ICANN is exploring ideas and strategies to help promote the DNS industry in regions that have typically been underserved. In particular, ICANN is looking at existing barriers to Registrar Accreditation and operation and considering ways that these challenges might be mitigated.
As of April 16, there were more than 1000 ICANN-accredited Registrars, but only fourteen in the Middle East and seven in Africa. That’s where we need to concentrate our efforts.
A first priority should be getting more DNS industries from those parts of the world more involved with ICANN and it will take the entire community to get that done. This is something that’s been discussed at length for some time. It’s time for concrete proposals and ICANN staff is ready to accept all ideas.
To that end, we want your comments on a new report. It summarizes the comments we have received to date, most recently during a session at ICANN49 in Singapore. We are now discussing ways we might address these challenges. We want to hear from you.
And the challenges are many. They range from financial and contractual issues to social and local business barriers. The solutions most likely will be multi-faceted. Some proposed to date focus on education and outreach while others call for contractual changes and policy development.
What do you think? Please take part in this discussion by submitting your comments.