4.7. ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN) is an internationally organised, not-for-profit public-benefit corporation, developing and implementing policies for unique identifiers on the internet to keep it secure, stable, and interoperable. Through a bottom-up, consensus driven and multi stakeholder approach, the  ICANN develops policies for the management of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, protocol Identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) domains and root servers.

The ICANN is working on knowledge-sharing and instantiating norms for the DNS and Naming Security (KINDNS). These guidelines encouraged the adoption of operators on the DNS security best practices. On a regular basis, the ICANN Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) authors and publishes OCTO Publications to present positions on various topics in relation to internet identifiers.

4.7.1. How to engage in standards development at ICANN

African Regional At-Large Organisation (AFRALO) aims to strengthen end users’ participation in ICANN decision and policy-making, formulating technical standards  with specific focus on the areas of privacy, transparency, and accountability, taking into account cultural diversity and global public interests.  AFRALO currently consists of 68 At-Large Structures (ALSes) located in 32 countries and territories, as well as 16 Individual Members and three Observers.

AFRALO provides members with news, resources, capacity development and information sharing tools for the development of the ICTs, and contributes to policy activities that influence the technical coordination of the Domain Name Systems. AFRALO and AfriCANN maintains a statements workspace reference to work at various ICANN meetings.
ICANN offers courses and organises webinars to support the building of capacities in policy making and evolution of standards, and to share best practices. In particular,  DNS 101 and DNSSEC 101 are recommended for policy makers.