Status:
IGF Theme(s) for workshop: Emerging Issues
Main theme question address by workshop: Emerging Issues Q4 + Critical Resources Q5
Concise description of the proposed workshop:
Showing the diversity of country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) policy models and the best practice exchanges in this context. There are more than 250 ccTLD extensions globally. Each ccTLD represents the country’s national identity on the web. The ccTLDs and gTLDs community has been defined as one of the backbones of the Internet ecosystem. During the 2012 ICANN meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, ICANN celebrated those TLDs that have hit the 25-year mark. 27 TLDs were publicly honoured for their contribution to the development of the Internet in their country.
These ccTLDs have gone through enormous changes over more than two decades of activity. And a striking characteristic of ccTLDs is the variety of policies they work with. This workshop will present the evolution of the ccTLD and will also touch on the experiences of the first IDN ccTLDs, the geo-local TLDs that are meant to cater for specific communities and of those ccTLDs that have cross-border ambitions and behave more as a gTLD in the domain market. Furthermore, the panelists will discuss the opening of the TLD space and the possible impact on their environment.
A question and answer session will follow with the guidance of a moderator. The Q&A session will be based on the comparison of the different models and will aim to further stimulate the dialogue, educate the audience and demonstrate the importance of best practice sharing.
The core message of the workshop is to show how different approaches serve different local needs and how the TLDs are interacting with the local government or supra-national organisations. Moreover, the workshop intends to underscore how the various TLD models have been contributing to the human, economic and social development by expanding multiculturalism and multilingualism via the projects that the TLD operators have set up at local level to educate and outreach their community.
These presentations and discussions build up valuable case studies for anyone with an interest in the grassroots basic of internet governance.
The workshop fits perfectly in the high-level principles of the Tunis agenda as well as in the key themes of the next IGF in Baku. As a matter of fact, it will touch base on the following themes: Access and diversity, Managing Critical Internet Resources and Emerging Issues. Moreover, as the range of activities covered by the ccTLDs is extremely broad, it is likely that some of the speakers may touch on how certain aspects – like security and privacy – are managed at local and/or regional level.
Background Paper:
Name of the organiser(s) of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups:
The speakers will be selected from the membership of the four regional ccTLD organisations (AFTLD, APTLD, CENTR and LACTLD). The selection will be made based on the characteristics that make them unique and/or illustrative of local and/or specific scenarios.
In addition, ISOC, representatives from governments and international organisations, like the European Union, and the private sector will be asked to share their views on the subject.
One panelist of a well known business organisation will also feature among the speakers.
A series of questions will be addressed to all the speakers, and particularly to the TLD representatives, on the range of issues confronting ccTLDs. This would enshrine the basic principle that there is "no one size fits all".
Have you, or any of your co-organisers, organised an IGF workshop before?: Yes
Please provide link(s) to workshop(s) or report(s):
2011: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=Workshops2011View&wspid=98
2010: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposalsReports2010View&wspid=113
2009: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=Workshopsreports2009View&curr=1&wr=27
2008: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/workshops_08/showmelist.php?mem=12
2007: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/rio_reports/CENTR%20-%20the%20functioning%20of%20the%20Domain%20Name%20System.pdf
2007: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/rio_reports/IGF%20Workshop-One%20size%20doesnt%20fit%20all.pdf
Provide the names and affiliations of the panellists you are planning to invite:
Panellists TBC closer to date. As for the 6 workshops previously organised by the Regional ccTLD organisations we commit to gender and geographical diversity when selecting the panellists.
Name of Remote Moderator(s):
Patrick Myles