The UAE's national domain, .ae, experienced significant growth in 2022 with over 46,000 new domain name registrations. This brings the total number of registered domain names to 300,000 as of the first quarter of 2023, marking a growth rate of almost 20%. The .ae domain has become the most popular national domain in the UAE and is among the fastest-growing domains in the Arab region. This achievement highlights the UAE's economic importance as a major hub in the Middle East.1
The surge in registrations of the .ae national domain indicates the increasing interest of government entities, individuals, and companies in leveraging its advantages. These advantages include enhancing credibility, safeguarding intellectual and commercial property rights, and offering a superior user experience. The .ae domain offers the availability of distinguished names and abbreviations that align with official websites, trademarks, emails, etc. in a straightforward process.
The domain plays a crucial role in building customer and partner confidence in the organization, a streamlined registration process and tracking of registrants, contributing to enhanced security measures. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) recognizes the importance of protecting trademark owners and has implemented a fair dispute policy and to ensure unbiased judgments, TDRA collaborates with the World Intellectual Property Organization.
It is worth noting that the UAE launched the .ae website incorporating ChatGPT technology to enhance the development of the national domain. It provides fast performance and the ability to suggest unique names based on users' descriptions of their commercial activities. Furthermore, ChatGPT supports search functionality in Arabic and English.2 TDRA continues to works on developing the portal and aligning it with the higher national directions, manly 'We the UAE 2031' vision3 with its four pillars related to government, society, economy and international relations.
Footnotes
1. https://tdra.gov.ae/en/media/press-release/2023/tdra-300-000-websites-registered-in-ae-in-2023 (2023.5.24)
2. English Out Apr 23.pdf (2023 April)
3. 'We the UAE 2031' vision - The Official Portal of the UAE Government
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