The Kenya Network Information Centre (Kenic)

The Kenya Network Information Centre (Kenic) is a non-profit organisation in Kenya that manages and administers the dotKE country code top-level domain(.ke ccTLD). It was established in 2003 after consultations with the local internet community. In that year, dotKE was delegated, for the second time, by the Internet Corporation for the Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to KEnic:

• As the Administrative Point of Contact

• As the Technical Point of Contact

Initially, in 1993, dotKE was delegated by Jon Postel, the Internet pioneer, to:

• Dr. Shem Ochuodho: Administrative Point of Contact

• Randy Bush: Technical Point of Contact

Both Dr. Ochuodho and Randy Bush (USA) had been acting on voluntary basis before the re-delegation in 2003. Members of the Kenic board are drawn from the government, the private sector, the academia, the civil society and Dr. Shem Ochuodho, the founding dotKE administrative contact.

Kenic sustainability is through income from:

• Minimal domain name registration fees

• Minimal operational costs due to few staff

• Capacity building – maintaining an internship programme

The Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), which facilitated the establishment of Kenic provides support to the organisation.

Objectives of Kenic

The major functions of Kenic are:

• Become the trustee for the dotKE country-code-top-level-domain.

• Become the .ke domain administrative and technical contact as was delegated in its founding in 2003

• Administer the .ke ccTLD and its Second Level Domains

• Maintain and promote the operational stability and utility of the .ke ccTLD

• Ensure a cost-effective administration of the .ke ccTLD and its sub-domains

• Provide name service for all .ke and ensure that the database is secure and stable

Its obligations to ICANN are:

• Notify the Internet Corporation of Names and Numbers (ICANN) of any change to the contact information about the .ke ccTLD;

• Allow ICANN to access .ke updated zone files and registration data.

• It should continuously maintain a website at all times with all the registration information

• Meet all its financial obligations to ICANN

• Comply with all global ICANN Internet policies and help in their development.