Universal Acceptance of domain names and email addresses has emerged as a critical area of focus at the ICANN81 forum, currently taking place in Istanbul, and was discussed at several forum sessions.
On November 9, an open meeting of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization's Universal Acceptance Committee (ccNSO UAC) convened, featuring active participation from Maria Kolesnikova and Vadim Mikhailov from the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. The Committee aims to offer the country code top level domain (ccTLD) community a platform for collaboration and information exchange regarding the implementation of Universal Acceptance on both global and working group levels within ICANN.
Participants examined the Committee's work plans and explored how it can assist ccTLD registries in integrating Universal Acceptance into their systems. Ideas for organizing the Committee's session at ICANN82 were also exchanged, and participants were encouraged to contemplate objectives for the 2025-2026 period.
On November 10, the session for new ICANN conference attendees introduced the members of the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), alongside leaders of local initiatives and Universal Acceptance ambassadors. Maria Kolesnikova, Chair of the local initiative for Universal Acceptance in the CIS and Eastern Europe, represented our region.
On November 11, a session titled UA Strategy: Capacity Building Initiatives was held, focusing on ICANN and UASG's strategic projects to advance Universal Acceptance. The session outlined ICANN Org's major strategies to advance Universal Acceptance for 2025-2027, emphasizing the need to bolster coordination across organizational, community, and internet ecosystem levels. This is vital for implementing Universal Acceptance to support the development of a multilingual internet. ICANN's strategic plan for fiscal years 2026-2030 continues to prioritize Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and Universal Acceptance (UA) to enhance digital inclusion, foster competition, support inclusivity, and drive innovation. The session highlighted that IDNs and UA are integral to the second round of the New gTLD program.
A significant focus of the strategy is to engage with large technology organizations to update their applications and services for Universal Acceptance.
Projects such as Universal Acceptance Day and the Universal Acceptance Curriculum were presented at the session, along with ICANN's plans to collaborate with engineering universities to integrate Universal Acceptance into their educational programs.
Maria Kolesnikova shared insights on the organization and outcomes of the Global Universal Acceptance Day, held in March 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia, by the local initiative for Universal Acceptance of the CIS and Eastern Europe.
"I believe that the annual Global Universal Acceptance Day for domain names and email addresses not only elevates interest in implementing Universal Acceptance in software but also highlights the broader aspect of digital inclusivity on the internet as a multilingual environment. It is gratifying that the efforts of the Universal Acceptance Regional Coordination Group of the CIS and Eastern Europe as a local initiative are highly valued by ICANN, UASG, and the international community," stated Maria Kolesnikova.
The forum continues – stay tuned for further updates!
