Overview of the 29th ICANN Meeting Fellows

A key feature of the 29th ICANN meeting in San Juan Puerto Rico was the first round of the ICANN Fellowships program.

Thirty-three fellows were selected from 125 applications received. 65% of the fellows and 68% of applicants had never attended an ICANN meeting. There were nine fellowship participants who were approved but decided to postpone taking part until the Los Angeles meeting.

 

Below is a list of fellows arranged by region along with some select background information on them and why they chose to apply for the program.

Africa

Bakurally Abdoos Samad, Republic of Mauritius

Secretary ISOC MRU Chapter

Being the secretary of the ISOC MRU chapter, I have been organising several events related to the internet namely access to internet in different rural areas specially for less favoured group, participating in the national IT strategic plan for the country. My main objective was to know more about ICANN. I am particularly interested in ICANN at large and IDN policy discussion as issue concerns directly Africa as in our continent we have a vast number of different spoken languages which need to be recognised and forming part of this IDN policy of ICANN.

I also manage different IT companies in the indian ocean namely in Mauritius, Madagascar and Comoros Islands where we offer domain registration, consultancy in IT, training services and IT hardware distributor.

Atef Loukil , Tunisia

Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) Head of NIC and LIR Department

Participating in ICANN meeting means a good occasion to discuss more in depth experiences; to set up technical cooperation between my company and others; and to be up to date when it comes to dealing with current Internet Issues.

Gaongalelwe G. Mosweu. Botswana

Botswana Information Technology Society (BITS)

The appreciation of ICT in Botswana is still somewhat at infancy stage. Even the ICT Policy was formulated fairly recently. As a result there is a need to increase the uptake of ICT amongst the people Botswana. The Internet holds the key to many aspects of the ICT debate; and there needs to be education to this effect. Also; there is need for capacity building; not only within government; but even in civil society and communities. This will empower people to deal with issues pertaining to ICT; and in particular to the Internet.

I believe that my participation at this meeting or any other ICANN meeting will help towards this end. I will be able to plough back what I have learnt at the meeting in the society and engage in discussions with the relevant bodies to impart what I have come back with.

Jean Robert Hountomey, Togo

ISERVICES CEO

To have more free time to continue playing a role in the community I choose to resign from my Job in 2002 and to be self employed. ISERVICES Sarl - My company; provides network related services; Training services and security solutions to help enterprises build a strong; secure and resilient network. In the community; I am Afnog instructor and I participate as volunteer in network and Internet related training in the continent helping Enterprises; ISP to build their networks; set up Internet exchange points. Teaching routing; DNS; Security practices; Linux and FreeBSD. I am also serving as ASO member for the AFRINIC REGION

It is not only important to participate to ICANN meeting but also in ICANN activities to play a key role in the local community to keep the Internet interoperable. I am already playing a key role in the local community ( AFRICA) in all Internet related field. I am serving in the ASO AC; as AFNOG instructor and as volunteer for all internet related field; going to other African countries to help set up strong; secure networks; providing training; and helping in policy development process. I am also at this time helping to re-start the local ISOC chapter in TOGO

Paulos Nyirenda , Malawi

SDNP Coordinator

As the manager for .mw ccTLD and national coordinator for Malawi SDNP; I am already playing a significant leadership role on the local Internet community in Malawi. I need to enhance this role. It is my expectation that this will be further enhanced by my participation at this ICANN meeting.

I also plan to attend the ccNSO Council meeting at this meeting and continue to constructively contribute to IDN issues at TLD level; represent the Africa region on the upcoming issue papers on ICANN regions; participate in the GAC/ccNSO liaison working group and in the meetings among the various ICANN recognised regional organisations where I am in the executive committee of AFTLD

Caribbean

Albert Daniels, St. Lucia

Director ISIS World (CTSL)

Understanding of TLD issues and contribution to efficient operations of the .LC domain. I contributed to the introduction of Internet to St. Lucia through the CUNet Project with dial up to UPR. This led to the full establishment of IP by the local provider after the creation of a critical mass of store and forward users. I started a program to encourage the use of Internet in the educational; scientific and development sectors. I will continue this leadership into the full utilization of the .LC domain across all sectors in Saint Lucia through automation and efficient administration.

 Andrew Mancey, Guyana

Project Officer DevNet

To represent a small developing country. To continue working on promoting awareness of 'net' issues locally.

Bevil Wooding, Trinidad and Tobago

Chief Knowledge Officer, Caribbean Telecommunications Union

To better understand the ICANN process and play a greater role in relevant discussions and issues. As Special Advisor to the CTU I will be responsible for designing and managing the implementation of appropriate strategic initiatives for the Caribbean Region - these include the facilitating wider stakeholder participation; broadening awareness and crafting relevant training and educational for the region. For the civil society group that I represent I expect to be better able to represent issues and strategies to meet ongoing social and community development needs.

Charles Glasgow, Trinidad and Tobago

Manager e-Commerce, Ministry of Public Administration and Information

We hope to use this opportunity to share experiences in order to develop strategies in line with current international best practices.

The mandate of the ICT Division is to implement fast-forward; Trinidad and Tobago's National ICT plan; aimed at bringing ICTs and their related benefits to the local community at large. Internet service delivery is one such initiative; and the Trinidad and Tobago Network Registry (TTNRC) and is being created to amongst other things; administer the country code Top Level Domain; promote standards; structure and the stability of the Internet through Internet governance best practices and promote the increase in Internet penetration; and local ICT development and economic growth.

Christian Chu Fook, Grenada

Managing Director/Chief Systems Engineer, ModOne

To assist in the commercialization of the .GD ccTLD and to understand the benefits in full of said. ModOne is the leading Web Design and Development firm in Grenada. With this level of popularity; we can successfully sell .GD domains to any local business or person interested and provide ICANN with feedback relating to the comments and opinions of the .GD customer base which will in turn allow ICANN to make more informed decisions on a more regional and international level.

Deirdre Williams, St. Lucia

Lecturer, Sir Arthur Lewis Community College

I have considerable experience in using ICT to create human networks; within the Caribbean and beyond. I think this may be of some use to you. What ICANN is doing is of fundamental importance to what I am interested in. An opportunity for synergy and symbiosis.

My function is as a catalyst rather than as a leader. I am committed; professionally and personally; to information sharing. Therefore I can see myself playing a part in relaying information; which appears to me to be one of ICANN's more urgent needs at the moment; particularly in the (Anglophone) Caribbean.

Denzil West, Montserrat

IT Manager, MNI Networks Ltd.

To try and give small jurisdictions such as ours a voice in shaping the future of ICANN and by extension the use of the Internet. I hope to be able to promote the use of the .MS domain as a useful local resource to raise Montserrat's profile on the Internet/World-Wide-Web. After being exposed to various issues at the ICANN level; I would like to be in a position to make valuable input on the ccTLD organisation.

Dwight Horsford, Grenada

Coordinator (Ag)

National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC)

To collect information and participate in general discussion. Report back to .gd Management Group

Jeremy Whyte, Jamaica

Manager; ICT Infrastructure & Dot-JM ccTLD

The University of the West Indies

To present and represent all issues related to the Internet and its system of global identifiers specifically relevant to developing Caribbean States.

Inform Caribbean regional users of ICANN's role; policy development initiatives and strategies to ensure the security; stability and sustainability of the Internet and to provide ICANN insight on the issues related to Internet development and Internet governance in the Caribbean region.

Max Larson Henry, Haiti

Tech Contact NIC .ht

CCTLD Organization should have a key role in ICANN present and future. Have a better understanding of ICANN role and spread the information to the Haitian local Internet Community.

Rayman Khan, Guyana

Manager; Computer Services, University of Guyana

To keep up to date with issues relating to managing a ccTLD. 1. Promote ICANN activities with local stakeholders 2. Play an active role in Internet and related issues. I am a member of the Government Internet Oversight Committee. 3. Participate in Government and Caricom ICT activities. I am presently the University of Guyana representative on the Caricom ICT Steering committee.

Rudolph Daniel, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Consultant e Business Development, Private Sector Organisation

Because there is little representation from Caribbean region Act as a focal point of contact for Private and public sectors in the development of IG development and its issues.

Shivase Singh , Guyana

Chief Information Officer, Netcom Computer City

Domain management and operation. I plan to dedicate 5 years in a leadership capacity after the fellowship.

Stéphane Bruno , Haiti

IT Consultant, Consortium FDS/RDDH (.ht Manager)

To have the small ccTLD voices heard; to learn from other experiences; to share our own experiences. I wish to be more involved in ICANN by having the .ht ccTLD representing the Caribbean ccTLDs and to play a more proactive role in the ccNSO.

Ronald Straker, Grenada

National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission

To collect information and participate in general discussions. Report back to .gd Management Group.

Europe

Tatiana Chirev, Moldova

ccTLD.md Monitoring Service

The importance is to continue to develop informational society in Moldova. As a ccTLD .md Administrator we will help our customers to learn more about Domain Name and Internet Protocol addressing systems and will support ICANN in developing new policies which will increase stability in this field.

Latin America

Antonio Quirarte, Mexico

My company is the second largest hosting service provider and second in domain registrations in Mexico (since 1995). I am member of the Nic-Mexico´s Advisory Board (since 2001) I conduct a popular weekly pod cast about business and technology for Hispano-American listeners (since November 2005). I’m very involved with Domains issues and all related with Internet diffusion and business.

I wish to learn the protocol and begin to be an ICANN active member and to participate in the decisions that could affect in Latino America. I’ll use of my pod cast; blog; conferences that I give and of the newsletters that we send to our thousands of clients to make aware of the importance of being involved in the ICANN subjects for the region and the important functions of the organization.

Enrique Arrieta-Noguera, Colombia

The Internet Society Colombian Chapter

Currently I am the president of the Internet Society; Colombian Chapter; and for the past 8 years I have participated in many events related to internet governance and accessibility; workshops; seminars and meetings with the goal of facilitating every body’s access to the internet; specially less favored groups. From my position as president of the Internet Society; Colombian chapter; I have the possibility to teach many people about ICANN’s internet role; and influence processes that would lead to a better understanding and receptiveness of ICANN in my country.

Because I will get to know ICANN’s leaders and fellows in my region; to network with them and help them to accomplish global and local goals in my country. I will also gain a better understanding ICANN’s global and local goals; and leaders; and with my knowledge and influence of the key Internet people in my country I can serve as a facilitator and make ICANN’s role easier and more effective.

Leopoldo Brandt Graterol, Venezuela; RB

Coordinating Partner, New Tech; IP and Telecom. Department

The ICANN meeting will discuss key issues that will affect general policies on the region and countries like Venezuela will continue with the task being developed by the Venezuelan Computer Law Association. Currently plan is to develop an interactive Internet Portal to place information related to computer law in order to share basic contents in topics like policy; laws; domains; web sites; legal compliance within the law professionals in Venezuela.

Olga Cavalla, Argentina

Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Argentina

I am interested in the developing of new policies for the Internet. In my role as advisor of the Argentina Government and as a university professor I am always in contact with the civil society; companies and the academy. Most of these meetings are related with the evolution of the rules of the Internet space. Participating actively in all the ICANN meetings is relevant for this multistakeholder work.

Ricardo Vaz Monteiro, Brazil

Director, Nomer.com

I am director of a small Registrar in Brazil; as a matter of fact the 1st ICANN accredited Registrar in Latin America. I would like to participate in ICANN; in special; in a Registrar constituency.

I think is important to keep up with new Registrar policies and discuss and vote for new policies. I write articles in some websites in Brazil. As a matter of fact I wrote already articles about: ICANN; Registerfly; domain tasting; Whois; and IPV6.

Rodrigo De la Parra, Mexico

Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones Licenciado en Relaciones Internacionales

To follow up the subjects currently discussed in the GAC - Define a long term position and participation of Cofetel in the GAC and other constituencies

Virginia Paque, Venezuela

Diplo Foundation, Internet Governance Capacity Building Program tutor

I am a group tutor for the Bilingual English Spanish group for the Internet Governance Capacity Building Program of Diplo Foundation (www.diplomacy.edu). Any knowledge I can gather enriches the class discussions and helps me direct the knowledge building of the participants in my groups. As ICANN is central to Internet Governance policy; it is indispensable that I improve my comprehension in this area.

I have lived in Venezuela for over 30 years; and worked actively with the United Nations Association of Venezuela for 5 years. I work with online and in-person educational programs; and am the Venezuelan member of the World Federation of United Nations Associations Task Force on WSIS. My involvement in Internet Governance processes is immediately multiplied within the educational communities with which I interact.

Stans

Khalil Rakhmanov , Tajikistan

TJ ccTLD Technical Contact

I think it'll be useful for me in our current activity of serving tj domain. Experience obtained from participating in the program will influence our priorities in our policy and activity.

Asia/Pacific

Basanta Krishna Shrestha, Nepal

Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya ( MPP); PAN L10n Project Senior Developer

Worked as a Senior Developer for the development of NepaLinux; - a localized GNU/Linux operating system comprising of openoffice.org; mozilla; Nepal input systems; Nepal spellchecker; gnome and kde. Currently working for the release of the 3rd version of NepaLinux2.0. (www.nepalinux.orgwww.panl10n.net2.)

Set up office network and set up NIS; Samba PDC; CVS repositories for co-coordinating the translation work. In the upcoming phase of this l10n project; we will be working on Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) and Country Code Top Level Domain (CCTLD). Hence; I will need ideas/training on Internationalizing Domain Names. During our upcoming phase of PAN l10n project; we will be working on Domain Name Localization.

Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya; MPP; is the prime organization in Nepal that is involved in various activities of language computing. MPP collaborates with various educational institutes and works jointly. Localized OSS Distribution; Text to Speech; Machine Translation; Nepali Online Dictionary are the works MPP has been working on. Visit mpp.org.npMPP has taken initiative to build up Local FOSS community and currently hosts FOSS/Linux talks on regular basis. www.fossnepal.org MPP and MPP premises has become a center for community gathering and community talks. Experience and knowledge gained during the ICANN seminar will definitely reach the local community through MPP.

Lynnold Misifea Wini, Solomon Islands

Solomon Telekom Company Limited Assistant Engineer - Webmaster

I work primarily as a web developer for the Solomon Telekom Company Ltd. In this role; I plan and develop our local intranet and corporate websites. However; the lack of resources and a severe shortage of qualified IT professionals in the Solomon Islands have resulted in the development of multi-skilled employees whose areas of responsibilities cover a broader range of areas than what is specified.

One of the crucial elements of my responsibility is to "continuously monitor industry trends; technologies; and standards and be able to research; recommend; and apply new technologies as they emerge." The responsibilities this entails is broad covering web development; server platforms; web applications; web standards; close collaboration with other members of our team on DNS issues; hardware requirements and maintenance. This role requires a better understanding of the Internet and its related technologies.

Simon Greaves, Fiji

Manager; Systems & Networks, The University of the South Pacific

As the manager of systems & networks at USP; I am responsible for one of the largest computer networks in the region; supporting over 20 thousand students and 1500 staff in 12 Pacific Island countries. I am also the manager of the .FJ ccTLD; and have recently succeeded in a bid to host an F-root nameserver. I am particularly interested in the development of the Internet within the region; especially within the educational sector. From my ccTLD work; I am also interested in governance issues; policy and privacy of information.

To investigate what assistance is available to a small-scale ccTLD registry; including possible expansion models; to network with peer ccTLD registries and attend ccNSO; and to increase and enhance my knowledge of what is happening within ICANN

Part of my function at USP is in mentoring my own staff and disseminating information to them. I also act as a reference for other staff and students; especially within the Computing Science department as well as for the local computing community as a whole. As the manager of the .FJ ccTLD I will use the information and experience gained at ICANN to review and update the ccTLD registry website and policies and procedures. USP is one of the organisations involved in an on-going review of the use and growth of ICT within the region and for its future development; I would be well placed to advise others within that forum also.

Tapugao Falefou , Tuvalu

Permanent Secretary, Government Of Tuvalu

I am currently the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communication & Transport. Being the CEO of this ministry; which is responsible for our Tuvalu ccTLD ".tv"; it is my primary responsibility that I oversee the smooth running of .tv. Since .tv is currently administered by VeriSign under a contract; it is imperative that I attend this ICANN gathering so that I could be able to learn and study more about this potential source of income to our country.