AfriNIC Board Nomination form Nominated by Alice W. Munyua: Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) ----------------------- Nominee Brian Longwe Physical address: P. O. Box 30054-00100, Nairobi, KENYA e-mail address: brian@pure-id.com Phone number: +254 722 5188744 Fax number: +254 20 4452327 Country and sub-region: Kenya, East Africa Brief statement explaining the candidate's background and motivation (Not more than 500 words): Brian Longwe is the incumbent primary board member for the East African region. Since election to the board in 2004, he has participated with other Board member, the CEO and staff of AfriNIC in bringing the organisation to gain full recognition as a Regional Internet Registry by ICANN in April 2005. Prior to and since gaining full recognition, AfriNIC has undergone a number of significant changes, the most crucial being the transfer and enrolment of members (LIRs) from other regional internet registries and the establishment of an operational base, legal, financial and administrative structures. At the moment the current Board is in the process of establishing structures that will facilitate better governance of the affairs of the organisation. These range from the definition of various policies to the establishment of a number of Board committees to better provide support to the CEO and staff of the organisation in fulfilling the mandate and objectives of the organisation. Brian Longwe serves a Chairman of one of the Board committees and is a member on a number of others. It is his earnest wish that he be allowed to continue in his service to the community in capacity as Board member from the Eastern African region. Brian's long experience and involvement with AfriNIC ever since the initial proposal in 1998 has helped the organisation grow into its current status. His 14 years of experience in information and communications technologies institutions in various countries in Africa has also helped him obtain a wide range of skills and capacity, which are of benefit to AfriNIC and the member community as a whole. Brian has played a key role in Africa's Internet industry over the past 10 years in the following organisations: - 1996-1997: Form-Net Africa: Nairobi, Kenya - Network Manager - 1997-1999: Mission Aviation Fellowship, Nairobi, Kenya - Information Systems Manager - 1999-2005: IS Kenya Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya - Chief Technology Officer - 2001-2004: African Network Operator Group, Continental - Track Leader, Instructor and member of organising Committee - 2002-Present: African Internet Service Providers Association, Continental - General Manager - 2005-Present: InHand Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya - Chief Executive Officer -- Alice Wanjira-Munyua National Coordinator, Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) Association for Progressive Communications (APC) alice@apc.org http://www.apc.org wanjira@cck.go.ke http://www.catia.ws Cell: +254 733 731074
ICANN PREPARES FOR DISENGAGEMENT By Rebecca Wanjiku The Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has appointed a 10-man committee to discuss and give recommendations on its new role after the memorandum with the US government expires this year. The committee is composed of big names in the Information Society and is expected to help identify characteristics of a model that will satisfy the internet community as well as governments. The committee will be mandated to study the environment surrounding conclusion of the MoU and advise on how issues of government and non-governmental entities can be addressed, said Paul Twomey, ICANN president. The strategic committee appointed under the president, has three co-chairs- ICANN board member Peter Dengate Thrush, former Swedish Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, and Twomey. ICANN board chairman Vint Cerf is an ex officio member. Other members include; former chair of the first preparatory committee for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Adama Samassekou, Janis Karklins, who was the chair of the second preparatory committee, Thomas Niles, and Marilyn Cade. Twomey informer the public gathering in Wellington that two senior business figures in the United States have verbally agreed to be a members but he did not have written confirmation from their offices and he could not give their names. But participants raised questions regarding composition of the group and what its main objective was. There were questions whether it was supposed to merely represent regions or was a diplomatic exercise actuated by the need to present ICANN as an international body. ICANN board member Raimundo Beca questioned the composition noting that South America was not represented in the arrangement. Cerf said the members were selected to reflect the international nature of the committee and to solicit opinions from outsiders regarding how the internet oversight body should be ran. The committee is expected to form additional source of information from people who dont come to ICANN meetings. It is a multi-stakeholder structure and we tried to be as inclusive as possible, said Twomey. Before ICANN disengages from the US department of commerce, it is expected to fulfill requirements by ensuring that it has implemented a consensus policy regarding new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) and establish accountability frameworks with country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) e.g. .co.ke, .co.ug, co.za and many others. ICANN is also expected to execute addition MoUs with Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) describing duties of all parties. RIRs include; AFriNIC for Africa, RIPE NCC for Europe and the Middle East, ARIN for North America, LACNIC for Latin America including the Caribbean and APNIC for Asia-Pacific region. Ends Rebecca Wanjiku, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
HOW ICANN OPERATES By Rebecca Wanjiku What is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN)? To some, it is the Internet oversight body, to others; it is an organisation that champions ideals of the US government others know that it deals with technical stuff while others have no idea what all this hullabaloo about ICANN is all about. Well, in whatever way you define it, ICANN affects our lives today and will continue doing so as long as we are in this information super highway. Its major responsibility falls under the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This service ensures that business runs smoothly on the internet and is well prepared in case of any physical or business disruption. It is in IANA that ICANN regulates the internet registries, registrars. There are other organs of ICANN such as Government Advisory Committee (GAC), but dealing with IANA functions makes it easier to understand. Through IANA, ICANN determines who runs the dot net domain, dot org or dot com. Dot com and dot net domains are ran by an American firm- VeriSign- which has been subject of discussion in many internet related forums. The main subject in the forums has been the recent settlement was a culmination of a protracted legal tussle between ICANN and the company. The settlement allows VeriSign to increase the cost of domain names and it is presumed that the contract to run the domain names will be automatically renewed when it expires. The decision to settle did not augur well with stakeholders who saw it as a way to extend the monopoly enjoyed by US organisation. The feeling was well demonstrated during the bid to run dot net domain name, which was won by VeriSign. All stakeholders who responded in the public forum were against this settlement. The bottom-up approach assumed by ICANN could not have reached this decision. The reasons given by the board for the decision are not sufficient, summed Collin Jackson, from New Zealand. He was addressing the board during the public forum. Elliot Noss from Canada had a complaint against ICANN staff for failing to supply him with documents supplied by VeriSign in support of their proposal and the documents supplied by board members before they decided to settle. The staff has a duty to be transparent, we had no idea of what was going on, added Noss. In short, those who attend ICANN meetings come to represent their interests. Nobody cares whether Africa is represented or not. If any help or any consideration is needed, governments, regions and entities such as businesses form a caucus and champion their rights. Africa has minimal representation and though it has two members on the board-Mouhamet Diop from Senegal and Njeri Rionge from Kenya- there is no critical mass to identify what interventions are needed. For instance, to ensure that pornographic sites are not given the freedom to operate under dot XXX domain name, some opposing governments made sure their voices are well articulated under GAC. Simply, that is how business is conducted at ICANN meetings, you got an issue, and you have to make it heard! This is not World Bank or International Monetary Fund so for any change, human and material resources have to be pulled together and there has to be tangible results. Ends Rebecca Wanjiku, p.o box 33515, Nairobi.00600 Kenya. Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
participants (2)
-
Alice Wanjira -
Rebecca Wanjiku