[council] ICANN remains committed to Nairobi

["Bruce Tonkin" <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From:
http://blog.icann.org/2010/01/icann-remains-committed-to-nairobi-and-afr
ica/

ICANN Remains Committed to Nairobi and Africa

by Rod Beckstrom on January 22, 2010

We have listened to the community. Many are looking forward to Nairobi,
some expressed concerns, particularly in light of the events in downtown
Nairobi on January 15. Accordingly, ICANN staff and board have
reexamined the security situation 

During our re-examination we first explored moving the event out of the
downtown Nairobi area to a suburb, but determined that no suitable venue
was available.

Second, we reached out to the Kenyan government as well as other nations
with operations in Kenya for their risk assessments of the situation.
The consistent feedback was that the overall risk assessment of Nairobi
had not changed. Accordingly, based on the ICANN CEO's recommendation,
the ICANN Board has approved moving ahead with the ICANN Nairobi
meeting.

At the same time, we recognize that many developing country cities have
higher ambient levels of street crime and much of the world (the U.S.
And Europe included) faces international terrorist threats and attacks.
Both are simply facts of life. Also, as with all ICANN events, we will
continue to monitor the security situation in case there are any
material future changes. For any ICANN community members who do not
travel to the event, remote participation will be available for many of
the meetings.

Given that ICANN is committed to "One world. One Internet. Everyone
connected." we have engaged and will continue to engage with the whole
world. 

We greatly appreciate the assistance of Kenya, the host country, and
their commitment to address ICANN security concerns. In addition, the
ICANN board has approved further security investments by the CEO as
necessary for the event, and the CEO will become personally involved in
reviewing the security plans.

I love Kenya. I have been to Nairobi six times and greatly look forward
to participating in this important ICANN International meeting.

Rod Beckstrom
CEO and President
ICANN
22 January 2010