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'''DotConnectAfrica (DCA)''' is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that has its base of operation in Nairobi, Kenya and headquartered in I/F River Court 6th Denis Street Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa.  Its main objective is to sponsor, establish and operate the proposed new Top Level Domain (TLD) [[.africa]], pronounced as dotaAfrica that will cater for the needs of the African and Pan-African constituency and also to address the lack of adequate internet policy in Africa. DCA is well represented in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, South Africa, London United Kingdom, and California, USA. <ref>[http://www.dotconnectafrica.org/about/ About DCA]</ref>

'''DotConnectAfrica (DCA)''' is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that has its base of operation in Nairobi, Kenya and headquartered in I/F River Court 6th Denis Street Port Louis, Mauritius, Africa.  Its main objective is to sponsor, establish and operate the proposed new Top Level Domain (TLD) [[.africa]], pronounced as dotAfrica that will cater for the needs of the African and Pan-African constituency and also to address the lack of adequate internet policy in Africa. DCA is well represented in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, South Africa, London United Kingdom, and California, USA. <ref>[http://www.dotconnectafrica.org/about/ About DCA]</ref>

==Mission==

==Mission==

DCA aims to accomplish the following missions:

DCA aims to accomplish the following missions:

* Become the sponsor and operator of the .africa gTLD and establish it as regional internet domain name space with a global recognition  dedicated to the needs of the Pan-African and  African constituancy.

* Become the sponsor and operator of the .africa gTLD and establish it as regional internet domain name space with a global recognition  dedicated to the needs of the Pan-African and  African constituency.

* Reinvest surplus of the registry business in socio-technological development projects significant to the Pan-Africa and African constituancy.

* Reinvest surplus of the registry business in socio-technological development projects significant to the Pan-Africa and African constituency.

* Operate an effective and technically advanced TLD registry through the initiative of not-for-profit organization.<ref>[http://www.dotconnectafrica.org/about/mission-and-objective/ Mission]</ref>

* Operate an effective and technically advanced TLD registry through the initiative of not-for-profit organization.<ref>[http://www.dotconnectafrica.org/about/mission-and-objective/ Mission]</ref>

'''International Partner'''

'''International Partner'''

In order to acquire the technology and skills relevant to running and operating a registry on a sustainable basis, having an international registry partner is crucial. To this end, DCA entered into a binding agreement with CentralNIC, a registry services provider and a successful operator and administrator of several Internet domains, based in London, England. CentralNIC is active in the ICANN global community and has a good reputation as a world-class registry service. CentralNIC will provide DCA with the requisite technical and operational capacities to support the establishment of the DCA Registry Services to be located in Nairobi, Kenya. CentralNIC is fully equipped, and has the capability to provide the type of high-end, world-class registry services that would satisfy all the stringent functional and operational requirements of ICANN’s new gTLD programme. In the event of a successful application to ICANN that will result in the execution of a gTLD registry services agreement for DotAfrica, CentralNIC will provide DCA Registry Services with the necessary software, system support, technical management and administration services coupled with adequate staff technical training required for the operation of a back-end registry system. Furthermore, CentralNIC will also provide sales and marketing training to DCA staff, and also to other ICANN-accredited registrars who wish to resell DotAfrica domains.<ref>[http://www.techmtaa.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya DCA Partners With Safaricom And Fincom To Set Up DotAfrica Registry In Kenya]</ref><ref>[http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/kenya-is-set-to-house-the-dotafrica-.africa-domain/ Kenya is set to house the DOTAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref><ref>[http://www.tectrendafrica.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya Kenya is set to house the DOTAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref>

In order to acquire the technology and skills relevant to running and operating a registry on a sustainable basis, having an international registry partner is crucial. To this end, DCA entered into a binding agreement with CentralNIC, a registry services provider and a successful operator and administrator of several Internet domains, based in London, England. CentralNIC is active in the ICANN global community and has a good reputation as a world-class registry service. CentralNIC will provide DCA with the requisite technical and operational capacities to support the establishment of the DCA Registry Services to be located in Nairobi, Kenya. CentralNIC is fully equipped, and has the capability to provide the type of high-end, world-class registry services that would satisfy all the stringent functional and operational requirements of ICANN’s new gTLD programme. In the event of a successful application to ICANN that will result in the execution of a gTLD registry services agreement for DotAfrica, CentralNIC will provide DCA Registry Services with the necessary software, system support, technical management and administration services coupled with adequate staff technical training required for the operation of a back-end registry system. Furthermore, CentralNIC will also provide sales and marketing training to DCA staff, and also to other ICANN-accredited registrars who wish to resell DotAfrica domains.<ref>[http://www.techmtaa.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya DCA Partners With Safaricom And Fincom To Set Up DotAfrica Registry In Kenya]</ref><ref>[http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/kenya-is-set-to-house-the-dotafrica-.africa-domain/ Kenya is set to house the DotAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref><ref>[http://www.tectrendafrica.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya Kenya is set to house the DotAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref>

DCA will acquire and install all the necessary computer server hardware and network accessories required to set-up the physical infrastructure of the technical registry services system.

DCA will acquire and install all the necessary computer server hardware and network accessories required to set-up the physical infrastructure of the technical registry services system.

The technical registry system will be located in the Data Centre facilities operated by Safaricom Ltd. - the Kenya national telecommunications carrier, mobile network operator and Internet services provider. To this end, DCA has executed a Colocation Services Agreement with Safaricom for the location of computer server hardware and network accessories in the Safaricom Data Centre. A fixed data optic fibre network connection with an Internet bandwidth of 20Mbps capacity will be provisioned by Safaricom to connect the DCA Technical Registry System to the Safaricom telecommunications network and global Internet. The Safaricom Data Centre has all the necessary facilities such as ample rack space, backup power generator, clean UPS power, air-conditioning, humidity/dust control, automatic fire extinguishers, physical site security, structured cabling system, etc. The availability of these facilities would enable the easy and fast installation of the DCA Technical Registry system with total guarantee of reliable performance

The technical registry system will be located in the Data Centre facilities operated by Safaricom Ltd. - the Kenya national telecommunications carrier, mobile network operator and Internet services provider. To this end, DCA has executed a Colocation Services Agreement with Safaricom for the location of computer server hardware and network accessories in the Safaricom Data Centre. A fixed data optic fibre network connection with an Internet bandwidth of 20Mbps capacity will be provisioned by Safaricom to connect the DCA Technical Registry System to the Safaricom telecommunications network and global Internet. The Safaricom Data Centre has all the necessary facilities such as ample rack space, backup power generator, clean UPS power, air-conditioning, humidity/dust control, automatic fire extinguishers, physical site security, structured cabling system, etc. The availability of these facilities would enable the easy and fast installation of the DCA Technical Registry system with total guarantee of reliable performance

FINCOM Technologies (Kenya) Ltd. is also another strategic partner that would provide DCA with the initial office representation, and hardware technical support and other local facilitation and ancillary services until the DCA Registry Services is set-up permanently and becomes operational in Kenya as a ‘registry operator’. DCA and FINCOM already have a binding agreement to govern the range of support services provided to DCA.<ref>[http://www.techmtaa.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya DCA Partners With Safaricom And Fincom To Set Up DotAfrica Registry In Kenya]</ref><ref>[http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/kenya-is-set-to-house-the-dotafrica-.africa-domain/ Kenya is set to house the DOTAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref><ref>[http://www.tectrendafrica.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya Kenya is set to house the DOTAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref>

FINCOM Technologies (Kenya) Ltd. is also another strategic partner that would provide DCA with the initial office representation, and hardware technical support and other local facilitation and ancillary services until the DCA Registry Services is set-up permanently and becomes operational in Kenya as a ‘registry operator’. DCA and FINCOM already have a binding agreement to govern the range of support services provided to DCA.<ref>[http://www.techmtaa.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya DCA Partners With Safaricom And Fincom To Set Up DotAfrica Registry In Kenya]</ref><ref>[http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/kenya-is-set-to-house-the-dotafrica-.africa-domain/ Kenya is set to house the DotAfrica(.africa) Domain]</ref><ref>[http://www.tectrendafrica.com/2012/07/17/dca-partners-with-safaricom-and-fincom-to-set-up-dotafrica-registry-in-kenya Kenya is set to house the DotAfrica (.africa) Domain]</ref>

==Background==

==Background==