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ICANN80 and High-Level Government Meeting to Convene in Kigali, Rwanda

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Istanbul – 29 May 2024 – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is pleased to announce that its 80th Public Meeting, the ICANN80 Policy Forum, will be held 10–13 June 2024 at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda. This event, hosted in collaboration with the Republic of Rwanda's Ministry of ICT and Innovation, marks the first ICANN meeting to take place in Rwanda. This underscores ICANN's commitment to fostering global participation and collaboration in the governance of the Internet.

The ICANN80 Policy Forum will convene stakeholders from around the world, including representatives from governments, businesses, civil society, academia, and the technical community. Over four days, participants will engage in discussions on key issues affecting the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS), including the need for improved DNS security, expanding the DNS to support more languages and scripts, and the evolution of domain name registration policies. The forum aims to foster international collaboration and set the stage for future developments in Internet governance.

Prior to ICANN80, the High-Level Government Meeting (HLGM) is scheduled for 9 June 2024. Chaired by the Hon. Paula Ingabire, Rwanda's Minister of ICT and Innovation, the HLGM will highlight the critical role of governmental bodies in shaping ICANN policies and initiatives. This meeting, led by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee, will focus on promoting governmental engagement and fostering effective collaboration, to align and enhance global Internet governance efforts.

"We are excited to host the international community in Kigali for the ICANN80 Policy Forum and High-Level Government Meeting" said Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT & Innovation. "The Policy Forum will lead efforts to maintain a secure, stable, and interoperable internet, and set the stage for future developments and emerging trends in global internet governance. Our contributions as the local host for ICANN80 give us an opportunity to demonstrate our critical contributions towards global internet governance and the advancement of meaningful internet connectivity for all."

ICANN Interim President and CEO Sally Costerton commented on the significance of the meeting: "ICANN80 is a vital platform for advancing global digital inclusivity and strengthening cybersecurity measures. It will facilitate robust multistakeholder engagement and discussions on critical initiatives like the New Generic Top-Level Domain Program, particularly focusing on Internationalized Domain Names and the Applicant Support Program. The HLGM will further emphasize the essential role of governments in our collaborative efforts to address challenges such as data privacy and DNS abuse."

ICANN invites all interested parties to register for ICANN80. Both in-person and virtual participation are available to ensure accessibility for a global audience. Early registration is encouraged.

About ICANN

ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.

Media Contact

Luna Madi
Senior Director, EMEA Communications
Istanbul
Mobile: +90 (533) 031 35 05
Email: [email protected]
or [email protected]

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."