DotConnectAfrica
attended the KeNIC Annual general Meeting that was Successfully convened
at the Sarova Panafric Nairobi on 24th August 2012. The positive
outcome had Kenyan Network Information Center (KeNIC) that has promised to
bring several changes that are geared towards the improvement of the ccTLD
registration and managing transitions within the organization that manages the
.ke ccTLD.
Many
changes have been adopted that are intended to bring a paradigm shift to the
existing situation at the registry, the changes proposed have been made after a
wide and professional consultations and are expected to breathe new life.
Mr.
Buruchara’s changes have been taken positively at least from how he explained.
He actually didn’t fire anyone as alleged in some local dailies report but that
the initiated a change of structure that overhauled the existing posts and
redefined them with new defined responsibilities thereby necessitating the
existing staff to opt for the send off packages instead of the reapplying for
the new Job, TESPOK has taken over tech support at KENIC for now.
The
Kenyan Permanent Secretary of information Mr. Bitange Ndemo while giving his
key note speech emphasized on the Kenyan Network Information Center KeNIC
adopting the ICANN multistakeholder policy that would aid its growth , he
stressed on the need to improve how governance structures were sculptured so
that Kenya remains at part with the rest of the developed nations.
 |
| Dr. Ndemo with the DCA President at a past event |
Among
notable discussions that were proposed included the efforts that could be
employed to scale up the uptake of the .ke ccTLD , one of the delegates
Mr.Longwe an active Kenyan internet technology professional proposed the
positive and aggressively using the leverage of the government to get the
Registrar of Companies to include as a requirement any company registering a
company to also register a domain name under the .ke like Rwanda
have done, this would enable individuals to adopt the .ke name by default.
He
also added the inclusion the .ke.Africa agenda among the development
strategies as a preparatory measure in strategy so that KeNIC would be
the principle registrar for .ke.africa names once it has been delegated. These
recommendations among others proposed have been taken to count and will greatly
aid the uptake and the turnaround of the ccTLD’s in Kenya.
The
outgoing Chair discussed the Kenyan internet environment saying that though
personal computer penetration has been slow, the mobile phone internet access
has placed Kenya and Africa at large in the map. He lauded the many
multinational organizations that are setting up in Kenya to reflect on the need
to put Kenya as the East African Hub. Companies like IBM. He added that KeNIC
has embraced change that will affect the numbers of ccTLD’s upwards.
The
training of web designers as well as registrars would greatly be welcome as a
strategy to localize the uptake of ccTLD’s as well as introducing new dispute
resolution mechanism among other changes that reflect the ICANN requirement,
Indeed the positive discussions signal a better year for the industry as Kenya
gears up to increase its internet presence.
These
events come up even as Kenya prepares to host the 2nd Freedom Online Conference
on 6th and 7th September at UNON complex, Gigiri
