[Eighth of eight commentaries in a sub-series on ICANN and Internet governance]

The last few years have seen a growing consensus that international institutions need to be more transparent and inclusive, and they must engage with stakeholders as part of their policy-making processes. Since its inception, ICANN has been the subject of much criticism (some of it deserved), including its failure to include African stakeholders in its work in a real way. Several organizations -- ICANN among them -- have responded by opening their doors to civil society groups and disseminating their work more openly to reach a wider audience. And ICANN has recently made a concerted effort to elevate African participation in its work, in particular at its annual meeting in Cape Town last year.

Because of new technologies there is an unprecedented opportunity for widespread stakeholder participation: websites, online discussion lists and other ICT tools are ushering in this new era, and raising the bar for the kind of stakeholder engagement that is possible. But two conditions are necessary: (1) stakeholders must be informed and interested, and (2) they must be able to use the technology to participate. These pre-conditions do not currently exist in most African countries.

In addition, many funders have stepped up with financial resources to support stakeholder groups to send representatives to international meetings. But getting stakeholders to show up at a meeting is not enough. In order for African stakeholders to influence policies concerning the management of the Domain Name System (DNS) and its related functions, their representatives need to be better prepared on the issues, with depth of knowledge about how the Internet works, how the DNS is structured, who the main players are, and where the political tensions lie. And African representatives must participate consistently, so they can build their expertise along with their network of contacts.

Some commentators argue that the lack of capacity and resources to participate in technical and political policy-making processes is the most critical issue for Africa in the discussion of ICANN and Internet governance more generally. ICANN tends to be dominated by big companies and powerful governments that are represented at the meetings by leading experts in the field who know how to lobby effectively for their interests and views. Practical limitations make it difficult for African stakeholders to participate in meaningful ways in existing policy-making systems: from a lack of technical expertise, time, and the financial resources needed to participate in policy-making processes, to the fact that so much international policy-making takes place in Northern-based institutions. There is no quick fix for these issues.

Improving African participation is something that needs to be accomplished across all sectors (government, business, civil society, academic institutions, and technical community), through education and awareness-raising on the one hand, and better funding mechanisms on the other. These are systemic issues that require a long-term view in solutions. Initiatives like the Catalyzing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) program have taken up this issue, including through support to efforts like CIPESA and others that are aimed at helping to give stakeholders the information they need to take advantage of the increasing opportunities to participate.

[NB: This issue has been under discussion for a long time, and was perhaps best articulated by the Louder Voices report in 2002, which looked at strengthening developing country participation in international ICT decision-making.

What Do You Think?

• Do you feel that the lack of capacity and resources to participate in technical and political policy-making processes is the most critical issue for Africa in the discussion of ICANN?
• What do you think can be done to improve the meaningful participation of African stakeholders in ICANN policy processes?
• What can initiatives like CIPESA do to help?

Please share your views with us via email or post them in the "comments" box under this commentary. (Email responses will be posted to the website too.)

Want to know more about ICANN and Africa?

See the CIPESA public briefing on ICANN, Internet governance and Africa, 7 October.

Acronyms Used Here

• ICANN = Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers