ICANN, AfRegistrar, AfTLD partner for 10th Africa DNS forum - ITREALMS

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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is partnering the AfRegistrar and the association of ccTLD registry operators in the Africa region under the aegis of AfTLD would be organising the 10th annual Africa Domain Name System (DNS) Forum) in October, reports ITREALMS.

The 10th edition of the forum scheduled for October 5 and 6 in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme "Attaining Inclusivity and Diversity in the DNS Ecosystem in Africa."

40% reduction: NiRA explains wisdom behind price slash on .NG - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has adduced some reasons why it reduced the price of .NG domain by over 40 per cent, reports ITREALMS.

NiRA is responsible for maintaining the database of registered names in the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) namespace in the public interest of Nigeria and the global internet community.

‘Why NIRA slashed .NG prices’ - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) has explained why it have to crash prices on the dot NG domain names, reports ITREALMS.

President of NIRA, Mr. Muhammed Rudman made this disclosure to ITREALMS in Lagos, declaring that eventually its to improve the visibility of Nigerian businesses online.

Olufuye harps on Internet Governance treaty - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Chief Executive Officer of Kontemporary Computers, Dr. Jimson Olufuye, has advocated for an international treaty on Internet Governance resolutions over the years, so as to drive data governance in the cyberspace, among others, reports ITREALMS.

He made this call while speaking at the just concluded 2019 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Berlin on “Data Governance on the Internet Space, by the Internet Model.”

Cotonou to host Sixth Africa DNS Forum - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The city of Cotonou in Benin Republic is set to host the sixth Africa DNS Forum slated for on July 3 through 5th with the theme “Building a Sustainable Domain Name Industry in Africa” reports ITRealms.

The Forum, ITRealms gathered, is co-organized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Africa Top Level Domains Organization (AfTLD), and AfRegistrar. It will be hosted by the Regulatory Authority of Communications Electronics in Benin (ARCEP). This year's forum follows on the success of the preceding forums, held in Durban, South Africa (2013), Abuja, Nigeria (2014), Nairobi, Kenya (2015), Marrakech, Morocco (2016), and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2017).

Over the past six years, the Africa DNS Forum has become an important annual event, bringing together regional players and world experts in the DNS field to share experiences, best practices, and provide updates on developments in the domain industry. 

ITRealms reports that this year’s three-day event builds on the takeaways from the previous one, and addresses key issues that directly concern the regional industry. Among this year’s topics are data protection and privacy, registry and registrar platform development, Internationalized Domain Names and Universal Acceptance initiatives in Africa, and investment opportunities in the Africa DNS industry.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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African total DNS market value @$52m

ITRealms:

The total annual value of the African Domain Name market is worth some $52 million says the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), reports ITRealms.

This is coming as ITRealms gathered that Africa has some 5.1 million domain names associated at May 2017.

According to ICANN in its latest report on Africa DNS market study released at the ongoing public meeting holding at Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, which serves as part of ICANN's outreach efforts to support and improve the regional DNS industry.

ITRealms equally gathered that the report is the first of its kind in the region, which included 54 countries.

Other highlights ICANN said include that the strengths and weaknesses in the DNS sector in Africa.

To this end, ICANN proposed the development of recommendations on how to advance the industry to better exploit the opportunities available and to address identified challenges.

In addition, explore options for establishing an observatory to continuously monitor the growth, development and emerging needs of the DNS market in Africa.

Further, the study findings showed the pathway for the next steps for capacity-building in Africa, thus leading to significant conclusions and recommendations.

Remmy Nweke/ED, Ops

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DNS Women Nigeria reacts to Senate rejection of gender parity bill, condemns action

ITRealms:

Gender parity interest group within the Domain Name System (DNS) industry in Nigeria has joined other well-meaning Nigerians to condemn the recent outright rejection of the gender parity bill, reports ITRealms.

Reacting to the rejection at the weekend, the Founder and President, DNS Women Nigeria, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke told ITRealms that the act by the Senate reaffirms essentially the need for such a bill in the first place.

ITRealms recalls that the Nigeria Senate penultimate Tuesday in Abuja, out-rightly blocked a bill seeking equal marital rights for women, entitled “Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence against Women” and presented by female Senator, Abiodun Olujimi from Ekiti south, during a  plenary session.

Mrs. Olujimi had enlightened that the bill seeks equal rights for women in marriage, education and job, explaining that if the bill was passed, a widow in Nigeria would automatically assume custody of her children in the event of the death of her husband, and would also inherit his property.

According to Mrs. Nweke, Nigeria more than ever before, needs more women in position of decision making levels in order to take the nation to its promised land, especially in the parliament.

She recalled that in Germany for instance, gender parity brought lots of development to the country, which is practically evident in the leadership offered by the Angela Dorothea Merkel, a German politician and former research scientist who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005, and which has been globally acknowledged as government with human face.

She cited another instance with the recent report by the World Bank, which indicated that Rwanda, an African country tops chart with the highest proportion of women in parliament, with nearly 64 per cent of seats held by women in 2013. 

Whereas, globally, according to World Bank, women account for an average of about 20 per cent of parliamentary seats, up from 15 per cent a decade ago. 

This, she said, was followed in top 10 countries by Andorra at a flat 50 per cent and Cuba at 49 per cent. Even as Sweden has 44 per cent of parliamentary seats achieved as the only nation with such accomplishment held by women, without any gender quota.

Mrs. Nweke was particular about Rwanda, saying she was not surprised the level of progress the country has made in recent times, especially in the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development and wants Nigeria and other African countries to emulate Rwanda in this regard.

Although the likes of deputy senate president, Ike Ekeremadu, supported the bill, it did not scale through first presentation. 

Other Senators like the Majority leader, Ali Ndume and Sani Yerima spoke out against the bill. While Ndume criticized the bill and urged Nigerians to stick with either religious or traditional marriage, his colleague, Yerima, a senator from Zamfara state, condemned the bill, insisting it was in conflict with the Nigerian Constitution.

Yermia said the bill negates the principles of the Sharia law, which the Constitution recognises.

The bill was reportedly rejected when the senate president, Bukola Saraki, put it to vote.

However, DNS Women Nigeria, expressed hope the gender parity bill will receive a better hearing when represented by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki after the initial rejection as certain portions may need to be refreshed to remove areas of high-conflict so as to enable it gain momentum.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE
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Pic: Nkemdilim Nweke, President/Founder, DNS Women Nigeria

DNS Women Nigeria endorses L’Oreal, UNESCO Women in Science Manifesto

ITRealms:

A gender parity group, the Domain Name System (DNS) Women Nigeria, has endorsed the Women in Science Manifesto being championed by L’Oreal in partnership with the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), reports ITRealms.

President and founder of (DNS) Women in Nigeria, Nkemdilim Nweke made this disclosure in Lagos, Friday in a chat with news men after endorsing the manifesto as the 435^th signer
of the For Women in Science Manifesto on behalf of her organization.

She said that DNS Women Nigeria, a not-for-profit making organization went through the manifesto and understood every part of it, hence, her group endorsed the article, which is an extended call to service for more women in the field of science.

According to her, women in science like in the DNS industry globally have the power to change the world they want to see.

Nweke invited more women groups to join forces for such proclamations capable of spurring more women in the field of science and technologies.

She maintained that DNS Women Nigeria is keen and ever ready to partner with like-minded organizations like L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science emancipation.

Reacting to the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science recognition ceremony held yesterday in Parish, the founder of DNS Women Nigeria extended her congratulations to all the winners, and mostly the five leading women scientists and 15 promising young researchers who were honoured at the 18^th edition of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Ceremony at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris.

She singled out Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO and Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L’Oréal and Chairman of the L’Oréal Foundation for taking the opportunity to launch the For Women in Science Manifesto. 

Pointing out that just like this Manifesto aims to take a stand against the under-representation of women in the sciences, DNS Women Nigeria is ready to collaborate with relevant organisations to enthrone similar stand within the Nigeria’s Domain Name industry.

The manifesto, Nweke noted, is available on http://www.ForWomenInScience.com so that everyone can, in turn, support this cause.

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Craze for foreign products, hinders .ng growth - Uduma

ITRealms:

Nigerians should be patriotic enough to patronize whatever is Nigerian to spur the economy and even create more jobs, especially in the Domain Name System (DNS) industry, according to the immediate president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Mrs. Mary Uduma, reports ITRealms.

Mrs. Uduma made this call in Lagos at NIRA house while responding to media inquiries on the major challenge of the registry in the last decade as it marks 10 years, and said that the crave for foreign products against and above home grown alternatives has hinder the growth of .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).

Uduma who is now the Executive Secretary, Late Ndukwe Kalu Foundation, which was set up by NIRA also said that this crave has not helped the industry and a nation like Nigeria with over 180 million population, to still be recording .ng registration below a million.

She further urged Nigerians to embrace .ng to assist in boosting the economy and creating more jobs for the youth and cutting down on capital flight. 

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Pix: Mrs. Mary Uduma

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DNS, a revenue generator – NIRA President, Folayan

ITRealms:

The president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Rev. Sunday Folayan has described the Domain Name Systems (DNS) industry as revenue generator, reports ITRealms.

Speaking in Lagos as part of programme for the 10^th anniversary of NIRA existence, Folayan said the  DNS industry is a revenue generator with abundant business opportunities in the .ng domain industry.

He urged Nigerians to embrace the noble act of promoting their businesses, culture, heritage and economy online by promoting .ng by exploring the 56 accredited registrars of NIRA for their engagement in the DNS business.

NIRA, he also said, appreciates the role of the Nigerian media in projecting .ng and communicating NIRA’s activities and equally has the press at heart.

He hinted that the second ‘Media College’ event, for engaging the press, would hold in the second quarter of 2016.

Encouraging the press to register their individual .ng domain names and use it for various websites, blogs and email activities to name a few.

ITRealms notes that NIRA is the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names which maintains the database of registered names in the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name space in the public interest of Nigeria and global internet communities.

.ng is the official ICANN assigned and approved ccTLD for Nigeria, which is globally accepted and recognized.

Founded on March 28, 2016, NiRA is a stakeholder-led organization, charged with the management of the Nigeria's country code Top Level Domain Name (ccTLD), dot ng.

The transfer of the appropriate management of this important National Resource was coordinated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on behalf of the Federal government of Nigeria. Stakeholders within Nigeria’s Internet community participated in its formation. It was registered as an Incorporated Trustee on February 9, 2007.

Even as he said, NiRA adopted the 3-R model (Registry/Registrar/Registrant model) of operation in the operation and management of the .ng ccTLD. 

“The implication of this is that NIRA does not handle the registration of domain names directly. Registrations can only be done through NIRA Accredited Registrars. These Registrars are accredited by NiRA to facilitate the registration, transfer, renewal, and modification of registration data for customers that apply for .ng domain names. The Registrars are allowed to appoint re-sellers for their operations,” he said.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 
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Pix:  Rev. Sunday Folayan

ICANN’s first DNS-Entrepreneurship roadshow kicks off in EMEA

ITRealms:

 The Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has commenced its first-ever Domain Name System (DNS) Roadshow in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as the series of workshop DNS-Entrepreneurship Center’s (DNS-EC) enters the second year.

Communications Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at ICANN, Ms Luna Madi said the the DNS-EC, a partnership between ICANN and Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), aims to contribute to the evolution of the domain name sector in Africa and the Middle East through a series of workshops. 

According to her, the workshop entitled “SWOT Workshop for National DNS Markets,” serves as seminars aimed at developing expertise in the DNS business related areas, and provide resources to support the implementation of initiatives and projects in this field. 

The Domain Name System (DNS), she said, helps users find their way around the Internet. 

“The DNS matches domain names, which we use to access the Internet, with numeric addresses (IP addresses), which digital devices use to communicate with each other. It’s very much like how a phone book matches names to phone numbers,” she said in a press statement made available to ITRealms.

Equally, ITRealms gathered that four workshops have been planned from this month until the end of the year, 2015, with the first two scheduled to hold this October.

One in Tunis, Tunisia, with the collaboration of partners like the Tunisie Internet (ATI), she said, would take place from Thursday through Friday, 8-9 October 2015.

This, ICANN official said, would be followed by a second workshop, to be hosted by Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) in Doha, Qatar between 11-12 October 2015.

The objective of the workshops, she said, is to construct a Strategic Plan for ccTLD Registry based on a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis of the country’s DNS market. 

Potential attendees, Madi said would include ccTLD managers, IDN ccTLD manager, and the Registrars/Resellers in the respective countries, stressing the two workshops would be conducted in partnership with EnCirca Domain Name Registrar and Startingdot Registry. 

“We are very excited about this road show. It comes at just the right time, as the DNS-EC enters its second year and becomes more proactive in addressing the needs of the DNS community by expanding its outreach and building the necessary infrastructure across Africa and the Middle East.”

ITRealms gathered that the DNS Entrepreneurship Center (DNS-EC) which debut in June 2014, during ICANN50 in London, is an important milestone, materializing the plans set out by the Middle East Strategy for ICANN, to serve communities in Africa and the Middle East.

The project is a partnership with Egypt’s NTRA, and is being implemented in three phases – Foundation (1 July 2014-30 June 2015), Launch (1 July 2015-30 June 2017) and Operation (On-going). 
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 
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