ARI Registry Services has signed a 10 year agreement with Open Universities Australia, the owner for the .study and .courses new Top-Level Domains (TLDs), for strategic consultancy and operational management of the two namespaces.

Previously an ARI Registry Services customer for the backend technical Registry Services across the two TLDs, the new deal will see Open Universities Australia also utilise ARI Registry Services’ recently developed end-to-end service model that has been designed to operate TLDs on behalf of the owners.

ARI Registry Services will be responsible for a range of services for the .study and .courses new TLDs—from strategic consulting and launch planning, through to daily operational services such as Registrar management, financial management, marketing and policy development.

Jose Herrera-Perea, Executive General Manager, Tertiary, Professional and Corporate Education at Open Universities Australia, welcomed the announcement.

“The .study and .courses Top-Level Domains are an integral component of our organisation’s strategic plan and we recognised early on that we needed a partner like ARI Registry Services to help us fully achieve the potential of these digital assets,” Mr Herrera-Perea said.

“ARI Registry Services has been fantastic in their ability to help us understand the true requirements of operating TLDs and through this we realised that it would be more cost effective and strategically astute to leverage their resources and experience to manage our Top-Level Domains.”

“We will still remain intrinsically involved and provide our significant industry expertise to assist the project. However, this partnership enables us to keep focusing relentlessly on ensuring a high-quality experience for our students and simultaneously have the confidence that we’re working with an organisation that is focused on building long-term profitability in our Top-Level Domains for the sector.”

Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services, commended Open Universities Australia for its innovative vision and thought leadership in applying for .study and .courses for the education sector.

“Online learning is booming worldwide and Open Universities Australia has secured two of the most powerful terms on the web in the education sector,” Mr Kinderis said.

He said there is enormous potential to leverage the strong growth in online education via .study and .courses.

“ARI Registry Services is about turning your Top-Level Domain aspirations into reality. For operators like Open Universities Australia, there are significant barriers to achieving your goals because these applicants lack the time, capability or resources to operate a core piece of mission critical Internet infrastructure,” Mr Kinderis said.

“We offer a comprehensive solution for clients to launch their assets and achieve the benefits of owning a successful Top-Level Domain, but outsource the burden of operational compliance auditing, policy development and the myriad of other components that go into running a namespace.

“For Open Universities Australia, we’re simplifying their operations to remove the complexities so they can maximise the benefit of .study and .courses for their organisation.”

Mr Kinderis said ARI Registry Services performs a similar role for a number of clients, including the Governments of Victoria (.melbourne) and New South Wales (.sydney). This is in addition to continually advocating for the success of the overall program as well as lobbying specific positions for clients.

“ARI Registry Services has always been committed to the success of the program. Offering end-to-end technical and consulting solutions is another way we can go above and beyond for our valued clients.”