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Refocus .PT's activity on its core mission: the registration, management and maintenance of domain names, after a few years in which we accumulated the management of a public policy initiative in digital skills: INCoDe.2030; to reformulate the strategic vision of innovation and technological modernization with a focus on organizational transformation, sustained by a culture of continuous improvement, automation, collaboration, valuing human capital and internal knowledge; to focus on .PT's presence and participation in the various international forums: CENTR, ICANN, LUSNIC and IGF, while witnessing a slowdown in the growth of the domain name industry, which is facing a period of maturation, where attracting new registrations becomes more challenging and the retention of active domains assumes a central role in the sustainability of ccTLDs, ensuring that .pt's growth remains significantly above the European average, reflecting the resilience of the national domain and its strong presence in the Portuguese market, makes 2024 a turning point for .PT in its activity, given the importance of maintaining and strengthening the organization's sustainability.

2024 was also the year in which a strategic reflection was made on the organization's future until 2030, with the definition of a new vision and mission, the organization's objectives and expectations, as well as the values that should be added: Impact; Independence; Collaboration, Internationalization and Innovation, to those that were already the organization's values and which remained essential: Security; Transparency; Rigor; Reliability; Ethics; Inclusion and Responsibility. It was also from this reflection that the major areas of intervention were highlighted, with relevance to the main activity (registration, maintenance and management of domain names under .pt) and to related areas, such as cybersecurity and EU and national regulation. regulation with an impact on our activity.

In terms of accumulated growth, .pt reached 1,927,218 registered domains as of December 31, 2024, with a growth rate of 8.14% in the number of registrations compared to 9.3% in 2023, reflecting the challenges faced by the domain industry, including growing competition from new technological solutions and the still low digital maturity of the Portuguese business community.

With a focus on protecting critical functions and a more participative approach to sharing information on good cybersecurity practices with the authorities and our stakeholders, we continued with the commitments set out in the Activity Plan, ensuring compliance with cybersecurity regulations with the implementation of the new ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standard and gold level certification in the DNP TS 4475-1 standard. In terms of quality, the maintenance of the ISO 9001:2015 certification with recognized, third-party and independent entities was guaranteed, and evidenced, during the audit, the commitment to ensure a more secure and resilient management of the Portuguese ccTLD, with high levels of service performance and compliance.

In a risk-oriented approach, risk analysis was carried out in the areas of cybersecurity and quality, and the Business Continuity Plan was revised, accompanied by continuity tests.

Regarding the .PT brand, a .PT Communication Strategy was launched, a compass that guides us in the pursuit of the brand's objectives, and after the pre-defined communication actions were carried out, we once again evaluated the .PT brand, through the Brand Health & Image Study, conducted in December, which revealed an increase in awareness compared to 2023, especially among professionals (from 76% to 82%). The Portuguese ccTLD is increasingly being chosen by those who want to have a digital presence, due to its association with Portugal and its accessibility, security, trust and quality.

In terms of people and office management, the main challenges have been attracting and retaining talent, due to the departure of qualified staff and the new need for qualified resources; reviewing the performance assessment model and skills library; studying and implementing an integrated talent management platform; managing the physical security of Barra Barra (our headquarters); and engagement, motivation, health and well-being initiatives, which have proved essential in helping to maintain a team with high resilience, adaptability and capacity for innovation.

The commitment to the development of technological study programs and innovative projects was reinforced, which, in addition to being relevant to .PT, also promote the integration of students into the job market, offering practical experiences in professional contexts. In this context, .PT guided two master's internships in the areas of DNSSEC and cybersecurity, contributing to the development of essential student skills and promoting innovation at .PT. Technological innovation in people management has been gaining ground, and this year saw important developments that strongly contribute to attract and retain talent, such as Nossa App, an innovative integrated talent management platform designed to optimize and transform the way in which people management and processes interact and are managed.

We remain committed to sustainability in the environmental, social and governance areas. We strengthened our initiatives and partnerships, promoting good practices and contributing to a more sustainable future. Regarding the environmental axis, we renewed the Digital Sustainability Maturity Seal - silver level.

.PT's purpose is to create points of connection between Portugal and the world, and to strengthen the digital ecosystem. For this reason, we have also incorporated the mission of contributing to boosting the Internet and promoting digital skills in Portugal, especially in the areas of inclusion, digital empowerment and gender equality, which is why we carried out and supported various initiatives throughout the year, reinforcing the organization's role in boosting projects and events that contribute to the digital development of society: Apps for Good, @tualiza-te project, Engenheiras por 1 Dia, STEM Labs, Women in Tech, WIT Kids, IDC Directions, Portugal Digital Summit, Navegantes XXI Awards, Sitestar. pt, are some of the many projects and initiatives featured here.

In this period, Internet Governance issues have emerged as a priority, being at the top of the agenda of unquestionable forums such as the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, the OECD, ICANN, the IGF, CENTR, among others. The importance of the role of ccTLDs, such as .pt, in this vast discussion, as one of the representatives of the technical community who, together with academia, governments, companies and civil society, fulfill the subjective element underlying the operation of the multistakeholder model, is unquestionable.

.PT, as the manager of Portugal's top-level domain and of a digital infrastructure of critical importance and essential to the functioning of the Internet, has sought to follow and, whenever possible, influence national and international discussions with an impact on the future of the Internet. To this end, and prioritizing the national context, we considered it essential to take part in the public consultation on the National Digital Strategy, sharing .PT's vision for the secure, sustainable, confident and transparent development of the national digital ecosystem. During the year, we continued to represent .PT in various international forums where the paths that digital will take are anticipated and discussed, such as participation in meetings and specific working groups of ICANN, CENTR, IGF, EuroDIG, RIPE and DNS OARC.

Throughout the year we monitored the evolution of the legislative and regulatory framework resulting from the approval and entry into force of various pieces of legislation with an impact on our activity, at national and European levels. The year was marked by the monitoring of the process of transposition into national law of the NIS2 Directive, directly applied to .PT, as an essential entity, and by European interpretative and legislative developments in this area.

A year of change, consolidation and the search for new solutions to the challenges facing the domain industry and the global Internet ecosystem. In 2024 we reflect on the future we want and will implement in increasingly challenging contexts, but we are committed to respond in a positive and coordinated way with employees, associates, partners and all those who choose to trust .PT.