David Curtin, chief executive, IE Domain Registry
A significant proportion of Irish SMEs still can’t process payments online. IE Domain Registry is changing its dot.ie registration requirements with a view to helping those without an online presence at all to get started
From 21 March this year it will be faster and easier for start-ups and small businesses to get a dot. ie domain thanks to a change in registration requirements being made by IE Domain Registry (IEDR).
Registrants will still need to prove their real connection to the island of Ireland, and their identity, when applying for a dot. ie domain. However, the need to explain why you want a particular name, also called ‘claim to the name’, when registering will be removed.
“We made this change as we were conscious that time has moved on and we were asking some applicants to do more than was necessary to get a dot.ie domain,” says David Curtin, chief executive, IEDR.
“It is easy for companies in existence a long time to prove a claim to the name, but for new companies, residence associations and clubs, it is harder to get the paperwork together. New businesses might not yet have bricks and mortar premises or have registered for Vat for example.”
Once this policy liberalisation comes in, applicants will only have to send one document proving their connection to Ireland and their identity. Curtin advises that in the meantime, it is important for businesses to register any dot.ie domains they currently have a valid claim for before then.
Record-breaking year
According to IEDR’s recently released Domain Profile Report, 2017 was a recordbreaking year for the dot.ie domain
database – 39,523 new domains were registered, an average of 108 every day, and a 14% increase on the previous year.
The total dot.ie database is now 237,412 domains, representing a 7% increase compared to 2016 and a 30% rise since 2012.
“Nearly every county showed growth in registrations, which is really good to see. It shows that Dublin or Leinster don’t dominate as much as before,” says Curtin. “This growth in dot.ie domain names is a good sign, reflecting a healthier digital economy and economy generally.”
Ireland ranks 18th out of 22 in Europe for the number of country code domains per 1,000 people, the Domain Profile Report shows. With 50 dot.ie domains per 1,000 people, Ireland is ahead of some larger countries, including France, Spain, and Russia.
There was more apparent positivity for Ireland’s digital economy in a December 2017 report from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. It ranked Ireland number one in the EU for web sales capability.
The survey follows the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) published last year which made similar claims.
While on the surface, these results seem very positive, they have the potential to be highly misleading, Curtin warns. “In their methodology, both Eurostat and DESI classify ‘small enterprises’ as any business with between ten and 49 employees. Micro-businesses, or businesses with fewer than ten employees, are completely excluded from the research.”
E-commerce reality
A more accurate reflection of the reality of Irish e-commerce can be found in IEDR’s dot.ie Digital Health Index, which surveys 500 SMEs, most of which are microbusinesses, according to Curtin.
The most recent index, published last December, shows that 66% of Irish SMEs with a website cannot process payments online, and almost one in five SMEs have no online presence at all.
“The European research [from Eurostat and DESI] is good news for bigger companies, but more resources need to be dedicated to smaller firms as they are the ones really losing out in terms of online business leaving the country,” says Curtin.
A need for mentoring
One of IEDR’s recommendations to address this problem is the notion of a ‘buddy system’, where bigger companies or other experts could mentor small businesses to get them out of the blocks and follow the right steps.
Existing schemes such as the Trading Online Voucher through Local Enterprise Offices are good, but Curtin feels there needs to be more “shoulder-to-shoulder” help to really make a difference.
“Our research shows that the barriers to small businesses building an online presence continue to be confusion or lack of awareness of tools and services,” says Curtin. “Of course, access to broadband also consistently comes up as an issue in certain areas.”
Introduced in 2011, IEDR’s Optimise e-commerce and website development fund has worked with 90 Irish SMEs to date to provide tangible e-commerce offerings and improvements to their online presence.
Last year IEDR decided to revamp the fund. It is partnering with 40 members of the Design and Craft Council of Ireland to enable these design enterprises to improve their online presence, hone their digital capabilities and grow their e-commerce sales.
“It is a diagnostic approach, providing participants with a ‘to do’ list. If it works well for that sector, we will use it as a template for others in the future,” says Curtin.
“We made this change as we were conscious that time has moved on and we were asking some applicants to do more than was necessary to get a dot.ie domain”