The official website of the Government of the United Arab Emirates has a new domain name, newspaper Khaleej Times, the first and leading English-language periodical in the country, reports. The domain, composed of a single letter U, was registered in .AE, UAE's country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD). This is the first time in the world that an official government website in any country uses a single-letter domain.
On top of that, the new name can be viewed as an extremely astute and elegant solution, since the full domain name now reads U.AE, which means that it fully coincides with the English-language acronym of the country’s name (United Arab Emirates – UAE).
Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director General at UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said that the new domain name reflects the centrality of innovation for the country’s government, and the commitment to make these innovations accessible to all people. “The new domain name of the UAE Government portal embodies the meaning of innovation, which is simple and easy to remember,” he pointed out, adding that with the adoption of the new domain name UAE is entering into an important stage of digital transformation and informing the entire world that the people are the ultimate goal of the UAE Government.