[AfrICANN-discuss] Fellowship Program Brings Global Voices Together at ICANN

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

Fellowship Program Brings Global Voices Together at ICANN

Fellows announced for Los Angeles meeting, application round for New Delhi
now open

24 October 2007

* * *MARINA DEL REY, Calif.*: Global input and ideas will be on the rise at
the 30th International Public Meeting of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers thanks to ICANN's on-going fellowship program.

"The fellowship program is a real testament to the importance ICANN places
on increased participation from the developing and least developed world,"
said Theresa Swinehart, ICANN's Vice President, Global and Strategic
Partnerships. "Reaching out to the global community, we saw a desire to be a
part of the key discussions that take place at our meetings, but some
countries and Internet users just didn't have the resources to attend. The
fellowship program helps bridge that gap."

For the Los Angeles Meeting, there are 24 fellows from 22 countries, chosen
from 167 applications received. Seven of the fellows are alumni from the
trial program launched in San Juan last June; five are candidates who had to
defer from the San Juan meeting, eight fellows are first-time attendees to
an ICANN meeting and the remaining four have attended past meetings, but are
first time fellows. An additional 9 Los Angeles candidates opted to defer to
the New Delhi meeting in February 2008.

Applications for the 31st ICANN International Public Meeting in India will
go online 24 October 2007 and will be accepted until 1200 PDT (UTC -7) on
Monday 26 November 2007. More information, as well as a link to the
application for a fellowship, is available online at:
http://www.icann.org/fellowships/.

When applications are assessed by an independent selection committee,
priority is given to applicants who are current residents of developing or
least developed nations interested in participating in ICANN and its
supporting organizations, such as the Governmental Advisory Committee, the
Country Code Names Supporting Organization, and the Generic Names Supporting
Organization.

The fellowship will assist in covering airfare, hotel and a stipend.
Recipients will be expected to actively participate in and contribute to
ICANN processes. As always, registration for ICANN's meetings is free for
anyone wanting to attend. The New Delhi meeting will be held from 10-15
February 2008.

"We have seen the fellowship recipients in action at our San Juan meeting
this past June – and they added a great deal to the discussions," Swinehart
added. "ICANN is in the middle of major initiatives around new top-level
domains, the introduction of internationalized domain names, to name just
two, and the fellowship program has a key role in making sure we get the
broadest possible input on these matters."

*About ICANN: *

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of
unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes
like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that
help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of
these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global
stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's
ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized,
public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit:
www.icann.org.

*Media Contacts: *

Jason Keenan
Media Adviser, ICANN (USA)
Ph: +1 310 382 4004
E: jason.keenan at icann.org

International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson at edelman.com
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