Last month we visited the Dominican Republic to celebrate the 25th delegation anniversary of .DO, its country code top-level domain (ccTLD). To commemorate this milestone the Latin American community organized “Internet Week,” which featured several special events with the help of NIC.DO, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, LACNIC, LACTLD, ISOC RD, INDOTEL and ICANN.
We were excited to welcome ICANN’s CEO, Göran Marby, to the beautiful city of Santo Domingo. He spent much of his visit listening to coISmmunity members share their views on a variety of subjects. Göran also delivered a keynote speech explaining the importance of regional involvement and invited us to think about how the triad of the community, Board and ICANN organization can interact most effectively. Additional highlights included signing a Memorandum of Understanding with LACTLD to deepen and promote regional involvement in policy-making, as well as strengthen the capacity and capability of regional ccTLD operators.
During the week, we partnered with LACTLD in organizing the III LAC DNS Forum to discuss the regional DNS marketplace, global and regional industry initiatives, the impact of new gTLDs, DNS security and policy processes. The Forum is one of the flagship activities approved by the community in the mitigation plan for changing the rotation schedule of our global gatherings. This particular gathering was very special since it was the first time the Forum was held as a standalone event outside of an ICANN meeting. The results could not be better: a packed schedule with productive panels, great interaction among representatives from all parts of the ecosystem and a well-establish path of activities on the horizon to further strengthen our industry sector.
During the Forum, members from OXIL Consortium presented the preliminary results of the DNS Marketplace Study for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The report includes an extensive collection of data, analysis and case studies from regional DNS market leaders. As one panelist pointed out, “the study brings evidences and facts to validate our approaches to evolve the sector.” It will be published for public community comment by October 2016.
LACTLD members also shared regional initiatives at the country code domain level, followed by global policy-making and community reviews related to generic domains. Noting the importance of this event, my ICANN colleagues Cyrus Namazi, Marika Konings and Carlos Alvarez traveled to Santo Domingo to support the Forum and engage with the local community during this event.
In closing, the III LAC DNS Forum was characterized by remarkable participation from industry leaders such as new gTLD registries, registrars and DNS service providers and I want to take this opportunity to personally acknowledge the stellar contributions from all involved. A key takeaway from the Forum – which was noted in every presentation – was the vast number of opportunities for partnerships among ccTLD operators and generic names players to enhance sales channels and increase overall regional registration density. Seems like interaction and collaboration are the good trends to be followed from now on!
Happy Birthday .DO! Thank you for hosting us in Santo Domingo. We DO have many good ideas that can translate into new opportunities and I’m looking forward to hearing about the progress that has been made at the IV LAC DNS Forum.
