At Accent Obert we work so that anyone can live fully in Catalan in the digital world.
We promote innovative, collaborative, and ethical initiatives that connect our cultural tradition with the global future. We position ourselves at the heart of a transformation that is redefining how we live and express our identity.
We are the institution for Catalan speakers in the digital environment. We are an open network that connects talent and innovation to secure the future of Catalan culture, promote it internationally, and defend its linguistic and cultural rights.
19
90
The beginning of the movement
Voices from all social and cultural spheres recognize the need for the Catalan-speaking community to have full representation on the Internet through its own domain.
96
The .ct campaign
A campaign is launched to obtain a domain for Catalonia (.ct). The request is denied, as Catalonia was not—and still is not—an independent country. More details about the campaign here.
20
00
From passport to dictionary
The aspiration for a country code domain (.ct) is set aside in favor of a cultural domain (.cat) that would cover all Catalan-speaking territories, regardless of the state they belong to.
The three .cat promoters—Amadeu Abril, Manel Sanromà, and Jordi Alvinyà—push the project forward to obtain an Internet domain for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community. The puntCAT Association is created with the sole objective of leading the campaign to secure the domain.
03
A window of opportunity opens
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) considers the possibility of assigning domains to communities. The Catalan-speaking online community understands the importance of the moment and seizes the opportunity.
04
March 16
Presentation of the .cat application
The puntCAT Association, created especially for the occasion, submits the application for the domain with the support of 98 organizations, 2,615 companies, and 65,468 individuals from all Catalan-speaking territories around the world—not only from Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, the Franja, Andorra, Northern Catalonia, and Alghero, but also from cities and countries worldwide where Catalan speakers reside. These are unprecedented numbers that demonstrate the strength and unity of our community.
December 28
The beginning of Fundació .cat
After the application is submitted, the puntCAT Association is dissolved to make way for Fundació .cat, a private, non-profit organization that would manage the .cat domain registry and promote the Catalan language and culture on the Internet.
05
September 15
The birth of .cat
After years of effort and work, the official approval of the .cat domain is announced. Thus, we become the first domain in the world dedicated to a language and a culture.
From left to right: Jordi Alvinyà, then Director General of Broadcasting and Television of the Government of Catalonia; Carles Solà, Minister of Universities, Research and Information Society; lawyer Amadeu Abril; Joan Francesc Gras, who served as president of Fundació .cat; Jordi Bosch, then Director of CTTI; Marc Pifarré, manager of puntCAT and coordinator of the application and the campaign “for a .cat domain for the Catalan language and culture”; and Oriol Ferran, former Secretary of Telecommunications and Information Society of the Government of Catalonia. The photo was taken on September 15, 2005, the day the .cat proposal was definitively approved in California / EL TEMPS Archive
06
April 23
Everyone can have a .cat
On a memorable Sant Jordi Day, the .cat domain opens to public registration for the entire Catalan-speaking community. A new era begins. One of the domain’s first international successes arrives when the two major global search engines, Yahoo and Google, request it.
12
February 27
100,000 .cat domains reached
In just 10 years, .cat becomes the reference domain in Catalan-speaking territories and reaches the milestone of 100,000 registered domains.
15
February 27
Awarded management of .barcelona
Fundació .cat wins the bid to manage the .barcelona city domain. Open registration operations begin in March 2016.
18
July 18
The Creu de Sant Jordi
Fundació .cat receives the Creu de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Cross) in recognition of its work promoting the .cat domain online and for fostering Catalan culture and the normalization of the Catalan language on the Internet.
The President of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, and the President of the Parliament of Catalonia, Laura Borràs, presenting the Creu de Sant Jordi to Carles Salvadó, president of Fundació .cat (2017–2021).
23
April 6
Start of the .ad domain management
Fundació .cat takes over the management of the first country code domain in Catalan. This marks a historic milestone for the foundation.
25
June 3
Fundació .cat gives way to Accent Obert
Twenty years later, Accent Obert is born, rooted in the legacy of the collective momentum that for two decades was Fundació .cat. It is created to update that mission and expand it to new territories—beyond the domain. To continue defending the right for everyone to fully live in Catalan, also in the digital realm. To defend, digitally as well, our way of being.
