InternetNZ annual report 2023–2024

I was particularly pleased to see a refresh of our international strategy, including reconnecting with our Australian colleagues and establishing new connections in the Pacific. My thanks to those involved in the many hours of work done on these and other key pieces of work.

We are fortunate to have an excellent Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive who, in her second year in the role, continued to bring her diverse skills and experience into a dynamic and challenging space. I have enjoyed seeing her change InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa culture and lead our Internet Governance strategy, most recently signing InternetNZ up to work with auDA, CIRA, and Nominet on A Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism. Vivien is also Chair of the Domain Name Commission, which appointed a new Commissioner, Barbara Pearse, in May 2023. In another significant step, we announced NetHui will take place on 3–4 October 2024.

As I reflect on a productive and successful year for InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa, I also reflect on three years as President. During this time I have led Council and our InternetNZ team through a range of issues, including, to name a few: the rollout of a new registry system, the reinvigoration of .nz as a business, reinstitution of regular .nz policy and rules reviews, the Systemic Racism Review, the recruitment of a new Chief Executive, and our response to a DNSSEC incident. Many of these issues were worked through during a global pandemic that profoundly affected every single one of us, our families, communities and businesses, making our progress even more remarkable.

Finally, my thanks to the Vice President, Brenda Wallace for her support, and to all the InternetNZ Council members who work tirelessly throughout the year to fulfil our strategic goals. Thanks also to you, our members, whom it has been a privilege to serve.

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Joy Liddicoat

InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa President

The last financial year has been highly productive for InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa and I’m delighted with the organisation’s mahi and ongoing progress.

Grounded in a strong financial result, we can look forward to continuing growth and sustainability into the future. We met our goal of a break-even budget before investment income in 2023–24, which puts us in a solid position to achieve business growth as well as increasing impact in our public good goals.

The work of centering Te Tiriti o Waitangi in InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa continued in 2023–24. We’ve increased our funding to tangata whenua organisations and continued to embed Te Ao Māori into our strategy, decision-making, and work practices. Staff have undertaken cultural competency training and we’re looking forward to working with our new Tumu Kaupapa Māori, Hinemaua Rikirangi. Council are keen for continuing accountability to the Internet Community on our work with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and progress against Systemic Racism Review recommendations will be part of our annual reporting. You will find our first update further on in the report.

The registry system replacement last year initiated a period of improvements made to our security systems. We also completed the first phase of our Hardware Security Modules (HSM) project, deploying new hardware to data centres in early December, 2023. Thanks to the hard work of the staff, both projects ran smoothly and those involved are glad to be moving forward with a more secure, customer focused, and futureproof .nz environment.

Work continued following the May 2023 DNSSEC incident, with a full independent inquiry. The outage was the first of its kind in 20 years of operation and has led to important learnings and improvements. I want to acknowledge the .nz Operations Team for excellent response work, the Council for being such a key part of our business continuity response, and everyone at InternetNZ for joining the whole team effort.

Community Funding had a boost this year with $1.2m from Ipurangi Aotearoa and a further $750,000 from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to distribute funding on mis- and disinformation projects. We focused on new ways of working, stronger investment into Māori partnerships and reaching communities more likely to be left behind or underserved in areas relating to the Internet. Throughout the year, we shared stories of where our community funding was going, enabling our members and stakeholders to see the good being done through the sale of .nz domain names.

In February, our annual Internet Insights research refreshed our perspective on how Aotearoa New Zealand is feeling about the Internet. The study has become a cornerstone of research into the area, with media reporting on it widely, and academics referencing it in their own studies. The research showed that New Zealanders are most concerned about children accessing harmful content online, our worries around mis- and disinformation are increasing, and we’re on the fence about AI. I highly recommend reading the summary on our website. We are pleased to see this important research being used, quoted, and shared by other organisations, policymakers, and researchers.

On the global front, we joined with auDA, CIRA, and NOMINET this year to establish A Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism — an informal coalition of aligned members of the global Internet technical community. We’re concerned that an open, free, global, and interoperable Internet is under threat, which calls for a collective effort to defend and evolve the multistakeholder approach that underpins that system. Our team attended several international conferences across the year and we are engaged and ready to participate in discussions at a global level.

Progress on our strategic goals for 2023–24 was reported to the Council every quarter, and to members, through Council papers and quarterly meetings. We made meaningful progress with these goals and you’ll see examples within this report.

Our environment is changing fast, and we can see this in the Domain Name Commission’s work in 2023–24.

Our Council has been critical to the success of the organisation in the last year. Their commitment and determination to our mission of making the Internet better for all people in Aotearoa New Zealand is unwavering. I thank them all for their commitment to our kaupapa and mahi. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the outgoing President Joy Liddicoat and her support for me as the new CEO of InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa only 18 months ago.

To the Ipurangi Aotearoa kaimahi, I want to acknowledge the change, the challenge, and the things that remain absolutely the same, all take effort, focus, and commitment from you every day. We are a small, complex organisation of many specialities and subspecialties and this year we proved we can pull together for each other, across our puni, for our overarching purpose to deliver a safe and secure domain name service for Aotearoa New Zealand.

If you want to keep up with us throughout the year, sign up for our regular newsletter dotNews.

Kāti ake i konei, e tau ana.

Vivien Maidaborn
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive 

InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa

Like many other ccTLDs, we've seen a slight decrease of 1.3% in the number of .nz domain names under management compared to the 2022–23 financial year.

We operate .nz for Aotearoa New Zealand

In 2023–24, we continued to deliver to Aotearoa New Zealand a robust and resilient .nz registry service.

_{[1] Domain Name System (DNS)}

_{[2] Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP)}

_{[3] WHOIS - public database that is updated when a domain name is registered or when DNS settings are updated}

_{DNSSEC incident: improving Internet resilience}

In May 2023, a DNSSEC incident resulted in access issues for some .nz website users. We conducted both internal and external reviews. In 2023, we started implementing key recommendations, such as new validation and testing capabilities that improve the resilience of .nz domain names. This work will continue in the 2024–25 financial year.

We have shared the lessons learnt through presentations at industry events: NZNOG 2024 (Nelson, NZ), DNS-OARC 41 (Da Nang, Vietnam), and Centr R&D and Tech Workshop (Paris, France). These events enable new contacts and connections that also strengthen our own capability building.

We delivered on our 2022–2023 .nz product strategy

Our 2022–23 .nz product strategy was completed in November 2023 and was centred on regrouping, rebuilding, and re-engaging, following the successful delivery of the multi-year InternetNZ Registry System (IRS) project.

• Eight out of 12 strategy objectives were fully completed
• Three objectives were carried over to the new .nz product strategy
• One is business-as-usual registry work that is on track.

Delivery of the 2022–23 product strategy refreshed our understanding of our customers and enhanced our capabilities. We are now strongly positioned to execute a three-year .nz product strategy that delivers business growth.

Understanding .nz consumers and businesses

In October 2023, we commissioned consumer and business research to better understand New Zealanders’ behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes about domain name purchasing and pricing. These insights will inform our marketing activities over the next three years. Key findings included:

• .nz remains a trusted domain of choice with 75% of Aotearoa New Zealand businesses having a domain name, and out of those, 7 of 10 businesses prefer .nz to represent their business online
• 43% of consumers and 32% of businesses who currently don’t have a domain name say they would definitely consider setting one up in the future
• The optimal retail price is around NZD$50 for a single domain name and is
  similar for both Aotearoa New Zealand businesses and consumers.

We developed a business growth .nz product strategy

In December 2023, our 2024–2026 .nz product strategy was approved by our Council. This strategy is centred on delivering a thriving, resilient, and sustainable registry operation for Aotearoa New Zealand, that continues to support our public good work.

The outcomes from the three-year product strategy that were achieved, or started in 2023–24, are outlined below.

Regular .nz Rules policy reviews

We are building our capability to undertake regular reviews of the .nz Rules and best practice methods for multi-stakeholder policy making. Targeted engagements with stakeholders on the .nz Rules are being undertaken, and a review program for 2024–25 has been published.

.nz powers up our community

Our funding through .nz revenue helps us to give life to our public impact goals and support community aspirations.

In 2023–24, we distributed $1,199,925.98 to a range of community organisations and people. We are pleased to have distributed 35.97% or $431,645 to Māori individuals or organisations, up from around 25.02% the previous year. Key grant rounds from 2023–24 are outlined below:

• Digital equity and a safer, more positive Internet to benefit Aotearoa
• Conference attendance awards
• Improving the accessibility of websites.

Partnerships

Recent partnerships with Te Ao Matihiko | Te Matarau and Tāiki e! have already proven valuable, not only in terms of the amazing work they do, but in enabling us to reach and fund more Māori working towards equity in tech. This is evident in the increase in funding to Māori through our grants and other funding.

A new partnership with Tāiki e! in 2023–24 was a foundational next step as we moved towards testing new ways of working, such as an incubator-style funding round in the upcoming year that will support tino rangatiratanga (independence) and mana motuhake (self-determination).

“Partnering with InternetNZ has been instrumental in our mission to bridge the digital divide and empower communities in Te Tairāwhiti and beyond. Through our collaboration, we have successfully supported the development of Haututu HackLab, a vibrant hub for innovation and creativity. Together, we are creating meaningful opportunities and transforming lives. We are grateful for InternetNZ's partnership and look forward to continuing our impactful work together.”

Tāiki e! (Rangapū | Partner)

Supporting community capability building in mis- and disinformation

In 2023–24, we received time-limited funding of $750,000 from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to support efforts by communities in building resilience against the harms of mis- and disinformation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Initiatives are developing domestic expertise and capability, as well as education and community outreach activities.

Funding was distributed to communities in two phases, and here is some information about initiatives for Phase 1. A final report is in development and will be released later in 2024.

Developing our cultural capability

In 2023–24, we continued to grow our organisational cultural capability. The organisation provided sessions for all kaimahi (staff) to develop knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tikanga, and Te Ao Māori values and principles. Kaimahi internally celebrated Matariki and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori events in the last year. Upskilling in Te Reo Māori, kupu Māori, and pronunciation was provided across the organisation.

Some kaimahi and members of the Council attended Te Tiriti o Waitangi celebrations at Waitangi 2024. As part of our Te Tiriti o Waitangi Work Programme 2023–24, we were fortunate to be hosted by Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board, one of our key partners, and wānanga with Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi to grow our understanding of kaupapa Māori, the kōhanga reo movement, and how to meaningfully partner with Māori.

We increased our funding support to Māori

In 2023–24, 35.97% of our funding went to Māori individuals or organisations. We have developed more proactive flexible funding mechanisms that support tino rangatiratanga, and lead to better outcomes for Māori who are disproportionately impacted by issues on the Internet.

“I just want to say how refreshing it is to take this approach to funding and reporting. I hope getting to kōrero with us and hear about the mahi directly also helps you to see the huge impact of this.”

Ngā Kura ā Iwi (Whakawhanake | Relationship development)

Our process takes a relational approach involving kōrero, whanaungatanga, and sharing whakaaro. Recipients have appreciated our people-centred approach.

“On behalf of Toi Matarau and the Māoriland Charitable Trust, I extend great gratitude for the financial support granted so that we could make the trip to New Mexico. The experience, insights, and learning were invaluable to our growth and development as a centre of innovation and excellence. E kore e mutu ngā mihi, mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu.”

Maakarita Paku (grantee)

These changes have enabled more funding for Māori entities and individuals through the following new funding streams:

• Mahi Tahi | Collaborative Funding
• Whakawhanake | Relationship Development
• Hōtaka | Programmes
• Koha
• Hāpai te Ipurangi — Supporting Internet Technologies.

We are progressing the independent Systemic Racism Review

In 2022, an independent systemic racism review was commissioned by the InternetNZ Council, led by Dr Hana O'Regan. Dr O’Regan’s report was adopted unanimously by the Council, and we recommitted to implementing all 15 review recommendations by the end of 2025.

In 2023–24, addressing the independent Systemic Racism Review was included as an organisational strategic goal in our work programme. Several initiatives are being undertaken to respond to recommendations in the review. Almost half of the recommendations have been completed, and continue into 2024–25 with a particular focus on completing our constitutional change and lifting our capability to effectively deliver on our Te Tiriti centric commitment. The most recent update report has been delivered to Council.

We seek New Zealanders' insights about the Internet

Internet insights report

We regularly survey New Zealanders about their Internet use, perceived benefits, and concerns. Our latest Internet insights report was undertaken in late 2023. The survey provides us with a clear indicator of how New Zealanders feel about the Internet and its impacts. The research was mentioned in over 30 unique media stories, highlighting the utility of this valuable data set.

Key insights included:

World Internet Project report

In November 2023, our partners at AUT NZ Policy Research Institute (formerly NZ Work Research Institute) released the 2023 iteration of the World Internet Project NZ. The report offers insights into the prevalence and impact of remote working, the quality and accessibility of Internet connections across Aotearoa New Zealand, and opinions about the impact of social media.

“A large-scale nationally representative survey such as World Internet Project is of paramount importance to understand internet use across New Zealand, and the evolving nature of this use across a number of population groups.”

NZPRI Directory, Professor Gail Pacheco
(Rangapū | Partner)

 

The report revealed that over a third of respondents feel that social media companies have a negative impact on the world. Additionally, the majority of respondents agree that stronger regulation of social media companies is needed.

An Internet that benefits people research

In July 2023, we launched our Internet that benefits people research with our research partners Toi Āria and Making Everything Achievable. We were thrilled to have this project completed and full of aspirations for a better Internet and how these insights could be utilised.

Community voices were captured in this research and have been a guiding light for us throughout our mahi. For example, when developing the theme for NetHui, which will be held in October 2024, and supporting the development of a community-led incubator-style funding round.

Grantees engagement

In 2023, we held a hui, inviting grantees from the most recent cohort as well as grantees from the last four years. These hui are an amazing opportunity for grantees to connect and learn from each other.

“I really take my hat off to the approach that InternetNZ has taken. I'm loving this approach and I'm hoping more funders take this kind of storytelling based method of reporting.”

Vaka (Hōtaka | Programmes)

 

We also meet and kōrero regularly one-to-one with people we fund. Where we can, we provide guidance and support from application through to project implementation and reporting. We appreciate the insights and impact for their community that grantees share with us, and we regularly share these stories through our blogs.

“Would just like to say a huge thanks for this funding. We have been wanting to do this mahi for a very very long time. Your funding 100% enabled it to go ahead, and will change lives for a cohort facing multiple barriers to accessing empowering information.”

Insight Endometriosis Charitable Trust (grantee)

We engage on relevant policy issues

Integration of CERT NZ into the National Cyber Security Centre

In May 2023, we provided feedback on a proposal to integrate the functions of CERT NZ into the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) within the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). We met with representatives from DPMC, CERT NZ, and GCSB to provide feedback on this proposal, and also set out our concerns in a letter to ministers.

Safer Online Services and Media Platforms (SOSMP)

In August 2023, we provided a submission to the Department of Internal Affairs on their Safer Online Services and Media Platforms discussion document, which proposed modernising the regulation of social media and traditional media platforms. We engaged with representatives from a variety of organisations and communities to inform our submission, recognising the fact that harmful content online disproportionately targets and affects some communities more than others.

Briefing to Incoming Ministers

In December 2023, we wrote to ministers in the incoming Government to share our thoughts on key Internet issues for the parliamentary term ahead and how we might support their work. We provided three letters to different groups of Ministers covering digital issues, infrastructure and Internet governance respectively. We also provided these letters to opposition spokespeople.

We are actively engaged in Internet governance

Internet governance is work that relates to coordinating Internet technologies and identifiers, as well as to broader digital policy discussions, and is undertaken both in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Engagement in Internet governance processes and forums by all stakeholders, including InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa, is not only critical to sustaining the Internet globally, but also to ensure that the Internet we sustain is an Internet that benefits everyone.

InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa is a member of the international technical community of ICANN. We operate a world class ccTLD that requires excellence in .nz Rules development, technical infrastructure support, regulator capabilities, as well as sustainable commercial growth and expertise on Internet governance policy issues.

In 2023–24 we continued to reinvigorate our global relationships with our international community of peers. Core to our international work in the last year has been contributing to an international coalition with auDA, CIRA, and NOMINET supporting multi-stakeholderism in internet governance, and providing input on the Global Digital Compact, NETMundial+10 and the emerging WSIS+20 process.

In 2023–24 we agreed to be the host organisation for APNIC 58, and will continue to work alongside APNIC to deliver their conference being held in Wellington in August–September 2024.

In December 2023, we announced the return of an in-person NetHui, our national engagement forum with the Internet community on topics that matter to them. InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa is partnering with NZ IT Professionals, and NetHui.nz will be held in Wellington in October 2024.

In 2023–24, we continued to provide administrative and fundholding support to the Christchurch Call Advisory Network (CCAN), and also participate in the work of CCAN and the Christchurch Call Community as a member.

Improving accessibility

Notably, in 2023–24, as part of building an Internet for everyone, we ran our first grant round to improve web accessibility. While we distributed $100,000 in funding, we had 10 times that number of applications, highlighting an unmet need for this type of funding. Over time, we would love to see the accessibility standard raised across all .nz domain names so that .nz is inclusive and accessible for all.

We also completed an accessibility audit of our own websites (InternetNZ and Domain Name Commission) and will implement key changes in 2024–25.

Supporting the Internet ecosystem

We continue to support our own ecosystem by funding a broad range of partners in their own mahi on digital equity, community support, research, and broadening networks. Our 2023–24 financial partners were:

• Digital Futures Aotearoa
• Figure.NZ
• New Zealand Policy Research Institute
• 20/20 Trust
• Tohatoha
• Te Ao Matihiko | Te Matarau - Māori Tech Association
• Te Kōhanga Reo Trust Board
• TUANZ.

We also continue to fund a small number of grantees with funding that directly supports their research.

“Thank you once again for the support from InternetNZ that I am able to participate in the conference. I will continue to work on the digital resilience project, striving to provide valuable insights for both practice and academia.”

Xiao Li (grantee)

Since October 2023, we have been developing the programme of work, establishing a co-design group, and undertaking engagements with a range of stakeholders. These include engagements across key stakeholder groups including our staff, Council, membership, community partners, Māori tech sector, technical community, and iwi and hapū.

Engaging our membership

Our members are the lifeblood of our organisation, and our Council is largely made up of our members. We had 384 members as of 31 March 2024. We developed a Membership Engagement Plan in 2023–24 to improve our engagement and to upgrade our membership platform.

Regular communications and engagements were held with members throughout the year including:

• quarterly meetings with the Chief Executive
• provision of a members space (NetHub)
• opportunities to engage on key work such as the Constitution, NetHui and policy thinking
• engagement through our elections and AGM, and end-of-year stakeholder events.

In late 2023, we also engaged our membership on our draft goals and priorities for 2024–25.

Our people

• We have 38 permanent kaimahi | staff as of 31 March 2024
• two offices, one in Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland and one in Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington
• a flexible, distributed team based across Te Upoko-o-te-Ika | Wellington regions and Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland regions, as well as Northland, Gisborne, and Taranaki.

Working at InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa