WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:16.379
MTS - AV: Welcome to the ICANN 87 GAC discussion on universal acceptance on Saturday, 17 October at 16:30 local time. Please note that this session is being recorded and is governed by ICANN.

2
00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:24.009
MTS - AV: Expected Standards of Behavior, ICANN Community Participant Code of Conduct, and ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy.

3
00:00:24.340 --> 00:00:30.529
MTS - AV: During this session, questions or comments will only be read aloud if submitted in the proper form in the Zoom chat pod.

4
00:00:30.540 --> 00:00:50.140
MTS - AV: Interpretation for this session will include all six UN languages and Portuguese. If you would like to speak during this session, please raise your hand in the Zoom room, and please remember to state your name for the record and the language you will be speaking, in case speaking a language other than English. Please speak at a reasonable pace to allow for accurate interpretation.

5
00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:57.260
MTS - AV: I will now leave the floor over to Abdalmonem Galila, GAC UAIDN Working Group Chair. Thank you, and over to you.

6
00:00:57.980 --> 00:01:00.329
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Thank you very much.

7
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:08.310
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): This is Abdelmana Galila. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and welcome to our discussion on universal acceptance.

8
00:01:09.690 --> 00:01:18.239
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Our work today builds on a long-standing international commitment to an inclusive and multilingual digital environment.

9
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:33.379
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): From the UNESCO 2003 recommendation on multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace to ITU Resolution 133 on the role of administration in IDNs and

10
00:01:34.050 --> 00:01:40.049
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): And most recently is the WSIS plus 20 outcome document.

11
00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:48.040
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): This commitment… Reminds us that digital inclusion is not only about connectivity.

12
00:01:48.250 --> 00:01:58.719
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): It is also about ensuring that people can access and participate in the digital world in their own local languages and scripts.

13
00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:03.179
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Universal acceptance brings this principle into practice.

14
00:02:03.600 --> 00:02:05.070
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): For governments.

15
00:02:05.220 --> 00:02:17.419
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): This means ensuring that our public digital services, websites, applications, and email systems are ready to support all valid domain names and email addresses.

16
00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:24.360
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Today's discussion provides an opportunity to take stock of where we stand.

17
00:02:24.540 --> 00:02:37.520
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Share experiences and consider how governments and the wider internet community can work together to move from these international commitments to practical implementation.

18
00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:50.120
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): With that, I would like to turn to our Universal Accepted Keynotes. It's my pleasure to have Mr. Nicholas Zagachcher to share his key observations.

19
00:02:50.380 --> 00:02:57.629
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): And help to set the scene for our discussion on universal acceptance. Mr. Nicholas, the floor is yours.

20
00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:07.910
MTS - AV: Thank you so much, Abdelmonim. Thank you for this. Good morning — I mean, good afternoon, everyone. My coffee is not working well.

21
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:24.710
MTS - AV: So it's a pleasure to welcome you, to this session of the GAC Universal, Acceptance and IDN Working Group. I wanted to start by thanking, again, Abdelmonem for his leadership and for the tireless work he and others,

22
00:03:25.220 --> 00:03:37.319
MTS - AV: have put into shaping, our agenda, but more importantly, I want to thank you, government, representatives, in this room for, for being there.

23
00:03:37.370 --> 00:03:40.670
MTS - AV: So, we often speak about,

24
00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:53.689
MTS - AV: Excuse me. About universal accept — UA, universal acceptance in technical terms, protocols, validation, and infrastructure, those things, of course.

25
00:03:53.690 --> 00:04:05.240
MTS - AV: matter. But as we open this session, I want us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

26
00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:30.389
MTS - AV: UA is not just a technical necessity, it is basically, I would say, a fundamental pillar of inclusive digital transformation. Of course, I'm not going to repeat everything Abdelmonel has already mentioned. Just wanted to make the point, mention that we are living in an era where governments are digitizing

27
00:04:30.390 --> 00:04:36.879
MTS - AV: public services at, you know, at an unprecedented pace.

28
00:04:36.880 --> 00:04:53.129
MTS - AV: The goal is, of course, to serve, citizens better, faster, more efficiently. But if a citizen cannot use their own language, their own script, their own, domain name to access these services, we, we…

29
00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:59.160
MTS - AV: You know, I would say we have basically failed in our mission of inclusion.

30
00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:13.130
MTS - AV: This session is particularly important because it is aimed at you, you know, policymakers and government leaders who set the national agendas.

31
00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:29.739
MTS - AV: We want to move beyond the technical details and focus on the why. Why should AI be part of our national digital strategy? That's a very good question we should ask ourselves and our administrations.

32
00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:53.640
MTS - AV: Because the benefits are tangible. By integrating UA into your procurement processes, just as an example, your digital services and your technical requirements, from the outset, you aren't just fixing a bug. You are expanding access to public services for diverse language communities.

33
00:05:54.710 --> 00:06:05.870
MTS - AV: You're building trust in digital platforms by ensuring systems recognize the identifiers citizens actually use.

34
00:06:06.320 --> 00:06:16.470
MTS - AV: And number three, future-proofing your digital economy for the next, I would say, billion users.

35
00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:30.139
MTS - AV: So in closing, I would say that universal acceptance does not need to be a separate agenda item. It should be the bedrock for digital transformation.

36
00:06:30.340 --> 00:06:47.250
MTS - AV: It is all about connecting the unconnected, and I think, I think there's an institution around the world, I think it's the Internet Society that uses that phrase, connecting the unconnected, and I stand to be corrected here, but I think that's their motto.

37
00:06:51.040 --> 00:07:07.669
MTS - AV: connecting the unconnected, and ensuring that the Internet remains a truly global resource. So I look forward to these discussions today, and to hearing how we can work together to bring these messages back to your capitals.

38
00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:18.749
MTS - AV: So thank you so much. Thank you for inviting me to this session. Abdelmonel, thank you again for your fantastic job there. And at this point, I will pass the floor to Zeina.

39
00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:21.889
MTS - AV: Floor is yours. Thank you so much.

40
00:07:22.990 --> 00:07:36.200
MTS - AV: Thank you, Nico. And allow me now to introduce our host, who will share some updates. Mr. Himam, please, the floor is yours.

41
00:07:37.510 --> 00:07:45.190
MTS - AV: Thank you, Zeina. Thank you for the opportunity to share Indonesia's experience in addressing local script domain names.

42
00:07:45.320 --> 00:07:59.779
MTS - AV: and universal acceptance. This is drawing on the work of Pandi and its partners. Today I would like to emphasize the importance of principle that we must start with the needs of people and creators, not with the URL itself.

43
00:08:00.230 --> 00:08:15.290
MTS - AV: Domain names are important, but technology alone does not create meaningful digital participation. We must first understand what people want to read, create, share, and access online. This is where content, cultural identity, and universal acceptance come together.

44
00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:35.210
MTS - AV: People come online because they are looking for something meaningful, stories, learning materials, knowledge, creative products, and useful services in languages they understand. Content creates interest. That interest builds communities and audiences. As community grows, they create demands for relevant digital identities.

45
00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:42.459
MTS - AV: Internationalized domain names or IDNs can provide that identity through domain names using local writing systems.

46
00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:58.240
MTS - AV: Universal acceptance helps ensure that these identities work across digital applications and services. Therefore, we should look at the relationship between content, demand, digital identity, and everyday use as connected processes.

47
00:08:58.750 --> 00:09:09.469
MTS - AV: Our objective is not simply to introduce more domain names. It is to make local script digital identities relevant, useful and accessible to the people who need them.

48
00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:10.400
MTS - AV: Okay.

49
00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:22.900
MTS - AV: Like Nico said this morning, Indonesia has strong foundation for this approach because of its extraordinary linguistic diversity. Unity in diversity, binikat tunggalika.

50
00:09:24.280 --> 00:09:29.429
MTS - AV: We have around 718 mapped regional languages.

51
00:09:29.880 --> 00:09:36.879
MTS - AV: And more than 80 million people in Indonesia, estimated, speak Javanese.

52
00:09:37.010 --> 00:09:40.270
MTS - AV: And around 40 million speak Sundanese, for example.

53
00:09:41.210 --> 00:09:59.309
MTS - AV: We can also see that local languages… local language digital content already exists. For example, Javanese, Sudanese, and Balinese edition of Wikipedia are example of communities creating and sharing knowledge in their own languages. These figures indicate potential audiences for more inclusive digital services.

54
00:09:59.310 --> 00:10:08.050
MTS - AV: However, we should distinguish the number of language speakers from actual demand for IDN registration. They are not the same.

55
00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:17.850
MTS - AV: The opportunity is to connect existing linguistic communities with relevant content and digital services while recognizing that language.

56
00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:23.310
MTS - AV: Content and content written in the corresponding local script are not always identical.

57
00:10:23.970 --> 00:10:29.120
MTS - AV: Our linguistic diversity is a foundation for more inclusive digital participation.

58
00:10:29.680 --> 00:10:37.840
MTS - AV: Language and culture remain alive when people actively use them and create new knowledge, stories, learning materials, and digital archives.

59
00:10:38.010 --> 00:10:55.659
MTS - AV: At the same time, this cultural content can create opportunities for creative economy. Creators, artisans, publishers, cultural tourism businesses, and local brands can use digital platforms to present their works, reach more audiences, and establish distinctive identities.

60
00:10:55.660 --> 00:11:10.360
MTS - AV: This creates a mutually reinforcing relationship. Cultural preservation encourages the creation of local content, while the digital distribution can help that content reach wider audiences and potentially generate commercial values.

61
00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:17.659
MTS - AV: We should recognize these opportunities without assuming that the economic impact of local SCRIPTS domains has already been measured.

62
00:11:18.050 --> 00:11:29.110
MTS - AV: The important point is that cultural preservation and creative value can grow together, particularly when communities have meaningful ways to create, publish, and share their work online.

63
00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:36.760
MTS - AV: This brings us to another important point. The website itself should use the local script where relevant, not merely its web addresses.

64
00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:48.550
MTS - AV: Imagine a website featuring local stories, educational resources, and creative products. A local script domain can give that website a recognizable identity, but the content

65
00:11:48.560 --> 00:12:00.660
MTS - AV: is what gives people a reason to visit and return. If users cannot find meaningful content in their language or access information relevant to their community, the domain alone will have limited practical value.

66
00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:16.479
MTS - AV: Japan and Thailand provide usable comparison for how native script digital experiences can form part of everyday online life. Indonesia's communities should also have the opportunity to access and create digital experiences that reflect their own languages and writing systems.

67
00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:25.610
MTS - AV: The principle is straightforward. The content gives people reason to visit. The domain gives the experience an identity.

68
00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:43.780
MTS - AV: Indonesia's experience with Balinese script domain provides a practical example. In December 2025, Pandi introduced the Balinese script second-level domain space in collaboration with local partners. Udayana University became a special registrar, while the Bali provincial government supported the initiative.

69
00:12:44.120 --> 00:13:00.860
MTS - AV: Community engagement activity reached 300 workshop participants. This illustrates that introducing a local script domain requires more than the technical preparation. It also requires institutional partnership, community awareness, and participation from people who may benefit from it.

70
00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:13.670
MTS - AV: However, launching a domain space is only the beginning. The next challenge is to encourage meaningful local script content, support actual usage, and improve compatibility across digital services.

71
00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:25.729
MTS - AV: We need websites and platforms that people can use in their daily activities, whether for education, cultural expression, creative products, or businesses. Launching a domain space is an important first step.

72
00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:28.650
MTS - AV: Building everyday use is the next.

73
00:13:29.250 --> 00:13:45.940
MTS - AV: Indonesia's efforts also extend beyond Balinese script. On October 5th, 2026, ICANN published the second-level reference label generation rules for Javanese script and updated the Arabic script reference label generation rules, including characters used in Pagon.

74
00:13:46.210 --> 00:14:02.190
MTS - AV: These developments are relevant to Indonesia's wider linguistic and cultural heritage, which includes Arabic-based writing traditions such as Pagon, Jawi, Arab Melayu, Serang, and Buri Walio. At the same time, we must distinguish between different stages of implementation.

75
00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:07.580
MTS - AV: The publication of script rules is not the same as the operational launch of a domain space.

76
00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:26.609
MTS - AV: And neither automatically guarantees end-to-end universal acceptance across digital applications. Other proposals involving Nusantara scripts continue through review. Our priority should therefore be to maintain progress in standardization while working toward operational readiness and practical usability.

77
00:14:26.610 --> 00:14:32.090
MTS - AV: Standards enable progress, but people benefit only when services and application work.

78
00:14:32.470 --> 00:14:53.710
MTS - AV: Looking ahead, we see three practical priorities for government and other stakeholders. First, invest in content. We should work with cultural institutions, schools, local communities, and language creators to develop stories, educational resources, archives, and other useful digital materials. Second, enable creative values. We can support pilot websites and businesses that publish

79
00:14:53.710 --> 00:15:00.119
MTS - AV: Content, showcase creative products, tell local stories, and serve their customers through local script digital identities.

80
00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:10.090
MTS - AV: Third, remove digital barriers. Public services and digital platforms should be encouraged to accept and correctly handle valid local script, domain names and digital address.

81
00:15:10.450 --> 00:15:26.480
MTS - AV: These priorities are interconnected. Content creates reason for people to participate. Creative activities help turn that participation into practical value. Universal Acceptance helps ensure that the technical barriers do not prevent people from accessing and sharing these experiences.

82
00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:38.660
MTS - AV: Government registries, technology providers, academic institutions, and creative communities all have a role to play. The objective is to build an ecosystem in which IDNs are not merely available, but generally useful.

83
00:15:39.640 --> 00:15:51.869
MTS - AV: Distinguished colleagues, Indonesia welcomes continued collaboration among government, registries, technology providers, and creative communities to translate the potential of local script domains into practical use.

84
00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:53.739
MTS - AV: Our message is simple.

85
00:15:53.890 --> 00:16:01.869
MTS - AV: Content creates demands, IDNs provide identity, and universal acceptance makes participation possible.

86
00:16:02.060 --> 00:16:11.740
MTS - AV: Together, we can advance a more inclusive digital environment that respects linguistic diversity and creates opportunity for communities around the world. Thank you so much.

87
00:16:18.130 --> 00:16:39.760
MTS - AV: Thank you, Mr. Himam, for sharing the information. Let me now introduce our next speaker, Mr. Guilherme Canela, who will be presenting about the collaboration and policy brief between UNESCO and ICANN

88
00:16:39.760 --> 00:16:44.500
MTS - AV: On advancing UA, please, Mr. Canela, the floor is yours.

89
00:16:47.300 --> 00:16:58.869
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: Hello, everyone. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. I hope you can hear me well. Greetings from Paris. I'm sorry I couldn't join you in person this time. It would have been…

90
00:16:59.020 --> 00:17:07.659
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: a pleasure, but we are in the middle of our executive board here in UNESCO, so we can't leave the headquarters in this moment.

91
00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:17.370
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So very briefly, a bit of the foundations that was already mentioned, even by the previous speakers in this session.

92
00:17:17.369 --> 00:17:32.919
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: why UNESCO is in this particularly work of multilingualism overall and universal acceptance in particular, it's because we are the UN agency in charge of promoting the free flow of ideas.

93
00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:44.459
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: And hence protecting and promoting the right that is enshrined in the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to freedom of expression and access to information.

94
00:17:45.390 --> 00:18:01.429
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: This right, which was already noted by the previous speakers without mentioning it explicitly, it's one of these fundamental freedoms in the Universal Declaration that has a double logic.

95
00:18:01.570 --> 00:18:05.710
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: Freedom of expression and access to information is a right in itself.

96
00:18:05.780 --> 00:18:19.630
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: But it's also a right that is essential to guarantee the other rights. So, for example, when the previous speaker was speaking about the content and communities and how these impact different areas of our lives.

97
00:18:19.630 --> 00:18:30.739
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: or the keynote speaker speaking about impacting on business, and so on. This is the double function of freedom of expression, access to information, or the free flow of ideas.

98
00:18:30.800 --> 00:18:42.450
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: But this right, it does not operate in a vacuum. It needs a series of elements to actually guarantee that the freedom of expression, access to information exists.

99
00:18:42.500 --> 00:18:54.430
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: And one of these series of elements is precisely multilingualism. We can't speak of a meaningful engagement in the public sphere or in the digital ecosystem.

100
00:18:54.430 --> 00:19:08.150
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: If every individual is not available, is not allowed to express his or her, ideas, interests, business, whatever it is, in their own language of preference.

101
00:19:08.150 --> 00:19:27.479
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So that's why UNESCO has developed throughout its history a series of different documents that are relevant for these legal documents, like this 2003 recommendation that was already mentioned this morning, or why we are the Global Secretariat of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

102
00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:35.209
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: And why we provide a series of tools that I will be now, very shortly, in a bird's overview, showing to you. Next slide, please.

103
00:19:39.730 --> 00:19:49.649
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So, one invitation to all the members of the GAC, either they are governmental members or members of the other stakeholders.

104
00:19:49.650 --> 00:20:03.709
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: We are currently in this formal process of UNESCO in consulting and monitoring what is actually happening with the implementation of the 2003 recommendation on multilingualism in the cyberspace.

105
00:20:03.710 --> 00:20:19.769
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So please do stimulate, if you are a governmental official, that your governments report back to this process, because we are very much interested not only in learning the challenges and the things that we still need to do, but also the good practices that are out there.

106
00:20:19.810 --> 00:20:32.140
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: If you are not a government, you also can participate in this process. There is another avenue for the other stakeholders to also report back to UNESCO in this. You can see there in the QR codes.

107
00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:40.079
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: That you have an avenue for governmental actors and an avenue for the older actors. Next one, please.

108
00:20:44.530 --> 00:20:59.809
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So now, very briefly, our very key and important long-standing partnership with ICANN, in this moment based in three key elements, the Universal Acceptance Day as a key moment in the year.

109
00:20:59.810 --> 00:21:07.810
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: for… and the day is actually several days in that… around the March deadline, the March milestone.

110
00:21:07.810 --> 00:21:17.410
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: This is an essential moment for awareness raising on everything we are talking here. It has been growing year after year. This year, as you can see, the numbers

111
00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:37.090
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: was lots of interest, all the regions. We hope next year will be the same. There is already a call out there for receiving proposals. The other important element with ICANN is this activity of knowledge production and knowledge sharing, so we launched recently this policy brief on universal acceptance.

112
00:21:37.090 --> 00:21:57.019
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: Which has been quite successful. We have lots of demands of our own member states, the diplomats in Paris, very much interested in understanding more about this. And we are now in the process of translating this issue brief in several languages, the six UN official languages, plus Portuguese.

113
00:21:57.020 --> 00:22:02.940
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: But also Swahili, and very soon we are going to also have this in Quechua, an indigenous language.

114
00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:12.300
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: to show, really, that we also need to walk the talk. When we produce things, we also need to be sure that these resources are in a multilingual format.

115
00:22:12.310 --> 00:22:36.679
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: And then, finally, we are also in a relationship with ICANN, we are trying to find ways of doing what the keynote speaker said earlier in this session, how we actually make sure that this is transforming policies by the governments, how universal acceptance is embedded in procurement, as he said, or other elements, and so this will be part of our

116
00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.690
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: regional conversations with the support of ICANN. Next one, please.

117
00:22:44.450 --> 00:23:01.689
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So here you have… I won't dig into that because my time is limited, but you have a series of tools, again, that are developed under this multilingualism series of UNESCO. So we have from a global roadmap that was produced in a multi-stakeholder format with

118
00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:25.859
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: governments and other stakeholders from more than 100 countries, a bit of what we want to further develop in this digital era. Then again, this one with ICANN more specifically on the universal acceptance, but then we are also looking into a very pragmatic approach, so this green one that you are seeing is based on a very interesting policy that the Welsh government has developed

119
00:23:25.860 --> 00:23:32.049
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: And we produce them based on their experience, something that can be useful for other countries.

120
00:23:32.050 --> 00:23:40.630
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: to take advantage of these lessons learned and these good practices, and learn for that, and then, of course, adapt to their own contexts. Next one, please.

121
00:23:42.720 --> 00:24:01.959
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So, again, with the UNESCO-ICANN collaboration, the work plan for the next two years is very much about bringing this discussion to the regions in a very structured manner. As you probably know, UNESCO has a network of more than 53 regional offices all over the world, and together with this network.

122
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:12.710
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: We are going to really expand the conversation in a much more detailed way, using, obviously, the issue brief and all the resources we have related to this.

123
00:24:12.710 --> 00:24:13.630
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: Next one.

124
00:24:15.760 --> 00:24:35.389
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: So I will stop here just to say, as a last message, that next year, aside this milestone I already mentioned to you, that is the year that we are doing the quadriennial monitoring of the 2003 recommendation that we strongly invite you to participate.

125
00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:50.479
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: is also the midterm of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. So we also invite all of you to contribute. In this QR code, you can find even ways of participating in this midterm process of the decade.

126
00:24:50.480 --> 00:25:00.850
Guilherme Canela - UNESCO: Which, again, is very much related to the discussion of universal acceptance and multilingualism. I will stop here, but obviously open for questions, if any. Thank you so much. Back to you.

127
00:25:02.040 --> 00:25:07.570
MTS - AV: Thank you, let me also stop and see if there are any questions.

128
00:25:08.020 --> 00:25:09.360
MTS - AV: At this stage.

129
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:26.970
MTS - AV: Okay, so now let me welcome Mr. Edmund Chang, who is the UAE Expert Working Group co-chair, to provide some updates on the working group and the role of governments in UAE.

130
00:25:27.970 --> 00:25:52.720
MTS - AV: Thank you. And thank you for having me here. And very glad to be updating on the work from the UAEWG. We've provided update in February in – well, was it February? March – in Mumbai and then in Seville. We're glad that here now in Bali we can say that the working

131
00:25:52.720 --> 00:26:15.900
MTS - AV: group is done with its work. But of course, the topic of UA is a marathon, not a sprint. So, we'll give you a little bit of an update on some of the work that has been completed between Seville and here. Next slide, please. Yeah, this one is good. Sorry, going back.

132
00:26:15.970 --> 00:26:40.820
MTS - AV: Go back one, yeah. So I won't go into the details of what UA is. I suspect you already know a little bit about it, but it's about internationalization, it's about utilizing domain names. But I did, before I go into the report, I do want to share with you personally a couple of things that relates to and build on what Nico and Guilherme from UNESCO was saying that

133
00:26:40.820 --> 00:27:05.009
MTS - AV: The topic of UA, the topic of universal acceptance is not just a technical issue, it is about building trust and it is about a matter of right for users to be able to use the internet in their own native local language. So it is a matter really of language justice and I want to use one particular example to hopefully

134
00:27:05.010 --> 00:27:21.359
MTS - AV: make you understand that, it is also related to, to some of the DNS abuse things that we talk about here at ICANN. It's, for example, if my dad, for example, if the domain name or email address is in Chinese.

135
00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:46.310
MTS - AV: he will be able to spot suspicious domain names and suspicious phishing email addresses much easier than in English. And that is why it's a matter of language justice. That's why a multilingual internet makes for a safer internet. And that's, you know, this is a very important part of UA and IDN. Of course, it's a technical implementation, but it has an aspect that is as

136
00:27:46.310 --> 00:27:53.980
MTS - AV: So, I guess that's a dimension that is much more than just a technical upgrade. So, next slide, please. To give you an update,

137
00:27:53.980 --> 00:28:18.360
MTS - AV: Just a little background, if you were not around in the last couple of ICANN meetings, way back about a year, a little bit two years ago now, the ICANN board worked, resolved to create this working group which aligns with the ICANN strategic plan, so the part of the UAE EWG output feeds right into the implementation of the strategic plan.

138
00:28:18.360 --> 00:28:41.919
MTS - AV: And the next slide, please. So the working group itself was formed by the different stakeholders in the group, of course Abdelmanem from GAC, but also from ALAC, from the SSAC, from the GNSO, from the CCNSO, and we also had Jim, James Galvin from the ICANN board as a liaison to us.

139
00:28:42.320 --> 00:29:04.079
MTS - AV: Next slide, please. And on top of that, we're, a number of experts from the Unicode Consortium, from UNESCO, we just heard from Guilherme, from, China, who, Jian Kang, who also, served on the IAB, the,

140
00:29:04.270 --> 00:29:21.540
MTS - AV: Internet Architecture Board, and, different, organizations, including the W3C, Meta, Stat… Academia, and so on. I'm very, proud to be, serving as a co-chair together with Samad. Next slide, please.

141
00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:47.510
MTS - AV: So the working group itself started its work last year in August. We worked through almost about a year and highlighting a number of topics in the charter. I won't go into details of this particular slide, but overall, out of the 10 topics which I'll come to next, there were 45 guidelines that were

142
00:29:47.510 --> 00:29:49.969
MTS - AV: Published, and in fact.

143
00:29:49.970 --> 00:30:14.959
MTS - AV: We issued the document for public comment just before the Mumbai ICANN meeting in February, and then just before the Seville meeting, a report on the comments received was published, and then through the Seville meeting and also afterwards – next slide, please.

144
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:39.919
MTS - AV: please the working group worked through the public comments and I'd like to highlight that there were two additional guidelines that was added based on the public comments including some consideration on AI this is really interesting because AI could either reinforce the non-ua or non-idn world or it could really you know bring

145
00:30:39.920 --> 00:31:04.900
MTS - AV: in a new IDN-enabled and universally accepted world. So this is really interesting. And the other part that the community gave feedback was that we added is not only to look at the big guys, to also look at the small and medium-sized organizations and have some priority for them as well. So ultimately, 47 guidelines were

146
00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:26.449
MTS - AV: in the finalized published guidelines, which were published in September 9th, and that's what Samad and his team will be using to implement the strategic plan part on universal acceptance. Next slide, please. And one thing that I did want to particularly highlight, out of the

147
00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:51.349
MTS - AV: 10 topics, 10 aspects, the working group worked on a prioritization because when you say everything is a priority, of course we know everything is a priority, it means that nothing really is a priority. So we worked through a process, next slide please, and very interestingly, and it's relevant to this room I believe, is that the working group came to quite an agreement.

148
00:31:51.350 --> 00:32:16.309
MTS - AV: that working with public sector, working with governments will be the most important and probably the biggest bang for the buck for UA to happen and that's why we're very excited to have UNESCO work together with us because that is really where a difference could be made and this room is going to be really important. Then of course second and third

149
00:32:16.310 --> 00:32:35.230
MTS - AV: next slide, please, include out of the 10 areas the public sector and intergovernmental organizations, but also prioritization of big tech and open source communities, because that is where, I think the group really believes, difference can be best made. So, next slide, please.

150
00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:36.220
MTS - AV: And…

151
00:32:36.220 --> 00:33:00.940
MTS - AV: I wanted to highlight a few things that the working group worked on in terms of a specific guidelines that is related to the GAC. And you can see here that one of the first things in number 36 is to engage GAC representatives, and this is what we are doing now. And we believe, as I mentioned earlier, this is not just a

152
00:33:00.940 --> 00:33:25.919
MTS - AV: a simple matter of policy and technology it is also about language Justice and therefore involving the Civil Society within your countries is going to be important because that creates a ground swell of support so that the technology and the systems would be updated the other few things is of course one of the things that we will and Samad team will be reaching out to all

153
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:50.910
MTS - AV: of you hopefully you will help him not only to to to your own Ministry but there are other Ministries could perhaps the language side of things perhaps even welfare side of things because they are working with people who who who uses the native local languages are much more comfortable to use the local languages than English for example with their email address and dealing with domain

154
00:33:50.910 --> 00:33:51.640
MTS - AV: names.

155
00:33:51.640 --> 00:34:16.520
MTS - AV: So that is another aspect. And then finally, working with you to reach out to the IGOs, the international intergovernmental organizations as well, and to work with you to work with the relevant organizations that could create policies and could create implementations that make a difference for UA.

156
00:34:16.610 --> 00:34:41.599
MTS - AV: So with that, next slide, please. I really want to thank you for having us all three meetings this year to give you the update on the work from the UAE WG. We sort of have agreement that this is the room to start with in terms of priority, and we hope that Salma's team will be able to work with you closely on this.

157
00:34:41.600 --> 00:34:58.540
MTS - AV: this topic. And I also thank all the members of the UAE Expert Working Group for working through the process and for all of you who provided comments into the public comment process to make these guidelines much more robust and meaningful. Thank you.

158
00:35:00.520 --> 00:35:02.220
MTS - AV: Thank you, Edmond.

159
00:35:02.640 --> 00:35:16.420
MTS - AV: So now we will move to activities in 2027 with Ms. Seda Akbulut from ICANN Org to provide some community-related activities in 2027.

160
00:35:17.860 --> 00:35:32.450
MTS - AV: Thank you. Thank you, first of all, for organizing this event. Obviously, the governments are one of the key stakeholder groups in promoting the UA readiness, so having this session is really important to us.

161
00:35:32.450 --> 00:35:56.650
MTS - AV: The technical standards were implemented to enable the creation of the IDNs and internationalized email addresses. However, still many of the systems have not been upgraded yet to fully support them. Achieving UA cannot be done by one organization alone. It takes a village and it requires collaboration, joint efforts from

162
00:35:56.650 --> 00:36:05.570
MTS - AV: Different stakeholder groups, including governments, DNS industry, technology providers, academia, and other stakeholders.

163
00:36:05.570 --> 00:36:26.869
MTS - AV: Exactly where UADA plays an important role. UADA provides an opportunity to rally local, regional, and global stakeholders to spread awareness and encourage the UA adoption through various types of events around the world. And it's a series of events held annually between March and May.

164
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:30.630
MTS - AV: And organized by ICANN in collaboration with UNESCO.

165
00:36:30.870 --> 00:36:55.839
MTS - AV: And since October 2024, ICANA and UNESCO have been collaborating on UA Day and sharing the goal on multilingualism. The events promote not only the IBNs, but also ASCII-based NIGI TLDs and email addresses in local scripts. And so it's all about these events on our website.

166
00:36:55.840 --> 00:36:58.869
MTS - AV: websites on universalecceptance.de.

167
00:36:59.230 --> 00:37:01.579
MTS - AV: And we can move on to the next slide.

168
00:37:03.230 --> 00:37:04.090
MTS - AV: Please, yeah.

169
00:37:04.160 --> 00:37:14.010
MTS - AV: So glancing at the last four years, over the past years, UAD has brought together more than 29,000.

170
00:37:14.010 --> 00:37:27.290
MTS - AV: participants through 200 events in 86 countries and in 42 languages. In 2026 alone, we held 33 events in

171
00:37:27.290 --> 00:37:40.620
MTS - AV: 30 countries, reaching more than 5,000 participants in 15 languages. The UA Day report is available and has been published recently. It's in… now in 7 languages.

172
00:37:42.040 --> 00:37:50.510
MTS - AV: So now we are preparing for the next and the fifth UA Day, the plans for UA Day. The next slide, please.

173
00:37:51.830 --> 00:38:14.579
MTS - AV: For 2027, we are aiming to have 25, 30 events focusing on solely — not solely, but mostly on UA adoption. And the events will be in four categories. UA academic curricula is one of them, which aims to have the faculty members and experts discuss a roadmap to integrate IDN and UA-related matters.

174
00:38:14.580 --> 00:38:35.930
MTS - AV: and topics in existing technical curriculum. And in the UA adoption and demonstration type of events, we aim to have the real practical adoption and hands-on learning by the organizations who are hosting the events and collaborating with the stakeholders.

175
00:38:36.200 --> 00:38:44.419
MTS - AV: And, as I said, we are increasingly shifting our focus from awareness to, the UA adoption.

176
00:38:44.860 --> 00:39:09.829
MTS - AV: And the regional strategy events will be happening in each region. There will be one event per region focusing on developing and reviewing the UAE regional strategy with the relevant stakeholders and the countries in that region. And UAE awareness events will still continue with the aim of raising awareness on UAE, talking about what the UAE

177
00:39:09.830 --> 00:39:31.370
MTS - AV: ways what each stakeholder groups can do based on the UA policy brief that was jointly developed by UNESCO and ICANN and how we can you know how they can support the other stakeholders in overcoming the implementation challenges and this is a timeline for the next UA day so the call for proposals

178
00:39:31.370 --> 00:39:40.580
MTS - AV: for the UA Day 2027 was announced on 8th October, and we will be receiving the proposals by 20 November.

179
00:39:41.040 --> 00:39:48.510
MTS - AV: And, so the events will be held again between 25 March through 30 May.

180
00:39:48.910 --> 00:39:50.260
MTS - AV: Next slide, please.

181
00:39:51.860 --> 00:40:12.609
MTS - AV: So ICANN and UNESCO are — ICANN Org and UNESCO are also collaborating on UA Day events, and we are actively participating in many — almost all of the UA Day events as much as possible. I'd like to conclude with by inviting the GAC representatives.

182
00:40:12.610 --> 00:40:32.390
MTS - AV: in participating in or contributing to UA Day events in your countries and region. The shortlisted events will be announced by 23 December on universalexceptance.day, and you don't necessarily need to host a new

183
00:40:32.390 --> 00:40:39.500
MTS - AV: events, you can also join an existing UA Day event that are listed on our page, in December.

184
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:54.040
MTS - AV: And you can contribute just the discussions and share your government's roles and experience and plans, or encourage the relevant local stakeholders to submit proposals and then join and,

185
00:40:54.040 --> 00:41:11.839
MTS - AV: the work and to strengthen the local, collaboration. So feel free to reach out to us after this session about, how we can explore, further collaboration, and, together we can build an internet where everyone can enjoy the experience,

186
00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:21.239
MTS - AV: a cool experience, actually, without compromising the languages, script, and the cultural identity of themselves. Thank you.

187
00:41:23.570 --> 00:41:26.870
MTS - AV: Thank you, Seda.

188
00:41:30.220 --> 00:41:35.189
MTS - AV: So, we have Abdelmanam, you have your hand raised.

189
00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:38.110
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Yes, thank you.

190
00:41:38.110 --> 00:41:38.610
MTS - AV: Thank you.

191
00:41:38.610 --> 00:41:46.109
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Actually, I have… I have one question in regards to UADA 2027.

192
00:41:47.590 --> 00:42:01.269
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): How can governments make the most effective use of Universal Acceptance Day 2027 to build awareness, mobilize stakeholders, and turn awareness into concrete universal acceptance implementation?

193
00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:11.959
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): As you know, Seda, that most of our discussion today is into the implementation and the adoption of universal acceptance in regards to the government. Thank you.

194
00:42:15.100 --> 00:42:17.119
MTS - AV: Would you like to take this question?

195
00:42:17.560 --> 00:42:42.549
MTS - AV: Yes, I can take that. So, as I mentioned, there will be regional events, first of all, in each region. I think one of the key parts where GAC representatives or governments can do is to participate in the regional events where the regional UAE strategies are discussed with the countries in that same region and to kind of be part of the strategy.

196
00:42:42.550 --> 00:43:07.519
MTS - AV: and then follow up on it and there will be also local National type of events that are happening almost many countries we had 30 countries hosted the events so if there are any organization hosting the UA the event in your country one of the other option is to kind of support them and encourage the participation maybe from the cctld the

197
00:43:07.520 --> 00:43:32.489
MTS - AV: DNS industry and academia to just bring all the relevant stakeholders to the events and start a discussion on how they can collaborate and what each of them can actually support on overcoming any challenges that they may be facing and also looking into the strategy locally and nationally as well. I guess it may be a good start. And there are also some recommended

198
00:43:32.490 --> 00:43:38.469
MTS - AV: in the UA policy brief, so those are the good points to start with by the governments as well.

199
00:43:39.390 --> 00:43:47.600
MTS - AV: Thank you. I think in the next section we will also listen to some success stories with Dr. Sarman.

200
00:43:50.860 --> 00:43:56.009
MTS - AV: Thank you. So, this is Sarmad Hussain from ICANN,

201
00:43:56.260 --> 00:44:00.529
MTS - AV: I'll be hosting a short showcase.

202
00:44:00.640 --> 00:44:12.320
MTS - AV: And case study section where the GAC UA and IDN working group invited.

203
00:44:12.680 --> 00:44:19.620
MTS - AV: I guess volunteers from the GAC members to share what is being done in different countries.

204
00:44:19.650 --> 00:44:38.060
MTS - AV: This is part of this, initiative. I have a flyer here. You may actually have a copy, but if you don't, the, copy's available with Gulten at the back. Which, is an initiative by the GAC UAID and Working Group, where they're inviting GAC members

205
00:44:38.060 --> 00:44:46.260
MTS - AV: to become a champion to take UA awareness and adoption activities.

206
00:44:46.420 --> 00:45:00.849
MTS - AV: back and try to promote them locally in their own specific countries and regions.

207
00:45:02.080 --> 00:45:20.540
MTS - AV: So, I think Abdulmonam's, question gives us a good segue into this, particular, section, where we have, six, countries, which are going to be presenting or showcasing some of the work which, they are doing.

208
00:45:20.700 --> 00:45:24.840
MTS - AV: In in their regions or in their countries locally.

209
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.260
MTS - AV: To promote, universal acceptance, awareness, and adoption.

210
00:45:29.620 --> 00:45:31.200
MTS - AV: We have,

211
00:45:31.570 --> 00:45:38.299
MTS - AV: I'll just take a name of all the presenters first, and then we'll go to them individually.

212
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:47.720
MTS - AV: We have from Armenia, Kristina Hochobian from India, T. Santosh.

213
00:45:47.930 --> 00:45:56.010
MTS - AV: From Georgia, Mzia, Gogilash… We,

214
00:45:56.370 --> 00:46:02.920
MTS - AV: And, from Bahrain, Sami Muhammad Ali. From China, Lang Wang.

215
00:46:03.430 --> 00:46:21.589
MTS - AV: And Libya, Abdelmonim, the nominee from Libya is not present here, but Abdelmonim said he will actually come online and convey the message. So, we'll go to Libya towards the end.

216
00:46:21.770 --> 00:46:24.930
MTS - AV: So let me, pass on,

217
00:46:25.630 --> 00:46:27.380
MTS - AV: The floor to,

218
00:46:28.460 --> 00:46:40.880
MTS - AV: Kristina to share more about what Armenia has been doing in this area. If I may, please, can we limit the intervention to two minutes for each intervention? Thank you. Yes.

219
00:46:41.520 --> 00:47:05.249
MTS - AV: Thank you, Dr. Sarmad. Kristina is speaking for the record. Armenia's experience shows how UA Day can help build cooperation that continues behind the event itself. This year, we held our fourth UA Day regional conference, bringing together all stakeholders. Our work builds on the Armenian script, the Thai domain, and the goal of

220
00:47:05.250 --> 00:47:10.710
MTS - AV: of making Armenian domain names and email addresses work reliably in everyday services.

221
00:47:11.510 --> 00:47:26.040
MTS - AV: ICANN, UNESCO, and ITU brings complementary perspectives to this work. ICANN contributes technical expertise and supports for UAE education. UNESCO connects UAE with the linguistic diversity and digital inclusion.

222
00:47:26.080 --> 00:47:40.669
MTS - AV: At our conference, ITU representative emphasizes the importance of adapting global goals to local needs and developing practical country-level solutions.

223
00:47:40.790 --> 00:47:49.609
MTS - AV: We, as a registry, also have long-standing cooperation with Wikimedia on creating Armenian language content in different subject areas.

224
00:47:49.890 --> 00:48:03.810
MTS - AV: At UA Day this year, Yerevan State University presented another example. It's ongoing collaboration with the Language Committee and the National Library of Digitizing on Digitizing Armenian Periodicals.

225
00:48:04.260 --> 00:48:19.330
MTS - AV: These activities contribute to a broader Armenian language digital environment. UAE has a specific role within it, ensuring that applications support valid domain names and email addresses, including those in Armenian scripts.

226
00:48:19.640 --> 00:48:21.150
MTS - AV: Next slide, please.

227
00:48:22.200 --> 00:48:27.540
MTS - AV: An important step has been ICANN's direct outreach to both

228
00:48:27.580 --> 00:48:46.729
MTS - AV: the Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of Armenia. The letter seeks support of UA adoption across state and educational institutions, drawing on UNESCO-ICON UA policy brief, as was mentioned before.

229
00:48:47.160 --> 00:48:55.740
MTS - AV: The outreach to the High-Tech Ministry also built on the cooperation agreement signed in 2017.

230
00:48:56.010 --> 00:49:02.810
MTS - AV: ICANN so far includes free technical training, university curriculum materials, and consulting support.

231
00:49:03.070 --> 00:49:09.960
MTS - AV: ISOC AM Registry is ready to help with local coordination and technical briefings.

232
00:49:10.260 --> 00:49:14.130
MTS - AV: Our immediate focus is university education.

233
00:49:14.160 --> 00:49:32.709
MTS - AV: Armenia University of Armenia's Computer Science Program Chair has expressed his interest in discussing curriculum integration, so we can explore UA modules within exciting courses or a separate elective, depending on the university needs.

234
00:49:33.120 --> 00:49:47.629
MTS - AV: To help take this work forward, I applied for and joined the Internet Society Community Advocacy Fellowship with UA Integration in University Education as the focus of my advocacy plan.

235
00:49:48.050 --> 00:49:55.640
MTS - AV: The fellowship is helping me structure the next step, engage the right partners, and track progress toward our planned targets.

236
00:49:56.230 --> 00:50:06.719
MTS - AV: Our next milestone is to secure at least one university's commitment to include UA in IT education by the end of 2026.

237
00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:26.739
MTS - AV: This is still work in progress, but the combination of institutional outreach, technical support, and direct university engagement gives us concrete next steps. The lesson I would share is that bringing people together is a useful beginning, but continued contact and the clear next step are essential.

238
00:50:27.060 --> 00:50:40.369
MTS - AV: As a UA champion, I hope to help maintain those partnerships, support implementation, and share our experience with CAIC community. Thank you very much for this opportunity to be here.

239
00:50:40.910 --> 00:50:43.200
MTS - AV: Thank you. We'll go to India.

240
00:50:45.490 --> 00:50:46.410
MTS - AV: Thank you.

241
00:50:48.010 --> 00:50:50.080
MTS - AV: Can we go to the next slide, please?

242
00:50:52.530 --> 00:51:03.679
MTS - AV: Yeah. So, Government of India has come out with various guidelines. So, the major guidelines is on coming out with the Digital Brand Identity Manual.

243
00:51:03.680 --> 00:51:13.110
MTS - AV: Which mentions that the website government of India website should be UI compatibility and also should.

244
00:51:13.190 --> 00:51:33.180
MTS - AV: Have ID and domain names and subsequent to that we had RPWD rules which is basically on accessibility standards and it also enforces the internationalization, localization, globalization as well as the.

245
00:51:33.180 --> 00:51:36.740
MTS - AV: Localizability of the content.

246
00:51:36.940 --> 00:51:51.650
MTS - AV: Now, subsequent to this, we had a mandatory IDN policy wherein which the registry of GOV.IN is providing an IDN domain name along with an English domain name.

247
00:51:52.000 --> 00:52:00.760
MTS - AV: And, we are, in the progress of implementing the universal acceptance as well as the multilingual roadmap with,

248
00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:08.249
MTS - AV: Along with the National Internet Exchange of India. As on date we have 2 lakh active.

249
00:52:08.390 --> 00:52:09.500
MTS - AV: Ideal.

250
00:52:09.980 --> 00:52:11.200
MTS - AV: Domains.

251
00:52:11.440 --> 00:52:16.910
MTS - AV: Of which 269 is of GOV dot IN.

252
00:52:17.050 --> 00:52:18.900
MTS - AV: And we have the.

253
00:52:19.320 --> 00:52:24.320
MTS - AV: 2015 in the, country code top level domain.

254
00:52:24.460 --> 00:52:32.759
MTS - AV: And for the information of the colleagues here, we have 22 languages to cover all the audience. Next slide, please.

255
00:52:38.370 --> 00:52:44.229
MTS - AV: So, there is an initiative which government of India has come up.

256
00:52:44.390 --> 00:52:52.839
MTS - AV: Which is called Basha net it is a national portal on universal acceptance where in which it is a repository by which.

257
00:52:53.060 --> 00:52:54.200
MTS - AV: Any.

258
00:52:54.440 --> 00:53:05.759
MTS - AV: Organization or any users in India can utilizes utilize their resources and make their website IDN compatible and

259
00:53:05.760 --> 00:53:20.039
MTS - AV: We had certain schemes in which Mera Mera Gaon, which means my village, my community, there is a specific portal. It is available in different languages. We have the.

260
00:53:21.610 --> 00:53:23.010
MTS - AV: MSME.

261
00:53:23.870 --> 00:53:42.330
MTS - AV: sites, which is also, IDN compatible. We are, through National Internet Exchange of India, we are conducting various capacity-building program, and creating awareness across various states and the Union Territory of India.

262
00:53:42.360 --> 00:53:48.180
MTS - AV: And along with the IDN registration which is being done by the.

263
00:53:48.340 --> 00:53:54.919
MTS - AV: The registry of the government of India, they provide free email also.

264
00:53:55.030 --> 00:53:57.850
MTS - AV: And as you may aware that the first.

265
00:53:58.320 --> 00:54:06.529
MTS - AV: Universal acceptance day was conducted in India at New Delhi it was during 23 2023 we conduct.

266
00:54:06.660 --> 00:54:10.129
MTS - AV: Annually, the Universal Acceptance Day. Thank you.

267
00:54:11.930 --> 00:54:14.630
MTS - AV: Thank you. Let's,

268
00:54:14.920 --> 00:54:23.490
MTS - AV: Move right ahead. We'll have a discussion session after this session, so if you can hold your questions. We go to Georgia.

269
00:54:38.330 --> 00:54:43.000
MTS - AV: Can we get the sound? I think Mzia is online.

270
00:54:47.320 --> 00:54:50.859
MTS - AV: Mizia, we cannot hear you here in the GAC room.

271
00:54:55.710 --> 00:54:57.110
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Can you hear me now?

272
00:54:57.630 --> 00:54:59.540
MTS - AV: Yes, thank you.

273
00:54:59.730 --> 00:55:04.570
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Thank you very much. This is Mzia Gogila-Shvili for the record.

274
00:55:05.060 --> 00:55:19.899
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: And, greetings from Georgia. Unfortunately, I couldn't join you in beautiful Bali, but thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this session, at least online.

275
00:55:20.010 --> 00:55:31.060
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Well, I'd like to briefly share George's experience with our IDMCCTLD.ge and some of the challenges we are facing.

276
00:55:31.490 --> 00:55:48.660
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: GE IDNCCTLD has been functioning since early 2016. It is managed by the Information Technologies Development Center, ITDC, a company specializing in IT services and web development.

277
00:55:48.710 --> 00:56:04.119
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Initially.ge attracted a lot of interest. Government bodies, businesses, NGOs, and individuals welcomed the opportunity to use Georgian script in their domain names.

278
00:56:04.490 --> 00:56:17.620
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Unfortunately, this enthusiasm gradually faded. Today, many people are not even aware that Georgia has its own internationalized domain name. Next slide, please.

279
00:56:21.610 --> 00:56:38.670
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Since 2016, a total of 6,197 domains have been registered within the zone of .ge, but only 558 remain active.

280
00:56:39.050 --> 00:56:51.720
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: We currently have 4 registrars, and the annual registration fee is relevantly low, 30 lari. It is around 13 to 14 US dollars.

281
00:56:52.270 --> 00:56:56.260
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Nevertheless, registrations continue to decline.

282
00:56:56.530 --> 00:56:58.079
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Next slide, please.

283
00:57:03.340 --> 00:57:15.859
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: At the Georgian National Communications Commission, this is regulatory authority for electronic communications and media. This is my NRA, my organization.

284
00:57:15.930 --> 00:57:31.140
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: So at ComCom and through my involvement in the GAC, I have been discussing with the sponsoring organization ITTC ways to raise awareness and encourage wider use of .gaq.

285
00:57:32.030 --> 00:57:48.050
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: One idea was to offer free domain names to the dioceses of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, this initiative did not succeed, as many preferred to establish their online presence through social media.

286
00:57:48.410 --> 00:57:51.130
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: So, what can we do next?

287
00:57:51.280 --> 00:58:00.699
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: First, we could explore opportunities to promote our ideas through existing programs supporting the Georgian language.

288
00:58:01.350 --> 00:58:14.300
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: Second, we could raise awareness among public institutions and encourage them to use .ge alongside their existing .ge.gacc TLDs.

289
00:58:14.630 --> 00:58:15.880
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: And third.

290
00:58:16.370 --> 00:58:30.829
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: We should learn from one another. Countries that have successfully promoted their ideas could share their experiences and best practices, helping others overcome similar challenges.

291
00:58:31.040 --> 00:58:50.820
Mzia Gogilashvili, Georgia: This is why I am very pleased to be part of this working group. I believe that by working together, we can develop practical solutions to make our national ideas more visible, more widely used, and ultimately more successful. Thank you very much.

292
00:58:51.600 --> 00:59:00.279
MTS - AV: Thank you. We're, almost on time, we have 5 more minutes to conclude,

293
00:59:00.280 --> 00:59:15.360
MTS - AV: the rest of the presentations. So I'll request the remaining speakers to maybe take one to two minutes each. Yes, and please, the translator, can you stay with us only five more minutes?

294
00:59:16.550 --> 00:59:18.999
MTS - AV: Thank you. So, we move on to…

295
00:59:19.130 --> 00:59:22.470
MTS - AV: Our next, speaker from Berlin, so…

296
00:59:24.430 --> 00:59:33.630
MTS - AV: Hello. Hi, this is Sami, for the record, from Bahrain. I would like to… can we go to the next slide, so we can expedite the process of…

297
00:59:33.630 --> 00:59:45.409
MTS - AV: concluding this presentation. So Bahrain CCDLT is .bh and .bahrain is the Arabic IDN used for Bahrain in Arabic language.

298
00:59:45.550 --> 00:59:55.349
MTS - AV: For the organization that manages CCTLD is Telecom Regulatory Authority Bahrain, which is a government organization. Can we go to the next slide, please?

299
00:59:57.700 --> 01:00:17.160
MTS - AV: So, how we are collaborating with our stakeholders is mainly as being part of the government. We do align with the digital transformation and digital kingdom vision that the kingdom, the government has to develop all necessary services within the kingdom to

300
01:00:17.220 --> 01:00:40.260
MTS - AV: Be online and available to all and part of this making it available to all we have to ensure that it is available in the local language for everyone to be able to use it and that's why first thing what we did was to make sure the policies and the procedures and regulations are all supporting this initiative of.

301
01:00:40.380 --> 01:00:43.409
MTS - AV: Arabic language used on internet.

302
01:00:43.430 --> 01:01:03.139
MTS - AV: Academia, we are lucky enough to be the first country to utilize ICANN's UA curriculum and integrate it with the American University of Bahrain in Bahrain, and that has proved very well in terms of promoting it with other five universities.

303
01:01:03.140 --> 01:01:04.809
MTS - AV: within the kingdom of Bahrain.

304
01:01:05.140 --> 01:01:17.220
MTS - AV: Technical community, sorry, if we can go back, I'll just go through the stakeholders quickly. So technical community, we are working with the local registrars, mainly focusing on developing their capacity.

305
01:01:17.220 --> 01:01:33.380
MTS - AV: So they can be the champion when it comes to promoting UA and promote Arabic language internet for the local as well as the regional community when it comes to the Arabic-speaking world.

306
01:01:33.380 --> 01:01:48.079
MTS - AV: Businesses, it's still a work in progress, so there has not been much when it comes to business development, but it's more of a social development currently that we are focusing on and promoting Arabic language. Can we go to the next slide, please?

307
01:01:50.190 --> 01:02:14.960
MTS - AV: So programs, what we have right now is the ICANN UA workshop, which we conduct part of a hackathon every year. We have been doing it for three years consecutive. And I will quickly show you a summary video at the end of how we have had six universities and 60 students participating, but the reach has been more

308
01:02:14.960 --> 01:02:23.349
MTS - AV: than a few thousand students knowing about universal acceptance and doing their research and trying to register their own names.

309
01:02:23.890 --> 01:02:32.050
MTS - AV: And university engagement and student awareness is what has helped us in promoting it among the community, which

310
01:02:32.230 --> 01:02:36.590
MTS - AV: follows through to the wider community. Can we go to the next slide, please?

311
01:02:38.530 --> 01:02:48.839
MTS - AV: So what these programs help has helped us is with achieving greater awareness, building practical capability when it comes to

312
01:02:49.400 --> 01:03:14.359
MTS - AV: teaching the students or the next generation of technical development or software developers coming into the public and having the understanding of what universal acceptance is and adopting to use and being willing to use it and stronger collaboration with the industry ICANN TRA government so it has been a very positive impact in terms of developing an ecosystem

313
01:03:14.360 --> 01:03:17.550
MTS - AV: To support this adoption. Next slide, please.

314
01:03:20.350 --> 01:03:41.120
MTS - AV: So how we are measuring it is by ensuring that people around Bahrain are aware of this universal acceptance, availability, different languages being available online, adoption, the slow growth of understanding and using Arabic email addresses and Arabic websites.

315
01:03:41.130 --> 01:03:43.540
MTS - AV: And, developer capacity.

316
01:03:43.780 --> 01:03:49.860
MTS - AV: Can we I've been told I have only 1 minute can we go to the video if you don't mind.

317
01:03:57.990 --> 01:04:04.500
MTS - AV: I think they want to play the video at the end, so can we hold on to that?

318
01:04:04.880 --> 01:04:08.309
MTS - AV: Thank you, I think we'll go forward.

319
01:04:08.780 --> 01:04:12.149
MTS - AV: Can we go to China for an update?

320
01:04:17.680 --> 01:04:18.240
MTS - AV: So.

321
01:04:21.710 --> 01:04:22.390
Audio shared by Gulten Tepe Oksuzoglu - ICANN Org: you.

322
01:05:14.580 --> 01:05:18.729
MTS - AV: Thank you, I guess we'll, have that video, thank you very much.

323
01:05:20.320 --> 01:05:23.630
MTS - AV: So, we have somebody from?

324
01:05:24.090 --> 01:05:25.959
MTS - AV: China online or here.

325
01:05:26.730 --> 01:05:32.460
MTS - AV: So in one minute, can China present something in one minute?

326
01:05:33.120 --> 01:05:36.289
MTS - AV: Okay, I'll try, thank you, Zeina.

327
01:05:38.100 --> 01:05:49.380
MTS - AV: Universal acceptance is not just a technical compatibility issue, but a public policy issue. If a domain name and email address

328
01:05:49.380 --> 01:05:58.610
MTS - AV: In national language cannot be used normally. What is affected is not the functionality of technical system.

329
01:05:58.610 --> 01:06:08.379
MTS - AV: but the right of citizen to use public digital services. From our point of view, government takes on three roles in UA.

330
01:06:08.380 --> 01:06:15.540
MTS - AV: The rule maker, the largest user, and the provider of public digital services.

331
01:06:16.100 --> 01:06:26.630
MTS - AV: China's policy support has three layers. The first is law and regulation. The second is promotion and guidance.

332
01:06:26.630 --> 01:06:47.290
MTS - AV: And the third is standards. And there are two major observations in our work. First, the government plays a key role in coordinating resources across regulators, industry organizations, and private sectors. Second, education and talent development are the most promising

333
01:06:47.290 --> 01:06:48.849
MTS - AV: starting point.

334
01:06:49.420 --> 01:06:51.490
MTS - AV: Next slide, please.

335
01:06:53.650 --> 01:07:00.170
MTS - AV: Up to now, there are 32 HAN script top-level domains approved for operation.

336
01:07:01.670 --> 01:07:24.969
MTS - AV: The adoption of Chinese domain names depends on a process. Standards provide feasibility, policy states direction, demonstration builds confidence, promotion widens usage, deployment provides support, and market incentives sustainable investment.

337
01:07:24.980 --> 01:07:35.090
MTS - AV: We have built the earlier stages, but frankly, the process is not sufficient. The weak point is market incentives.

338
01:07:35.370 --> 01:07:49.309
MTS - AV: That is why we believe international cooperation is important. We hope every Internet user can take part in the digital world in their own language. Thank you very much.

339
01:07:51.770 --> 01:07:53.260
MTS - AV: Thank you, China.

340
01:07:55.300 --> 01:08:07.680
MTS - AV: Abdulmonim, if you're still online, you had a quick message from Libya. If you can share it within a minute, then we'll go back to Zeenia.

341
01:08:08.370 --> 01:08:14.089
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Yes, Doctor, thank you very much. On behalf of Libyan delegates.

342
01:08:14.130 --> 01:08:25.510
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): The, the, in recognition to the importance of universal acceptance and from the repercussions that it's very important to, to have success of the digital transformation project.

343
01:08:25.510 --> 01:08:49.189
Abdalmonem Galila ( EGYPT ): Libya government interested in the UA initiative held by GAT-UA IDN workgroup, and they are in their ways to finalize the IANA delegation for the IDN CCD of Libya, and they are agreed that universal acceptance is not only for IDN or AI, but also for the new generic to-level domain name. Thank you.

344
01:08:50.670 --> 01:08:53.029
MTS - AV: Thank you Abdulmonim back to you Zeina.

345
01:08:53.930 --> 01:08:56.459
MTS - AV: Thank you, everyone, for staying with us.

346
01:08:56.609 --> 01:09:05.869
MTS - AV: Nine minutes over the time, so with this, I would like to conclude. If you have any questions tomorrow, I think Abdulmanam will be with us.

347
01:09:06.020 --> 01:09:09.420
MTS - AV: So, you can discuss with them. Thank you.

348
01:09:16.359 --> 01:09:23.059
MTS - AV: And be reminded, we continue tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock in this room with another session about new GTLDs. Thank you.