Nairobi — American non-profit organization that coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has unveiled Africa's first Root Server (IMRS) cluster in Nairobi, Kenya.
IMRS setup in Kenya now brings the total number of global clusters to six, comprising two in North America as well as two in Europe and Asia. In the next two-years, it targets to install three additional IMRS clusters.
An IMRS cluster helps improve DNS infrastructure globally, stimulating internet access whilst strengthening stability.
It will also reduce the impact of potential cyberattacks in the country as well as across the continent.
One of the most common types of attacks being distributed denial-of-service attacks, which overwhelm servers with a flood of queries or internet traffic.
Similarly, IMRS provides higher bandwidth and data processing capacity, alleviating traffic.
"Improving users' access to the Internet in Africa, and their safety while using it, is part of ICANN's mission to help make the Internet more secure, stable, and resilient across the world," said ICANN President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Göran Marby.
With the new facility, ICANN says internet users will soon enjoy faster access and affordable internet services.
"The installation of the IMRS cluster aligns with our mission to digitally transform not only our own country but the entire continent, through regulation, partnership, and innovation," Information, communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo said.
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"We are proud to help bring a more resilient Internet to a larger audience in Africa."
Installing IMRS cluster in Africa ensures that internet queries can be answered within the region, limiting dependence on networks and servers in other parts of the world.
Likewise, the IMRS cluster boosts national and regional resiliency by helping root server traffic stay local.
"We recognize that having the IMRS cluster at the Kenya exchange point (KIXP) will improve Internet services on our continent for Internet users due to the presence of carriers from across the continent at KIXP," Technology Service Providers of Kenya, a non-profit organization representing the interests of technology service providers in Kenya, CEO Fiona Asonga said.
ICANN has been actively engaging with the African technical community since the early 2000s.
It provides capacity development for many technical organizations, working closely with the African Network Operators Group and partners such as the Africa Top Level Domains Organization and African Network Information Centre.
"So, ICANN chose to invest in Kenya setting up one of the critical server systems that allows internet to be available to all citizens around the world, so they chose to set up this infrastructure in Kenya," Communication Authority of Kenya Director-General Ezra Chiloba said
"Which for us is really an honor when you look at the increased capacity or demand for the internet across the world."
ICANN is calling for qualified network operators to host IMRS instances in their country or region to serve root data.
