Today’s blog post focuses on the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and their role in the .au internet ecosystem. We explain the connection between the services Afilias Australia provide and the services APNIC provide, focusing on how both organisations work to deliver a stable, secure, open internet for all Australians.

APNIC: An overview

As explained on their website, APNIC is a ‘membership-based, not-for-profit organization providing Internet addressing services to the Asia Pacific’. 

Primarily responsible for the distribution and management of Internet number resources, APNIC also play a key role in internet governance and policy development within the Asia-Pacific. This includes the production of data, statistics and research toward the goal of multi stakeholder Internet cooperation, and the sponsorship of internet governance-related events such as the 2019 NetThing forum.

The role of APNIC in the internet ecosystem

APNIC is responsible for the provision of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which are defined on their website as being ‘made up of binary values and drive the routing of all data over the Internet.’ In short, IP addresses represent an identifying number that allow communication between devices.

APNIC’s services also include the assignment of AS (Autonomous System) Numbers, which help to identify networks of IP addresses, and are used to navigate the path through which the information travels.

How APNIC relates to .au 

In simple terms, APNIC provides numbers that identify specific addresses on the internet; Afilias provides human readable (domain) names which are mapped to those numbers. This enables internet users to intuitively remember and access resources such as websites and email inboxes. 

Pablo Hinojosa, Strategic Engagement Director at APNIC explains how DNS Registries and Regional Internet Registries to work together to support the internet and its services. 

“Even if DNS registries and Regional Internet Registries respond to very different communities, we are part of the same Internet ecosystem and we should share the same responsibility of keeping the Internet working as an open, global and interoperable space.”

APNIC membership is open to all organisations and offers a range of benefits including greater control of your organisation’s IP addresses and access to educational and networking opportunities. Visit the APNIC website for more information on how to get involved today.

If you have any questions or feedback, do not hesitate to get in touch with us at blog@afilias.com.au