On September 21, a session entitled “Universal Acceptance Implementation Indicators within the ITU” took place during the 19th International Conference for ccTLD Registries and Registrars of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (TLDCON 2026) in Tashkent.
The event was held in an expanded format incorporating roundtable discussions and brought together experts from the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC), the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS, the RCC Joint Expert Group on ICT Statistics (JEG-ICT), the Regional Universal Acceptance Steering Group for the CIS and Eastern Europe, the Russian Universal Acceptance Group, and representatives of national registries from the region.
Universal Acceptance (UA) is a fundamental prerequisite for building a truly multilingual and inclusive internet. Although the principle of Universal Acceptance and support for internationalized domain names are enshrined in the final documents of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10 and WSIS+20) and in ITU resolutions, the lack of standardized implementation approaches and unified, measurable indicators of progress remains a major challenge.
During the discussion, RCC Deputy Director General Maria Bolshakova and JEG-ICT Chairman Arseny Plossky stressed that promoting Universal Acceptance must be based on concrete and measurable indicators rather than general declarations. In response to ICANN’s initiative to develop a new set of indicators under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), regional experts proposed structuring the future metrics around three key areas: regulatory frameworks, actual implementation in government and commercial services, and technical requirements. Particular focus was placed on ensuring that the data collection methodology is transparent and does not impose an excessive administrative or financial burden on national statistical agencies.
For this purpose, the RCC plans to present a consolidated position at upcoming meetings of relevant ITU working groups. The region’s strategy involves integrating Universal Acceptance indicators into existing assessment frameworks, such as the ICT Development Index (IDI). This will enable CIS and Eastern European countries not only to objectively track their progress in the digitalization of local languages but also to play an active role in shaping global standards for a multilingual internet.
Maria Kolesnikova, Chief Analyst at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, presented the practical experience of the Russian ccTLD registry in this area. She outlined the Center’s extensive research into support for Email Address Internationalization (EAI) and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in the .RU and .РФ zones. Particular attention was given to successful examples: major Russian platforms, including Ozon, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Apteka.ru, and Litres.ru, already successfully support the sending and receiving of emails to and from Cyrillic email addresses.
“In 2026, we launched a regional initiative to integrate Universal Acceptance indicators into the International Telecommunication Union’s global monitoring system. Our experience demonstrates that aligning technical efforts with government initiatives gives a powerful boost for the digitalization of national languages,” Maria Kolesnikova noted.
Following the discussion, participants agreed on a roadmap for future joint action. Under this plan, the ICT Expert Group will continue to formalize proposals for inclusion on the agendas of relevant ITU bodies. The regional community, comprising CIS and Eastern European countries, will present a unified position at upcoming meetings of the relevant ITU expert group (EGTI), advocating the creation of a new work item dedicated to developing Universal Acceptance metrics. In addition, the exchange of data collection methodologies between national statistical agencies and technical specialists from internationalized domain name registries will continue to ensure that results are comparable.
The session at TLDCON 2026 confirmed that the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region is not only actively implementing the principles of multilingualism but is also prepared to play a leading role in shaping the global standards used to assess progress in this area.
