ICANN at 25: More Important Than Ever

Collectively, we have come a long way together since the early days of [the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] ICANN. In fact, this year marks the 25th anniversary of ICANN. As someone who was around for those early days, it’s amazing to think about how much the Internet has changed. When ICANN began in 1998, there were less than 150 million people on the Internet. Now, there are roughly 5 billion. The Internet continues to work properly for people worldwide because of the technical and policy coordination that happens at ICANN. This is a testament to the success of the multistakeholder system of Internet governance. Multistakeholder processes can sometimes be slow-going. Their outcomes are hard earned. They incorporate the views and expertise of the technical community, industry, and civil society, alongside governments. But that’s a feature, not a bug: The products of multistakeholder cooperation are far more durable for the global Internet than top-down regulation.It is more important than ever that we commit to this multistakeholder approach: People of good faith, from diverse perspectives, coming together in the spirit of collegiality to solve problems of common interest. It is not an exaggeration to say the Internet would not exist without it. The Internet we want – one that enables fundamental freedoms and promotes innovation – depends on the success of the multistakeholder approach at work at places like ICANN.