18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Purpose of the .alsace extension

The geographic gTLD .alsace features as part of the global strategy established by the President of Alsace Regional Council. The aim of the project is to reinforce regionʹs economic attractiveness, to assert its regional identity in order to promote the region and thereby to increase the national and international visibility of its institutions, business and cultural life.

The development of Alsace as an attractive territory needs to be clearly anchored in a strong regional identity and in the perception of that identity by regional stakeholders and external partners.
This is why in 2010 Alsace Regional Council decided to create the concept of a shared brand that would be supported by all the public and private institutions in the region. Alsace is one of the first regions in France to make such a progressive move. It is being implemented as a participative, global project.
Consequently, we believe that the .alsace gTLD is a strong symbol and the most relevant tool to reflect our determination, convey the Regionʹs image and culture and help federate the regional economic actors around this symbol.

Is the world looking for Alsace? Letʹs help it to us! The .alsace gTLD will increase the global visibility of the future .alsace domain name holders on the internet. They will be able to assert themselves clearly as Alsatian, which is not possible with existing generic extensions.

The .alsace gTLD as a major driver of the popularity of the Alsace Region

First of all, owning a site with the .alsace extension is a way of promoting Alsace. Alsace is border region located in the centre of Europe, on Franceʹs eastern border and on the west bank of the Upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland, with the Vosges mountains forming a natural border on the Western side. Because of its historical and geographical background, Alsace is a clearly identified region in Europe. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as the largest city in Alsace is Strasbourg, and the fact that the latter is the seat of numerous international organisations and bodies make Alsace one of the politically most important regions in the European Union.

Presentation of Alsace:
Alsace is a cultural, historic and administrative region of France. Neighbouring Germany and Switzerland, it is situated in the upper Rhine valley, at the heart of the European megalopolis which stretches from London to Milan, in whose development process it shares.
It is a densely populated region. With 1.8 million inhabitants, it presents a demographic density (219 inhabitants per km²) more than twice the average density in France. Its positive demographic makes it a young region compared with the other regions of France.
Alsace is also the offspring of its history. Its French culture is deeply rooted in the cultural history of the former German and Austrian empires. And though the French language is commonly used, the Alsatian dialect still finds a place in every day conversations.
As it therefore enjoys a dual culture and is, to all intents and purposes, bilingual, it is in essence a region open to the rest of the world.
This international outlook also finds its counterpart in the economic arena. The fourth largest export region in France, companies funded by foreign capital employ nearly 40% of the salaried population of Alsace.
The excellence of its higher education establishments, particularly Strasbourg University, which has won two Nobel prizes over that last 25 years, makes Alsace a major region in terms of research in Europe and the rest of the world. It welcomes more than 8,000 foreign students, nearly 2,200 of them doctoral or post-doctoral.
Alsaceʹs place in Europe and the rest of the world also bears the stamp of Strasbourgʹs singular vocation as ʺCapital of Europeʺ.
The seat of three major institutions of European democracy – the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights – Alsace is deeply attached to the Rhineland humanism which nurtured its history. More than thirty international institutions can be found here, including the International Space University, the Franco-German television broadcaster, ARTE, the EUROPOL and SCHENGEN computer centres, the Human Frontier Science Program, etc. This international involvement extends to the presence in Strasbourg of nearly 40 consular representations.
Finally, the quality of its landscapes, the vestiges of its history and its cultural life, which manifest themselves in the urban planning of its cities and the architecture of its villages, earned it the accolade of being listed in Lonely Planetʹs top ten tourist destinations in 2010.
Proud of its history and traditions, Alsace is resolutely open to the world and ready to conquer its future. The Alsace brand will embody its qualities and use .alsace to carry it forward into the immense world of the internet.

A study carried out by a firm of consultants as part of the ʺAlsaceʺ trademark project found that:
Alsace enjoys a strong identity within Europe
Its image needs to be rendered more dynamic and pro-active.
This further confirms the Regional Councilʹs motivation for applying for the .alsace geographic gTLD

The .alsace gTLD as a powerful communication tool.

This is the best way for local institutions (organisations, towns and villages, specialised entities) to identify themselves and assert their local nature.
The new gTLD represents a dual opportunity for local companies: it will allow them to use words or names that may no longer be available in the common TLDs like .fr or .com and thereby to express their identity.
Finally, as Alsace is also an important tourist region, the gTLD will be an invaluable and powerful communication tool for all tourism professionals and for regional organisations that are promoting Alsace as a tourist destination worldwide.
Finally, the need to structure the offer and win over a new clientele, as well as to conduct major projects for Alsace, is also emphasised in the diagnostic study carried out for the Alsace brand. The creation of the .alsace gTLD is a major project, which will lead to a more relevant offer able to win over a new clientele.

Steadfast support.

The .alsace gTLD project has the full support of local political leaders (mayors, members of parliament, other elected representatives), of industry and business, and more specifically our large export companies (Alsace is Franceʹs largest exporter per capita), of the cultural community and obviously of Alsatians in general. . The regional tourism promotion organisations and companies living on and with tourism are also strongly in favour of the .alsace project.

Role and mission of the gTLD

Beyond the commercial development of local businesses, the reputation of the region and its attractiveness as a tourist destination, the gTLD is also intended to carry the deployment of new technologies into remote rural areas.
A few years ago, the Regional Council together with other local institutional partners decided to speed up the development and accessibility of the internet throughout Alsace, including in the villages furthest away from the major urban centres. This led to the creation of a joint venture whose aim was to spread internet access across the whole of the region.
The .alsace gTLD is therefore also a strategic tool in this mission.

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