“ICANN” Certifies AKMS in a Step to Promote Internet User Participation in its Activities

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has officially certified the Arab Knowledge Management Society (AKMS) for the Asia/Australia/Pacific region. This certification comes as verification of AKMS in its fulfillment of ICANN’s criteria for involving Internet users at the local level in the discussions related to ICANN activities, as well as promotion of individuals' understanding of, and participation in, ICANN.

Accordingly, the Society is the first Arab professional organization that has achieved this feat, along with five other bodies in three geographic regions in the world. Through this accomplishment, the Society is offering further advantages to its members by involving them in activities which can help the ICANN Board in making valuable decisions.

A press release issued by ICANN explained that this certification is an important step towards fulfilling ICANN’s objective to have structured participation of the Internet user community.

The press release quoted Vittorio Bertola, ICANN Interim At-Large Advisory Committee Chair, as saying, “These groups will engage geographically and professionally diverse communities of Internet users in ICANN activities that affect people’s use of the Internet”, and reported that he called the other interested groups to follow their lead and support user involvement in ICANN.

Bertola noted that ICANN policies on such matters as the implementation of internationalized domain names and privacy of personal Whois data need to reflect the needs and opinions of the global civil society.

He added, “We are looking foreword to working with these organizations on decisions ICANN makes about technical management of the Internet. We want the Internet to grow and evolve to meet the needs of all of the world’s Internet users, and participating as an At-Large Structure will help ensure ICANN’s consensus-development efforts reflect users’ interests.”

“This is a critical step that will involve the At-Large community in ICANN deliberations,” said Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO. “Groups participating as At-Large Structures will help ensure that the voice of different sectors of the Internet community will be more distinctly heard and their views will be effectively taken into account when ICANN takes action on issues of interest to the user community.”

The At-Large Advisory Committee is a support committee to ICANN’s Board, charged with providing advice on activities of ICANN that relate to the interests of Internet users, and helping to organize At-Large groups throughout the world for structured involvement and informed participation in ICANN of the Internet user community.