organized a four-part training session with the North America Regional at-Large Organization (NARALO) on Universal Acceptance and Internationalized Domain Names. This successful training series had an average of 150 trainees attend each session.
This Year's Highlights
North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
In an effort to bolster participation from underrepresented communities in North America, ICANN is partnering with NANOG to conduct outreach efforts in HBCUs in the United States. For our first event, from 19–20 September, the GSE North America team joined the NANOG U 2022 Tour in Montgomery, Alabama. We helped host students from area HBCUs for two days of educational programming on various technical topics as well as how to pursue a career in tech.
David Huberman, ICANN's Technical Engagement Manager for North America and Europe, gave a presentation on the Domain Name System (DNS) and the Root Server System. Huberman, along with Stakeholder Engagement Senior Manager Joe Catapano answered questions from students at the school.
Civil Society Work
We organized the first civil society event in Washington, D.C., since 2019. More than 20 leading civil society stakeholders gathered in a hybrid meeting that included a question-and-answer session with ICANN President and CEO Göran Marby. Participants discussed a range of policy issues including privacy, new generic top-level domains, and human rights.
Engaging With Our Internet Ecosystem Partners
We resumed attending the public meetings of our Internet ecosystem partners, NANOG, Internet Society, and the American Registry for Internet Numbers. At these events, we also conducted side meetings on issues of importance to the region. As a result, we strengthened our partnerships and outreach efforts.
For the first time in five years, our team helped organize and attend the NARALO General Assembly. More than two dozen members of the NARALO community gathered in Los Angeles for two days of engagement and capacity development. Under the theme of "Empowerment, Encouragement, and Engagement," the community worked on goals for the coming year, as well as developed its outreach and engagement strategy. ICANN organization staff delivered presentations on topics such as the ICANN Strategic Plan, regional priorities, and policy topics in the United States and Canada.
Virtual School of Internet Governance (VSIG) and North America School of Internet Governance (NASIG) Events
The GSE NA team continued its support of regional schools of Internet governance in both virtual and in-person capacities in 2022. We provided subject matter expertise to VSIG throughout the year, engaging students from across the globe. We also worked with partners in Puerto Rico to participate in the first NASIG meeting since 2019 and our first meeting in San Juan since 2018.
ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) and the Internet Governance Forum USA (IGFUSA)
Leading members of OCTO participated in an expert panel on Internet fragmentation. This showcased ICANN org's expertise in the technical realm of Internet governance and engaged policymakers in Washington, DC. GSE NA continued its support of the IGFUSA through its engagement with stakeholders from all sectors, as well as the IGFUSA Steering Committee.
We thank the community for all their hard work, which makes our work successful. We wish everyone a safe and happy end of year and look forward to working with you in the new year.
