Afilias announced recently that it has launched the second phase of its educational materials to help people better understand ICANN’s New gTLD Program,which will open on January 12,2012 .

You can read the press release after the jump :

“New educational materials from Afilias are designed to inform and stimulate the imaginations of potential dot Brand, dot City and dot Niche applicants

Afilias Limited, a global provider of technical registry services for Internet domains, today announced that it has launched the second phase of its education campaign to help companies, organizations and cities better understand the pros and cons of the ICANN New gTLD Program, which opens January 12, 2012.

Following the initial launch of Afilias’ education campaign in June 2011, this phase focuses on helping interested parties make the decision as to whether pursuing a generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a wise business investment.

“It’s important that anyone who is considering a dot Brand, dot City or dot Niche domain look at the issue from multiple perspectives,” said Afilias CMO Roland LaPlante. “A recent poll from a Columbia Business School webinar — ‘Who Should Invest in a dot Brand? Evaluating the Business Case for a Top-Level Domain Name’ — found that 61% of the participants were equally interested in a dot Brand TLD for both defending their trademarks and for brand building and innovating. That’s why Afilias is offering a wealth of new educational materials: to help potential applicants understand the possibilities for innovation with new gTLDs as well as insights on owning and running a new gTLD.”

“With the ICANN new gTLD application window opening in less than 60 days and then closing only three months later, learning as much as possible, as quickly as possible, is paramount. And given that ICANN has not announced if there will be a second round of applications, ‘go or no go’ decisions need to be made quickly and wisely,” added LaPlante.

Among the educational resources Afilias is making available, free of charge, to potential new gTLD applicants are:

• A series of video highlights, as well as the complete replay, from the recent Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership webinar: “Who Should Invest in a dot Brand? Evaluating the Business Case for a Top-Level Domain Name.”

• A new idea-generating e-book on innovative uses of new gTLDs, which resulted from the recent “Afilias Global Innovation Contest for New TLD Ideas.”

• A new e-book and video on dot City domains for city-based tourist commissions, local governments and chambers of commerce.

• A new video on dot Niche domains for organizers and representatives of unique niche areas of interest”