Abu Dhabi, the capital and second-most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, has launched it’s very own new gTLD – .abudhabi. It is now considered to be the official domain name of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The United Arab Emirates has launched its official government website, its official portal that provides public access to information, services, projects, strategies and laws in the UAE using the u.ae domain name.
The new domain name, developed in cooperation between The Prime Ministerâs Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), is composed of the initials of the United Arab Emirates (u.ae). The first letter is the domain name, while the second and third letters form the UAEâs country code Top Level Domain “.ae”.
The official portal of the UAE Government is a comprehensive platform for all government services and information, as well as important data and information related to vital sectors in the UAE, including education, economy, business, infrastructure, residency regulations, health, national policies and strategies, and others.
“The new domain name of the UAE Government portal embodies the meaning of innovation, which is simple and easy to remember,â said Commenting on the new domain name, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General. âIt also reflects the centrality of the people in the government’s concerns with its various projects, programmes and plans. The adoption of the new domain name comes at an important stage of the digital transformation, in which we enter the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the smart city, and the government of Artificial Intelligence. We are guided by our wise leadership directives to adopt a culture of innovation and creativity as a way to assert our nationâs leadership and our communityâs happiness.”
“The most important message of the new domain name is the focus on people. It is a message from the UAE leadership that you are the goal, you are the purpose, you are the bet, you are the government, and you are the United Arab Emirates. We enter the digital age through the u.ae portal, to tell the world that the people are the ultimate goal of the UAE Government. The people in the broad sense of participation, tolerance, peace, prosperity, happiness, wellbeing, and sustainable development. The “u.ae” mission is that we are all our partners in future making. “
The informative side of the portal includes facts and figures on the UAE Government organisational structure, the Founding Fathers, the UAE strategies and initiatives, and development goals and plans. The portal also includes an e-participation platform that contains an online forum, blogs, surveys, polls, Chatbot, and links to the mGovernment pages on social medial such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others.
ICANN will hold its 60th Public Meeting, ICANN60, in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 28 October to 3 November. ICANN60 is hosted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The meeting will bring together global stakeholders from government, business, civil society, non-government organizations, research institutions, technical communities and others. The sessions will enable discussions on a broad range of Internet-related topics and inform the audience on latest issues of concern to the stakeholders. The meeting will be a platform for developing policies for the Domain Name System.
At the Opening Ceremony on 30 October, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of UAE, ICANN Board Chair Dr. Stephen Crocker and ICANN President and CEO Göran Marby will address the audience. They will provide a high-level overview of what is expected to take place throughout the meeting.
We encourage members of the press to join in-person or remotely via a live web stream. The details for connection are provided below.
ICANN60 will be a momentous meeting for the Internet community and the ICANN organization. It will be the last meeting for Crocker, who will be retiring from his role at the end of ICANN60. Crocker has been involved in the Internet since its inception. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, while he was a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he was part of the team that developed the protocols for the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) and laid the foundation for today’s Internet. There will be several events scheduled to honor Crocker’s service to the Internet community, and to welcome the new ICANN Chair of the Board.
Following the opening ceremony, Crocker and Marby will join Cherine Chalaby, Vice Chair of the ICANN Board, Akram Atallah, President of Global Domains Division, and Baher Esmat, Vice President of Global Stakeholder Engagement in the Middle East, for the press conference to respond to journalists’ questions. They will address a wide range of topics, including Internet governance and the multistakeholder model, efforts on a multilingual Internet, and security, stability and resiliency of the Internet.
ICANN meetings are held three times a year in different regions to enable attendees from around the world to participate in person. These meetings offer a variety of sessions such as workshops, open forums and working meetings on the development and implementation of Internet policies. ICANN meetings offer the best opportunity for face-to-face discussions and exchange of opinions among attendees dedicated to the continued stable and secure operation of the Domain Name System.
ICANN60 is a free event open to anyone interested. All ICANN60 attendees, including journalists, are required to register either on-site or here.
For more on ICANN60, please go to icann60.abudhabi
The full schedule of ICANN60 events and meetings is available here.
Journalists who are unable to attend ICANN60 are encouraged to join us via remote participation or live web stream. The details of connection are available below.
WHEN: Monday, 30 October 09:00 A.M. â 10:00 A.M. GST (05:00 A.M. â 06:00 A.M UTC)
WHERE:Â Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), (Hall 4)
OFF-SITE ACCESS: Journalists from around the world can participate in the Welcome Ceremony via remote access.
Adobe Connect w/ English Audio: https://participate.icann.org/abu60-hall4
Live Stream Video: https://livestream.com/icannmeeting/events/7802583
WHO:
WHEN: Monday, 30 October 10:30 A.M. â 12:00 P.M. GST (06:30 A.M. â 08:00 A.M UTC)
WHERE: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), (Hall B, Section A)
OFF-SITE ACCESS: Journalists from around the world can participate in the press conference via remote access.
Adobe Connect w/ English Audio: https://participate.icann.org/abu60-press
Live Stream Video: https://livestream.com/icannmeeting/events/7802598
An audio recording of the news conference will be posted to the press page of the ICANN web site (icann.org/en/news/press) after the event.
This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/resources/press-material/release-2017-10-16-en
Itâs 2.5 weeks away, so if youâre going to ICANN60 to be held in Abu Dhabi and want to start planning your schedule, ICANN has released the full schedule and more information.
The meeting also will include this yearâs annual general meeting and signal the farewell of Steve Crockerâs chairmanship of the organisation and see Cherine Chalaby take over as Chair, Chris Disspain as Vice Chair.
The seven-day meeting to be held from 28 October, although there will be a CCWG Accountability WS2 Face to Face Plenary Session on 27 October, to 3 November will be focused on outreach, capacity building, and showcasing ICANNâs work to a broader global audience.
For general information about ICANN60, see icann60.abudhabi or https://meetings.icann.org/en/abudhabi60
ICANN’s Board approved a proposal to hold their third public meeting for 2018 in Barcelona, Spain, at regular meeting of the board on 15 September.The meeting, to be ICANN’s 63rd public meeting, is scheduled for 20 to 26 October and follows the usual call for recommendations. There were several parties interested in holding the meeting, although ICANN doesn’t say how many in their announcement.The next ICANN meeting, the 57th public meeting, is to be held in Hyderabad, India from 3 to 9 November 2016.The scheduled meetings for 2017 are to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 11 to 16 March followed by Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 to 29 June and then Aby Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 28 October to 3 November.The locations for the first two public meetings in 2018 haven’t yet been announced but are scheduled for North America in March and then Latin America and the Caribbean in June.
âICANNâs Governmental Advisory Committee may delay the approval of new gTLDs if applicants donât submit Public Interest Commitmentsâ by 5 March, Domain Incite reports.
PICs âare binding, enforceable commitments that new gTLD applicants are able to voluntarily add to their registry contracts with ICANNâ and are meant to satisfy the GACâs request for ICANN to tighten its grip on new gTLD registries and to give applicants a way to avoid GAC Advice and formal objections against their bids.â
Also on 5 March, ICANN will be publishing âfor public comment a version of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement that accredited registrars have not yet agreed to.â
âCEO Fadi Chehade told a conference call of registries and new gTLD applicants as much this afternoon [4 march], causing the Registrars Stakeholder Group to immediately state that talks have not finished yet,â reports Domain Incite.
And Domain Incite has heard that âICANN is set to publish and start promoting a new Registrant Rights & Responsibilities charter at some point over the next couple of days.â There is also what is believed to be a close-to-final draft copy of the responsibilities published in the report.
ICANN has told the first Arab Internet Governance Forum that more domain names need to be registered using local domain names in Arabic, says a report in the United Arab Emiratesâ The Nation.
Icann regards Arabic domain names as an important step to helping the region fully profit from the internet, promote a better online economy, build a strong, networked community, and add to the overall knowledge base of a country.
“You can create spaces on the internet that have unique cultural rules,” said Fadi Chehade, the president and chief executive of Icann.
“That can be very attractive to countries in this part of the world.”
The ccTLD for the United Arab Emirates, .AE, passed the 100,000 registrations milestone on 16 August, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the UAE announced. This achievement makes the UAE the leading nation in terms of the number of registrants in the Arab region.
Commenting on the achievement, H.E. Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: âThe UAE continues its accomplishments and promotes its regional status in the ICT sector with todayâs announcement on reaching the 100,000 registration mark in domain names. This achievement would not have been possible without the dedicated work of the TRA in implementation of leadership directives that support modern technological trends and the adoption of the latest development reached in the sector.â
H.E. added: âWe have presented all the required facilities aiming to make the (.ae) registration process easier and convenient to all clients, including providing 18 Accredited Registrars to complete the process, and the 100% availability of (.ae) DNS and registry services to promote competition. We also adopted well designed policies to use domain names in the country, protect registrants and achieve the widest level of participation by concerned parties through organizing a number of awareness campaigns on (.ae) domain names. We, at the TRA, are determined to continue our support to the internet society in the country for further achievements.â
The UAE was able to achieve this number through the support extended by businesses and individuals on domain names, despite the comparatively short period since the registration had started. The TRA aims to reach the highest levels of transparency in terms of resolving disputes related to domain names; it is also keen to protect intellectual property.
Other vital elements that contributed to this achievement were offers and promotions were made by registrars helping to encourage larger numbers of registrants to take this step. Additionally, the enthusiasm by registrants to complete the registration process successfully by utilizing the online facility. The registrars explained the benefits of obtaining a domain name and underscored the fact that a specialized domain name allows registrants to better reach their targeted audience in a more professional manner. Registrar: InterNetX GmbH â International Registrar said: As the United Arab Emirates form one of the most important markets worldwide, .AE holds an important position in our TLD portfolio.
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) is pleased to announce the opening of registration in the Arabic domain name (DotEmarat) for special names. The registration will be open from 4th of September until the 3rd of October, and it can be done through accredited registrars. In-line with its objective to promote the usage of Arabic language in e-addresses, and in a step that reflects its endeavour to continue its initiative related to domain names (DotEmarat), the registration launch for special names follows the approval obtained from ICANN in January 2010.
Commenting on the registration, H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: âSince we acquired approval from ICANN regarding the domain (DotEmarat), we have set a timeline for ourselves to promote this domain name across all sectors. We started with the governmental sector, then with trademarks, and now we have come to the special names phase, which demonstrate that we are on target with our plan, and we are achieving rapid progress in this regard.â
âThe registration will enable users to seize the opportunity of booking their own domain name, as the availability for names is still vast. The Arabic domain name indeed provides ease in memorizing, writing, and circulating the names in Arabic, in addition to its distinct look on the browser when written in Arabic,â he added.
This registration will provide users with a wide range of options, and a portal that will allow users who surf the net, especially the ones who are not familiar with English, to find domains easily. The names that will be registered can be simple and direct such as: Hotels Dot Emarat, Autos Dot Emarat, Search Dot Emarat, Shopping Dot Emarat, Sports Dot Emarat, etc. Individuals who are interested in registering their domain names can visit the Arabic link (عربÙ.ا٠ارات ).
Al Ghanim further noted: âOne of the main objectives sought by TRA through promoting and deploying the domain name (DotEmarat), is to reach to a wide spectrum of users of this domain, and to allow Arabic speakers to achieve the maximum benefit from the internet, its diverse channels and enormous capabilities, by providing a bridge that allows them to cross language barriers that used to be an obstacle to them.â
The Arabic domain name (DotEmarat) is an unprecedented achievement on the regional level that makes the UAE one of four countries in the world to launch a domain name in its national language following the approval of ICANN. Notably, the TRA had recently completed the two registration stages for the governmental sector and trademarks for the Arabic domain (DotEmarat).
This TRA announcement was sourced from:
tra.gov.ae/news_TRA_launches_phase_to_register_special_domain_names-331-1.php
The registration of dotEmarat (ا٠ارات.) domain names for trademark holders closes today, 31 May 2011.
The internationalised domain names are viewed to be of great importance for internet users in the United Arab Emirates, as well as trademark holders, who were disadvantaged or excluded due to language barriers with the Latin characters.
The UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) launched the initiative of the Arabic domain (ا٠ارات.). The launch represented the beginning of a new internet era, and the beginning of the UAE journey towards the optimal use to online Arabic content.
âIn accordance with the objectives of the dotEmarat (ا٠ارات.) domain initiative in developing and marketing the domain names, educating the audience and promoting the domain, the TRA has opened earlier the Registration in the dotEmarat (ا٠ارات.) domain for trademark owners, taking into consideration the commercial benefits it offers regarding promoting the relationship between the trademark owners and their clients,â said H.E. Mr. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General.
âAlso, dotEmarat (ا٠ارات.) can be used in commercial campaigns targeting the Arabic user, especially since the new Arabic top-level domain name is currently a broad market incorporating an assortment of unique names that fits the activities offered by every company, unlike the cliché top-level domain names where obtaining a new name has become close to impossible.â He added.
Ownership of (dotEmarat) domains will secure intellectual property rights related to the Trademark, and it will prevent any legal disputes that may arise at a later stage. Disputes can run for long times, cost huge losses and harm the reputation a trademark, which are things that the TRA is keen to prevent the trademark owners from experiencing, in order to ensure a smooth and seamless business processes for those trademarks within the cyber space which the TRA is providing.
[news release] The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) extended the registration in the (dotEmarat) Sunrise period for an additional six months to give Trademark owners greater opportunity to take advantage of the unique offer.
TRA is encouraging Trademarks owners to apply during the Sunrise period to benefit from a wide range of benefits including the ease of registration process and the competitive cost. Furthermore, the current stage witnesses less competition to obtain a (dotEmarat) domain name.
H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General commented on the extension saying: âWe are committed to support Trademark owners while applying to acquire an Arabic domain name, therefore we decided to extend the Sunrise period. (dotEmarat) represents various commercial advantages that can enhance and strengthen the communication between businesses and their clients.â
âOwnership of (dotEmarat) domains will secure intellectual property rights related to the Trademark and opens vast opportunities for more businesses to take advantage of the Arabic names for their brands,â added Al Ghanim.
The Arabic top-level domain name (dotEmart) facilitates new opportunities for trademarks to communicate with a larger segment of Arabic users. It creates a communication bridge through which businesses can deliver their messages and offer their services for that particular segment. At the same time, Trademark intellectual property rights will be secured.
Acquiring an Arabic domain name during the Sunrise period will prevent any legal disputes that may arise at a later stage. Disputes that can run for long time, cost huge charges and harm the image of a trademark can be avoided easily by registering for a (dotEmarat) domain name.
The TRA has accredited many registrars to facilitate the registration process for their Arabic domain names. Companies keen to register for Arabic domain names can view a complete list of registrars by following the link (registrars.aeda.ae). Comprehensive information about the Arabic top-level domain name (dotEmarat) is available at: policy.aeda.ae
This United Arab Emirates Telecommunications Regulatory Authority announcement was sourced from:
tra.gov.ae/news_Registration_in_the_dotEmarat_Sunrise_period_has_been_extended_for_six_months-240-1.php
To register your اÙ
ارات. (DotEmarat) – .AE Internationalised Domain Name, check out Europe Registry here.