ICANN to Bring Technical Expertise, Global Perspectives to IGF 2026

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will participate in the 21st Internet Governance Forum (IGF), taking place from 14-18 December 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. ICANN will contribute technical and operational expertise through discussions on Internet governance, multistakeholder cooperation, digital inclusion, and efforts to support a single, secure, stable, and globally interoperable Internet.

Held under the theme "Governing the Internet in the Age of Intelligence: Our Shared Responsibility," the IGF 2026 will be the first global IGF following the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) and the decision to make the IGF a permanent United Nations forum. The meeting offers an opportunity to build on that commitment and examine how cooperation among governments, businesses, civil society, academia, and the technical community will continue to support the Internet's development.

ICANN contributes to this cooperation through its role in coordinating the Internet's unique identifier systems using a multistakeholder model. Its participation at the IGF 2026 will highlight why technical expertise, dialogue, and coordination across different stakeholders remain essential to the Internet's stability, security, and interoperability.

With the global IGF returning to Nairobi for the first time since 2011, the meeting also provides an opportunity to highlight ICANN's ongoing work with partners in Kenya and across Africa. This includes collaboration on technical capacity development, strengthening the Domain Name System ecosystem, and expanding participation in the Internet's development. ICANN's work with partners through the Coalition for Digital Africa is one example of this wider regional engagement.

At ICANN's Open Forum, "Expanding Participation in the Internet Ecosystem," participants will discuss how people from different regions, stakeholder groups, and communities can contribute to the processes that support the Internet's operation and evolution. ICANN leadership will join panelists from community stakeholder groups to explore opportunities to strengthen technical capacity, community engagement, and multistakeholder cooperation - and how the views gathered from the IGF can help inform discussions in relevant U.N. processes. The discussion will draw on experience from Africa and initiatives including the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, Internationalized Domain Names, and the Coalition for Digital Africa.

ICANN will also organize a workshop on "Enabling a Multilingual Internet by Advancing Universal Acceptance, and How AI Can Contribute" to help advance linguistic vibrancy on the Internet. Although technical standards support domain names and email addresses in different languages and scripts, many websites and applications still cannot process them correctly. The workshop will examine the technical and capacity barriers to Universal Acceptance adoption, how AI tools could help developers update their systems, and how governments, businesses, civil society, and local communities can contribute to creating a more multilingual Internet.

ICANN Participation at IGF 2026

Monday, 14 December
9:00-11:00 EAT (6:00-8:00 UTC)

Day 0 Event #77: Catalyzing Governmental Participation in Internet Governance

A panel session organized by the African Telecommunications Union in partnership with ICANN under the Coalition for Digital Africa, the Internet Society, International Telecommunication Union, and the Communications Authority of Kenya.

Tuesday, 15 December
13:30-14:30 EAT (10:30-11:30 UTC)

Workshop #68: Enabling a Multilingual Internet by Advancing Universal Acceptance, and How AI Can Contribute

This session will explore progress and remaining challenges in advancing a more multilingual Internet through Universal Acceptance (UA). Experts from across stakeholder groups will discuss how AI tools can help accelerate UA adoption by making applications and systems UA-ready. Theresa Swinehart, ICANN's SVP of Global Domains & Strategy, will be a speaker.

Thursday, 17 December
16:30-17:30 EAT (13:30-14:30 UTC)

Open Forum #18: Expanding Participation in the Internet Ecosystem

A discussion highlighting practical initiatives that lower barriers to participation, foster local digital ecosystems, and enable all communities to contribute to the Internet ecosystem. ICANN President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist will be speaking.

Join the Discussion

ICANN invites IGF participants to join its sessions and contribute to the discussions. For registration, session information, and program updates, visit the IGF website.

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