+1 @Anriette. Le 4 août 2016 13:06, "Anriette Esterhuysen" <[log in to unmask]> a écrit : > Dear friends > > We would really appreciate if you could respond to this questionnaire. > Anyone who works in Africa and who has ever registered a domain (any > domain, country code or gTLD) we need to hear from you. > > Thanks a lot. > > Anriette > > > Assessing domain name management systems in Africa: Take part in the > survey! > > Southern African Communications Forum > > https://dnsafrica.study/ > > An in-depth study of the DNS ecosystem in Africa has been commissioned > by ICANN, and the project implementation team, led by the Southern > African Communications Forum (SACF), is appealing to the technical > community in Africa to make the study a success by completing the online > survey at http://dnsafrica.study. The study aims to identify the > strengths and weaknesses in the domain name system (DNS) in every > country in Africa, and will develop recommendations on how to advance > the industry and bring it closer to the opportunities available. To > support the project, the SACF has assembled a team with deep experience > of the African internet environment, including a number of members of > the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), as well as Mark > Elkins, who initially operated the successful .co.za domain, and William > Stucke, who has been involved in the South African internet industry > since its inception. > > What is this study for? > > The study aims to verify the commonly held assumption that there are > about 1.5 million domain names registered under the 58 African top-level > domains (TLDs), and will unpack this figure to gain a clearer picture of > the distribution of domain registrations around the continent. African > countries have had widely varying degrees of success in selling their > own domains to their citizens and others, many of whom are also > registering under the generic domains (gTLDs) such as .com and .org. > > ICANN believes that an opportunity exists to boost the domain name > industry in Africa, to the benefit of all role players in the industry, > as well as the citizens and governments of African countries. > > What is the study’s scope? > > The DNS study will entail: > > 1. Conducting a survey to gather relevant information about the African > DNS market. In the case of country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), > collected information includes governance models and registry models. > This is the main body of work – to encourage as many people as possible > from the different stakeholder groups to answer the questionnaire. > > 2. Developing a regional and country-based breakdown of domain name > registrations, including ccTLD versus gTLD registrations, and > registrations by businesses, governments, non-governmental entities, > research and academic institutions, individuals, etc. The proportion of > active domains will also be assessed. > > 3. Looking at the type of content hosted by the domains and the share of > the sites that offer e-commerce services. Identifying whether this > content is hosted within the country or outside will also be an > important part of the assessment. > > 4. Measuring the growth rate of domain name registrations in the past > five years, including internationalized domain names (IDNs), and looking > at the current market of local registrars and resellers for ccTLDs and > gTLDs. > > 5. Where possible, looking at the current market of global registrars > and resellers for African ccTLDs and gTLDs. This will include the user > experience at local registrars and resellers (e.g. support for local > languages, payment gateways, IDN support, and level of automation). > > Other issues that will be taken note of include: the factors that are > holding back take-up of domain names (e.g. awareness, infrastructure, > policy and/or regulation, payment gateway); the current understanding of > the concept of premium domain names and how to develop this market; the > best practices that have made an impact in domain name market growth, > including those related to business models, regulatory and governance > mechanisms, consumer awareness, among others; the broader ecosystem of > the internet infrastructure and online services and the impact of such > elements on the overall evolution of the domain name industry; and > mechanisms to increase African participation in ICANN activities. The > study will also provide information on how to set up a DNS observatory > in Africa. > > Online survey tools and your participation > > The team has developed an online survey tool for each stakeholder type > in four languages: English, French, Arabic and Portuguese. In addition, > a DNS Zone File Analysis Tool has been developed that is able to analyse > a DNS zone file and return details on the number of active websites in > the zone, where they are hosted and what languages they use. > > The main effort currently is to encourage the different role players to > complete the survey, as well as to request the relevant agencies to make > zone files available for analysis. > > The six key role players that the study is focusing on are: > > Registries: A registry is an organisation operating a database > containing domain name details, typically the designated operator of the > ccTLD (which is accredited by ICANN) and second level and perhaps lower > level domains for that country. These may be operated by the same or > different entities. > > Registrars: Organisations that register domain names on behalf of > others, often officially accredited by a registry. > > Resellers: Organisations who register domain names on behalf of > registrars or registries. > > Registrants: People or companies with a domain name registered in > their own name. > > Regulators: Those who have a legally mandated role to play in > determining the policy and rules around domain name registration. > > IXP managers: Those who manage one or more internet exchange points > in a country. These are a useful contact point for finding out important > data, including contact details of all those above. > The survey tool is available for anyone who is involved in the DNS > industry or has registered a domain name. > > The team is hoping that this blog post will encourage readers to fill in > the relevant questionnaire. Having recruited a respondent, the > responsible team members will follow up and help ensure that the > respondent completes the relevant questionnaires. All respondents will > be provided with access to the final report. > > The team carrying out the study calls for your assistance to make this > initiative a success, in order to improve domain name management in Africa. > > To participate in the survey, go to https://dnsafrica.study/ > > ----------------------------------------- > Anriette Esterhuysen > Executive Director > Association for Progressive Communications > [log in to unmask] > www.apc.org > IM: ae_apc >