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Qatar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that supports the development of the domain name industry and Internationalised Domain Names in the region. |
HE Minister of Information and Communications Technology Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber signed the MoU with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) president Fadi Chehadé during a high-level government meeting at ICANN’s 50th Public Meeting held in London.
The MoU calls for the co-operation of all sides to support the development of the domain name industry and Internationalised Domain Names (such as those in Arabic scripts) in the region, as well as to promote the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance.
The agreement also calls for the collaboration in joint projects and activities in areas related to ICANN’s mission and mandate.
“We are pleased to have a strategic partnership with ICANN to enhance our national efforts in positioning Qatar as a prominent player in the global digital economy. Qatar will also support ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model and globalisation efforts to ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to everyone,” the ICT minister said.
Al-Jaber said the US government’s decision to transfer its oversight function on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the global multi-stakeholder community and the internationalisation of the ICANN functions “is a historic moment for the evolution and governance of the Internet.”
“We are looking forward to this new management model that will preserve the core critical functions of the Internet, which should be global, transparent, multi-stakeholder, and free of control from a single entity,” she added.
“This decision is to be applauded and our aim is to actively work towards the completion of this process, which we hope to be open, fair, engaging, representative, and reflective of the global geographical diversity. Regardless of the sector we come from, whether it’s governmental, technical, social or academic, we should all work together, not only to maintain the current state of the Internet but to also move forward to keep the Internet as an open, interoperable, secure, and safe platform for all users.”
The meeting was attended by 30 ministers from across the globe. The MoU signing highlights ICANN’s continuous regional engagement among different stakeholders in promoting the DNS industry and the Internet governance multi-stakeholder approach nationally, regionally, and globally.
