U.AE – The First Single-Letter Website Domain in the World

Cool! Something interesting in the website news and internet trivia as the UAE government has purchased the first single-letter domain in the world, U.AE, which is the official government portal of the United Arab Emirates. With the goal to ease rendering public services to residents in the country, initiatives that explore the use of innovation and technology have been given a premium in the UAE.

Emirati authorities understand that the delivery of service is not only based on quality but also accessibility, most especially since there are millions of foreign nationals also in need of services in their own language, who are based in the country. As such, technology, in the form of the Internet has proven to be perfect platform to reach communities of a scale this large.

UAE Claims First Single-Letter Gov’t Domain in the World
Credits: WAM

UAE Government to Use New Domain Name Based on UAE’s Initials

In relation to this, the Government of the UAE has launched the new domain name of its official portal to become the first government domain in the world composed of a single letter (U), to facilitate the public access to information, services, projects, strategies and laws in the UAE, as shared in a report by WAM.

The new domain name, which was developed in cooperation between The Prime Minister’s 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.

As such, the first letter is the domain name, while the second and third letters are composed of the UAE’s country code Top Level Domain “.ae”.

The official portal of the UAE government is a comprehensive platform where 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, can be accessed.

For his part, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, commented, “The new domain name of the UAE Government portal embodies the meaning of innovation, which is simple and easy to remember. It 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 nation’s leadership and our community’s happiness.

Al Mansoori further explained that 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,” Al Mansoori noted.

Meanwhile, 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 hosts an online forum, blogs, surveys, polls, Chatbot, and links to the mGovernment pages on social medial such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others.

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