Page 73 - AJMAN UNIVERSITY PR REPORT - JULY 2025

receive the award — including three from Europe, one from Latin America, and Ajman University as
the sole representative from Asia.

This milestone reinforces Ajman University’s global standing, particularly as it enabled the
University to obtain U.S.-equivalent charitable organisation status — a prerequisite for applying to
this grant. This designation aligns with AU’s identity as a non-profit academic institution and paves
the way for securing additional international funding opportunities that support its academic and
community missions.

Being the only awardee from both the Middle East and the only university from the Asia highlights
the University’s ability to compete at the highest levels in fields such as cybersecurity and Internet
governance.

The grant-funded project represents a significant addition to the University’s research and
technological infrastructure. It involves the development of a passive, integrated system to collect
and analyze DNSSEC data — the first of its kind globally — and is expected to boost AU’s
international visibility as global Internet community begins using the platform.
The project will also include the establishment of a high-tech hardware lab on campus, further
strengthening AU’s capacity for applied research and innovation in digital infrastructure.

The initiative promises to create research and training opportunities for AU graduates, while
providing current students and researchers access to valuable datasets for research and
development purposes — supporting their growth in analytical and technical skills.
The project addresses a major global challenge related to the implementation of DNSSEC, a
protocol strongly advocated by global Internet bodies like ICANN and IETF for securing the DNS
ecosystem. In the adoption of DNSSEC protocol, one of the main obstacles has been the lack of
visibility into global adoption and implementation gaps.

Through the newly developed system, Ajman University seeks to bridge that gap by monitoring and
analyzing DNSSEC adoption across Internet domain names worldwide.
This project reflects Ajman University’s strong commitment to leveraging scientific research in
service of global challenges and underscores its active role in building secure and sustainable
digital infrastructure that benefits academic and technical communities both locally and globally.

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