Universal Acceptance Day

In News

• National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), a non-for-profit company, under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), successfully organised a 2-day event (27-28th March) on Universal Acceptance Day to drive collaborative efforts for an inclusive and multilingual internet  in India.

Key points

• Celebrated globally on 28th March. This inaugural UA Day was organized by UASG and ICANN.
• India was the flag bearer this year to promote and promulgate Universal Acceptance (UA) for digital inclusion.
• This inaugural UA Day was aimed at driving efforts for inclusive and multilingual internet.
• Adoption of UA in India can add another 500 million broadband users to add value to the digital economy, promote startup ecosystems and generate employment opportunities.
• Next 1 billion internet users are likely to come from non-English speaking countries, heightening the importance of  multilingual internet.

Universal Acceptance

• Universal Acceptance means building a technical environment to allow computing devices, operating systems, browsers, social media or e-commerce to accept instructions in local language other than English and ensure valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language or character length.

Importance of Universal Acceptance

• India is home to more than 18,000 dialects. India has the most internet users but it must be noted that language barriers also make it a base of the largest numbers of non-users who do not speak English. 
• India has set a target of becoming a USD 1 trillion digital economy soon and it is important for the country to widen the cover of digital inclusion with UA.
• Providing a multilingual internet user interface is crucial for bridging the current digital divide. Through Universal Acceptance, we can connect with non-internet users and promote digital inclusion across the country and the world.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

• It manages the maintenance of namespaces and numerical spaces which enable secure and stable operation of the internet. 
• ICANN performs the technical maintenance of IP Address pools and Domain Name Servers(DNS). ICANN was incorporated in California on September 30, 1998.
• ICANN is governed by an internationally diverse Board of Directors overseeing the policy development process. ICANN’s President directs an international staff, working from three continents, who ensure that ICANN meets its operational commitment to the Internet community.

Source: PIB