TLDCON 2014: Domains are the cornerstone of the Internet

The 7th annual conference of ccTLD registries and registrars of the CIS and Central and Eastern European countries, TLDCON 2014, opened in Baku, Azerbaijan on September 10. Over 100 delegates from 24 countries will spend two days hearing nearly 40 reports and discussing the most important issues of the domain industry.

The conference was organized by the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ (CC for TLD RU/РФ) and the Technical Center of Internet with support from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The host is Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communications and High Technologies.

Andrey Kolesnikov, Director of the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ, said the TLDCON conference is evidence of the Internet community’s stability, and its interest in domain issues. He also spoke about how the appearance of hundreds of top-level domains is influencing the domain industry. Mr Kolesnikov pointed to a decline in the growth rate of many ccTLDs, which he explained by the global economic situation rather than the appearance of new domains. He also referenced such causes as changes in the search algorithms of the largest search engines and the fact that registrars channel part of their marketing efforts toward promoting new TLDs.

“Domains are the cornerstone of the Internet,” said Elena Voronina, Director of MSK-IX. “But this is more than just business processes, because it also concerns technology.” Elena Voronina believes that a domain’s success depends on the choice of technology and on smooth operation, and that TLDCON is a good venue for discussing this highly important issue for the domain industry.

Deputy Director General of TCI Marina Nikerova said she shared this view. Managing Director of RIPE NCC Axel Pawlik noted the variety of issues on the conference agenda and said that TLDCON was helping to boost cooperation between various Internet communities.

Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan Elmir Valizade spoke about the development of the Internet in Azerbaijan. He believes that cooperation between all countries is crucial for the global development of the Internet and its security. Director of Azerbaijan’s national registrar Faig Farmanov conducted a presentation of the .AZ domain.