Session
Round Table - Circle - 60 Min
ICANN proposes to host an Open Forum with a theme closely connected to the Security, Safety, Stability and Resilience of the Internet and thus linked with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 9, 10, 16 and 17. While this Session will allow a significant opportunity for delegates to pose any questions to the ICANN CEO and President, as well as the Chair of the ICANN Board, the main focus will be on the concept of technical Internet governance and ICANN’s role. The Open Forum will also address the threats that have emerged recently as expressed in the Covid-19 pandemic. ICANN will address topics such as Domain Name Security Extensions (DNSSEC), the ICANN Domain Abuse Activity Reporting (DAAR) Project, DNS Abuse in the time of Covid -19 and other work ICANN conducts as part of its mission.
ICANN
Kathryn A (Mandy) Carver, Senior Vice President for Government and Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) Engagement
Maarten Botterman, ICANN Chairman of the Board of Directors
Göran Marby, ICANN CEO and President
Merike Käo, SSAC Liaison to the ICANN Board of Directors
David Conrad, SVP and Chief Technology Officer
Kathryn A (Mandy) Carver
Luna Madi
Vera Major
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequalities
GOAL 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Report
- Technical Internet Governance is focused on how the Internet operates, involving more than the technical competences relevant to ICANN.
- A common goal of the technical community is to ensure that the Internet is singular, unified, interoperable as the next billion comes online, and to support and preserve continued innovation through the international multistakeholder model
- No stakeholder can run the Internet alone, community participation in ICANN discussions and policy-making processes is key.
- ICANN is technology-neutral and supports the bottom-up multistakeholder process informed by objective and unbiased data-driven analyses.
- ICANN monitors proposed and new technologies, and how they would have an impact on the DNS and ICANN’s mission.
- ICANN’s role is to clarify and position itself as a technical non-profit organisation and help legislators, policy makers and regulators understand how the Internet functions to ensure that the Internet continues to develop safely, securely and in a stable manner..
- As discussions are taking place in new places and by actors previously not involved in ICANN, ICANN has broaden its engagement and helps decision-makers on all levels avoid triggering unanticipated consequences: in International Governmental Organization initiatives, Standardization bodies and regulatory initiatives at regional and nation levels.
- Governments have already recognized the importance of the DNS and ICANN’s role through their active participation in the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) within ICANN. ICANN’s mission should be discussed there rather than in a UN setting.
- Standardization of the Internet has to stay in the existing ecosystem based on a multistakeholder model, such as IETF.
- ICANN has undertaken a key initiative this year, the DNS Security Facilitation Initiative Study Group. Its aim is to provide recommendations to the ICANN CEO and is made up of a number of cross-functional participants with technical expertise.
- DNS stability and security involves a lot of cooperation, with a clear cross-functional multi-community participation.
In 300 words or less, what do you want high-level policy decision makers to know about what your session reached consensus on? Did you define a previously nebulous problem? Were your participants able to agree on a problem statement about a new issue? Did you agree on a way forward for the issue? Did you identify particular stakeholder groups that are affected by the issue or who should take the lead on the issue?
Technical Internet Governance is focused on how the Internet operates with the common goal of ensuring that the Internet remains singular, unified, interoperable, secure and resilient. Discussions and policy-making processes based on a multistakeholder model such as practiced within ICANN have allowed the Internet to evolve in an innovative manner. Legislators, regulators and policy-makers might not fully comprehend the implications of proposed legislations or of new standards, and new legislations or policies might have a negative impact on the technical functioning of the Internet. ICANN, a technical non-profit organization, aims to help and inform legislators, regulators, policy makers and others understand how the Internet functions while staying technologically neutral.
ICANN supports the bottom-up approach of the multistakeholder model that allows participation cross-functionally and multi-community participation, including that of governments through the Governmental Advisory Committee. Discussions on governments’ public interest should continue taking place within the GAC, a recognized Advisory Body within the ICANN multistakeholder ecosystem. The DNS Security Facilitation Initiative Study Group also reflects this cross-functional approach to technical expertise intended to establish and promote best practices and facilitate communication between ecosystem participants.
- Maarten Botterman, ICANN Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Göran Marby, ICANN CEO and President
- Merike Käo, SSAC Liaison to the ICANN Board of Directors
- David Conrad, SVP and Chief Technology Officer
- Kathryn (Mandy) Carver, SVP Government and IGO Engagement
Gender-related issues were not addressed during this session.
The takeaways from this session from the questions submitted, the comments in the chat and the follow up feedback through the IGF Website will assist ICANN in the refinement of our message about technical Internet governance. The feedback to the session will inform an ongoing dialog with the Internet ecosystem community about maintaining the interoperability of the global Internet