Nominet, the registry for .uk domain names, today announced the creation of a new organiastion, which it hopes will fund and encourage the development of education and research initiatives in the UK's internet industry.

The Nominet Foundation is a charitable organisation set to launch this summer with an initial donation of five million pounds.

'Through the launch of the Foundation, we are will be able to help fund a number of best practice UK Internet initiatives," said Nominet chief executive Lesley Cowley. "We're hoping to be able to fund various academic research projects into Internet security and related areas and we're also excited by the prospect of funding a range of educational and end user support initiatives."