|
CITY OF OTTAWA
FIRST IN CANADA TO LAUNCH NEW ONLINE BRAND
New CIRA policies allow Canadian municipalities
to stake their ground at the top level of Canada's Internet name space.
OTTAWA, May 17, 2002 - The City of Ottawa
officially became the first Canadian municipality to launch its new
online identity by capitalizing on the Canadian Internet Registration
Authority's (CIRA) newly introduced municipal domain registration
policy.
"The City's of Ottawa new Internet domain
name, ottawa.ca, is easier to remember and brings citizens, visitors,
international businesses and investors keystrokes closer to our community,"
said Mayor Bob Chiarelli. "Ottawa is a world centre of technical
excellence and this new Web brand - made possible by CIRA's new municipal
registration rules - will make it easier to find Canada's capital
in cyberspace."
The City's former domain name, www.city.ottawa.on.ca,
will be replaced with ottawa.ca. As well, e-mail addresses for City
staff, which formerly ended with @city.ottawa.on.ca, will now end
with @ottawa.ca.
"The City of Ottawa is the most connected
community in Canada. More than 65 percent of our residents have Internet
access and those who aren't connected have access to more than 150
SmartSites where they can get online for free," added Mayor Chiarelli.
"So Ottawa is the logical place to launch Canada's new dot-ca
municipal domain name system."
Since first introduced in 1987 by the University
of British Columbia (the dot-ca Internet domain's administrator from
1985 to December 2000), municipal dot-ca Internet domain names were
only available to Canadian municipalities according to the www.designation.cityname.province.ca
syntax. As a result, municipalities like the City of Ottawa could
only obtain names such as www.city.ottawa.on.ca.
CIRA took operational and management control of
the dot-ca Internet domain name registry on December 1, 2000 and immediately
began investigating policies that would facilitate access to dot-ca
domain names for individuals, businesses and governments.
In April, CIRA implemented a new municipal domain
name registration policy allowing Canadian municipalities to register
their official names as top level dot-ca Internet domain names (e.g.
www.cityname.ca). As a result, cities like Ottawa can now brand themselves
as www.ottawa.ca, or more simply, ottawa.ca.
"Small and large Canadian companies from
coast to coast are increasingly choosing the dot-ca brand to reach
their customers. Canadian municipalities have told us they wanted
to draw full potential of Canada's Internet name-space. Ottawa is
known around the world for its active Internet community. Accordingly,
CIRA is honored and pleased to participate in the launch of Ottawa's
new online brand," said Maureen Cubberley, Chair of the CIRA
Board of Directors.
To
register your dot-ca (.CA) domain name, click
here.
|
