Much work still needs to be done if people around the world are to have equal access to the internet and the benefits it brings, it has been claimed.
Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive officer at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) joined with ICANN board chair Steve Crocker in calling for greater online access for people living in Africa.
He explained that the number of African people using the web has grown 25-fold in the last decade, but more still needs to be done.
“That is rapid growth, yet it still represents only 11.5 per cent of the African population,” Mr. Beckstrom added.
“ICANN’s global community is already taking steps to help needy applicants apply for new generic top level domain names.”
Mr. Beckstrom revealed that a joint working group has spent many hours working on a proposal that the board will consider this week on how best to provide that support.
ICANN is a not-for-profit corporation responsible for guarding the integrity of internet domain names.