Networking, Collaborating, and Learning Drive APAC DNS Forum 2024Jia-Rong Low

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We've successfully concluded the third Asia Pacific (APAC) Domain Name System (DNS) Forum, held in Bali, Indonesia, from 23-24 July 2024. At the outset of the event, I challenged the participants to achieve three goals: meet someone new, learn something new, and discover a new opportunity.

Through an informal poll at the end of the forum, nearly all attendees achieved the first and second goals, while a sizeable number achieved the third (we'll work on improving this next year).

When we launched the APAC DNS Forum, we wanted it to serve as a regular platform where our regional community could network and collaborate. At this year's Forum, we achieved this via our main event and four side events that added extra value for our participants:

• APAC Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) representatives held a workshop to discuss current ICANN issues.
• A Train-the-Trainer event organized for Indonesian technical trainers to enable them to provide DNS and DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) training to strengthen the DNS infrastructure in Indonesia.
• The Indonesian community gathered to develop Second-Level Reference Label Generation Rules for domain names in Balinese, Javanese, Pegon, and Sundanese scripts.
• International Trademark Association (INTA) hosted a discussion on the growing importance of an online presence for the intellectual property community and brand owners.

We invite additional partners to join us in further strengthening the APAC DNS Forum as a vital networking platform for our industry.

Now let me share a few highlights from the Forum's discussions:

• In our interactive opening plenary, we collectively mapped out the Internet's challenges and opportunities (see images). This left me with the takeaway that from the so-called Iron Triangle of "cheap," "fast," and "good," the Internet has hitherto concentrated on the first two. We now need to shift our attention to "good," especially on areas such as security, privacy, and value-added online services.
• In a session on security, we honed in on Trusted Notifiers (TNs), widely considered the industry best practice to counter DNS abuse. Before and during the Forum, companies signed TN collaboration agreements, broadening the budding TN network in our region.
• On value-added services, the Forum discussed the domain name industry's developments and opportunities. Domain names including email addresses are available in local languages which enhances digital inclusion. Another topic of focus was ICANN's launch of the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round in April 2026. Businesses and organizations mulling their digital asset strategy need to strongly consider getting their own TLD.

If you missed the APAC DNS Forum 2024 or would like to watch any of the discussions again, you can find the recordings of all the sessions on this page.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Pengelola Nama Domain Internet Indonesia (PANDI) for co-hosting this year's Forum. We look forward to welcoming you to next year's APAC DNS Forum. Watch this space for our announcement about next year's location!

In closing, a personal note: You may have heard that I will be leaving ICANN. The good news is I won't be far (if you missed where I'll be going, here's the news). I'd like to thank you for your support and partnership throughout my 11 years with ICANN. I hope that you will continue to support and collaborate with the APAC regional team, and contribute to a more global, secure, and interoperable Internet.