On Tuesday, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), which manages the .CA internet top-level domain (TLD), and SIDN, its counterpart in the Netherlands which manages the .NL TLD, announced a partnership to develop, promote, and support the CIRA Registry Platform.
Under the agreement, the code base and intellectual property of the CIRA platform will be transferred to a jointly-owned and managed Canadian-based corporation, and SIDN will be migrating .NL, the fourth largest country code TLD (ccTLD) in the world, to the new platform.
“When migration is complete, .NL will be running on a new cloud-based version of the current CIRA Registry Platform with the functionality and features SIDN requires to manage the registry effectively,” the press release noted. It also said that the two organizations will collaborate on the development of new features, integration of new technologies, and on expanding the market opportunity for the platform.
“As we enter a new phase for the domain industry, one of increasing competition, consolidation and new technologies, it is critical that like-minded TLDs work together,” said Byron Holland, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of CIRA.
“SIDN is a great partner for this endeavour; their long history of leadership and innovation in our industry will only help to strengthen and protect the platform that runs both .CA, and soon .NL, while helping to build an online platform for similar communities around the world.”
SIDN CEO Roelof Meijer said, “this unique strategic collaboration offers SIDN and CIRA many advantages and prospects. There are benefits in the shorter term due to, among other things, accelerated commissioning of a new, state-of-the-art registration system at lower costs and lower risks than in-house construction from the ground up. And there are benefits and long-term perspectives through lower TCO, faster development, a larger pool of expertise and impact in our industry by offering a ‘best-of-breed’ registration system for peers.”
Financial terms were not revealed.