Following the ICANN82 meeting, the ICANN Board adopted a resolution directing Chief Executive Officer Kurt Lindqvist to evaluate and develop a strategy to further support the work of ICANN org and the global community on embracing Universal Acceptance (UA). As Lindqvist wrote in a blog post on the official ICANN website, ICANN org has reviewed the 10-year effort recognizing that much of the progress that has been made on this track was “due to the hard work of the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG).”
Universal Acceptance refers to a concept that all domain names and email addresses should work in every context that a traditional domain name is used, regardless of their language or affiliation with a particular top-level domain. This goal has been repeatedly declared as one of ICANN’s priorities, and, accordingly, the UASG has been focusing on making all systems EAI-ready. Today, many software developers, email service providers, businesses, and governments are aware of Universal Acceptance and are aiming to embrace it. ICANN has increased its staff to support technical work on UA implementation, and will continue to support IDN and UA-related initiatives promoted by ICANN’s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees (ccNSO, GNSO, SSAC, GAC, and others).
However, the time has come to review and align ICANN’s UA resources with the organization’s new Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026-2030. ICANN continues to make Universal Acceptance a priority, but needs to cut costs, which is why ICANN org will discontinue its staff support and funding for the UASG after June.
In his post, Lindqvist noted that the UASG group was formed in 2015 as a 10-year awareness-raising project, but that period has ended. However, this is not the only reason why UASG decided to withhold its financial support. ICANN is struggling with a budget deficit. According to Domain Incite, UASG’s annual spending could range from $500,000 to $1.4 million, which is clearly significant enough at a time of financial straits. Furthermore, importantly, although UASG is not part of ICANN structure, much of its work has been done by ICANN employees.
Kurt Lindqvist emphasized that Universal Acceptance will remain a priority for ICANN, and a new expert working group of invited members and nominated representatives from Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees will be established to address these issues. He added that ICANN will continue to support local UA initiatives that are currently active in six countries and regions around the world, as well as UA-related projects such as UA Day, a series of awareness-raising events held annually around the world.
The UASG’s many achievements will be celebrated during the ICANN83 meeting, which will take place in Prague from June 9 to 12, 2025. A report on the UASG work will also be published.
