IT Ministry Ties Up With ICANN For More .in Internet Addresses

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New Delhi: US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has decided to collaborate with the ministry of communications and information technology to expand country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) or .in Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation in the country. A joint declaration is expected to be signed between the two bodies soon.

President and CEO of ICANN Dr Paul Twomey, on his first ever visit to India recently, met with minister of communications and information technology Dayanidhi Maran and senior officials of the department of information technology (DIT). “The minister’s 10 point agenda is directed, among other things, towards the proliferation of Internet in India. Discussions with the minister and senior government officials reflected a striking similarity in analysis about how the issues such as Internet governance are considered,” Dr Twomey told eFE.

ICANN has the responsibility for IP address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic and country code Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. These services were originally performed under the US government contract by the Interned Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities. lCANN now performs the functions of IANA.

According to Dr Twomey: “India’s potential role as a leader of the Internet’s future is clear. There are already 22 million users in India and this is expected to increase exponentially. India can build on several competitive advantages. These include areas such as the rule of law, a tremendous skill set and strong commercial base. The world looks to India for technical leadership in software and hardware and the continued growth of Internet.”