Outside of Government, the use of country code top level domains (ccTLDs), such as .ag; .lc, .jm and .tt, are not popular in the Caribbean. Further many Caribbean countries do not directly manage their own ccTLDs, and so may not fully appreciate the value of that resource. One of the exceptions is Trinidad and Tobago. In this episode, we talk to Professor Patrick Hosein, of the Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre (TTNIC), on managing the .tt domain extension, and how TTNIC has been influencing how the Internet and Internet Governance continues to develop in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

Virtually all countries have one: a unique two-letter identifier that can be used as part of a website domain name or address. However, take-up and use of domain names with a country extension in the Caribbean is not the norm. People and organisations still gravitate to using the generic top-level domains, such as ‘.com’, “.org”, and “.net”, as opposed to the extensions listed in the box below.

To a considerable degree, on the region’s successes as it related to country code top-level domain.(ccTLD) administration has been the Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre (TTNIC), which manages the .tt extension for that country. Unlike many Caribbean countries, which have outsourced management of their ccTLD to an overseas third party, TTNIC is based in Trinidad and Tobago, and has been in existence for over 20 years. Over that time, its role has evolved from purely country domain name management to influencing how the Internet continues to develop in Trinidad and Tobago.

Professor Patrick Hosein

Professor Patrick Hosein. of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, in Trinidad and Tobago, founded TTNIC, and is its Chief Executive Officer. He is thus well-placed to discuss how TTNIC has evolved over the years, and the impact it is having on the Internet and Internet Governance in Trinidad and Tobago. As a result, our conversation spanned a wide cross-section of issues, including the following:

  1. What Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre (TTNIC) does
  2. What the environment was like and why Professor Hosein established TTNIC
  3. The demand for .tt domain names like, and who is .tt’s biggest customer
  4. Whether Trinidad and Tobago organisations gravitate towards securing a .tt domain name
  5. How TT-NIC has changed over the years since it was first established
  6. In light of the 2017 hurricane season, whether TT-NIC has anything in place to address this disaster resilience, disaster recovery and/or business continuity
  7. Whether TTNIC permits the use of emojis in domain names, and whether TTNIC has a stance on this issue
  8. Professor Hosein’s position on the use of 2-letter geographic codes with the generic top level domain names, or with a .tt domain
  9. Why Caribbean countries should not outsource management of their top level domain name to third parties, and be prepared to manage it in-house.

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that were mentioned, or might be useful:

 

 

Image credits:  Baohm (Pixabay);  P Hosein

Music credit:  Ray Holman