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New Year, New Momentum

10 January 2014
By Fadi Chehadé

In addition to the U.N. six languages, this content is also available in

At ICANN, we begin 2014 with a management “base camp” for executive staff to gather, take stock and get ready for the next phase of intense activities. It follows ICANN’s December holiday, during which the staff and I took time to step back from the frenzy of daily work and spend time with family and friends.

Holding this base camp so close to our return from the holiday was intentional. The time to recharge and reflect is an important part of ensuring forward progress. As the poet Kahlil Gibran wrote, “the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.”

This trimester, of all the areas I’ll focus on, I will personally zero in on four. First and foremost, I am focused on management and human resources development, an important facet for a growing organization. We recently created our first HR development program to foster staff’s professional growth. This will also be a personal goal for me, to coach and work closely with the executive team and other managers to encourage continued professional development.

Second, we are working diligently to design and operationalize the first ICANN Executive Management Dashboard. At base camp, we will finalize the dashboard’s list of key performance indicators for each ICANN objective/goal. The dashboard will provide our managers the ability to gain real-time insights into our performance, thus enhancing decision-making and optimizing operational performance.

The third area I will focus on is strengthening the ICANN technical and technology staff profile and resources. Among my objectives is to complete the search for a new head of technical operations.

And lastly, I will stay engaged in the global discussions of Internet governance and what ICANN’s role should be in this evolving ecosystem.

As you may have heard, I plan to split my residence this year among the cities in which ICANN has operational hubs. From mid-February through April, I will be based in the Singapore hub. Later this year, I will also relocate to Istanbul. I am excited to join our staff in bringing ICANN to the world.

Happy new year!

Authors

Fadi Chehadé

Former President & CEO