A discussion titled “A Secure, Inclusive and Multilingual Internet in the Next Decade” was held during ICANN87, bringing together participants to discuss Internet and Domain Name System (DNS) governance and security, as well as ways to promote Universal Acceptance (UA).
Universal Acceptance ensures that websites, software applications and email systems can correctly recognize, validate, process and display domain names and email addresses in different languages and writing systems.
This is particularly important for Armenia in enabling the full and seamless use of Armenian-script domain names in the “.հայ” domain and Armenian-language email addresses.
Armenia’s experience in promoting Universal Acceptance was presented at ICANN87 by Kristina Hakobyan, Vice Chair of the Board of the Internet Society NGO, the registry operator for .am and .հայ domains.
According to Hakobyan, the four UA Day conferences held in Armenia have helped strengthen cooperation among government institutions, educational institutions, the private sector, civil society and technical experts. These initiatives have also contributed to expanding the presence of Armenian-language content in the digital environment.
“Our goal is to ensure that digital services fully and seamlessly support Armenian-script domain names, particularly those in the .հայ domain, as well as Armenian-language email addresses, by advancing Universal Acceptance,” Hakobyan said.
She also emphasized that ICANN’s offer to provide technical training, educational materials for universities and expert consultations represents an important step toward implementing Universal Acceptance in Armenia. The proposal was submitted to Armenia’s Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.
“Our organization is ready to coordinate this process locally and provide the necessary technical support, with a particular focus on integrating Universal Acceptance principles into the work of government institutions and university curricula,” Hakobyan noted.
Armenia’s experience demonstrates that cooperation established through conferences can be translated into practical initiatives to advance Universal Acceptance. Such efforts can help expand access to Armenian-language digital services and improve the usability of the Internet in Armenian.
According to ICANN, as of June 2026, a total of 151 top-level domains using internationalized scripts had been delegated worldwide, representing 37 languages and 23 writing systems. Approximately 4.3 million internationalized domain names had been registered at the second level.
