h1. APRALO IGF Planning Chronicles

h1. Report on APRALO's Participation at IGF 2008 (December 8, 2008)

Despite the tremendous difficulties, APRALO successfully completed the two events it organized at the IGF. APRALO did impressive outreach to the peer organizations and has become more recognized and respected in the International community.

Main Session on Realizing a Multilingual Internet (Real-time Webcasted and Translation available)

Since IGF confirmed that APRALO would be one of the co-organizers of
the Main Session on "multilingualism" in August, the APRALO's
representatives, Hong Xue and other colleagues, have been working
diligently with the other co-organizers. Since June 2008, IGF workshop
planning has been discussed at every monthly meeting of APRALO.

On behalf of the APRALO, Hong, since September 2008, has been working
on document drafting, program development and other arrangement. She
attende all the face-to-face meetings in Geneva, Cairo and Hyderabad
and joined the discussions on the list. APRALO has always been a
responsible and responsive stakeholder and organizer of the Main
Session.

On December 3, 2008, the first IGF Main Session on Realizing a
Multilingual Internet was successfully held in Hyderabad. Although some
invited speakers canceled the trip for security concern, Hong and
others at the program committee did all they could to complete a
balanced and interesting program.

The Panel was chaired by Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer
at Rediff.Com, and moderated by Ms. Miriam Nisbet, Director of the
UNESCO Information Society Division. The panel discussed issues related
to multilingualism and promoting diversity on the Internet, including
accessibility and the importance of enabling access for people with
disabilities. The session identified the critical issues such as contents in local languages, localization and availability of tools and internationalize domain names in the tri-layer of technology, language and culture.

Workshop on Internationalized Domain Names: Myths and Opportunities (Real-time Webcasted and Translation available)

****The workshop, co-organized by APRALO, ALAC and ICANN, was held on
December 4. The workshop explored how the domain name system itself
create new possibilities for broader Internet accessibility and discuss the effect the proposed standard changes have on
additional scripts and mnemonics and on applicability of possible
existing registrations. Hong, along with the reprentatives from IETF,
ccNSO, Egyptian Government and ICANN Board, talked about the
technology, policy and legal issues on IDN imminent implementation.
Hong particularly addressed the individual users' concerns and
expectations for IDNs.