March 2023 - UA-discuss - lists.iana.org

2023 UASG Chair Election Results
by Seda Akbulut April 4, 2023

April 4, 2023

2023 UASG Chair Election Results Dear Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) Community, On behalf of the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), we are pleased to announce the results of the 2023 UASG chair election. As the UASG charter<https://uasg.tech/uasg-charter/> indicates, the UASG will be “overseen by one Chair and two to three Vice-Chairs who will be appointed to two-year terms.” Interested candidates for the Chair position were asked to submit self-nominations and Statements of Interest by 3 March 2023 through the announcement<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ua-discuss/2023-February/004181.html>. The UASG received two nominations for Chair. Based on the nominations and the following elections, following are the election results. UASG Chair for 2023-2025 (two years) A total of 244 UASG members cast their vote. Based on these votes, the following has been elected: * UASG Chair: Anil Kumar Jain The SOI of the elected chair is attached. We congratulate the new UASG Chair. The successor chair will take office once the vice chair elections are completed on 25 April 2023. Thank you. UASG Election Coordination Team

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Question for UASG Chair candidates: what are strategic obstacles blocking UA?
by Anil Jain March 30, 2023

March 30, 2023

Dear Jim and all UASG Community Members Jim, thank you for your email and for putting this question. Since you already mentioned that I am committed to Universal Acceptance and have a track record of working diligently to attain that objective, I will not place my words here to share more on this to you and the rest of the community about this; rather, I will respond directly to your question. Because identifying and addressing difficulties and hurdles requires work and coordination among many stakeholder groups, the response below is entirely in my individual capacity. According to me, the most significant strategic hurdles currently impeding Universal Acceptance are: Feeling of Urgency : I believe we need to "generate a sense of urgency," which means motivating stakeholders to take appropriate independent action. UASG and ICANN's activities should be educational and proactive, advocating for the necessary activity to attain universal acceptance. The primary goal of ICANN will be to connect those who have impediments with those who can eliminate them, an action on this has already been initiated, and we will soon see some development on it. Clear Goal : The requirement of the hour is that domain names in a TLD be used in applications independent of the written script, length, or newness of the TLD. Name registration must function, protocols must function, and services/applications affecting the user must function; function also in the sense that domain names and the identifiers constructed on them are usable in administratively permissible ways. This goal includes the usefulness of Internationalised email addresses, an action on this has already been initiated, and if you will see that today all IDN domains which we from NIXI provides are completely usable from day one as we are providing email with every IDN domain name and also other services required around that. Not just that we also have a dedicated UA desk to listen the concerns form the registrants and try to provide them support. UA's demand-side characteristics: Universal Acceptance is a crucial technical prerequisite for an Internet that is truly multilingual and inclusive. It is also essential for realising the full potential of Internationalized Domain Names, Email Address Internationalization, and new generic Top-Level Domains. Application developers and service providers are delaying making their systems UA-ready due to the demand-side components of UA, which must be addressed. Governments and the technical community will be essential in creating demand. To get a sense of the importance of Universal Acceptance, consider India. It has one of the fastest growing internet user populations on the planet and provides an illuminating case study on adoptions of universal acceptance. Since 2014 NIXI is managing 22 IDNs of India and I am CEO of NIXI. I am pleased to share with you that as per the directives of government a committee was formed under my chairmanship here in India to prepare an India Roadmap on Universal Acceptance and Multilingual Internet, and that the Phase 1 report of that committee is now being under implementation in India. [ https://registry.in/system/files/ua-and-multilingual-internet-india.pdf | https://registry.in/system/files/ua-and-multilingual-internet-india.pdf ] To summarise, I am confident that we will all recognise that, aside from the founding visionaries of the UASG, the current leadership of the UASG has carried forward the UA work from their successors in a significant way in the last four years, we have significant participation and contributions from the community in the universal acceptance steering group by nearly 700 volunteers, significant technological development has occurred in recent years, and there is still much to be done to achieve universal acceptance. Even the present leadership team came up with the idea for UA Day, which will be celebrated for the first time on March 28, 2023. Current UASG leadership has done a wonderful work to bring all the stakeholders together to celebrate UA day including all SO/AC of ICANN. With my experience as Communication Chair of UASG , we were successful to raise the awareness of importance that's why 42 countries are celebrating UA day on 28th March. We must continue the good work started by Ram Mohan & team and wings provided by Dr. Ajay Data and team. With kind regards, Anil Kumar Jain

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Re: [UA-discuss] UA-discuss Digest, Vol 155, Issue 1
by Carine Malor March 30, 2023

March 30, 2023

Congratulations Anil. Wishing you the best in your new role. Carine Malor Accra, Ghana. On Thu, 30 Mar 2023, 12:00 , <ua-discuss-request(a)icann.org> wrote: > Send UA-discuss mailing list submissions to > ua-discuss(a)icann.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ua-discuss > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > ua-discuss-request(a)icann.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > ua-discuss-owner(a)icann.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of UA-discuss digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Seda Akbulut) > 2. UASG Elections 2023 - Accepting Vice-Chair Self-Nominations > (Seda Akbulut) > 3. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Satish Babu) > 4. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Mohammad Kawsar Uddin) > 5. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Priyatosh Jana) > 6. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Nitin) > 7. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Jahangir Hossain) > 8. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (Raymond Mamattah) > 9. Re: 2023 UASG Chair Election Results (NABIL BENAMAR) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 18:55:37 +0000 > From: Seda Akbulut <seda.akbulut(a)icann.org> > To: "ua-discuss(a)icann.org" <ua-discuss(a)icann.org> > Subject: [UA-discuss] 2023 UASG Chair Election Results > Message-ID: <A432D352-81D2-4F92-8C94-9240C5BA30F7(a)icann.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > 2023 UASG Chair Election Results > > Dear Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) Community, > > On behalf of the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), we are > pleased to announce the results of the 2023 UASG chair election. As the > UASG charter<https://uasg.tech/uasg-charter/> indicates, the UASG will be > ?overseen by one Chair and two to three Vice-Chairs who will be appointed > to two-year terms.? > > Interested candidates for the Chair position were asked to submit > self-nominations and Statements of Interest by 3 March 2023 through the > announcement< > https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ua-discuss/2023-February/004181.html>. The > UASG received two nominations for Chair. Based on the nominations and the > following elections, following are the election results. > > UASG Chair for 2023-2025 (two years) > > A total of 244 UASG members cast their vote. Based on these votes, the > following has been elected: > > > * UASG Chair: Anil Kumar Jain > > The SOI of the elected chair is attached. We congratulate the new UASG > Chair. The successor chair will take office once the vice chair elections > are completed on 25 April 2023. > > Thank you. > UASG Election Coordination Team > > >

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UASG Elections 2023 - Accepting Vice-Chair Self-Nominations
by Seda Akbulut March 29, 2023

March 29, 2023

Dear Universal Acceptance (UA) Community Members, As per the Election Process and Timeline<https://uasg.tech/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UASG-Election-Process-2023-onw…>, self-nominations for UASG Vice-Chair Election will end on 31 March 2023. Interested candidates should send a self-nomination with a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the email: UAprogram(a)icann.org<mailto:UAprogram@icann.org> before 23:00 UTC on 31 March 2023 for Vice-Chair position. For more information, please see the announcement<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ua-discuss/2023-February/004181.html>. Kind regards, Thank you. UASG Election Coordination Team

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UA Day - Global Event Joining details
by Dr Ajay Data March 28, 2023

March 28, 2023

Hello Friend, March 28th marks Universal Acceptance Day (UA Day) and the world is coming together to raise awareness about the importance of Universal Acceptance (UA). UASG efforts to promote UA and ensure everyone can access the internet equally are likely to make significant impact. Universal Acceptance is the idea that all domain names and email addresses, regardless of the script or language they are written in, should be treated equally. This means that websites, email providers, and other online services should be able to recognize and accept all domain names and email addresses, including those in non-Latin scripts. This year’s UA Day global event is being hosted in India by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI, lead by CEO Anil Kumar Jain), which manages 22 Indian language domain names and the .in top-level domain. India is a country where UA is particularly important, with over 22 official languages and a diverse population that requires equal access to online services. Minister of Electronics & IT and Railways Ashwani Vaishnav ji and State Minister of Electronics &;IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar ji are going to inaugurate the UA day from India. Secretary Ministry of Electronics and IT Sh. Alkesh Sharma ji wrote an article on UA which was published today in India’s leading news portal. Link is below. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/why-universal-acceptance-i… Below are some links to important sessions happening for UA day and everyone globally can access and take part in this historical movement. 27th March 2023 Curtain Raiser @ 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM IST Join: https://nixi1.webex.com/nixi1/j.php?MTID=mde3bec7b5838885d778aea0063422bff Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/bpuGM7Z5M1U?feature=share 28th March 2023 Inaugural @ 10:15 AM- 11:15 AM IST Join: https://nixi1.webex.com/nixi1/j.php?MTID=m335957dea712ec5145fccdd21f56067c Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/xXeI7iMPbr0?feature=share Valedictory Session @ 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM IST Join: https://nixi1.webex.com/nixi1/j.php?MTID=m46d31cb302bb266309f6303ed56d9799 Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/MSsif0yV348?feature=share You may visit https://globaluaday.in/ for more detailed agenda and links to access the event. I look forward for your participation in Global UA day event and also nearby event to you which can be found on UASG.tech website. Please spread the knowledge about this UA day event as much as possible. I must thank everyone involved to make this happen , an Idea turned into reality with largest multistakeholder event. See you soon physically or virtually. Best wishes. Dr. Ajay Data Chair – UA Day @ajaydata on twitter -- Sent from my Android device with XGen Email.

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New UA-Readiness Survey Results
by Jane Sexton March 27, 2023

March 27, 2023

Hi All – ICANN has just published a blog on the results of the UA-readiness surveys it conducted with contracted parties and ccTLDs. You can read it here: https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/new-surveys-by-icann-assess-the-ua-r… Individual survey reports are available here: * Contracted parties<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/ua-readiness-survey-report-cps-…> * ccTLDs<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/ua-readiness-survey-report-cctl…> Best, Jane -- Jane Sexton Communications, Global Domains and Strategy Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Mobile: +1 310 570 7293 Slack: jane.sexton www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>

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UA Day events - Live
by Seda Akbulut March 27, 2023

March 27, 2023

Dear all, As you know UA Day events started all around the world. This week, we will have multiple UA Day events too. To see the list of all events and attend those, please visit https://universalacceptance.day/ Today and tomorrow the Anchor UA Day Event in New Delhi, India is going on live https://globaluaday.in/ua-day-event-agenda/ Below is the agenda and remote participation links. Please kindly see the UA Day events in your region or country and attend those too (https://universalacceptance.day/) Event date - 27th March 2023 Venue - FICCI, Federation house, FICCI, Federation House, Tansen Marg, Todermal Road Area, Mandi House, New Delhi, Delhi 110001 Session Detail Time Technical Session - Making your website Universal Acceptance ready: Way Forward 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM Live Workshop Session - Workshop on Making Your email platform UA Ready 12:15 AM - 01:15 PM Curtain Raiser 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM IDN’s and EAI in Indian Languages – Outlook and Overview 04:00 PM - 05:25 PM Webex https://nixi1.webex.com/nixi1/j.php?MTID=m1651c2ef53072dbf5a3b4d3768457c45 You Tube Live https://youtube.com/live/zwyKaqBIG1E?feature= share<https://youtube.com/live/zwyKaqBIG1E?feature=share> Event date - 28th March 2023 Venue - Manekshaw Center, Khyber Lines, Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi, Delhi 110010 Session Detail Time Inaugural 10:15 AM - 11:18 AM Panel Discussion Session on “Socio-Economic aspects of UA and Multilingual Internet and its impact on public policy” 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM Panel Discussion Session on “Technology enablement for universal acceptance - challenges and mitigation” 12:20 PM - 01:05 PM Case study 01:10 PM - 02:00 PM Bhashini and Multilingual Internet 03:00 PM - 03:50 PM Valedictory Session 04:00 PM - 04:43 PM We look forward to your participation. Kind regards, Seda

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Register for Global event of UA Day
by ajay＠data.in March 23, 2023

March 23, 2023

Hello Everyone, As you all know we are approaching towards celebrating UA day on 28th March. This global event is being planned in Delhi, India. NIXI under the guidance of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India is hosting the first Global UA Day in India on 28th March, 2023. The programme is supported by ICANN and UASG at Global level. There are also technical sessions planned on 27th March. CEO NIXI Anil Kumar Jain, also our communication Chair of UASG is passionately organising this event in India. Thank you Anil ji for hosting this global event. The event on 27th March 2023 at FICCI Auditorium and 28th March 2023 at Manekshaw Center in Delhi. It will be broadcasted at a global level virtually. Thank you Sarika for helping this organise in FICCI auditorium. The event will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, academia, technical community members, and other key stakeholders to discuss the importance of UA in ensuring a truly inclusive digital landscape for India and the world at large. India is a flag bearer in promoting and promulgating UA, which reduces language barriers to the Internet for larger populations and hence bring the citizens in the ambit of economic progress. The event shall see the presence of senior ICANN official’s including Board members Ms. Tripti Sinha-Chair, Edmon Chung, and Ms. Sally Costerton, CEO, ICANN. The event shall also see the presence of IGF leadership Panel Members Honourable Mr. Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Secretary to the Government (India) and Mr. Vinton G. Cerf Co-Designer of TCP/IP protocols and architecture of the Internet, Co-Founder, Internet Society (United States of America) The event will be graced by the Honourable Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information technology, Honourable Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information technology along with senior government officials from Government of India, and State governments. Importance of Universal Acceptance will be highlighted in front of Global Community, bridging the gap of digital divide between rural and urban population. We anticipate your gracious presence and participation in the event. Kindly register using the link - https://globaluaday.in/registration/ Thank you in advance for your consideration, and we very much look forward to your participation. Best wishes. Ajay Data Chair - UASG -- Sent from my Android device with XGen Email.

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New UA Videos Online
by Seda Akbulut March 23, 2023

March 23, 2023

Dear all, Two new videos have been posted online recently: An ICANN video with Theresa Swinehart is now online: https://twitter.com/ICANN/status/1638569440575889413?s=20 And Hadia Elminiawi’s video: https://twitter.com/UASGTech/status/1638257131827654685?s=20 Please share on your channels with your network! Also please look for the new videos on UASGTech social media channels soon. Follow @UASGTech on social media https://twitter.com/UASGTech https://www.facebook.com/uasgtech/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/uasgtech/ Kind regards, Seda Akbulut

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Question for UASG Chair candidates: what are strategic obstacles blocking UA?
by Jim DeLaHunt March 23, 2023

March 23, 2023

Satish Babu and Anil Kumar Jain: Thank you for offering yourselves as candidates to be the next chair of the UASG. Both of you are clearly committed to Universal Acceptance. Both of you have a track record of working diligently to achieve that goal. I applaud that. Before I vote, I would appreciate reading a brief summary of your thoughts on this question: What are the most important strategic obstacles blocking Universal Acceptance currently? Please copy ua-discuss on your reply. Others might be interested in your thoughts. And, it might spark an interesting discussion on the list. I understand that we have until 2023-03-27 02:59 UTC to vote. I hope that I might see your replies before then. I realise that you are probably both busy with the preparations for UA Day, so there is not time for a long and detailed reply. Something brief is fine. Thank you, and best regards, —Jim DeLaHunt, Vancouver, Canada -- --Jim DeLaHunt,jdlh(a)jdlh.com http://blog.jdlh.com/ (http://jdlh.com/) multilingual websites consultant, Vancouver, Canada

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