The 76th ICANN conference officially opened yesterday in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, in which a delegation of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ also takes part. The Conference will last until March 16, and during this time its participants are going to discuss key issues in the development of the global network and the domain name system.
One of the most important tasks is to ensure the stability and fault-tolerance of the Internet. Tripti Sinha, ICANN Board Chair, drew attention to this in her welcoming remarks. She emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic has fully demonstrated how important the ability to access the Internet is. And in the face of exponential growth in the number of users and political instability, the global network must remain confidently functioning and accessible to the inhabitants of the planet.
Another important task Ms. Sinha sees is the preservation of the unity and integrity of the Internet. She pointed out that legislation was being created in various countries to regulate the activities of the global network. However, it is critical that this does not lead to its fragmentation. “We may disagree on which way to go, but what we can all agree on is the need for a single global Internet,” Tripti Sinha said.
She was echoed by ICANN Acting President Sally Costerton, who emphasized that ICANN has seen for 25 years it as its duty to protect an open and interoperable Internet structure. She also noted that in the face of new risks and challenges, ICANN needs to expand its community and, above all, integrate younger members from all regions of the world into it in order to achieve a more complete and diverse vision of current problems.
Rogelio Jimenez Pons, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications of Mexico, also addressed the opening ceremony. He said that despite the rapid growth in the number of Internet users, a significant number of people in the region still do not have access to it. And expanding the reach of new technologies along with cybersecurity are among the key challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean.
The opening ceremony ended with a performance based on the cultural traditions of the Maya civilization.
