Changes

===President's Opening Speech===

===President's Opening Speech===

[[FadI Chehade]] gave a speech during the Opening Ceremony of ICANN 49, as is customary. He touched on a number of subjects including ICANN globalization, ICANN activities, the NTIA announcement, Internet Governance and [[NETmundial]], and the globalization of the [[IANA]].

[[Fadi Chehade]] gave a speech during the Opening Ceremony of ICANN 49, as is customary. He touched on a number of subjects including ICANN globalization, ICANN activities, the NTIA announcement, Internet Governance and [[NETmundial]], and the globalization of the [[IANA]].

Chehade began by apologizing to stakeholders in the Asian region, as he found that ICANN did not have a presence there when he visited 1 year ago. He noted that now ICANN has an Asian hub office with 14 staff members and thus ICANN is fulfilling its commitment to globalize the organization. After discussing various ICANN activities, he spoke about the recent NTIA announcement and addressed [[Lawrence Strickling]], the administrator of IANA for the US Government, directly several times, thanking him for the US Government's stewardship and faith in ICANN and the multistakeholder model. He also mentioned that the stakeholder community should not only focus on the globalization of IANA, but should discuss how ICANN's own accountability should evolve as well without US oversight.  

Chehade began by apologizing to stakeholders in the Asian region, as he found that ICANN did not have a presence there when he visited 1 year ago. He noted that now ICANN has an Asian hub office with 14 staff members and thus ICANN is fulfilling its commitment to globalize the organization. After discussing various ICANN activities, he spoke about the recent NTIA announcement and addressed [[Lawrence Strickling]], the administrator of IANA for the US Government, directly several times, thanking him for the US Government's stewardship and faith in ICANN and the multistakeholder model. He also mentioned that the stakeholder community should not only focus on the globalization of IANA, but should discuss how ICANN's own accountability should evolve as well without US oversight.  

Chehade spoke about ICANN's work in [[Internet Governance]] and why the upcoming NETmundial meeting is important for evolving the scope and work of Internet Governance within the global community. He mentioned that Internet Governance should never be prioritized ahead of ICANN's core work and mission but that ICANN is a piece of the Internet Governance ecosystem. He closed his speech by reviewing ICANN history, starting with [[Jon Postel]] and his work as "The IANA" organizing the entire [[DNS]] on a notecard. He reiterated the principles that the US Government made when they announced IANA transition and promised Secretary Strickling that ICANN and global community would come back with a proposal that met those principles.

Chehade spoke about ICANN's work in [[Internet Governance]] and why the upcoming NETmundial meeting is important for evolving the scope and work of Internet Governance within the global community. He mentioned that Internet Governance should never be prioritized ahead of ICANN's core work and mission but that ICANN is a piece of the Internet Governance ecosystem. He closed his speech by reviewing ICANN history, starting with [[Jon Postel]] and his work as "The IANA" organizing the entire [[DNS]] on a notecard. He reiterated the principles that the US Government made when they announced IANA transition and promised Secretary Strickling that ICANN and global community would come back with a proposal that met those principles.<ref>[http://singapore49.icann.org/en/schedule/mon-welcome/transcript-welcome-24mar14-en Transcript of Welcoming Ceremony 24 March 2014 - ICANN.org] Retrieved 29 May 2014</ref>

Video of Chehade's speech can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDQo6rP8cY here].

Video of Chehade's speech can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDQo6rP8cY here].