Take a chance on .se: my three-month research placement in Stockholm

Collaboration amongst ccTLDs

The country-code TLD-registry landscape is unique. Each country has its own organisation to run its national top-level domain. There's DENIC for Germany's .de domain and AFNIC for the French .fr domain, for example, while Sweden's .se is run by Internetstiftelsen and, of course, here in the Netherlands we have SIDN for .nl.

Generally speaking, such organisations aren't in competition with one another, and many are non-profit foundations. What's more, they have a shared interest in a secure and stable internet that's open to all, and common responsibilities under RFC 1591.

Understandably, therefore, ccTLD registries have a tradition of collaboration. They undertake joint research projects, for example, they work together on the development of DNS tools, and they exchange knowledge through umbrella organisations such as CENTR (Europe), LACTLD (Latin America) and APTLD (Asia-Pacific).

Forming even closer ties

SIDN Labs and Internetstiftelsen, the registry for .se and .nu, recently took things a step further. From mid-March to mid-June, I was attached to Internetstiftelsen's DNS Labs team, based in Stockholm, as a guest researcher.

Our aim was to learn about each other's methods and to exchange experiences by doing three months of joint research on a clearly defined topic. The topic we chose was the adoption of DNSSEC validation by resolver operators, where Sweden has traditionally led the way.

Of course, it's also the case that spring is a wonderful time to be in Stockholm. The days are getting longer and warmer, and the Swedes are starting to get out and about, enjoying the sunshine. Ideal circumstances for getting to know my .se colleagues better, and for sampling the culture and natural environment of Sweden's beautiful capital city.

DNSSEC remains a topical issue

Back in 2005, .se was the first TLD to enable DNSSEC, and the Swedes continue to play a lead role in developments in this field. They have taken on the complex challenge of automating the entire DNSSEC rollout and management process. So, for example, child DNS (CDS) records are now supported by the .se and .nu domains. Internetstiftelsen is also developing the MUSIC tool. This tool enables the rollout of DNSSEC in situations where multiple DNS providers are responsible for a zone and also supports secure switching from one provider to another.

My .se colleagues and I undertook a large-scale survey of DNS resolver operators to learn what impact DNSSEC validation has on their work. Unfortunately, DNSSEC validation still isn't enabled on many resolvers, so we wanted to build a better understanding of the reasons, and of the experiences of operators whose resolvers do support validation. The .se team helped me set up the survey, to which 135 resolver operators ultimately responded. Six respondents were also interviewed individually in more depth. The survey findings will be published in the autumn.

My placement also gave me the opportunity to take part in some interesting discussions about the redesign of .se's DNSSEC signing process and swap ideas with my Swedish colleagues about the best approach for a registry to take with cloud services such as Amazon AWS. Those experiences gave me ample food for thought to take back to SIDN.

Want to do something similar, but unsure how?

If you work for a registry, and you're thinking, "I fancy doing something like that myself," I've got three tips on how to make it happen, based on what I've learnt.

Tip 1: start by choosing a (research) topic

In what fields is there overlap between your registry and others? Which other registries could you learn from and help out with your own expertise? Talk to a potential host registry about the work you and they are doing, and identify shared interests, aims and deliverables. Get your own manager to talk to their counterpart at the host registry, with a view to agreeing on a shared research goal.

Tip 2: don't underestimate the administrative and legal aspects

Talk to your HR department about all the practical implications of an extended stay abroad. In my case, a placement agreement was worked out between SIDN and Internetstiftelsen. The agreement covered things such as who was responsible for what costs, who would have intellectual property rights to the research products, who would arrange accommodation, and what data and equipment I would need access to. Don't forget that, when working in another organisation, a lot of information will come your way. So a non-disclosure agreement is therefore likely to be needed. I was fortunate enough to have fantastic support from our HR and Legal teams, meaning that everything went smoothly.

Tip 3: think about your personal circumstances

Of course, a three-month stay abroad has all sorts of personal implications. I was able to find myself somewhere to live in Stockholm. AirBnB does offer longer-term lets, but I found that many had quite strict cancellation conditions. You also need to think about the implications for your existing insurance policies. A lot of medical insurance policies, home insurance policies and the like have special clauses covering prolonged stays abroad, for example. And, if you're planning to take your car, you'll need to make sure that it remains insured for the time you're away. Finally, if you've got a partner, what about them? Will they be going too? If so, how will their insurance policies and work be affected? Perhaps they can arrange to work from 'home' for the time you're away.

My advice? Go for it!

If you're lucky enough to have the chance to spend some time working at another registry, I reckon you definitely should. My experience was that both the organisations involved and I myself learnt a lot from the experience. Placements also reinforce the collaborative ties between ccTLDs, with spin-off benefits for the registries' shared interest in a secure and open internet. While in my case the focus was on technical research, I think that there are potential benefits in other areas too, such as DNS operations, security and finance.

If you'd like to know more, or you fancy paying us a visit (and maybe staying a while ;-)), drop us a line!

Finally, a word of thanks

I'd like to close by saying how grateful I am to Internetstiftelsen, and the DNS Labs team in particular, for their hospitality and collaboration.