The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said it will start accepting applications for new domain names from January 12 to April 12 next year, a move that will give organisations more options for branding themselves.

ICANN said internet domain names can consist of any word or words, in any language and any script, including Chinese or Japanese, giving unlimited options to internet users. Presently, it allows 22 suffixes such as .net, .com and .org.

Meanwhile, Singapore will host a cyber security facility that will help verify the authenticity of websites and email addresses, according to a report in the Straits Times on Tuesday.

Singapore Senior Minister of State Grace Fu said the facility would be based at the National University of Singapore.  In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced a five-year e-government masterplan for the city state.
He cited examples of how smartphone users can get access to government information anytime and anywhere. Smartphones make up 72 per cent of all mobile phones in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the government today announced a 15 million Singapore dollars investment plan to create user-friendly mobile applications for the retail, food and beverage, hotel and attractions sectors in the city state.

Announcing the investment, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim said the government was looking for proposals from companies on innovative mobile services suitable for those industries.