The top-level domain (TLD) .DATA does not yet exist amongst the list of current TLDs approved and registered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the body in charge of global coordination of the DNS Root, IP addressing, and other Internet protocol resources. as of the time of addressing this question.
However, before we delve deeper into the topic, we must first understand what a TLD is. In internet web addressing, the TLD is the part of the domain that comes right after the dot. Common examples of TLDs include .COM, .NET, .ORG, .GOV, .EDU, .IO and many others. They form the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet.
TLDs are mainly classified into two broad categories: generic TLDs (gTLD) and country-specific TLDs (ccTLD). gTLDs are used where the specific use or type of the website is emphasized, such as .COM for commercial, .EDU for educational institutions, .NET for network infrastructures, etc. On the other hand, ccTLDs, like .US for the United States, .JP for Japan, etc, are reserved for country-specific contents.
Source: Postel, J. (1994). DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND DELEGATION. Network Working Group. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1591
As for .DATA, this TLD has not been assigned. Looking at the possibilities, .DATA could potentially be used in the sense of databasing, web data, data science, data analytics, data storage and more. It could provide a useful marker for industries and professions that center around data, from independent data scientists to large technology companies specializing in Big Data.
Anyone intending to introduce a new TLD, like .DATA, would need to be approved by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). They are the organization that coordinates and ensures the secure and stable operation of the internet’s identifiers, including the DNS. IANA is a department of ICANN.
As of today, there are over 1,500 TLDs in use and ICANN continues to implement a program for the introduction of new Generic top-level domains supporting multiple character scripts.
Source: Zook, M., Dodge, M. (2009). Mapping Domains: Evaluating the Global Integration and Competition of Domain Name Markets. GLOBAL COMMISSION ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE. https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/no16.pdf
To conclude, despite being unassigned as a TLD as of now, the potential .DATA domain could provide a useful marker for industries and businesses centered around data. But the decision to introduce it lies in the hands of ICANN following its new gTLDs program guidelines.
