SINCE launching in 2014, the .scot domain has established Scotland’s internet identity across the globe with all the good implies for Scottish business, education, culture and charities.
Now DotScot Registry, the not-for-profit company that manages and supports the .scot domain name, has announced the appointment of Delhi resident Vir Singh Anand as its global ambassador to India and made him the pioneer user of its new Indian.scot email service.
It is the 53rd country to have a .scot presence and the largest in terms of population.
In his role, Anand will be working with people in India who have a connection to Scotland, including those who studied at Scottish universities, to raise awareness and promote greater use of the .scot domain across India.
Anand graduated from the University of St Andrews with a Master of Arts in Management (Hons) and now represents St Andrews University in India as the director of the region based in Delhi.
He first learned of .scot domains during Scottish International Week 2020 which was organised by Scottish Business Network and sponsored by DotScot Registry.
When the internet was opened up to new generic top-level domains the application for .scot was supported by the Scottish Government, Scottish organisations at home and abroad and a number of high profile Scots, including the late Sir Sean Connery.
Current users include the Scottish Government (gov.scot), Scottish Parliament (parliament.scot), the NHS in Scotland, Scottish Business Network (sbn.scot) and the Scottish film industry (screen.scot) as well as thousands of businesses, cultural organisations and individuals around the world who want to highlight their Scottish connection and declare an affinity with Scotland.
Anand said: “Any association with Scotland gives me immense pleasure and I look forward to working with DotScot Registry and its chair Harry McGrath as a Global Ambassador in India. The growth .scot has seen since it launched in 2014 has been extraordinary both in Scotland and over 50 countries around the world and I encourage those with any link to Scotland to take a look. It is great to be the first yourname@indian.scot email and I would recommend it to anyone in India who shares a similar affinity with Scotland.”
Harry McGrath, chair of DotScot Registry said: “Having lived many years outside of Scotland, I am keenly aware of the intimate connections between Scotland, its diaspora and those with a Scottish affinity and have long sought ways to bring them all together.
“In the internet age, the .scot domain has the power to overcome distance and connect the constituent parts of the worldwide community of Scots in ways that were previously unthinkable. I am delighted that Vir has agreed to be our global ambassador in India, the 53rd country where .scot has a presence.
Christine Esson, CEO, Scottish Business Network: “Scotland as a nation has a strong cultural identity and .scot domain highlights immediately where we are from and differentiates us. Scottish Business Network is here to support Scottish based companies with global ambition and by using the .scot domain we are doing just that.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The Scottish Government’s online identity is clearly defined by the .scot domain and marks us out in a crowded internet. We led by example in adopting the domain as our primary web address and it is encouraging to see that so many thousands continue to follow.”
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