“Puntueus” and “Iametza” strengthen digitalization in Basque through a strategic collaboration.
• The alliance will initially serve to restructure NI.EUS and LABUR.EUS.
• They foresee the development of new services and essential infrastructures for the development of Basque in the digital environment.
PUNTUEUS and IAMETZA have joined forces to drive the digital ecosystem of the Basque language forward. PUNTUEUS, responsible for the .EUS domain, is a significant player in the development of Basque in the digital environment. IAMETZA, on the other hand, is an entity that combines technological and communication services and is committed to technological sovereignty and the development of tools in Basque.
Although both entities have previously collaborated on various projects, this collaboration is in response to the trend of corporate concentration in the domain and web server sector. Recent trends in concentration in the domain and web server sector have posed significant challenges for maintaining services and solutions available in Basque. The acquisition of local companies by foreign corporate groups has negatively impacted the availability of options in Basque.
Aware of this landscape, PUNTUEUS and IAMETZA are joining forces to counteract concentration and preserve linguistic diversity in the Basque digital environment, meeting the needs of users demanding quality digital services in Basque.
In the initial phase of a long-term plan, the first efforts will involve restructuring NI.EUS, the free email service in Basque, which will undergo a comprehensive reorganization and consolidation process to meet the needs of existing users and continue growing true to its founding values: offering an email service in Basque that respects user privacy. Additionally, improvements will be implemented in LABUR.EUS, a widely used URL shortener with 50,000 registered users and over 500,000 created URLs.
These initial steps are expected to take several months due to migration tasks, but both PUNTUEUS and IAMETZA consider the development of both projects to be a significant advancement in improving and modernizing digital services in Basque.
Satisfied with the alliance
During the presentation of this collaboration, Josu Waliño, director of PUNTUEUS, shared his thoughts on the importance of cooperation: “This alliance with IAMETZA is a crucial step in strengthening our Basque digital society. Together, we are committed to providing innovative and secure solutions in Basque, preserving our digital identity.” PUNTUEUS, in its constant pursuit of a better Basque digital society, aims to strengthen Basque cohesion, improve online security, and promote digital inclusion.
On the other hand, IAMETZA’s director, Elisabeth Pombo, stated that this alliance reinforces IAMETZA’s goal of offering digital tools in Basque to the Basque community: “IAMETZA has been creating and promoting projects in Basque in the digital environment for years, and in recent years, technology has been strongly advocating for the path of sovereignty. Among other things, it offers the Nextcloud virtual office software to its clients and also has informative projects aimed at empowering society in this area, such as the annual Euskarabildua conference or the Hodeia Ez da Existitzen sovereignty channel.”
IAMETZA aims to be a service company supporting the construction of the Basque digital identity, and this alliance will aid in this mission, starting with LABUR.EUS and NI.EUS services but with the goal of deepening and strengthening its position in the future domain and web server sector.
The first milestone of this collaboration was the successful development of the mastodon.eus social network instance, a project developed jointly with other entities in which both PUNTUEUS and IAMETZA identified the potential of collaboration.
This joint effort reflects the commitment of PUNTUEUS and IAMETZA to linguistic diversity, technological sovereignty, and the construction of a robust digital ecosystem in Basque.