ZADNA launches .za Awards – recognising outstanding achievements in local domain namespace
The .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) recently gave out the first-ever .za Award.
These .za Awards were created to recognise outstanding achievements in the South African domain namespace.
“The prestigious .za Awards pays tribute to individuals and organisations who have made significant contributions to the growth and development of the Internet in South Africa”, says Molehe Wesi, CEO of ZADNA.
2023 winner
In March 2024, ZADNA gave out a single award – the Top DNS Personality Award 2023.
The Top DNS Personality award category recognises a highly respected and outstanding ICT professional who has made a significant technical or academic contribution to the .za namespace over several years.
After an extensive judging process, this award was given to Mark Elkins.
Elkins is a certified CCIE (Cisco Engineer) and co-founder of Domain Name Services (PYT) Ltd.
He was at the helm of UniForum SA (now the ZA Central Registry) when the organisation was assigned the responsibility of administering the co.za domain namespace.
The .za commercial namespace started with only 400 co.za registered domain names, and has grown to be the largest namespace in Africa – with over 1.3 million registered commercial domains.
2024 awards
Following its successful 2023 awards ceremony, ZADNA has even bigger plans for the second installment of the .za Awards.
The following awards will be given out next year:
- 2024 .za Top DNS Personality – Recognises a highly respected and outstanding ICT professional who has made a significant technical or academic contribution to the .za namespace over several years.
- ZADNA Members’ Member Award 2024—This award recognises an exemplary ZADNA Member who embodies the organisation’s founding principles, as nominated and voted for by other members.
- Top emerging Registrar – This Award recognises a new entry Registrar that has seen consistent growth in domain names for the 2023/24 FY (Strictly for small businesses).
- Best-designed and accessible website – The website should have a simple, straightforward navigation layout with a logical hierarchy and a search function. It should also be responsive to different screen sizes and devices, minimize page load times by compressing pictures and optimizing code, and adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to provide accessibility for those with disabilities.
- Top .za Registrar – Recognises RARS who have contributed to the growth of the .za namespace in the previous financial year (2023/24). ZADNA will select winners based on retention and growth in domain name registrations.
The 2024 awards nomination and voting process will be opened in June 2024, and ZADNA encourages all stakeholders in the domain namespace industry to get involved in the nomination process.
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