ICANN will not hold 56th Meeting in Panama due to Zika Virus

ICANN has announced that it will not hold its 56th Meeting in Panama city due to the serious spread of the Zika virus.

This is not the first time ICANN has had to relocate a meeting, in 2015, due to “Community concerns that would prevent maximum participation at its next global meeting (ICANN 52, 8-12 February 2015), a critical one given the ongoing discussions around the IANA Stewardship Transition and ICANN Accountability” ICANN was ‘forced’ to postpone the meeting in Marrakech, Morocco and to relocate to Singapore. At the time, Ebola was in its full scale in Africa.

Here is ICANN’s official alert below,

ICANN56, scheduled to be held in Panama in June 2016, will be moved to another location due to the severity of the Zika Virus outbreak in the Latin America region. A search is currently underway to identify an alternate location where the Zika Virus is not a concern. We look forward to returning to Panama for a future ICANN Meeting.