The Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) was established through the facilitation of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) and was issued with it's license by the authority on 16th December 2015.
KENIC is the entity
KENIC is a company, limited by guarantee, licensed to manage and administer the dot ke Country Code Top-Level Domain (.ke ccTLD) name. This took place after intensive consultations with the Local Internet Community. This public-private partnership was therefore the initial step in facilitating the growth and uptake of the Internet sub-sect ICT in Kenya.
Since ccTLDs are a national resource, KENIC's mandate is to manage .KE in a manner which serves public and industrial interests. KENIC being representative of the local Internet community, and having full government support, will be able to push Kenya forward in the global internet community.KENIC's board of directors acknowledged and appreciated the significant contribution made to the .ke domain name system by Dr. Shem Ochuodho (Admin Contact) and Mr. Randy Bush (Technical Contact) who voluntarily facilitated domain name registry services in an acting capacity from 1993.
The broad based consultations that begun in October 2001 were facilitated mainly by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and local Internet stakeholders who later became the KENIC founding members.
KENIC Functions
KENIC was established to, among others:
- Act as a trustee for the .ke country-code-top-level-domain;
- Become the .ke domain administrative contact as well as technical contact;
- Administer the .ke ccTLD and its Second Level Domains;
- Maintain and promote the operational stability and utility of the .ke ccTLD;
- Ensure a cost-effective administration of the .ke ccTLD and its sub-domains;
- Notify the Internet Corporation of Names and Numbers (ICANN) of any change to the contact information about the.ke ccTLD;
- Provide name service for all .ke and ensure that the database is secure and stable;
- Allow ICANN to access .ke zone files and registration data (up to date) continuously maintain a KENIC website at all times with all the registration information meet all its financial obligations to ICANN comply with all global ICANN Internet policies and help in their development.
Membership
KENIC's membership is made of up of full Board Members and Associate Members who comprise of representatives from the Kenyan Internet community and the Government.
KENIC's full board members are drawn from: the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), Government IT Services (GITS), Directorate of E-Governance, Telecommunications Services Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK), Kenya Education Network (KENET), and Industry.
Associate board members are: Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Domain-Name Registrar Association of Kenya (DRAKE), and Kenya Internet Marketing Association (KIMA).
For continuity, a former chairperson continues to serve on the Board for a year.
Second-level domains, under which domains are registered at the third level, are:
- .co.ke - for Companies
- .or.ke - for Not-for-Profit-Making Organisations or NGO's
- .ne.ke - for Network Devices
- .go.ke - for Government Entities. Requires Supporting Documents
- .ac.ke - for Institutions of Higher Education. Requires Supporting Documents
- .sc.ke - for Lower and Middle Institutes of Learning. Requires Supporting Documents
- .me.ke - for Personal names
- .mobi.ke - for Mobile content
- .info.ke - for Information
