EURid`s actions to support SMEs in times of pandemic

Over the past months Small and Medium enterprises have gone through incredible challenges because of the Covid pandemic.

SMEs have been and continue to be the top registrants of the .eu domain names, especially those that wish to brand themselves and their products online as truly European.

That is why at EURid we decided to develop a set of measures in collaboration with business organizations around Europe to support SMEs, to make them more aware of the importance of having a safe and appealing online profile and to bring online those that are not yet connected.

Among the various initiatives, we would like to highlight:

• The Thrive campaign whose aim is to help SMEs in the travel, tourism and environmental sectors in cobranded, online campaigns.

• The EURid-EUIPO SMEs Programme that explains SMEs how to protect and enforce their competitive advantage through IP rights.

• The Knowing you, knowing .eu initiative with which we have reached out to several SMEs networks around Europe, such as European Enterprise Network, SMEunited, Fundingbox, to educate the membership of those organisations about online branding and safety.  

• The Greek farms project, in partnership with the Greek government, that will allow local farmers who do not have a web presence yet to register a .eu domain name, build a website and activate email addresses n cooperation with local registrars.

• And lastly our very own .eu Live Talks series, which aims to bring together internationally-acclaimed and experienced industry leaders in a series of upcoming webcasts to help SMEs gain a strong foothold in the virtual world. The topics vary from AI to brand management. The .eu Live Talks intend to generate awareness on topics that have become more and more important in times when most of the SMEs business models had to adapt to new ways of selling and living.