Workshop led by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in collaboration with the Communications Authority of Kenya will explore ways to increase African Government Participation in ICANN and Policy Development.
24 January 2017 - Nairobi. AFRINIC has sent representatives to Kenya to take part in the ICANN/Communications Authority of Kenya’s Workshop for the Africa Government Advisory Committee. The workshop, themed “Harnessing the Potential of the Africa GAC Members for better Participation in ICANN”, is being held from 23-24 January 2017. The GAC provides advice to ICANN on issues of public policy and provides insight into instances where there may be an interaction between ICANN's activities or policies and national laws or international agreements within in the region.
“Governments are an integral part of the Internet industry and AFRINIC welcomes this opportunity to interact with African government representatives who are active in Internet governance,” comments Alan Barrett, CEO AFRINIC. “As Africa's supply of unused IPv4 addresses continues to run out, it is now more important than ever that governments, policy makers, business leaders and network operators come together to ensure that the African Internet continues to be developed in the most effective way. This includes the adoption of IPv6 and the increased use of Internet exchange points.”
This is the first regional workshop organised by ICANN’s recently established Nairobi Engagement Office. Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT – Republic of Kenya, opened the event, which was also addressed by Barrister Adebayo Shittu, Minister of ICT, Nigeria, Göran Marby, ICANN President & CEO, Thomas Schneider, GAC Chair, and Alice Munyua, co-chair of the GAC Under-served Regions working group, are also in attendance alongside the regional ICANN team, government representatives and community members.
While in Kenya, the AFRINIC team will also meet with representatives from the Ministry of ICT and other high level stakeholders in preparation for the upcoming Africa Internet Summit 2017 (AIS’17), which will be held in Nairobi from 21 May – 2 June 2017. The AIS is an annual, regional, multi-stakeholder ICT conference. It is the pinnacle educational and business ICT event in Africa where key players in the Internet industry interact with the global Internet community.
“The Africa GAC Workshop enables AFRINIC to talk directly with key government representatives to explain how policy development works in terms of Internet number resource distribution in Africa and beyond,” continues Mr. Barrett. “We have also been able to note that government participation in the AFRINIC policy development process is crucial and have extended a warm invitation to all participants in the GAC Workshop to attend the upcoming AIS’17, which is being organised by AFRINIC and The African Network Operators’ Group (AfNOG) and hosted by Tespok.
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More Information
About the Africa Internet Summit (AIS):
The Africa Internet Summit (AIS) is an annual, regional, multi-stakeholder ICT conference. It is the pinnacle educational and business ICT event in Africa where key players in the Internet industry can interact with the global Internet community. Launched in The Gambia in 2012, the Summit consists of seminars, workshops, tutorials, conference sessions, birds-of-a-feather (BOFs), and other forums for sharing ICT knowledge within the African region. The Summit aims to bring the ICT business and technical community in Africa together under one roof to discuss ICT issues and challenges | www.internetsummitafrica.org
About ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee
The GAC is an advisory committee to ICANN, created under the ICANN ByLaws. It provides advice to ICANN on public policy aspects of ICANN’s responsibilities with regard to the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). The GAC is not a decision-making body. It advises ICANN on issues that are within ICANN’s scope | https://gacweb.icann.org