ICANN Office of the CTO (OCTO) Research Group
The overall goal of OCTO's Research group is to provide trusted information to the Internet community regarding the Internet's system of unique identifiers. The group engages actively with the DNS technology communities to identify issues that fall within ICANN's remit and will benefit from the focused attention our researchers can bring to bear on the issue. We also perform studies or analyze data to better understand the health and well-being of the DNS ecosystem.
Identifier Technologies Health Indicators (ITHI)
The scope of this ITHI initiative is all the Internet unique identifiers that ICANN helps coordinate, as outlined in the framework of the ICANN 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, to "improve the shared responsibility for upholding the security and stability of the DNS by strengthening DNS coordination in partnership with relevant stakeholders."
The goal of ITHI is to develop metrics to measure the health of the Internet's unique identifier system that ICANN helps coordinate. When those metrics are defined, ICANN measures and tracks them over a substantive period of time to help the community see the evolution of the state of the identifier technology.
Current Research Projects
The Research group is involved in several ongoing projects. These include:
- Root server system traffic analysis
- Study patterns of protocol improvements across the DNS registration system
- Technical support for ICANN advisory committees
- DNS software analysis around specific issues
The OCTO Document series is the repository for the reports, position papers, and other documents produced by the Research group, as well as other groups in OCTO.