.IE Annual Report 2022

Geographical analysis of the database 91% of all .ie registrations are from the Island of Ireland. The geographical analysis of the .ie database at the end of 2022 indicated that registrations were from: The Republic of Ireland – 294,469 (90%); Northern Ireland – 4,901 (1%); and international – 29,895 (9%). As part of the .ie registration process, applicants for .ie domains in foreign countries will have provided evidence of a proven connection to Ireland and so the registered owner is always traceable, an important issue for consumers and authorities. They either have business operations and customers in Ireland or have provided evidence of another type of professional or personal connection to Ireland. International review There are more than 240 country code top-level domain extensions (ccTLDs) worldwide, including .ie. Compared to twenty-three other European countries, Ireland ranks 18th, with 65 country code domains per 1,000 of population. Using this metric, Ireland ranks ahead of or is comparable to, European countries with larger populations, including Italy (59 .it domains per 1,000), France (59 .fr domains per 1,000), Spain (42 .es domains per 1,000). However, Ireland ranks behind several European countries with similar populations, including Denmark (248 .dk domains) and Norway (154 .no domains). Our nearest neighbours in the UK have 166 .uk domains per 1,000 of population. Commentators attribute this to Ireland’s slow start in building out early Internet infrastructure, compared to European neighbours, which had many competing Internet service providers and cable operators driving domain adoption during the .com boom timeframe. Supporting the business community Throughout 2022, we continued to support the business community in Ireland with a range of initiatives and sponsorships. Our objective is to help them celebrate excellence in digital processes, e-commerce and digital marketing. Indirectly, this helps to promote the .ie domain name and to encourage Internet usage. We sponsored the Small Firms Association (SFA) National Small Business Awards. These awards celebrate the achievements of small business in Ireland and recognise the vital contribution of the small business community to the Irish economy. SFA National Small Business Awards 2022. Pictured with David Curtin, CEO, .IE, third from left. Winners – Emerging New Business. L-R Chris Fleming, Sea Green Health; Ray Carolan, Lakeland Kayaks; Dave Mulligan, Craft Cocktails; Andrew Murphy, Coopman Search and Selection; Niamh Dooley, BiaSol. Additionally, by providing useful, relevant and informative digital content, we continued to build and strengthen relationships with key SME and micro- enterprise representative bodies such as the Local Enterprise Offices, Retail Excellence, Digital Business Ireland, Guaranteed Irish, Hardware Association of Ireland and the All Ireland Business Foundation. By working with these representative bodies, we engage with their networks to promote the benefits of digital adoption and e-commerce. Business and Market Review .IE is the trading name of IE Domain Registry CLG / Annual Report & Review 2022 23