[cooperation-wg] ICANN 60 Update: RIPE NCC and EURALO Sign MoU

Dear colleagues, 

Following is a brief report on the RIPE NCC’s participation in the ICANN 60 meeting. Many others in the RIPE community are also involved in ICANN discussions, and it would be useful to hear how those might be relevant to the RIPE community. 

Happy to answer any questions that might come out of this report. This report is also available online at: 
https://www.ripe.net/publications/news/industry-developments/icann-60-update-ripe-ncc-and-euralo-sign-mou

Best regards,

Chris Buckridge
External Relations Manager
RIPE NCC

------

The ICANN 60 Annual General Meeting took place from 23 October to 3 November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, starting just a day after the RIPE 75 Meeting wrapped up in Dubai. The event marked the first full ICANN meeting in the Middle East and an opportunity for to meet and engage with Internet stakeholders from that region and beyond. 

While ICANN policy discussions have been relatively light on number-related discussions, particularly since the conclusion of the IANA stewardship transition in 2016, staff from the RIPE NCC, RIPE community members and others from the global number community took part at ICANN 60, with the focus on a number of specific topics and events throughout the week. 

- RIPE NCC and EURALO Sign MoU
The RIPE NCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with ICANN’s European Regional At-Large Organization (EURALO).

The MoU formalises the long-standing cooperative relationship between the RIPE NCC and EURALO (and it’s participants), and highlights key areas of common interest, including IPv6 awareness raising and the promotion of bottom-up, open, inclusive policy-making processes. 

You can also find the full text of the MoUs, along with the other agreements we have with external organisations, on our website:
https://www.ripe.net/about-us/what-we-do/engagement-external-organisations

- EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Implementation
The European Union's impending data protection regulation implementation was the subject of much discussion at ICANN 60, with the ICANN Board acknowledging that the GDPR will have an impact on ICANN Whois registrations, in terms of the kind of data that can be retained and made publicly accessible. ICANN itself is investigating what compliance will mean for their organisation. The GDPR may also have significant impact on any ICANN-related registries and registrars that have EU-based customers/registrants. 

This is a topic that also affects the RIPE NCC, and RIPE NCC staff had the opportunity to discuss the GDPR directly with ICANN staff and Board members. The RIPE NCC has been preparing for the implementation of the GDPR for some time, and we will be sharing a more detailed discussion of the anticipated impact via RIPE Labs in the near future.

- Discussion of Emerging Identifiers
While much of the ICANN meeting agenda was focused on ICANN operational and policy issues, there were a number of sessions devoted to related technical developments. This included a session on emerging identifiers, with discussion of technologies including blockchain, Digital Object Architecture (DOA) and related developments, including the possibility of applying blockchain technology to registry functions. Presentations from the session and a video archive are available at: 
https://schedule.icann.org/event/CbFe/emerging-identifiers-technology

The next ICANN Meeting will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico in March 2018: 
https://meetings.icann.org/en/sanjuan61