The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has urged Nigerian organisations and technology developers to adopt Universal Acceptance, a technical standard designed to ensure that websites, applications and digital systems can recognise and process valid domain names and email addresses regardless of language, script or character length. The commission made the call at a Universal Acceptance Adoption Workshop held in Lagos in partnership with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, and Upperlink.
Speaking at the workshop, the Head of Internet Infrastructure Unit at the NCC, Opeolu Oyebanji, said Universal Acceptance was particularly important for a multilingual country such as Nigeria. He explained that the technology would make digital services more accessible by allowing users to interact online using different languages and scripts. He stressed that adoption should go beyond awareness, with websites, applications and email systems tested and upgraded to meet Universal Acceptance requirements.
The initiative could also create new opportunities for Nigerian businesses seeking to operate in international markets. According to ICANN’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Operations for Africa, Yaovi Atohun, the growing number of domain names using different scripts and longer characters makes it increasingly important for digital systems to support users regardless of their language. He urged organisations to involve their technical teams and assess their systems to determine whether they are ready for Universal Acceptance.
The NCC said Universal Acceptance would help strengthen Nigeria’s digital ecosystem by promoting inclusion, interoperability and international connectivity. Experts at the workshop also noted that businesses that make their systems Universal Acceptance ready could position themselves to take advantage of emerging global digital markets. A separate report cited a potential global Universal Acceptance opportunity worth more than $9.8 billion, suggesting that Nigerian businesses could benefit from upgrading their systems to support a wider range of digital identities and communication formats.