Let’s also remember Don Hollander and Ram Mohan. I think Don was probably the initiator of the thing at ICANN, and Ram was the first Chair. From: Raymond Mamattah via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org> Sent: Saturday, May 3, 2025 2:59 To: Jeffrey Joseph via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org> Subject: [EXTERNAL] [UA-discuss] Re: New way forward Hi all, Let's face the fact! UASG has come to an end! There won't be any staff and budget support as it was clearly stated in the announcement. Let's make this clear to our members. However, UA activities will continue with a new UA expert group in place. This is simple and clear, UASG has come to an end. As someone mentioned, could we those who were in the leadership team have done something way better and could have given UA a renewed hope and assurance of our continuity. We need to do a self reflection. Personally, it's not a good feeling that I have been part of the leadership on whose end a new structure of UASG is being done. I personally feel something wasn't done right, hence the need for a new format of the leadership structure. However, I'm happy the initiative of the UA Day that Ajay led to start has become one of the biggest spark in ICANN by far! Once again let me reiterate what I mentioned before: let's push forward the idea of Dr. Ajay UA Award. This will be awarded yearly to an individual or an entity that's making great impacts in UA implementations, awareness creation and adoption. Fact be said it was Dr. Ajay's idea for UA Day that has now become a global celebration. At @Seda, I hope we can push this idea forward. To conclude, while we celebrate the continuity of UA activities, let's do a reflection if we could have done better in order for UASG (to clarify UASG is the leadership structure of UA) not to be scrapped in its current form. Cheers, Raymond Mamattah Accra, Ghana 🇬🇭 On Sat, 3 May 2025, 07:16 anil Jain via UA-discuss, <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> wrote: Dear Nitin/ all, I fully endorsed Nitin. Changes are always scary but let us move forward with positive mindset. Anil Sent from my iPhone On 3 May 2025, at 11:14, Nitin Walia via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> wrote: Dear UA Community Members, Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I would like to express some of my personal views in individual capacity. As we know, the UASG was created with a clear vision and purpose. The UASG Charter mentioned that ICANN formed the Steering Group to drive Universal Acceptance efforts over a period of 10 years. It was also stated that the Steering Group would continue as a standing body, with its membership evolving over time. In my opinion, the recent blog by ICANN President and CEO gives a very positive message about the way forward for Universal Acceptance. UASG has completed an important 10-year journey and has made a significant impact. Of course, we have seen some challenges over the years, but I believe many of these will be addressed in the next phase, through the restructuring. One very encouraging point is that ICANN is not stepping away, but actually planning a new structure and approach to make the UA efforts more effective. Starting from 1 July 2025 (ICANN FY26), several changes will be implemented. Among these, a new UA Expert Working Group will be formed, which will guide ICANN’s UA work. This group will include invited experts and members nominated by Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. Also, it is good to note that UASG’s contributions will be formally recognized during ICANN83 in Prague (9–12 June 2025), and a full report will be published to highlight the achievements of the past decade. At the same time, ICANN will continue engaging with many active community groups such as the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), GNSO, ccNSO, GAC, and SSAC, especially on UA- and IDN-related matters. This shows that community involvement remains very important in this journey towards a more UA-ready and inclusive Internet. I strongly feel that this is not the end of UASG’s mission, but rather a new beginning with a refreshed approach. The core values remain the same – to make the Internet accessible and inclusive, regardless of language, script, or region. In the end, UA is more than a technical issue – it is essential for enabling a truly multilingual Internet and ensuring that every user can fully participate online, in their own language and script. The ICANN Board and org remain committed to this goal, and so should we Let us all stay positive, united, and continue our community-driven efforts. It is better to wait for further announcements from ICANN before jumping to any conclusions. The journey of UA continues — just in a new direction. Warm Regards Nitin Walia | Director Data Ingenious Global Limited Tel: +91-141-2554970 Fax: +91-141-2554972 LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitinwalia> Twitter<https://twitter.com/nitinwalia> nitin@data.in<mailto:nitin@data.in> | नितिन@डाटा.भारत<mailto:नितिन@डाटा.भारत> | https://<https://dil.in/>data.in <https://dil.in/>Celebrating 25 Years of Innovation and Excellence<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfvgegx8Uf8> VC: https://bridge01.videomeet.in<https://cdm5r.app.goo.gl/videomeet> - room: nitin pwd: 10000 Get email id like me in your own language, download DATAMAIL app from your iOS or android play store. भाषाकीआजादी - Bridging the Digital Divide, Getting Next billion online ________________________________ From: Raymond Mamattah via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> MailId : [148203756] To: anil Jain <asdj1990@gmail.com<mailto:asdj1990@gmail.com>> Cc: UASG discuss list <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> Subject: [UA-discuss] Re: New way forward Date: 03 May 2025 03:22:17 AM "UASG Support With the focus changing to implementation work, ICANN will no longer provide funding or staff support to the UASG after June 2025. We will work closely with the UASG on this transition, including ensuring the document library and other valuable resources remain readily available. The UASG was formed by the community in 2015, to "drive action over the course of the next 10 years," as governed by its charter<https://uasg.tech/uasg-charter/>, with the coordination and support of ICANN. And per their request, ICANN org has supported the UASG with these resources for 10 years. We plan to continue to support the UA Local Initiatives and are also looking at how the UA Ambassador program may be supported by ICANN org for technical UA training. The UASG`s many accomplishments will be celebrated during ICANN83, which will be held in Prague, 9–12 June 2025. A report highlighting the UASG work will also be published." The end of UASG! Some of us saw it coming, so I am not surprised. We keep the memories of UASG and all that we have achieved by far. Notably is the UA Day which was proposed during the tenure of Dr Ajay This UA Day has now become a global event which I believe will stay on for long. Thanks to all the friends we made through UASG! Regards, Raymond Mamattah [linkedin]<https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-selorm-mamattah/> [facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/selorm.mamattah> [twitter] <https://twitter.com/RMamattah> Accra, Ghana From: Jim DeLaHunt via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> MailId : [148203586] To: ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org> Subject: [UA-discuss] Re: New way forward Date: 03 May 2025 02: 50:36 AM On 2025-05-02 03:56, anil Jain via UA-discuss wrote: Dear UA community members, Please recall my earlier email updating you all regarding resolution by ICANN Board praising efforts of UASG in last 10 years in ICANN82 at Seattle. In continuous to that ICANN Org has issued following blog for your information. Universal Acceptance: Aligning Resources and the Path Forward<https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> icann.org<https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> <https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> <favicon.ico><https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> For those of you who would be glad not to click through the link, I will summarise what jumped out at me from this blog post. It is by Kurtis Lindqvist, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN. "Notably, many software developers, email service providers, businesses, and governments are now aware of UA and aiming to become UA-ready. Concurrently, ICANN has increased its staff to support technical work for this evolving dynamic.… [T]he focus [is] changing to implementation work…." "ICANN will no longer provide funding or staff support to the UASG after June 2025." [ICANN] "will work closely with the UASG on this transition, including ensuring the document library and other valuable resources remain readily available." "We plan to continue to support the UA Local Initiatives and are also looking at how the UA Ambassador program may be supported by ICANN org for technical UA training." "ICANN will continue to support UA Day, in collaboration with UNESCO, and with support from the ICANN community.… The main UA Day 2025 event<https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/register-now-apac-dns-forum-2...> will be held on 8 May in Hanoi, Vietnam." "ICANN will establish an Expert Working Group to provide guidance for ICANN`s work on UA adoption. This group will include invited members and nominated representatives from Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees Additional information will be shared within the next few weeks." Timeframe: "ICANN plans to implement several changes at the start of ICANN`s 2026 fiscal year, which begins on 1 July 2025." My reaction? I am very committed to the value and importance of achieving Universal Acceptance. Shutting down UASG will not slow progress towards UA very much, because UASG has become mostly ineffective at improving UA. We spent a lot of energy on a lot of things, but improving UA was not one of them. I am grateful to the ICANN staff who have supported UASG, and I hope they find other assignments which are even more rewarding. I encourage all the UASG community members who were using UASG as their vehicle to improve the world, to keep your commitment strong, and to find different vehicles to improve the world. Your efforts still matter. And, my sleep schedule will be glad to have fewer meetings at 13:00 UTC :-). Best regards, —Jim DeLaHunt, Vancouver, Canada -- --Jim DeLaHunt, jdlh@jdlh.com<mailto:jdlh@jdlh.com> http://blog.jdlh.com/ (http://jdlh.com/) multilingual websites consultant, Vancouver, Canada On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 10:57 AM anil Jain via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> wrote: Dear UA community members, Please recall my earlier email updating you all regarding resolution by ICANN Board praising efforts of UASG in last 10 years in ICANN82 at Seattle. In continuous to that ICANN Org has issued following blog for your information. Universal Acceptance: Aligning Resources and the Path Forward<https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> icann.org<https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> <https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> <favicon.ico><https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/universal-acceptance-aligning-resourc...> With Best Regards, Anil Kumar Jain Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ UA-discuss mailing list -- ua-discuss@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org> To unsubscribe send an email to ua-discuss-leave@icann.org<mailto:ua-discuss-leave@icann.org> _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). 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