ICANN is a non-profit organisation responsible for hosting IP addresses, managing generic and territorial domains as well as assigning protocol identifiers. Every year, the ICANN holds meetings with domain registrations (such as .barcelona,.cat, .com, etc.), registrars marketing these domains and other players related to the Internet’s operation.
This year, the organisation has chosen Barcelona, a city with a strong technological potential, as the venue for the ICANN63 meeting. In fact, Barcelona is already the fifth technology “hub” in Europe, with 34% of technology start-ups from all over Spain being established in this city.
In this edition, on 24 October, within the theme block of so-called GEO TLD (Top Level Domain) domains, which include regional and city domains, cities will have their own space driven by Barcelona.
The city round table, under the title “City brand strategies linked to the domains”, deals with city domains as an important brand element, as it is the digital expression on a first visibility level. Along with New York, Paris and Ghent, the .barcelona domain will be present in this official programme to discuss its strategy, which also includes actions to reduce the digital divide in the city. The representatives of other cities attending the ICANN63 will be able to compare and share needs as well as opportunities associated with the development of city domains, of which sixty are already active.
The weight of cities at the annual ICANN conference is a logical translation of the significance cities are gaining on the global board. It is estimated that more than half the population lives in cities, which is where cultural realities and identities happen, transform and develop. City domains are instruments to position cities and amplifiers of their identities.
In this session, Barcelona will explain how using the .barcelona domain is a way to strengthen the city’s digital identity through the entities, companies and platforms using it, thus showing .barcelona as a tool to implement a city brand strategy.
More information:
ICANN63
20-25 October 2018
International Convention Centre of Barcelona
