SIDN, the company behind .nl, is celebrating 25 years of the .nl domain this week. In 1986, it was Piet Beertema, then Systems Manager at the CWI (Centre for Mathematics and Informatics), who was given control of the .nl domain on the CWI’s behalf. Until SIDN was founded ten years later, all .nl domain names were registered by Piet Beertema.
Today, Piet Beertema is curator of the Halfweg steam-powered pumping station, one of just two such stations in southern and central Holland. At the height of the steam era, there would have been about five hundred. To thank Mr Beertema for getting the .nl domain started and all his hard work in the years that followed, SIDN has today announced that it is making a donation to the cost of restoring the Halfweg engine house and developing an educational package.
Roelof Meijer, SIDN’s CEO said, ‘Although at first sight steam and the internet might seem worlds apart, both characterise a period of history. Steam was the power that drove the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, while the internet has been fundamental to the digital revolution of the late twentieth century. Just as the internet is shaping the world today, steam technology shaped the world back then, making the impossible possible. There is a neat and evocative symmetry there, I feel. What’s more, Piet is passionately committed to Halfweg and working hard on the project, not for personal gain but for the benefit of the community. That is another parallel. I am very pleased that we can support the ‘godfatherof.nl’ in this way and show our appreciation of the crucial part he played in the success of the .nl domain.
For more details check out www.sidn.nl
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