The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) conducted a training workshop to promote and increase utilisation of country domain names in partnership with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
CRA is especially interested in encouraging locally-owned businesses and SMEs to register their businesses through the Qatar Domains Registry (QDR), a department established by CRA to manage all the Qatar-specific domains, to benefit from a local, Qatari domain name. Participants in the workshop included representatives from QDR and its accredited registrars, Ooredoo, Vodafone, and local Internet businesses.
Qatar has been recognised as one of the most connected countries in the Arab region with Internet penetration over 91%. With a population of over 2mn, and with its rapidly developing infrastructure and robust economy, the country still has huge potential. Currently, Qatar has 20,517 domain names registered with QDR.
“CRA wants to enhance the presence of Qatari businesses online and brand Qatar in the global digital marketplace,” said Mohammed Ali al-Mannai, president, CRA. “We will continue to organise similar strategic trainings to build capacity among QDR’s accredited registrars and to equip them with the required skills to boost the uptake of national domain names.”
The international experts at the workshop included Thomas Barrett, president and founder of Encirca Inc; StéphaneVan Gelder, executive vice president of StartingDotRegistry; Baher Esmat, vice president, ICANN Stakeholder Engagement - Middle East; and Mohammed El-Bashir, technical
department manager, CRA.
“This workshop reaffirms the importance of our strategic partnership, cemented with the MoU signed between ICANN and the Government of Qatar last year to support the development of the Domain Name Industry and internationalised domain names (such as Arabic script) in the region, as well as to promote the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance. This was a significant step for us and for future collaboration on joint projects and activities,” said Baher Esamt, vice president, ICANN Stakeholder Engagement - Middle East.
The current set of extensions that are made available by QDR through for public registrations include “.qa” and “.com.qa”, “net.qa”, and the Arabic equivalent of “.qatar” “each second level “.qa” with its unique set of eligibility requirements.