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Latin America and the Caribbean: A Regional Strategy

18 October 2012
By
Rodrigo De La Parra

Rodrigo De La Parra

VP, Stakeholder Engagement & Managing Director - Latin America & Caribbean

A leading voice and advocate for the multistakeholder Internet governance model in Latin America and the Caribbean, Rodrigo de la Parra is a Regional Vice President for ICANN. Based in Mexico City but frequently travelling through the region, Rodrigo is responsible for outreach, support and engagement with user groups, governments, private sector and civil society throughout the diverse region. In his role, he works closely with the Latin American technical community to continue to build a robust Internet infrastructure in the region. Under his leadership, ICANN has opened an engagement center in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the House of the Internet.

With more than 20 years experience as a multicultural executive, Rodrigo served as Director General of Prospective Regulation and Director General for International Cooperation of Mexico's Federal Commission of Telecommunications before joining ICANN in 2011. While at Cofetel, he leveraged his diplomacy skills and deep knowledge of Internet governance structures and ICT to develop public policy and regulation recommendations for new technologies. He was involved with various ICT groups of international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Organization of American States, and the World Trade Organization, among others.

He also represented Mexico on ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee which gives governments a voice in the organization's policy formation. He was a member of the Consultative Committee of NIC. MX, the non-profit operator of Mexico's country-code Top-Level Domain and the registry that manages allocation of Internet Protocol address space to Mexican Internet Service Providers.

Rodrigo has a Master's degree in political economy and international relations from the University of Essex in the UK. He has been a lecturer of International Organizations and Economic Negotiations and a consultant to the Latin American Cooperation for Advanced Networks.

He speaks Spanish, English and French fluently.

The day finally arrived. October 17th, 2012. Community members from Latin America and the Caribbean met at the ICANN45 meeting in Toronto to discuss a strategic plan for the region.

For the first time ever, regional representatives from each constituency or stakeholder group got together to discuss a draft plan that was conceived during our last meeting in Prague.

At ICANN meetings outside of my region, I used to call informal gatherings with folks to talk about ICANN activities and their projects and initiatives. The concept of having a strategic plan that would help engagement and outreach arose during the ICANN meeting in Prague, when I introduced Fadi Chehadé, our then-incoming President and CEO, to my friends in the region.

Since that day, we have been discussing a draft document that was presented a couple of weeks ago. This document is the result of community input and consultation with all relevant stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Useful input and guidance came from At-Large structures working in the LACRALO, Governments participating in the GAC, current and past Board Members, and leaders of regional organizations such as LACNIC, LACTLD and eCom LAC.

The draft document has identified 10 main objectives including developing and deploying DNS infrastructure in the region, incorporating themes of interest in ICANN agenda, expanding the role of SSAC in the region and tailoring a focused targeted fellowship program, among others. The tone of the objectives and lines of action are aimed at identifying projects and initiatives where ICANN can add value.

The plan acknowledges that there are many outstanding regional initiatives on its way and that ICANN should partner with leading organizations to help them become more successful. Hear some of the opening comments.

During the last part of the session to discuss the way forward for this initiative, it was proposed to create a small steering committee to polish the draft document and pave the way towards implementation.

It was very heartening to have in the room, colleagues from the African group encouraging us as a region to continue with the good work. They have my deepest gratitude. Even though both regions have different needs and focus, I am sure we could find synergies and learning opportunities

This is just the beginning. We are all aware that there is the need of aligning and prioritizing objectives to serve the various realities in our region. Let’s work together. Our region deserves this joint effort.

I would like to thank all of the participants, those at Toronto and also all of those participating remotely. My gratitude to our CEO for addressing the regional community, board members, moderators, speakers and all of the community present at our meeting.

Authors

Rodrigo De La Parra

Rodrigo De La Parra

VP, Stakeholder Engagement & Managing Director - Latin America & Caribbean
Rodrigo De La Parra

Rodrigo De La Parra

VP, Stakeholder Engagement & Managing Director - Latin America & Caribbean

A leading voice and advocate for the multistakeholder Internet governance model in Latin America and the Caribbean, Rodrigo de la Parra is a Regional Vice President for ICANN. Based in Mexico City but frequently travelling through the region, Rodrigo is responsible for outreach, support and engagement with user groups, governments, private sector and civil society throughout the diverse region. In his role, he works closely with the Latin American technical community to continue to build a robust Internet infrastructure in the region. Under his leadership, ICANN has opened an engagement center in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the House of the Internet.

With more than 20 years experience as a multicultural executive, Rodrigo served as Director General of Prospective Regulation and Director General for International Cooperation of Mexico's Federal Commission of Telecommunications before joining ICANN in 2011. While at Cofetel, he leveraged his diplomacy skills and deep knowledge of Internet governance structures and ICT to develop public policy and regulation recommendations for new technologies. He was involved with various ICT groups of international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Organization of American States, and the World Trade Organization, among others.

He also represented Mexico on ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee which gives governments a voice in the organization's policy formation. He was a member of the Consultative Committee of NIC. MX, the non-profit operator of Mexico's country-code Top-Level Domain and the registry that manages allocation of Internet Protocol address space to Mexican Internet Service Providers.

Rodrigo has a Master's degree in political economy and international relations from the University of Essex in the UK. He has been a lecturer of International Organizations and Economic Negotiations and a consultant to the Latin American Cooperation for Advanced Networks.

He speaks Spanish, English and French fluently.

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