The Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO) is a body within the ICANN structure created for and by ccTLD managers.
Since its creation in 2003, the ccNSO has provided a forum for country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) managers to meet and discuss topical issues of concern to ccTLDs from a global perspective.
The ccNSO provides a platform to nurture consensus, technical cooperation and skill building among ccTLDs and facilitates the development of voluntary best practices for ccTLD managers.
It is also responsible for developing and recommending global policies to the ICANN Board for a limited set of issues relating to ccTLDs, such as the introduction of Internationalised Domain Name ccTLDs (IDN ccTLDs).
The policy development process is managed by the ccNSO Council, which consists of 18 Councillors (15 elected by ccNSO members, three appointed by the ICANN Nominating Committee).
The ccNSO activities are mostly organised through Working Groups, such as the Strategic and Operational Planning (SOP) Working Group or the Technical Working Group.
Through the ccNSO, ccTLD managers are also working together with other stakeholders and communities within the ICANN structure, such as the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), or the Generic Names Supporting Organisation (GNSO).
In order to encourage true global cooperation, we invite all ccTLD managers, both members and non-ccNSO members, to participate in all working groups, as well as to attend all ccNSO meetings.
Membership of the ccNSO is open for all ccTLD managers responsible for managing an ISO 3166 country-code top-level domain. You can find more information on how to join here.
About Staff
From left to right: Gabriella Schittek, Bart Boswinkel,
Kristina Nordström
Bart Boswinkel is responsible for overall staff support to the ccNSO, its Working Groups and policy development processes. He advises the ccNSO Council Working Groups on process and substantive matters, and has been appointed as the policy development issue manager for the limited number of ccNSO policy development processes.
Kristina Nordström is responsible for administrative parts of the ccNSO Secretariat operations, such as scheduling telephone conferences, updating the website and writing notes and minutes. She is also responsible for the ccNSO Wiki workspaces and the use of virtual meeting tools.
Gabriella Schittek is responsible for distributing relevant information to the ccTLD community and is the main point of contact for ccNSO members. She is coordinating the ccNSO travel funding scheme and is also supporting various ccNSO Working Groups as well as the ccNSO Council.