Bulgaria has held its first event dedicated to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number’s new gTLD domain name program.
Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive of the organization, visited the country to meet senior politicians and deliver a series of keynote speeches.
ICANN‘s Bulgaria trip was part of its campaign of events to educate the world about the risks and opportunities tied to upcoming new gTLDs.
The new gTLD program is an initiative that will enable the introduction of new domain names.
There are currently a set number – like .com and .co.uk – but soon there could be hundreds more.
As part of the trip Mr. Beckstrom met with Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov and deputy minister of transport, IT and communications Valeri Borissov.
He delivered a keynote lecture on Internet governance and leadership at the University of National and World Economy.
Sofia News Agency quoted Mr. Beckstrom as saying during one of the events: “The Internet is like fire – once people discovered it, they understood it was essential.”
Organizations and individuals will be able to apply for a gTLD through ICANN between January 12 and April 12, 2012.