Mogadishu, Somalia – 17 May 2025 – The National Communications Authority (NCA) hosted a full-day training and adoption event in Mogadishu to mark Universal Acceptance (UA) Day 2025 under the theme “Empowering Digital Inclusion.”
The event brought together government officials, development partners, academia, telecom operators, internet service providers, technology companies, and civil society to explore how Universal Acceptance can help ensure equal access to the internet.
In his opening remarks, Mr Ahmed Ali Salad, The Deputy Director of the NCA, emphasized the importance of Universal Acceptance in advancing Somalia’s digital transformation and supporting equitable access to online services. He noted: “Universal Acceptance helps ensure systems recognize all valid domain names and email addresses, supporting a more inclusive and reliable digital environment in Somalia.”
The event, organized by the Somali Network Information Centre (SONIC), a technical entity under the NCA and supported by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), aimed to raise awareness and build technical readiness across Somalia’s ICT ecosystem. Universal Acceptance is a key principle that ensures domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language, or character length, are recognized across all internet-enabled systems.
The one-day event featured technical presentations and hands-on sessions covering Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), Email Address Internationalization (EAI), and practical coding approaches to help participants create UA-ready websites and applications.