<div dir="ltr">FYI<div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Anriette Esterhuysen</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:anriette@apc.org">anriette@apc.org</a>></span><br>Date: Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 2:04 PM<br>Subject: Africa DNS study: please participate<br>To: <a href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu">NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu</a><br><br><br>Dear friends<br>
<br>
We would really appreciate if you could respond to this questionnaire.<br>
Anyone who works in Africa and who has ever registered a domain (any<br>
domain, country code or gTLD) we need to hear from you.<br>
<br>
Thanks a lot.<br>
<br>
Anriette<br>
<br>
<br>
Assessing domain name management systems in Africa: Take part in the survey!<br>
<br>
Southern African Communications Forum<br>
<br>
<a href="https://dnsafrica.study/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dnsafrica.study/</a><br>
<br>
An in-depth study of the DNS ecosystem in Africa has been commissioned<br>
by ICANN, and the project implementation team, led by the Southern<br>
African Communications Forum (SACF), is appealing to the technical<br>
community in Africa to make the study a success by completing the online<br>
survey at <a href="http://dnsafrica.study" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://dnsafrica.study</a>. The study aims to identify the<br>
strengths and weaknesses in the domain name system (DNS) in every<br>
country in Africa, and will develop recommendations on how to advance<br>
the industry and bring it closer to the opportunities available. To<br>
support the project, the SACF has assembled a team with deep experience<br>
of the African internet environment, including a number of members of<br>
the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), as well as Mark<br>
Elkins, who initially operated the successful .<a href="http://co.za" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">co.za</a> domain, and William<br>
Stucke, who has been involved in the South African internet industry<br>
since its inception.<br>
<br>
What is this study for?<br>
<br>
The study aims to verify the commonly held assumption that there are<br>
about 1.5 million domain names registered under the 58 African top-level<br>
domains (TLDs), and will unpack this figure to gain a clearer picture of<br>
the distribution of domain registrations around the continent. African<br>
countries have had widely varying degrees of success in selling their<br>
own domains to their citizens and others, many of whom are also<br>
registering under the generic domains (gTLDs) such as .com and .org.<br>
<br>
ICANN believes that an opportunity exists to boost the domain name<br>
industry in Africa, to the benefit of all role players in the industry,<br>
as well as the citizens and governments of African countries.<br>
<br>
What is the study’s scope?<br>
<br>
The DNS study will entail:<br>
<br>
1. Conducting a survey to gather relevant information about the African<br>
DNS market. In the case of country code top-level domains (ccTLDs),<br>
collected information includes governance models and registry models.<br>
This is the main body of work – to encourage as many people as possible<br>
from the different stakeholder groups to answer the questionnaire.<br>
<br>
2. Developing a regional and country-based breakdown of domain name<br>
registrations, including ccTLD versus gTLD registrations, and<br>
registrations by businesses, governments, non-governmental entities,<br>
research and academic institutions, individuals, etc. The proportion of<br>
active domains will also be assessed.<br>
<br>
3. Looking at the type of content hosted by the domains and the share of<br>
the sites that offer e-commerce services. Identifying whether this<br>
content is hosted within the country or outside will also be an<br>
important part of the assessment.<br>
<br>
4. Measuring the growth rate of domain name registrations in the past<br>
five years, including internationalized domain names (IDNs), and looking<br>
at the current market of local registrars and resellers for ccTLDs and<br>
gTLDs.<br>
<br>
5. Where possible, looking at the current market of global registrars<br>
and resellers for African ccTLDs and gTLDs. This will include the user<br>
experience at local registrars and resellers (e.g. support for local<br>
languages, payment gateways, IDN support, and level of automation).<br>
<br>
Other issues that will be taken note of include: the factors that are<br>
holding back take-up of domain names (e.g. awareness, infrastructure,<br>
policy and/or regulation, payment gateway); the current understanding of<br>
the concept of premium domain names and how to develop this market; the<br>
best practices that have made an impact in domain name market growth,<br>
including those related to business models, regulatory and governance<br>
mechanisms, consumer awareness, among others; the broader ecosystem of<br>
the internet infrastructure and online services and the impact of such<br>
elements on the overall evolution of the domain name industry; and<br>
mechanisms to increase African participation in ICANN activities. The<br>
study will also provide information on how to set up a DNS observatory<br>
in Africa.<br>
<br>
Online survey tools and your participation<br>
<br>
The team has developed an online survey tool for each stakeholder type<br>
in four languages: English, French, Arabic and Portuguese. In addition,<br>
a DNS Zone File Analysis Tool has been developed that is able to analyse<br>
a DNS zone file and return details on the number of active websites in<br>
the zone, where they are hosted and what languages they use.<br>
<br>
The main effort currently is to encourage the different role players to<br>
complete the survey, as well as to request the relevant agencies to make<br>
zone files available for analysis.<br>
<br>
The six key role players that the study is focusing on are:<br>
<br>
Registries: A registry is an organisation operating a database<br>
containing domain name details, typically the designated operator of the<br>
ccTLD (which is accredited by ICANN) and second level and perhaps lower<br>
level domains for that country. These may be operated by the same or<br>
different entities.<br>
<br>
Registrars: Organisations that register domain names on behalf of<br>
others, often officially accredited by a registry.<br>
<br>
Resellers: Organisations who register domain names on behalf of<br>
registrars or registries.<br>
<br>
Registrants: People or companies with a domain name registered in<br>
their own name.<br>
<br>
Regulators: Those who have a legally mandated role to play in<br>
determining the policy and rules around domain name registration.<br>
<br>
IXP managers: Those who manage one or more internet exchange points<br>
in a country. These are a useful contact point for finding out important<br>
data, including contact details of all those above.<br>
The survey tool is available for anyone who is involved in the DNS<br>
industry or has registered a domain name.<br>
<br>
The team is hoping that this blog post will encourage readers to fill in<br>
the relevant questionnaire. Having recruited a respondent, the<br>
responsible team members will follow up and help ensure that the<br>
respondent completes the relevant questionnaires. All respondents will<br>
be provided with access to the final report.<br>
<br>
The team carrying out the study calls for your assistance to make this<br>
initiative a success, in order to improve domain name management in Africa.<br>
<br>
To participate in the survey, go to <a href="https://dnsafrica.study/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dnsafrica.study/</a><br>
<br>
------------------------------<wbr>-----------<br>
Anriette Esterhuysen<br>
Executive Director<br>
Association for Progressive Communications<br>
<a href="mailto:anriette@apc.org">anriette@apc.org</a><br>
<a href="http://www.apc.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.apc.org</a><br>
IM: ae_apc<br>
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