As of April 2022,the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) says it has empowered 330 individuals from disadvantaged communities with business development skills through its Registrar-Reseller programme.
This, says the authority, is to empower communities and increase opportunities for new entrants in the South African Internet ecosystem.
“These training and capacity-building interventions have had several positive and meaningful impact,” explains Molehe Wesi, CEO of ZADNA.
“In the 2021/22 financial year, ZADNA delivered 24 Registrar-Reseller training sessions. From these sessions, 18 participants became resellers, and one became an accredited registrar.”
ZADNA’s mandate is to regulate the .za namespace and ensure its efficient use, management and administration.
In addition to the Registrar-Reseller programme, the authority reveals that it re-launched other skills development programmes in February 2022.
These were the introductory Domain Name Systems (DNS) technical training and advanced technical DNS training, which were re-launched through a partnership with the .za commercial registry operator.
In the past, the ZA Central Registry decried DNS abuse, saying it was emerging as an existential threat to the continued stability of SA’s domain name ecosystem.
ZACR stated that domain name hijacking, cyber-squatting, spam, phishing, botnets and malware are all forms of DNS abuse perpetrated primarily by global fraud syndicates.
According to ZADNA, the DNS training aimed to advance small business owners and young entrepreneurs in the ICT industry, to ensure they acquired the necessary technical skills to lower the barrier to entry into the DNS industry.
“The reintroduction of the technical DNS training attests to our commitment to capacitating key DNS players with the requisite and specialised technical skills to ensure that the .za namespace remains secure and reliable,” notes Wesi.
The upcoming advanced DNS training is set to take place in Johannesburg for four days, beginning 20 February, and in Cape Town on 27 February.
Prospective participants can submit their application here.
For the virtual Registrar-Reseller training programme, interested SMMEs and technopreneurs can submit their interest by emailing info@zadna.org.za.
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