By peter oluka
The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has reiterated its passion to deepen DNS industry in Africa.
In lieu of this, NiRA Academy was set up as an entity charged with the mandate of developing knowledge and bridging the knowledge gap that exists within the DNS industry
Rev’ Sunday Folayan, president of NiRA, stated this during his welcome remark, at the on-going AFRINIC-27, in Lagos.
At the Meeting, Nigeria declared, officially, the crossing of over 100,000 active domain names, thereby making the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the second largest registry in Africa.
NiRA was established on 28th March 2006 when stakeholders within the Nigerian Internet Industry got together to adopt its constitution, under the stewardship of an Interim Board of Trustees (iBoT).
Stakeholders within Nigeria’s Internet community participated in its formation, with the co-ordination of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Rev’ Folayan said, till date, NiRA have witnessed significant growth in the .ng ecosystem using the 3R Model (Registry/Registrar/Registrant) of operation and management of the .ng ccTLD.
“Currently we have over 100,000 active domain names. Some might exclaim on the small figure compared to the vast population of Nigeria of over 185Million people. NiRA is however the second largest registry in Africa.
He said that NiRA has the passion to develop the DNS industry in Africa and has set up the NiRA Academy, an entity charged with the mandate of developing knowledge and bridging the knowledge gap that exists within the DNS industry.
“We believe that training and capacity building is an investment in the future of our continent and we encourage all to collaborate and partner with NiRA Academy in developing our community and the Internet Ecosystem at large.
“This is to the extent that NiRA signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Training and certification with Afrinic to achieve our aim of deepening our knowledge and understanding of the Internet”, the NiRA President said.
The AFRINIC-27 event with the theme “Taking the African Internet to the Next Level through Policy, Collaboration and Education” brings together Leaders and Top Executives from Internet Service Providers and organizations concerned with Internet policy and development from around the world.
Also, it will provide a global platform for exchanges, policy discussions, demonstrations and trainings on how Africa can sustainably harness the massive and growing opportunities from the rapid advancements in technology.
“The focus on technology and innovation is key to the sustainable development of this continent but we must also increase access to information and communication technology for all our citizens to enable them effectively engage in the contemporary economy, as such it is of great benefit that the meeting is holding in Nigeria”, he said.
