The government of Ghana led by the Ministry of Communications is facilitating moves to establish a public Internet Registry that will improve the governance and security of the internet in the country.
An Internet registry is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a particular region of the world. Internet number resources include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers, according to Wikipedia.
“This registry will improve the governance and security in Internet. As part of the arrangement the Ministry is facilitating the establishment of a Network Computer Incidence Reporting Team (CIRT) with a Network Operation Centre (NOC) to address issues of computer glitches and possible incidence on a 24/7 basis,” said Communications Minister Mr Haruna Iddrissu at a press conference in Accra early October this year.
According to the Mr Iddrissu, the CIRT will also provide remedial actions as well as facilitate the addressing of computer malfunction, cyber crime and virus attacks among others.
He however did not give a timeline for the project.
The world has five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). They are the African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) for Africa; American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) for the United States, Canada, several parts of the Caribbean region, and Antarctica; Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) for Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and neighboring countries; Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC) for Latin America and parts of the Caribbean region and the Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE) for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
By Ekow Quandzie