Author: Comunicació

The Nose Race has also got the dot!

Posted on by Comunicació

The last day of the year is for good wishes and lucky grapes, but also for sport. As ever, the traditional Nose Race is being held on 31 December. You can find full information on the website cursadenassos.barcelona.

The run offers two distances, one of 5 km and another of 10 km. The first is specifically aimed at elite international athletes, who will be trying to break the two existing world records which were set last year. The second is an open event for everybody to take part in, setting off and finishing in C/ Selva de Mar.

On the website web cursadenassos.barcelona you’ll find information about the event, including:

  • Registration: how you can sign up to run and get the confirmation document.
  • Run: where to pick up your number bib and chip, rules and route.
  • Services: cloakroom facilities, refreshments, how to get there and places to stay in the city.
  • Results: you can check the results for this year’s race and the races from the last eleven years.

The registration period is open until 21 December or until the 10,000 number bibs have all been taken. Don’t miss out!

Neighbourhood commerce in Barcelona goes digital with .barcelona

Posted on by Comunicació

Here at the .barcelona domain we’re working to help small shops and businesses in Barcelona go digital. From the end of May to mid-November we promoted the project “El meu comerç .barcelona”, where establishments were able to get a professional website with a .barcelona domain in a fast and simple free process.

The initiative meant that besides getting a new website, commercial establishments were able to link their digital identity with the city and form part of the .barcelona digital community.

“The digital environment is everywhere today, and for all ages”, notes Noelia Setó, the owner of noeliasllar.barcelona in the Sants neighbourhood. “I’ve got one because Victor, who’s about to turn four, sometimes says to me: ‘Mummy, search Google to see what Ladybug’s friend is called’, for instance. Amazing! So even if you’re a business with on-street premises, you need to move with the times and use all the resources which allow people to know about you and your product”.

As a society we’re experiencing a digital transformation. The arrival of the internet on our phones and in our homes means the way we consume and find information has changed, not just among the younger generations but even among people who are not digital natives.

A Google search is usually the first thing we do when we need something, as Noelia remarked. That’s also the case when we look for a shop or business, even in our own neighbourhood. “On the website, simple though it is, there’s valuable information about the business: where we are, the products we have, some images, opening times…all that means that people who don’t know me are comfortable enough to come and look around! Young or old, there are more and more ‘mature’ people gradually getting into the internet and the digital environment, and they surprise you!”, adds Noelia.

At lambicus.barcelona, an establishment specialising in Belgian beer and located in the neighbourhood of Sant Antoni, they were also clear on how having a website would give their business added value. “It helps bring us new customers, young and not-so-young. On the website we can tell people about the activities we have (tastings, presentations, festivals etc.) and the latest news. They can also contact us and it’s a quick way to know where our bar and shop are located”.

The last campaign for the project “El meu comerç .barcelona” saw fourteen commercial establishments in different Barcelona neighbourhoods sign up, all of which opted for a .barcelona domain. “Barcelona is a brand. It’s an identity. It nourishes collective activity. It makes you part of something. Puts you under its wing. So, everything linked to Barcelona is a plus for a business in the city. It’s like an exchange. We build all the values it conveys into Noelia’s llar.”

The application period for “El meu comerç .barcelona” is over for the moment. You can find more information about the project on the information page.

These are some of the websites created with the programme:

The .barcelona domain takes part in the ICANN summit for registers and registration companies in Los Angeles

Posted on by Comunicació

The .barcelona domain travelled to Los Angeles to take part in the ICANN Contracted Parties Summit. The ICANN is a non-profit organization responsible for hosting IP addresses, managing generic and territorial domains and allocating protocol identifiers. Their events offer a meeting point between domain registers and registration companies, giving them the chance to continue their collaboration and find new synergies.

One of the key points for this summit was DNS (Domain Name System) abuse and how to tackle it. This is an issue which affects everybody, and at .barcelona we feel these sessions are important for working together with other registers and continuing to improve the security of our domains.

Another key point was the future of technology. We attended a debate on emerging technologies and the future of alternative domains such as the ENS (Ethereum Name Service), a domain system similar to DNS created by users of Ethereum cryptocurrency and blockchain, a new data organisation technology which gathers information in a shared and decentralised way, and which has provided the base for growth in cryptocurrency in recent years. The session analysed threats and opportunities in relation to the current domain system, a topic where many questions remain and which for the moment is being approached with a certain scepticism.

Finally, the geoTLD.group, which the .barcelona domain belongs to, met with WordPress to further the negotiations which will enable the content manager to include languages such as Catalan and register websites with the .barcelona domain etc. WordPress confirmed their interest in incorporating geoTLDs and hopes to start this process in the first quarter of 2023 with a first groups of TLDs.

How to choose keywords to promote your website

Posted on by Comunicació

When it comes to promoting your website on the internet and getting results from your campaigns on Google Ads, a publicity service which among other things allows you to appear in the best positions in Google search results, it’s important to choose your keywords well, just as you do when you work on the SEO for your website to get well-positioned by Google.

When choosing keywords to activate your ads, you should bear in mind which words your potential customers might use when carrying out a search in Google. Take into account that your ad will appear in the search when the keyword you’ve chosen for your campaign coincides with the word typed in by the person looking for your products and services.

The recommendation is to choose between 5 and 20 keywords. To choose these, you need to analyse the business services and products you’re offering and how you would look for them with Google. Think about the words and phrases which best describe each of the categories which your business embodies.

If, for instance, you have a cafeteria, you might like to think of terms such as “cafeteria” and build on this to add things like “best breakfast”, “where to have a coffee”, “cafeteria Sants” (or the neighbourhood your business is in.

The more specific, the better

Think of words to connect with a specific user, this way you can reach a customer who is interested in a very specific product. You can run specific ads with keywords such as “best croissant in Barcelona”, “best sourdough bread” or “vegan cakes”, for people specifically looking for this product.

Create different groups of ads according to keywords

For ads to become relevant and reach customers with an interest in your products and services, it’s a good idea to group together keywords to match the different areas or categories of your business.

If you add a keyword in the same group of ads, a customer looking for “vegan cakes” might see your “cafeteria in Sants” ad when this might not really fit in with what they’re searching for. The best way is to group ads together by topic, thinking how they might be replaced or be of interest to a customer searching for one of the keywords or phrases in the same group of ads.

Don’t forget negative words

You probably won’t want your ads to display to people looking for a product or service which is not linked to your business. Because of this, you can add negative keywords to your list. This will stop your ads from appearing in searches which are of no interest to you and is a good way of cutting costs. To mark negative keywords you need to put the symbol – in front of the word in question.

Bear in mind concordance for Google Ads

Google Ads doesn’t simply take into account the keyword you add to your list. The words you add do not always correspond to those which users type in for their searches.

• Broad concordance: this is the default option. It allows an ad to display when search words and phrases are similar to those you added as keywords. This includes relevant variations and synonyms of your keywords.

• Exact match: this option only allows ads to display when the user’s search includes the word or phrase you established as a keyword. To choose this option you simply need to put the word or phrase between inverted commas.

For instance, if you choose “cafeteria Sants” as a keyword, when somebody looks for “cafeteria Badalona” or “haberdashery Sants” it’s unlikely that your ad will appear on the search results page. Yet if you put the keyword “cafeteria Sants”, it will only appear when the search includes the phrase “cafeteria Sants”.

Renovation means savings!

Posted on by Comunicació

Now’s the time to renovate your home thanks to Europe’s Next Generation funds, with subsidies to reduce energy consumption and save on bills while improving the comfort and value of your home. The only requisites are to be a home owner and to use the funding to improve your home’s energy efficiency and make it more sustainable.

On the website rehabilitaresestalviar.barcelona you’ll find full information on the four types of subsidies available, which can cover up to 80% of your investment:

  • Building renovation: subsidies for work on communal parts of buildings, whether individual homes or residential blocks, which achieve a saving of at least 30% on primary non-renewable energy consumption and 25% on the demand for heating and cooling. 
  • Home renovation: subsidies for owners wishing to improve the energy efficiency of their home through measures such as replacement windows, insulation of façades, replacement of heating and cooling systems etc.
  • Drafting of building books and projects: subsidies for communities of home-owners for buildings constructed prior to the year 2000 who wish for a technical study with usage and maintenance instructions to lengthen the useful life of their building and avoid it falling into disrepair, as well as the development of technical projects for the complete renovation of buildings.
  • Renovation of neighbourhoods: subsidies for joint renovation projects with energy efficiency criteria for buildings included in the sphere of the Neighbourhood Plan.

This website with the .barcelona domain will also enable you to contact the Municipal Renovation Office to learn more about and apply for subsidies. 

The Biennial of Thought becomes firmly established as a major forum for public reflection and debate

Posted on by Comunicació

The Biennial of Thought closed out this first joint edition with Palma and Valencia having been very well received by the public, with well-attended sessions and a rich exchange of ideas in public space: the official programme included 67 activities and attracted over 20,000 people, with more than 200 speakers taking part.

The organisers for this third edition of this grand public forum were supported by an advisory committee made up of the writer and Hellenist Raül Garrigassait, the political scientist Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca, the sociologist Liliana Arroyo, the architects Núria Moliner and Josep Ferrando and the journalist Ángela Precht.

On the website biennaldepensament.barcelona, which has so far received over 100,000 visits, you can see most of the sessions recorded from the programme and addressing topics such as the threats, limits and challenges for democracy, digital rights and the transformation of cities.

The Biennial started life in 2018, and although the second edition was held during the pandemic, it has made a firm place for itself on the city’s cultural agenda. In contrast to the 2020 edition, with advance bookings and online sessions, this year’s activities were open to all except for the Peripatetic Walks, where all available places were taken.

The .barcelona domain renews as chair of the geoTLD.group

Posted on by Comunicació

The geoTLD.group held its annual general meeting and elections for its Executive Committee on 28 September, with members unanimously re-electing the outgoing Executive Committee for a new mandate of three years:

  • Chair: Mr Nacho Amadoz (Fundació .cat, the organisation which manages the domains of .cat and .barcelona)
  • Vice chair: Mr Josu Waliño (Puntueus Fundazioa, the organisation which manages the domain .eus)
  • Treasurer: Mr Ronald Schwärzler (Domainworx Service & Management GmbH, the organisation which manages the domains of .wien, .koeln and .cologne)

The geoTLD.group currently has 28 members (23 full members and 5 observer members), managing 35 geoTLDs:

  • Europe: .alsace .amsterdam .barcelona .bayern .berlin .brussels .bzh .cat .cologne .eus .frl .gal .hamburg .koeln .london .madrid .nrw .paris .ruhr .saarland .scot .swiss .stockholm . tirol .vlaanderen .wien
  • Africa: .africa .capetown .durban .joburg 
  • America: .boston .miami .nyc .quebec 
  • Asia (Pacific): .melbourne .sydney .tokyo

GeoTLD.group is an international non-profit association made up of government bodies, businesses and organisations which represent the interests of top-level geographical domains identifying a city, region, language or culture.

Geographical top-level domains are shaping the internet of tomorrow and creating digital identities for locations and communities. The group works to develop the potential of geoTLDs to benefit cities, regions, cultures and languages.

Basic cybersecurity advice for SMEs

Posted on by Comunicació

The security of information and data is a very important factor for any business. Large companies usually have a department devoted to cybersecurity and the prevention of IT attacks, but for small companies it can be complicated to devote part of their resources to cybersecurity.

Because of this, here we set out a series of basic tips on cybersecurity which you can start applying to your company the moment you get to the end of this article.

What are the most common attacks?

If your company suffers an IT attack, it will likely come in the form of:

  • Malware: any sort of malicious software or programme.
  • Virus: malware which infects or alters the functioning of programmes and devices with harmful or malicious ends.
  • Spyware or trojan horse: seemingly normal programmes or which are hidden inside others to steal information.
  • Phishing: supplantation of identity through email with the goal of obtaining sensitive information.
  • Ransomware: software which infects hardware and is used to coerce users, facilitating information in exchange for money.

What can you do to keep your SME secure?

Install an anti-virus on your devices

It might seem basic, but it’s the first step in detecting any cyber-attack and keeping your devices protected. Some of the most widely used anti-virus programmes are Avast, Kaspersky, Bitdefender and Norton. Most have a free version or plans to suit different types of companies.

If you use the Windows operating system, bear in mind that from Windows 8 onwards this includes the anti-virus service Windows Defender.

Remember that anti-virus services must be kept up to date at all times to remain effective.

Update the programmes on your devices

Make sure your devices have the latest version of programmes and apps. Cyberdelinquents often exploit bugs and possible deficiencies in previous versions to attack hardware.

Secure passwords

Make sure that the passwords your company uses are secure and comply with the following requisites:

  • Create long passwords that combine capital and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters such as an exclamation mark or question mark.
  • Avoid using passwords generated for you by default.
  • Use passwords which are unique to each programme.
  • Use a password manager to stay on top of them all.

Limit installations

Make sure that the programmes installed on your devices have been downloaded from a trusted source. If you’re unsure or your computer or mobile detects a suspicious file, we recommend you delete it rather than installing it.

If you have devices which are shared between various workers, you can also limit permission to install new software. This way you can avoid any malicious software being installed.

Be careful with attached files and suspicious links in emails

Email is one of the main ways in for attacks on businesses. If the link is from an unknown source or you don’t know what you are being sent, it’s best not to open it. Check the sender’s address properly and make sure it’s not a phishing attempt. 

Use secure networks

It is important that your internet connections are safe and encrypted. Your routers must have firewalls and be up to date. You can also limit the devices which connect to your network by configuring your hardware.

If you use a public network to connect to the internet at any point, remember that you may be sharing data and exposing information to others. Avoid this wherever possible.

We hope these tips help you to keep your SME secure. Think about making back-up copies whenever you can, so that all your information can be re-established in the event of a cyberattack.

New subsidy call for the Kit Digital programme

Posted on by Comunicació

Managed by the Spanish government through Red.es, the Kit Digital programme is funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and is opening a second call for subsidies to help drive the digital transformation among small companies.

From 2 September this year to 2 September 2023, companies with between 3 and 10 workers can apply for a digital subsidy of 6,000 euros via the Red.es electronic portal.

This second call covers a broader catalogue of digital solutions which companies can apply for, including: website and basic internet presence, community management, e-commerce, customer management, virtual office tools and services, business intelligence and analytics, process management, e-invoicing, safe communications, cybersecurity and now advanced internet presence and marketplace.

Companies wishing to apply for subsidies must register at www.acelerapyme.es and complete a simple test to gauge their digital maturity. Once this is completed, they should apply for their digital subsidy using the Red.es electronic headquarters.

Once checks show the company meets the requisites, the digital subsidy is awarded. Companies can consult the catalogue of digital solutions available, as well as accredited digitalisation agencies at acelerapyme.es or the portal elKIT.CAT, which brings together all the authorised agents in the Catalan-speaking lands, such as the OOMKT agency, who we interviewed a few months back on our website.

At this point the company should choose one or more digitalisation agencies to develop the digital solutions which best satisfy their digital needs and sign up to the agreement for the provision of digitalisation solutions.

The Kit Digital programme aims to help SMEs and the self-employed in the Spanish state go digital over the next three years. The first companies to be able to apply for these subsidies were businesses with between 10 and 50 workers, and now it’s the turn of companies with between 3 and 10 workers. During the last quarter of the year, the call will be opened up for companies with fewer than 3 workers. 

Barcelona hosts a new meeting on top-level domains

Posted on by Comunicació

Barcelona is hosting the 50th meeting of the Administrative Workshop on 6 and 7 October. Organised by CENTR, the European association of top-level domain registries, the meeting provides a platform for debate on political matters which affect country code top-level domains (ccTLD) and acts as a communication channel for internet governance bodies and other internet organisations.

This is the third time the CENTR has chosen Barcelona to host one of its meetings, on this occasion the first face-to-face meeting to be held since the start of the pandemic. Fundació .cat, which manages .cat and .barcelona domains, will be the host organisation for this CENTR meeting.

During the 50th CENTR Administrative Workshop, organisations responsible for various domains all around Europe will be exploring various topics such as abuse relating to DNS domains and the creation of new products to add value to domains, as well as an assessment of new projects to integrate and improve the relationship with registration companies. On this occasion, Tucows and Openprovider are to be the guest registration companies, to learn about their perspective and share their experiences.