Establishing ccTLDs in Africa - Overcoming The Challenges Michuki Mwangi President AfTLD AfTLD Meeting 7th, April 2008 Johannesburg, South-Africa

Definition The Internet is part of a Country’s Virtual Real Estate The ccTLD is one of the virtual real estate’s inherent natural resource The resource should be developed for the benefit of all As with any natural resource, governance issues are paramount Therefore the right approach is fundamental in overcoming challenges

(Cont’d….) Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) There are 249 ccTLDs in the world There are 58 million domain names under ccTLDs compared to 95 Million gTLDs Representing a 33% growth in 2007 Trend portrays the growth potential for upcoming ccTLDs.ZA is largest in Africa and probably still amongst the top 20 ccTLDs in the world

Challenges Representation Neutrality The Policy bit The Technical bit The ICANN bit

Representation Is a contentious issue Requires broad based consultations Identify the Local Internet Community (LIC) or the Key stakeholders Work out a mutually acceptable governance model Mostly successful through lobbying and consensus building amongst the LIC This yields a home grown/local solution

Deducing the Stakeholders Government Private Sector (Service Providers) Academia Civil Society Legal fraternity

Their Roles Government = Facilitator Often seen as neutral but not always trusted Out to represent the public interests A resource for support and funding Private Sector = implementers Have the technical skills and expertise Business centric - will ensure sustainability Represent the private sector interests A source of support and funding

(Cont’d…) Academia = Ambassadors A good source for staffing/Internship programs Promoting awareness starts here for future growth Capacity building activities Perceived as neutral institutions Civil Society = critics & mediators Policy developers middle ground between Govt. & Private Sector Legal Fraternity = advisors The legal issues and they are many! Intellectual property, Privacy/Whois issues Dispute resolution

Challenges Representation Neutrality The Policy bit The Technical bit The ICANN bit

Neutrality Neutrality is key to a ccTLDs success Neutrality will yield autonomy Autonomy promotes acceptance and Ownership The ccTLDs location is a critical factor The Governance structure should been seen as neutral/balanced

Challenges Representation Neutrality The Policy bit The Technical bit The ICANN bit

The Policy Bit Define the ccTLD registry model A registry/Registrar, Open Registry or Hybrid registry Model The dispute resolution, WhoiS Policy etc Identify the sustainability model Costing per Domain name It’s a startup - Opt for effective and efficient model (nothing should be cast into stone) Use of Internship programs

Challenges Representation Neutrality The Policy bit The Technical bit The ICANN bit

The Technical Bit Technical Skills & Capacity Skill-set from ISP community Requires ccTLD training Internship at already established ccTLD is useful Requires financing Technical infrastructure Connectivity is mandatory as per ICP-1 RFCs provide technical implementation guidelines Resources are mainly from the private sector/ISPs Requires financing especially for hardware acquisition

(Cont’d…) Registry Software The registry software adheres to the ccTLD policies and not the other way round Software development can be an expensive and time consuming process Where possible avoid-reinventing the wheel There are a number of Open-Source ccTLD registry software and some are going to be presented at this workshop.

Challenges Representation Neutrality The Policy bit The Technical bit The ICANN bit

The ICANN/IANA bit This is the last stage in implementing a ccTLD Its not a challenge but a part of the process It often however appears as the challenge since everyone starts here And gets sent back to start at the representation stage What does this process involve?

The process The entity seeking re-delegation submits application for re-delegation. The application is accompanied by; A completed ccTLD template Documentation showing the re-delegation serves in the interest of the LIC Documentation showing the skills & capacities of the entity seeking re-delegation Legal company documents Demonstrate support from Government or provide contacts Upon receipt IANA reviews and tests template data IANA will seek re-delegation approval from current ccTLD contacts

(Cont’d…) Thereafter, all parties will negotiate and sign appropriate ccTLD - ICANN agreements The IANA will then issue a report to the DOC and implements changes once they are approved New ccTLD manager verifies changes and proceeds with service provision

What’s AfTLDs role? To provide information on what it takes to implement a ccTLD or a re-delegation process Provide guidance based on case studies and experiences (not solutions). Facilitate technical capacity building events that relate to management of ccTLD registries. Facilitate Internships with established ccTLDs Facilitate with establishing secondary DNS servers hosts amongst ccTLD members in the region Not picking sides! :)

Conclusion The challenges are not in the technical implementation but on the Governance issues - For some this has taken years! There’s need for boot-strapping initiatives to help most African ccTLDs get out of their current dilemmas. Avoid too much talk or politicizing the process. Remember the devils always in the detail Remember the ccTLD publishes a name - the value’s NOT in the name but its content - What’s in a name?

Thank you