Thanks to the growing prominence of Artificial intelligence (AI), .ai, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla has experienced an exponential increase in the take-up of .ai domains. However, Caribbean countries have not been aggressive in increasing the take-up and use of their ccTLDs, though there are numerous opportunities to be had. With longstanding players in the global Internet Governance space, Lance Hinds and Carlton Samuels, we discuss: the benefits of using ccTLDs; why some countries enjoy a large number of active ccTLDs; reasons why Caribbean countries have not sought to foster greater use of their ccTLDs; and ways in which Caribbean countries can increase the attractiveness and consequently the value of their ccTLDs.

 

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We are all familiar with domain names that end in .com, .gov, .org, and .net, to name a few, which collectively are referred to as generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Moreover, should we need a web address, often our first preference would be to secure one that uses one of those gTLD extension.

However, every country in the world has been assigned its own unique top-level domain, a country code top-level domain (ccTLD), which it controls and can use as it sees fit. Unfortunately, across the Caribbean region, and with unique exceptions, countries have made limited use of their ccTLDs, as reflected in Exhibit 1, compared with other countries worldwide.

 

Exhibit 1: Caribbean ccTLDs and the total number of active domains in each country (Source: Nominus)

 

For the record, the ccTLDs with the largest number of active domains include:

  1. Germany (.de) – 16.1 million
  2. United Kingdom (.uk) – 14.6 million
  3. China (.cn) – 9.0 million
  4. Gabon (.ga) – 7.0 million
  5. The Netherlands (.nl) – 5.6 million
  6. Central African Republic (.cf) – 5.4 million
  7. Mali (.ml) – 5.3 million
  8. Tokelau (.tk) – 5.0 million
  9. Russia (.ru) – 5.0 million
  10. Brazil (.br) – 4.3 million.

For populous countries with high internet development, such it Germany, the United Kingdom, China and the Netherlands, it could be argued that a large number of active domains is expected. However, Tokelau in the South Pacific has an estimated population of 1,411 (!) and has over five million active domains. Gabon has a population of about 2.3 million and over seven million active domains. Typically, registration of active domains must to be renewed annually, and may incur a fee, which has become an important source of much-needed revenue in some countries.

It thus has led us to question whether Caribbean countries – none of which is in the top 50 – have been capitalising on the opportunities that exist through their ccTLDs.

 

Introducing our guests

Lance Hinds

Lance Hinds is the Chief Executive Officer of the BrainStreet Group in Guyana, an IT solutions company that offers a complete range of management information and business system consulting services to governments and the private sector. He is also the Creator and Chief Technical Officer of BrainCentral, an online academic environment that helps students prepare for examinations with over 150,000 questions generating hundreds of online quizzes and practice workbooks. He has over twenty-five years of experience in the provision of professional services for the design, development and implementation of ICT solutions.

Lance is a longstanding and active participant in the global Internet Governance space. He is the former country representative on the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Government Advisory Committee (GAC). Currently, he is the incoming Vice Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Regional At-Large Organisation (LACRALO) at ICANN.

Carlton Samuels

Carlton Samuels is an International Consultant and heads Carlton Samuels and Associates, which specialises in areas such as technology in business strategy, ICT policy development, business process re-engineering and ICT in education. He was the Chief Information Officer and University Director of IT at The University of the West Indies (UWI). He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Studies, the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the UWI in Jamaica.

Carlton has an extensive portfolio of volunteer work in the areas of ICT4D, Internet Governance and Technology in Education. He is a member of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) of ICANN, a foundation member and the inaugural Secretary for the Latin America and Caribbean Regional At-Large Advisory Organization (LACRALO) of ICANN and Advisory Board member for the Microsoft Partners in Learning initiative. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the National Information Systems (ACNIS) in Jamaica, a member of ICT4D Jamaica and the Board Committee for ICT Governance for both HEART/NTA and the Scientific Research Council (SRC). Carlton has also been a member of the CARICOM ICT Task Force, a regional ICT leadership position charged with developing a cohesive ICT/Digital policy framework for Caribbean governments.

 

Insights into our conversation

A conversation on Caribbean ccTLDs is much needed in the region as many countries have overlooked the unique opportunities that exist and essentially, have been ‘leaving money of the table’. Lance and Carlton have been longstanding participants in the global top-level domain discussions and so shared a wealth of history and information on top-level domains, along with how and why some countries have been able to capitalise on opportunities whilst others have not.

Moreover, because most Caribbean countries have been slow to recognise the potential of top-level domains, the associated ecosystem and consequently value of our ccTLDs remain underdeveloped. However, all is not lost. Carlton and Lance share some simple remedies to get us on track and better positioned to explore the opportunities that exist.

 

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Let’s make it happen!

 

Select Links

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

 

 

Images credit:  C Samuels;  L Hinds; Christoph Scholz (flickr); Freepik;  Pete Linforth (Pixabay)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez