IE Domain Registry t/a .IE

This exceptional level of new growth was primarily the result of businesses getting online as a result of Covid-19, generous government supports including the Trading Online Voucher scheme and also to the marketing activities of our accredited Registrar community. Businesses invested in a trusted .ie web address, to continue communicating with their customers and to sell their products and services via the internet. The .IE Marketing and Communications team refocused our research and reports in 2020 to provide useful and relevant insights to policymakers and to provide helpful business advice to SMEs via webinars and case studies. There was no progress in 2020 on the Company’s application to ICANN for the transfer from UCD of ‘ccTLD Manager’ status to IE Domain Registry, which was submitted to ICANN in February 2011, accompanied by letters of support from stakeholders in the local internet community. In order to complete the transfer request ICANN will need a letter of support from the Irish government. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is still considering the matter. Financial review Registration revenue increased by 4.7% to €3.77 million (2019 – €3.61 million). The deferred income on the balance sheet increased by 11.5% in 2020, to €2.80 million (2019 – €2.51 million). This is because the invoiced value of registration fees increased by 9.9%, reflecting renewals and new growth in 2020. Administration expenses decreased by 16.7% to €1.47 million from €1.76 million. Promotion, sponsorship, and advertising costs decreased by 23% compared to 2019, primarily as a consequence of the Covid-19 restrictions which forced the suspension of sponsorships, customer service initiatives and unfortunately, the 2020 .IE Digital Town programme. Employment costs increased by 12.9% in 2020 to €1.84 million reflecting additional staff recruited to support the development and customisation of the new TITAN registry management platform and cost of living salary increases. In March 2020, the Company ceased to provide a direct registration service to the public. A fair and transparent process, which was validated by the multi-stakeholder community, was used to select an accredited Registrar to take over the management of the .ie domains. The net proceeds of this exercise are included in other income. The Company records its financial investments on a Mark to Market basis of valuation. The financial investments market value at 31 December 2020 was €4.5 million (2019 – €4.4 million). Accordingly, the movement in the capital markets by year end yielded net unrealised gains of €167,468 (2019 - €193,974). The deferred tax liability on the balance sheet was increased accordingly. The financial position of the Company at 31 December 2020 is solid. Members’ Funds increased by 10% from €4.15 million at December 2019 to €4.56 million by the end of December 2020. Cash and cash equivalents increased to €7.9 million (2019 – €7.5 million) including €4.5 million invested with multiple investment managers. A new platform for the next decade of growth The .IE Technical Services team must be commended on its significant achievements during 2020, particularly in the context of the enforced remote working model. We partnered with the Canadian registry, to license and customise its new domain registry management platform, which uses the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP standard). Codenamed TITAN, it provides our Registrars with more powerful and flexible domain management tools as well as a modern, user-friendly interface. It has greater functionality and flexibility than the pre-existing Core Registry System (CRS) which served us so well since 2013. The new system will ensure that our technical systems can support long-term growth in .ie domains. Together with the ticket handling system Deskpro, Exchequer and the reporting capability supported by the data warehouse, this standardisation of processes will future-proof systems and provide a new platform for the next decade of growth and expansion of the .ie namespace. A consequence of Covid-19 was an increase in cyber attacks, phishing and online fraud. This has had a significant impact on businesses and citizens, with the CSO-IDG UK reporting a 40% increase in phone, text and online fraud. The technical services team continues to protect the national DNS infrastructure against ongoing and new external cyber security threats, in particular in the face of the continuing global increase in ransomware, malware and DDoS attacks, thereby contributing to the safety, security and resilience of the .ie domain. The data escrow function continued to operate, whereby relevant data sets within the .ie database are extracted, encrypted and transmitted to a third party, to be held in safekeeping and only released to the appropriate authorities in the unlikely event of a catastrophic event occurring at the registry. This added layer of resilience, reliability and protection provides business continuity and peace of mind for government, regulators and stakeholders. IE Domain Registry CLG t/a .IE / Annual Report & Review 2020 7 Chief Executive's Report