February 23, 2023, 11am-12:30pm
ICANN Independence, Seven Years On
In 2023, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding and the 7th anniversary of its transition to independence from the United States government. The 2016 transition ended the contract under which ICANN performed the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions subject to US government stewardship; created a free-standing organization that is accountable primarily to its multistakeholder community; and constituted a significant change in the international regime for Internet names and numbers. In light of its dual anniversaries, it is timely to take stock of ICANN’s progress as a unique global governance mechanism that manages functions essential to the global digital economy and society.
This webinar takes up the challenge by assembling a panel of leading experts who have been deeply involved in ICANN processes. The group will consider such questions as: the transition’s geopolitical, interest group, and institutional consequences; the implementation of ICANN’s accountability framework and of Public Technical Identifiers, the ICANN affiliate created to manage the IANA functions (most notably coordination of the Internet's unique identifiers); the challenges ICANN and its community have faced in responding to new pressures from technological change, industry demands, and government policies; ICANN’s role and engagement in the wider global Internet governance ecosystem; and the lessons of its experience for the future of multistakeholder cooperation in global Internet and digital governance.
As always, the panelists’ conversation will be followed by an open dialogue among all participants.
Moderator
William J. Drake, Director of International Studies at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
Roundtable Panelists :
Olga Cavalli, National Director of Cybersecurity in the Chief of Cabinet of the President of Argentina, and former Undersecretary of Information Technology and advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Argentina)
James Gannon, Chair of the Board of Directors of Public Technical Identifiers, and Vice President of Quality, Trust & Safety at the PharmaLedger Association (Ireland)
Milton Mueller, Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Public Policy, and Director of the School's Internet Governance Project (USA)