Technology

South African firm to administer .africa domain

domain

Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) chairman Sammy Buruchara officially launches three second level internet domains, .me.ke, .mobi.ke, and .info.ke a new registry system in the past. A South African company has been selected to run dotAfrica, the upcoming top-level internet domain for Africa. File

A South African company has been selected to run dotAfrica, the upcoming top-level internet domain for Africa.

The African Union selected Uniforum SA as a preferred registry operator to administer the new dotAfrica Top level domain.

A top level domain is last segment in an internet address such as .com, .edu, .net; which helps to identify something about the website associated with it.

The dotAfrica domain is set to be a distinctive pan-African identification for regional online operations when it is opened up for registration.

"This is an important step for organisations and individuals interested in acquiring an African online identity, as dotAfrica will give added visibility and identity to operations in the region," said Neil Dundas, a UniForum SA director.

The endorsement of the South African company follows the evaluation of proposals submitted in December 2011, which attracted local and international registries interested in managing dotAfrica operations.

The African Union Commission will work with the appointed operator to establish ways to promote dotAfrica. According to AU representative Abulkhirat Esam, the focus will be to increase online content generation; establish regulations on registrations, intellectual property and dispute resolution as well as the promotion of ICT use in the region.

African Internet experts, country code managers, registrars and volunteers selected by the African Internet community are among those participating in steering the dotAfrica project, according to Mohamed El Bashir, Steering Committee Chair.

The dotAfrica domain will be used as a vehicle to promote the development of Africa’s Internet services and ecosystem,” he added.

The domain will be among the new generic top-level domains that are likely to be approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2013.

The dotAfrica project is sponsored by the African Union with support from Africa Top Level Domain organisation (AfTLD). The appointed registry operator will be submitting its application to ICANN prior to the deadline in April this year.