CORPORATE SCENE
Kenya Network
Information Center
(KeNIC)
By Marketing Africa Crew
On this Issues’ Corporate Scene, Joel
Karubiu, Chief Executive Officer,
Kenya Network Information
Center (KeNIC) takes us through the
company journey, their role in the Kenyan
ecosystem, and how your brand can
onboard as captured by the Marketing
Africa crew in the excerpts here-in.
Marketing Africa: Kindly
take us through a brief
history of KeNIC: When
was it established? What
necessitated its formation?
What is its mandate? What
was the landscape like before
its formation?
Joel Karubiu: Kenya Network Information
Center (KeNIC) is a company limited
by guarantee licensed to manage and
administer the .KE Country Code Top
Level Domain (ccTLD). The company
was formed after intensive consultations
with the local internet community and
was established through facilitation of
the Communications Authority of Kenya.
KeNIC was issued with its license by the
authority in the year 2002.
Our mandate is to provide businesses with
the opportunity to market their products
and services online on a .KE domain
platform. KeNIC is at the forefront to
ensure corporates, business and individuals
have an online presence, professional email
addresses and websites on the .KE domain
extension platform.
Who is the target market for
KeNIC? What is your typical
route to market like?
We operate on what we call a 3R business
model. Registry-Registrars-Registrants.
Registry: Is an organization that manages
the registration of domain names within
the domains for which it is responsible,
controls the policies of domain name
allocation, and technically operates its
domain. Kenya Network Information
Centre (KeNIC) is the Registry that
maintains all administrative data of the
.KE domains and generates zone files
which contain the addresses of the name
servers for each domain.
Registrar: This is a Company licensed by
KeNIC to register domains on behalf of
the actual domain name owner. Internet
Service Providers (ISP), Web Designers
and Solution Providers form part of the
list of our registrars. The list of KeNIC
accredited registrars is available on our
website: www.kenic.or.ke.
Registrant: This is the owner of the
domain name. The Registrant registers
the domain name through an accredited
Registrar, who in turn provides value added
services like hosting, SSL certificates,
website design and customized email
addresses.
KeNIC accredited Registrars purchase
domains from the Registry (KeNIC)
and register the domain names on
behalf of the end user (Registrant).
Our target market consists of business
entities, learning institutions, non-profits
organizations, Government agencies as
well as individuals.
What is your unique value
proposition? Are there any
special benefits derived from
being on a .KE platform?
Uniquely Kenyan: The .KE platform has
the advantage of providing not only a
globally recognized internet identity but
also an association to one’s country. .KE
is the Kenyan Top Level Domain and
choosing to use it contributes to building
our nation and it denotes a proudly Kenyan
attitude. A wonderful slogan comes to
mind, buy Kenya, build Kenya!
Brand Protection: As the official custodian
of the .KE domain name in Kenya, KeNIC
is encouraging Businesses to protect their
brands from cyber threats and crimes
by securing both Second Level and
Third Level domain names. A malicious
individual or company can register a
domain name that is similar to that of
your company or brand name, in order to
misuse it for cyber-squatting or for their
personal gain. Today, many small, medium
and large sized companies are taking the
step to secure their online presence. This
is because of the imposing risk of domain
hacking and theft of intellectual property
rights.
Accessibility: We make online presence
possible for Businesses, .KE being a
Country Code Top-Level Domain
(ccTLD) leads to a higher SEO value for
country-based search results. In addition,
almost everyone relies on social media
to get information. One of the ways to
help market your business is to link your
website to your social media accounts so
that potential clients can find your website
easily especially if you are targeting local
client.
Credibility: The .KE domain name gives
a degree of credibility for you on the
Internet. Online trust begins with your
domain and you can enhance your online
credibility with an official domain name
like .KE
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MAL36/20 ISSUE