[NCSG-EC] ICANN 61 report - reg

[babul films society]

Dear colleagues,Please find below my report for ICANN 61.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” - Benjamin Franklin

The key to learning at ICANN is getting involved. The deeper one engages, wider the knowledge one gains, for ICANN is nothing short of an ocean! How much water you fetch depends on the size of the pot you carry! 

I attended ICANN 61, held at San Juan Puerto Rico from 10-15 March 2018, as ExCom member of NPOC and NCSG. During the conference I was able to attend numerous sessions. I focused on the ones involving NPOC, NCSG, IDN and USAG.

The NPOC and NCSG sessions helped me figure out the importance of Non Commercial stakeholders in the use of Internet, especially the Domain Names.  I also attended the general sessions, roundtables, Cross-community sessions, constitueny day sessions, Outreach/Inreach and public forum meetings. These aided me expand my awareness of overall ICANN functioning with historical perspective, the Multi-Stakeholder model, WHOIS, Privacy and Digital Rights, Internet and social issues like human rights etc., Content regulation, the current issues and Policy. The Q&As in the Public Forums with the Board were very interesting viz., ones related to GDPR and different models, budget issues. I was drawn by discussions about budgetary impact by unlocking the potential of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) leading to healthy competition, better choice for users and scope for creativity in the domain name landscape, etc.,


I participated in the review of NPOC charter. Whenever the NPOC ExCom team could squeeze in time; we found a suitable place, huddled together and did our job. The collective efforts resulted in a consensus based charter nearing the end of its making.


By attending the sessions involving IDN and interacting with the seniors, I could develop the perspective of the work I am doing -  Neo-Brahmi Generation Panel NBGP [ Telugu script] – what difference it is going to make when 20% of the world population, now deprived of internet, gets access by using their native scripts in the domain names! The various steps in the process of approving nine scripts from Indian sub-continent has become clear to me.

As regards UASG, I understood the concept of Universal Acceptance and took up the task of translating the UASG documents into Telugu. I improved my understanding of a multilingual Internet and how to keep pace with an evolving domain name system. The future, where users around the world, can navigate entirely in local languages excites me much. Equality should apply for Domain Names too!


The networking breaks and receptions were a good opportunity to interact and know more about people and subjects. I got exposure to the process of the conference and the technologies involved. To quote an example, the way how a team works towards consensus with a range of conflicting issues was a learning experience for me. Without attending ICANN61, this knowledge gain would not have been possible.


Some delegates had issues with my accent, inter-personal communication which to some extent impacted on my productivity. With the identification of areas for improvement and addressing the same, I will be able to concentrate more on the agenda in the future conferences.


I am looking forward to serve the cause of ICANN more effectively in future. 
With best wishesGangadhar Panday

Presidentwww.babul.ngo - Babul Films Society NGO - #ICT4Advocacy Finalist eNGO Challenge South Asia 2013 & 2015; SM4E 2017.Membership Coordinator NPOC-ICANNActor - http://www.imdb.me/ gangadharpanday
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