Interoperability Framework

5.6 Domain Name Policy

5.5 Interoperability Framework

One of the main objectives of most E-Government initiatives is to provide one stop integrated, client-centric government services to the citizens as well as businesses. In order to attain this objective, the Government needs to be perceived as a single entity, with seamless flow of information across individual ministries and departments as necessary. An Interoperability Framework is essential to support the flow of information and to improve the coherence of information systems maintained by individual ministries and departments.

The Interoperability Framework aims to define the set of specifications to facilitate Government systems to communicate and interoperate with other systems, both within Government and external to it, efficiently and effectively.

By bringing together the relevant specifications under an overall framework, ICT management and software developers have a single point of reference whenever a need arises to locate the required interoperability specifications that should be followed for a specific project. By adopting these interoperability specifications, system designers can ensure interoperability between systems while at the same time have the flexibility to select different hardware, systems and application software to implement solutions.

Compliance with the Interoperability Framework can be made mandatory for any system in the Government. Suitable mechanisms must be adopted by existing and legacy systems to conform to the framework.

Framing of policies and specifications for Interoperability Framework should be followed up with provision of support, guidance on best practices, toolkits and agreed schemas. The entire strategy to implement good e-government should be viewed in long-term perspective and hence must be supported by vigorous processes. The development of Interoperability Framework must therefore be reviewed and updated on a continuous basis.

More information on the Guiding Policies while designing Interoperability Frameworks and some of the Interoperability Initiatives undertaken by different Countries worldwide have been provided in the Annexe.

| Government Gateway

Government Gateway is generally established to facilitate the efficient delivery of online services in a cost-effective manner. It enables the government departments to focus on the rapid delivery of online services, rather than building the common underlying components required for online services. The Government Gateway is a modular set of components that provide Authentication, and Authorisation, Transaction routing with reliable delivery as well as Secure Mail and On-line Payments.

Users of the Gateway can be Individuals (citizens), Organisations (businesses) or Agents (intermediaries). Users need to register once with the Gateway, and then enroll for the specific services that they wish to use. They will then have a single credential (User ID/Password or a Digital Certificate) for use across all the Government services using the Gateway. The Gateway possesses highly secure infrastructure for transactions and delivery of messages.

UK Government has set up such a gateway as a part of their e-government initiatives, which can be accessed at the http://www.gateway.gov.uk

Chapter 5 Infrastructure Development 5.1 Nationwide Communication Infrastructure 5.2 Computing Infrastructure 5.3 Data Centres 5.4 E-government Architecture 5.5 Interoperability Framework 5.6Domain Name Policy

5.6 Domain Name Policy

While considering various issues related to technology, infrastructure and the policy

requirement for effective e-government, the important aspect of having a Domain Name Policy for the country deserves attention. Generally speaking, a domain name is an addressing construct used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet. In practical terms, the domain name is the core of the Internet identity for an entity.

Globally, there are approximately 60 million Internet domains registered. Of these, about 40 million are in generic top level domain (gTLD) category, while about 20 million are in the country code top level (ccTLD) domains. The administration of gTLD rests with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an internationally recognized, non profit corporation for preserving the operational stability of Internet, with membership from different countries and experts in the field. The responsibility of managing the ccTLD, as mentioned above, has been entrusted to the individual countries who, in general follow, the guidelines provided by ICANN. These Internet domain names are used by the user entities to identify them in the networked Internet space.

The DNS (Domain Name System) structure contains a hierarchy of names. The root, or the highest level, of the system is unnamed. Top Level Domains (TLDs) are divided into classes based on rules that have evolved over time. Most TLDs have been

delegated to the individual countries whose codes are assigned from a table known as ISO-3166-1, which is maintained by a UN Agency. These are called country code Top Level Domains, or ccTLDs. In addition, there are a limited number of ‘generic’ Top Level Domains (gTLDs) which do not have a geographic or country designation. There is a growing awareness that the number of domain name registrations in a country is a significant indicator of its Internet proliferation and a measure of its popularity in the Internet space and the various countries are showing a keen interest in promotion and registration of country level domain names.

For the countries embarking on e-governance, it is suggested that they should look into the administration and management of their country code top level domain and define a broad level policy. Though Governments may sometimes subcontract the operation of their root registry to a private partner due to some technical/administrative reasons, it is still suggested, rather strongly recommended, that the ultimate control over their ccTLD should remain with the government itself.

For websites and portals belonging to the government departments and institutions, it should be made mandatory to register their domain name in country code top level domain so that it truly reflects the national identity of the portal/websites. Countries such as US, UK, China, India have drafted clear cut rules with respect to Internet addressing mechanisms and it is

recommended that such rules may be formulated and implemented by all the developing/developed countries.

For further information on Domain Names, refer to following websites: · Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers

http://www.icann.org

· Internet’s Network Information Centre http://www.internic.net

Implementation of national level e-government infrastructure is a resource intensive phenomenon and sometimes the government may not find it feasible to carry out the entire task on its own. Hence, it may explore the possibility of private sector partnership in developing nationwide infrastructure. Different modes of partnership such as BOO, BOOT, BOT etc may be deployed (as explained in Chapter 6 of this document titled Partnerships…).

The government may also consider seeking assistance from International agencies. Though different governments may choose different modes of implementation, the overall coordination of National e-government infrastructure development programme should be handled by a government agency. This Government agency could be something like the National level ICT organization of the government or an institution responsible for the implementation or facilitation of the National E-Government Plan. Alternatively, it could be carried out by a high level council set up by the government which should have representation from the government, public sector, private sector as well as the NGOs.

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