APNIC participated at ICANN 60, the third meeting of the year in the ICANN meeting cycle and the Annual General Meeting for 2017, held from 28 October to 2 November, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
ICANN 60 welcomed 1,909 attendees to 325 public sessions, including 63 fellows, and 704 newcomers. Much of the discussion focused on data protection and privacy rules, such as the European General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and their impact on the current and future use of whois databases. There was also heated debate on the terms of reference and scope of the Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS (SSR2) Review Team work.
ICANN 60 also commemorated outgoing ICANN Board Chair, Steve Crocker, for his many years of service to ICANN, including seven as Chair. He received the 2017 Leadership Award.
Thank you doesn’t seem enough to honor all you have done for the global Internet community. Steve Crocker, we will miss you. #ICANN60 pic.twitter.com/tSZM8rNLJa
— ICANN (@ICANN) October 31, 2017
During the opening ceremony on Monday, 30 October, Alan Barrett on behalf of NRO EC Chair, John Curran, spoke about the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), the ASO Review, and the Internet Technology Health Indicators (ITHI) project. Watch a video of Alan’s presentation.
The ASO elects two members of the Board of ICANN, with seat 9 up for election in 2018. Nominations are open now for this seat, currently held by Ron da Silva, however, this time, nominees cannot be from the Asia Pacific.
APNIC activities
Two Executive Council members, Kenny Huang and Rajesh Chharia, and two APNIC staff members, Geoff Huston and Pablo Hinojosa, attended ICANN. Some of the sessions they attended include:
- ASO
- Joint Meeting between the ASO and SSR2 Review Team as part of outreach activities by the SSR2 Review Team on security, stability, and resiliency issues
- Joint meeting of the ASO AC and the NRO EC, to discuss matters including the ASO Review
- Joint meeting of the ICANN Board and ASO/NRO where topics of discussion included the ASO review process and ICANN’s work on ITHI. Watch a video of the session
- GAC
- Public Safety and Underserved Regions Working Groups
- Joint Meeting between GAC and the ICANN Board
- Other
- APRALO General Assembly
- New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross-Constituency Working Group
- Public Forum and Board meeting
- Tribute to Steve Crocker
APNIC staff attended multiple face-to-face meetings with government representatives, including Australia, China, India, Nepal, and Singapore. They also had meetings with representatives from ICANN, ARIN, LACNIC, the RIPE NCC, APASA, the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Schools and Academies of Internet Governance, and the APRALO community.
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