Activity report Q2 2023-24
Kia ora, The purpose of this report is to summarise our delivery to our strategies and plans, and highlight the key metrics that matter to the ongoing health of our organisation.
July to September 2023 were strong months for InternetNZ. We focused on filling key positions in the team to build momentum in constitutional review, membership engagement, public policy team, and a better-resourced Te Puni Whakawhanake Rawa | Customer and Product team. We sent our submission on the DIA ‘Safer Online Services and Media Platforms’ (SOSaMP) discussion and reached an agreement on a one-off fund with DPMC and set up to distribute this over October. Internet Governance was also a key activity, with a group of Councillors and staff attending the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum. This trip helped us with key strategic goals and put us in a great position to make the most of the Internet Governance Forum in October..
After the DNSSEC incident in Q1, we received the independent report, considered the recommendations, and prioritised actions beginning with those that we considered critical to minimising future risks.
Market research was a major deliverable, too, as we moved to build an active marketing plan for .nz.
Te Puni Whiria | The Community Engagement Team and Te Puni Māori continue to grow relationships across Kaupapa Māori organisations leading to many more Māori receiving support from us through our grants programme.
Vivien Maidaborn
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive
Rei kura: treasured teeth - The focus of our action and mahi
Our plan for 2023-2025 includes nine key strategic goals. The status of our work is summarised below:
Goal 1: A 3–6 year vision is developed for .nz and related registry products, that inform business decisions and future investment
Goal | Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||
The vision document for .nz and related registry products, is in place by Dec 2024 |
We continue to track well with the development of our registry related product strategy and vision. A number of key inputs into the strategy were completed during the reporting period:
This work ensures that our strategy and vision can be grounded on genuine market insights and opportunities. |
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Service Availability |
Note: It was identified as part of the DNSSEC incident review that downstream measures for availability could give us a more comprehensive view. This work will begin in Q3&4. |
Goal 2: Grow the volume of registrars in our channel and Revenue growth year on year.
Goals | Notes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Registrar growth |
As at the end of the reporting period:
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Revenue growth |
*Domains Under Management Note: The decrease in renewals from 2022 is due to the change from monthly to yearly renewals. As such, these figures are not strictly comparable. Upon the first anniversary of the registry replacement (Nov 2023), renewal figures will be directly comparable. |
Goal 3: Engaging in regional ccTLD collaboration and support, including advocating for ccTLD sovereignty for Pacific islands
Goal | Notes |
Two Pacific countries are supported towards ccTLD sovereignty and/or independence in registry management. |
In September, InternetNZ attended a meeting in Brisbane with other regional organisations and governments. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss collaboration and coordination of future initiatives being undertaken in the Pacific - with a specific focus on DNS. This was a very useful forum to learn about the significant amount of work that is already underway in the region, but also where potential needs exist. The small group that met has committed to ongoing information-sharing activities. Independently, InternetNZ now has ongoing engagement with two Pacific island nations. This new and existing engagement will continue at the upcoming ICANN meeting in Germany. |
Goal 4: Make changes within InternetNZ toward ending racism and becoming Te Tiriti o Waitangi centric
Goal | Notes |
Share progress made with the Māori Internet Community, staff and stakeholders on SRR recommendations March 2024. |
Next update on progress due in Q3. |
Increase the percentage of funding given to partners who work within a ‘by Māori, for Māori’ approach by 10% year on year over the next 3 years. |
A key initiative during the quarter was kōrero with Kaupapa Māori partners to identify the need for regional focus and develop participatory grants to create better reach into communities and devolve power back to Māori. For example, through Akoranga | Programmes, Whakawhanake | Relationship Development and Awhi Hangarau Ipurangi - Supporting Internet Technologies. By the end of Q2, approximately $805,000 has been allocated or committed funding as per agreements, multi-year agreements and current agreement development. Partnerships $305,000 and Grants $500,000. Approximately 34% of the funding allocated was to Māori led organisations or individuals identifying as tangata whenua. Throughout our community funding process, we continue to test and iterate our funding mechanisms. We are moving towards a Te Tiriti centric approach to funding in order to give practical effect to Articles 2 and 3 through moving to collaborative and ‘by Māori, for Māori, as Māori’ approaches to partnering, supporting kaupapa Māori relationships, amplifying Māori perspectives and voices, and partnering with iwi, hapū, and whānau. One-off fund to build resilience to disinformation The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | Te Tari o te Pirimia me te Komiti Matua has partnered with InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa to establish a one-off fund. The fund supports community efforts to build resilience against the harms of disinformation in Aotearoa. Initiatives to develop domestic expertise and capability and initiatives for education and community outreach will be supported. As of 30 September, $650,000 had been committed to initiatives, outreach activities, and educational resources, with 76% of the funds being allocated to Māori kaupapa or organisations. Partnerships (confirmed Partnership funding agreements to 30 September 2023): Whakapapa Māori Partners: (Māori founders, owners or trustees)
Kaupapa Māori Partners: (Non-Māori organisations who undertake programmes with Māori community)
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Goal 5 - Domain Name Commission fulfils objectives of Operating Agreement
Goal | Notes |
Review the Operating Agreement by the end of 2024 ensuring responsiveness to trends and concerns of domain name holders | Link to DNCL quarterly report |
Goal 6 - Design and implement an approach to collaboration, and partnering toward an internet that benefits everyone
Goal | Notes |
Protocol to guide collaboration and partnering will be consulted and published by October 2023. | Protocol to guide collaboration will be worked on alongside constitutional review and internet governance multi-stakeholder processes with a first report in quarter 3. |
The membership Plan will be consulted and published by 1st April 2024. | |
.nz rules development has input from members and the wider community. | Progress in Q2 on .nz rules has identified first .nz rule priorities to work on, and in Q3, there will be more public consultation visible on the priority areas.. |
Internet Governance Strategy and approach is in place for InternetNZ Group by Q4 23/24 | Participation at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum has set up the InternetNZ team for a strong start at the IGF 2023 towards a draft strategy to the Council in December 2023. |
Goal 7 - Modernise the InternetNZ Constitution to reflect legal requirements and being Te Tiriti centric organisation
Goal | Notes |
Project Plan is documented, and milestones are reported on over the next two years. |
The programme manager for the review and modernisation of the Constitution is now on board — commenced work at the end of September. The focus of the work is on developing a framework for the constitutional review. |
Members have multiple opportunities to be involved in the process and development of proposed constitutional changes. |
Members will be invited to express interest in joining a Constitutional Review group before the end of November 2023 |
Legal requirements are met. Membership demographics are reported on. |
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Goal 8 - Diversify the membership base
Goal | Notes |
Targets are reported on, including increasing the number of Māori members by 50 individual and 5 organisational members per year over the next 2 years | During Q2 the project to select a new CRM to support work with members has been underway. Once a selection is made, adding ethnicity data to that collected by new members will help us identify and support new Māori members. |
Goal 9 - Mana Whakahaere processes are developed to achieve codesign with Māori for SRR recommendations 5&6 with Te Komiti Whakauru Māori (TKWM) and external parties
Goal | Notes |
Mana Whakahaere process through Te Komiti Whakauru Māori (TKWM) recommends to Council changes to the Constitution that support Māori members equal right to stand and be elected to Council |
Developing strong and ongoing relationships with Iwi, Hapū, and whānau requires significant investment. Te Puni Māori have had this focus in Q2. This work will form the foundation in Q3 for further work in constitutional reform, internet governance, and .nz rules consultations. |