18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

Specialty

The proposed TLD will reinforce the Cityʹs strategic positioning by offering high-end customized online services branded under our own TLD, which will leverage the brand equity and differentiate us online from other cities.
The .BCN TLD will prove our commitment, integrity, professionalism, and teamwork, and enhance the trust of our customers and society at large in the high-quality services provided by our various professional websites under our own Top Level Domain.

Reputation

Undoubtably, a .BCN Top Level Domain will strengthen the Cityʹs brand and enhance its recognition internationally, which will naturally add value to the City of Barcelona.

A specific TLD for the online services of the Barcelona City Council is aligned with the strategy of the City to become one of the digital powerhouses of the 21st century. Barcelona has a specific area and economic measures devoted to attract innovative start-ups as well as leading firms in the areas of digital technologies and communications, and is also the home and the capital city of the Mobile World Congress. This strong vocation to leadership in the business and technological arenas will be well expressed by our own unique TLD.

Service levels

One of the top priorities of the Barcelona City Council is to serve our citizens with the highest standards of efficiency. Being able to offer all our online services under .BCN TLD and having exclusive control of what can be done in that space is the key to deploying such initiatives, and therefore a top priority for the Barcelona City Council. It will help to promote the Cityʹs brand presence and reputation online, and will limit security risks posed by scams based on counterfeit identities in second-level domain name registrations under any other existing TLD, which may be registered and put to fraudulent use, tarnishing the brand’s reputation.

ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

Differentiation

Barcelona, as a recognized leading technological city in Europe, will use the .BCN TLD to move further and offer its online services under a unique, distinguishable, and memorable TLD. This quality of technological leadership, united with the ones for which the City is known worldwide, such as innovation, dynamism, imagination, quality of life, and service to its citizens, would indeed be enhanced and reinforced by acquiring the .BCN TLD.

Competition

This new space will not only distinguish the brand, placing the Barcelona City Council as a pioneer among the most innovative cities of the world, but will help in reaching a new audience and expanding the awareness of Barcelona worldwide.

Innovation

The .BCN TLD will be a significant amplifier of our branding and marketing endeavors by creating innovative marketing opportunities for citizens, partners, and suppliers. Some of the great challenges, benefits, and innovative elements that .BCN will bring to our structure are:

To strengthen our leadership in municipal services online
To offer new services in the areas of smart cities and the Internet of things
To improve organizational efficiency and flexibility
To develop and motivate talent
To underline our social commitment
To communicate the aims of the institution both internally and externally

iii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

Compared to the existing generic TLDs, the .BCN experience will greatly enhance mnemonics and security. .BCN, being a widely used and known acronym for the City of Barcelona, will simplify the way the citizens find information about the City, interact with online services and interact with content created by the City on the Internet. That easier and understandable Web address will drive users into deeper levels of engagement with the brand and the City.

This engagement will increase:

Affinity
Ease of use
Efficiency of citizensʹ services
Distribution of the different online services
Smart-city and Internet-of-things projects led by the City
The number and improve the security of online transactions

.BCN will be an easier way to interact with Barcelona City Council online services and information.

.BCN will provide shorter URLs to users of the Barcelona City Councilʹs online services, who look for ways to make their browsing and linking experience more streamlined. It will offer user services via online portals, which will customize the customer experience to an unprecedented degree by offering URLs.

Social media will of course play a crucial role in the introduction and promotion of the BCN name, and therefore the branding exercise, throughout social networks, will be fundamental to the user experience of the new extension.

iv.Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

The .BCN TLD will be for the EXCLUSIVE USE of the Barcelona City Council. The Barcelona City Council does not contemplate, at this stage, opening the registration to any third party. Therefore, the mandatory registration agreement will refer to the following terms and conditions:
a) Eligiblity: The registrant will be the Barcelona City Council.
b) Name selection: .BCN domain name registrations must be related to Barcelona City Council services and departments.
c) Use and content: .BCN domain names may only be used in relationship to Barcelona City Council services and purposes, subject to the approval of the Barcelona City Council. Domain names used must be commensurate with the role and relevance of Barcelona City Council services.

Considering that,

(i) The Barcelona City Council will register and maintain all domain name registrations within .BCN for its own exclusive use; and that
(ii) The Barcelona City Council will not sell, distribute, or transfer control or use of any registrations in .BCN to any third party that is not part of the Barcelona City Council; and that
(iii) Application of the Code of Conduct contained in Specification 9 of the Base gTLD Registry Agreement to .BCN is not necessary to protect the public interest

The Barcelona City Council will request an exemption to the above-mentioned Code of Conduct, and expects ICANN to grant the exemption, as the Barcelona City Council provides reasonable satisfaction of the conditions hereof expressed.

The Barcelona City Council may in the future consider extending the use of domain names for employees, customers, and partners, but this is not foreseen nor allowed in the current description of the registration policies.

v.Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

The Barcelona City Council recognizes that this is a relevant issue and an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard. The protection of privacy and confidential information of registrants and users will comply with applicable law, in particular the European Data Protection framework and the Catalan and Spanish Personal Data Protection legislation, as well as any ICANN requirements in this area.

Nevertheless, the specific model of .BCN TLD, and the registration policies described above, limit to a great extent any possible concerns about privacy, as no external organizations or individuals will be allowed to register .BCN names.

vi. Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

Because the Barcelona City Council is applying for an SRSU (Single Registrant, Single User) TLD, internal outreach and communications will be done entirely in-house. External outreach and communication will be done through advertising campaigns in the various existing media, emphasizing of course the digital media and Barcelona citizensʹ care offices.

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