The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is hosting the second annual Universal Acceptance (UA) Day, in partnership with the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation (RNIDS) and the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG). The main event will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 28, 2024, with supporting events worldwide from March to May.
UA Day aims to promote the adoption of Universal Acceptance, ensuring that all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of language, script, or character length, can be used equally across the internet. The initiative seeks to create a more inclusive digital environment, especially for the next billion internet users who predominantly speak languages other than English.
The event will feature a mix of virtual and in-person sessions targeting various stakeholders, including technical communities, tech companies, governments, academia, and DNS industry stakeholders. These sessions will raise awareness about the importance of UA and provide training on making systems UA-ready.
ICANN's Interim President and CEO, Sally Costerton, emphasized the significance of global UA adoption for creating a more inclusive internet.
To support UA Day, ICANN and the UASG will host technical sessions for software developers, email providers, and others interested in becoming UA-ready. The goal is to mobilize the internet community and technical stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of UA globally.
For more information on UA Day and UA, interested parties can visit ICANN's website or the UASG website and follow the hashtag #Internet4All on various social media platforms.
ICANN's mission is to ensure a stable, secure, and unified global internet by coordinating and supporting unique identifiers worldwide. RNIDS manages Serbia's top-level domains (.rs and Cyrillic .срб) and plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth operation of the country's internet infrastructure. The UASG, supported by ICANN, is a community-led initiative focused on raising awareness of UA and assisting organizations in becoming UA-ready.
Overall, UA Day 2024 aims to promote a more multilingual and digitally inclusive internet by encouraging the widespread adoption of Universal Acceptance principles.
Click here to know more about UA Day 2024.