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The ICANN History Project Explores Global Engagement

26 February 2020
By

Through the voices of the Internet pioneers and ICANN community leaders, the newest collection in The ICANN History Project explores how our international engagement has grown. In this new Global Expansion track of video interviews we explore how ICANN has expanded internationally, with robust and constantly broadening community participation from all corners of the world.

"ICANN has evolved tremendously in the last 10 years and become far more globalized," said Bruce Tonkin, a former ICANN Board member and active ICANN community member. "Using China as an example, I've seen them evolve dramatically in the last 10 years between having virtually no one attend ICANN meetings to now having quite a few people from both public and private sector in China participating."

Tonkin made those comments during a video interview that is part of the new Global Expansion track.

Nii Quaynor, the man often referred to as the "father of the Internet in Africa," highlighted the efforts that have gone into international outreach, "When ICANN started around '98, it did not have many Africans participating. And so, we took it upon ourselves to actually try to increase the African participation."

Quaynor notes in his History Project interview that ICANN's continued international expansion is vital, "ICANN has to communicate that it is genuinely reaching out to governments, to different geographies, and also to different communities."

When the U.S. government cut the last thread of control over ICANN during the IANA Stewardship Transition, it facilitated even greater global participation, according to Vanda Scartezini.

"People in Latin American had a feeling that ICANN was dependent of the decisions of the U.S. government," Scartezini, another former ICANN Board member and active community member, said in her History Project interview.

We hope you will explore these interviews in the Global Expansion track, and learn more about this important part of ICANN's evolution.

Authors

Sally Costerton

Sally Costerton

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO