Final Slate of Candidates' Expressions of Interest (EoIs) - 2017

Much of my past volunteer experience has been Internet-related, and will be described more fully in Section C.

My volunteer activities date back to the early 1970s when I started working with an IBM mainframe user group (SHARE), an activity that continued in various forms for over 20 years. I was an elected member of their Board of Directors from 1983-87. (http://share.org)

Starting in the early 1980 through to my retirement in 2000, I was a prime developer of the Canadian research and education network and participated in its management board. (http://www.risq.quebec, http://www.canarie.ca)

From 1995 to 2001 I worked with and later managed the Internet Society’s Developing Country Network Training Workshops. These workshops were instrumental in facilitating the Internet connection of nearly all developing countries. (See C for additional details.)

I was an elected member of the Internet Society Board of Trustees for 2001-2004. (http://www.internetsociety.org)

I am vice-president and a member of the executive committee of a local genealogy society. Although I occasionally work as a professional genealogist, I donate much time to helping other researchers, work that I could often otherwise do for a fee.

Within ICANN, I have been a member of the ALAC for 8 of the last 10 years and was ALAC’s Liaison to the GNSO for 2006-2014. I have been extremely active in both roles. I have been very active on At-Large WG activities. I have represented the ALAC and At-Large on numerous GNSO working groups, CCWGs and an AoC Review, and I chaired the GNSO PDP Working Group on Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery. Further details will be provided in later answers.

• Internet Society: I was an elected member of the ISOC Board of Directors from 2001 until 2004.
• CA*net- Canada's Education and Research network and first national Internet service: I was a founding member of the CA*net management board (and its lead up organizational committees) from the late 1980s until it was replaced by its next-generation successor, CANARIE (Canadian Advanced Network for Research, Industry and Education) in the 1990s.
• RISQ- Quebec's Education and Research network: I was the founding Chair of its management group and was a member until I left McGill at the end of 1999. RISQ pioneered the Internet in Quebec.
• McGill Systems Inc (MSI) - Wholly owned, for-profit software development and marketing subsidiary of McGill University: I was Vice President and member of the board as well as oversaw all operations. Over its lifetime, MSI brought many millions of dollars into the university, allowing it to expand its technical infrastructure and services far beyond those allowed by the formal university budgets.
• NetNorth: I was a member and later led the management committee of NetNorth, the Canadian equivalent of the US BITNET and European EARN from the mid-1980s until it was phased out in the late 1990.
• SHARE Inc- Independent organization of users of IBM hardware and software: I served as an elected member of the Share Board of Directors from 1983-1987. (www.share.org)

While at McGill, I was the executive in charge of all central technology (networks, computers, voice telephony, etc.) with a staff of about 120 and budget in the order of $20M.

In addition to 10 years involvement with ICANN, I have extensive experience with non-profit (largely volunteer) dating back 30 years. They range from McGill University (40,000 students) to the Internet Society to an IBM user group (about 5,000 institutional members) and national and regional networks. I sat on the board of the IBM user group, ISOC and several smaller organizations.

See also the answer to 2b, as all but one were non-profit.

I was part of the group that started NetNorth, the first Canadian national research and education network in the early 1980s. My department at McGill ran the eastern Canada hub of that network. I was a charter member of the CA*net Board, the organization that brought IP-based networking to Canada. I was a charter member of CANARIE, the organization that (among other things) functionally replaced CA*net a few years later. Following the replacement of CA*net, I sat on the board of the not-for-profit Foundation chartered with awarding the remaining CA*net funds (plus matching funds raised commercially) to innovative network-related development projects.

In Quebec, I was one of the prime instigators and the founding Chair of the Quebec regional network RISQ (currently Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec, although like many long-lived acronyms, its meaning has varied over the years). For the first years, at my initiative, McGill physically ran RISQ. I remained active in RISQ management until my retirement from McGill. In 2009, I was given an award for my pioneering service 20 years earlier.

In 1995 I started working with the Internet Society’s (ISOC) Developing Country Network Training Workshops, an activity which markedly changed my life and my world-view. Over their nine year lifetime (1993-2001) these network training workshops taught over 1,000 students from 140 developing countries how to build, support, manage and use the first networking and Internet facilities in their countries. In 1996 I was responsible for the local arrangements of workshop held in Montreal in conjunction with the ISOC’s INET meeting and a concurrent IETF meeting. I co-managed the 1997 workshop in Malaysia, and managed the next workshops from 1998 to 2001 in Switzerland, USA, Japan and Sweden. Unlike some volunteer activities, managing the workshops required a massive time commitment. To a large extent, every country that connected to the Internet after 1993 did so with the help of people trained at these or spin-off workshops (Eastern Europe, Francophone, Latin-American and African).

I view this part of my history with great pride, as I played a key role in helping to spread the Internet to virtually all developing countries in a professional and timely manner.

Many of the workshop’s former students are active in ICANN and credit the workshops as being instrumental in their success (among them Nii Quaynor, Tarek Kamel and Yaovi Atohoun).

From 2001 to 2004, I was an elected member of the Internet Society Board of Trustees and started the formal initative for ISOC to bid on the .org TLD (resulting in the Public Interest registry - PIR)

I have worked with ICANN for over ten years, both in At-Large and the GNSO. In those positions, I have made substantial and significant contributions. As an ALAC member, I led the efforts to have the GNSO eliminate domain tasting and provide a modicum of safety for registrants with expiring domain names. I believe that these and other activities have been one of the key reasons that At-Large is now regarding with a level of credibility, a situation that was not true when I first joined. I have been a key participant in numerous crucial GSNO activities.

Within the ALAC, I have played a strong leadership role, regardless of whether I have held a formal leadership position or not. Currently I serve as the ALAC Chair.

I played an active role throughout the last ALAC review. I was the only individual to comment exhaustively of the various interim reports, and I believe that I was instrumental in convincing the review team of several important points. I am part of the Working Party of the current At-Large Review.

I was a member of the second ATRT AoC review in 2013 where I acted as a vice-chair, was lead reviewer of the Whois AoC review and led the effort making recommendations on engaging stakeholders (and particularly non-industry-funded stakeholders) in ICANN policy processes.

More recently, I played key roles in the IANA Stewardship Transition and ICANN Accountability efforts.

• Having served for eight of the past ten years on the ALAC, and eight years on the GNSO, I have a very strong understanding of both groups, something that no one else on the Board possesses. With the departure of Bruce Tonkin who was term limited, I would likely be the only person on next-year’s Board with real gTLD policy involvement. And having that knowledge nuanced by a user perspective.
• Most Board members have little or no real operational knowledge of ICANN, or if they do, it is from many years ago and typically only from a Chair’s perspective. I have served at all levels in the organization in recent years and bring a perspective of how ICANN operates from a grass-roots level.
• I am a quick study, and have the proven ability to enter unfamiliar situations, assimilate what is needed to understand the issues, and make cohesive, logical recommendations and decisions. Moreover, I can do this taking into account the impact on the various groups and stakeholders.
• I have no financial involvement in the world that ICANN oversees, and no plans to enter into such involvement. My goal is to work on behalf of ICANN, the public interest, and the interests of end-users of the Internet.
• I am semi-retired and can devote the time necessary to meet the demands placed on an ICANN Director. Moreover, my past ICANN experience demonstrates that I am willing to make such time commitments.
• I have senior management and board experience as well as operational experience and understand how they relate and how they differ.
• Lastly, I have a passion for ICANN and care deeply about it.

For a different perspective on what might serve ICANN well, the Boston Consulting Group, in its review of the ICANN Board, noted the following.

The most important personal qualities are, in our view:

• The intellectual capacity to understand a business in which the director has not actually worked.  If the director cannot do this, he or she will be limited to reciting the experiences that they have had in another job.
• The ability to deal with issues at the appropriate level- to see the 'big picture' issues and get enmeshed in the detail only to the extent necessary.
• The director's ability to work as part of a team -to listen well, to draw the best out of other people rather than turn them off.
• Insight and judgement -does the person understand where the 'value' is? Can they cut through to the essence of the issue?

I believe I eminently satisfy all these requirements

I meet all five of the Bylaw criteria (integrity, objectivity, and intelligence; understanding of ICANN's mission and the potential impact of ICANN decisions; diversity; Internet familiarity; English). Even on diversity, where being a white, North American, male is clearly a liability, I have worked with different cultures and in diverse geographic regions for decades.

Commitment to ICANN's mission.

I have been actively involved in inter-networking activities for 3 decades. I have been active in ICANN since 2006 and I have a deep understanding of ICANN's background and activities. I participated in both WSIS-1 and WSIS-2. From 2006-2010 I was a member of both ALAC and the GNSO and have continued as the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO after I left the ALAC (later to return). In the GNSO, I was active in the new gTLD discussions and I initiated the ALAC request for an Issue Report on Domain Tasting and followed it through in the GNSO, resulting in the PDP which effectively eliminated Domain Tasting. I played a similar role protecting registrant rights in the Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery PDP, a GNSO WG which I chaired (thus ensuring that Internet resources that users depend on do not just "disappear"). I have played an active role in numerous other GNSO policy as well as the IANA Stewardship Transition and ICANN Accountability efforts. All of these endeavours illustrate my commitment to ICANN and its mission, and a clear understanding of the potential impact on the global Internet community of the decisions that ICANN takes (or doesn't take).

My commitment to ICANN and its success can be measured by my simultaneously taking on multiple roles and delivering results (ALAC, GNSO and ATRT; ALAC Chair, IANA Stewardship, Accountability)  

Demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making and sound judgment

I have a proven success record for innovative planning and successfully implementing those plans. Collegial decision-making is a mandatory pre-requisite for longevity in a large research university. Under my direction, McGill went from its pre-network days to become an Internet leader. In my more recent role as consultant to donors and developing countries on the use of technology, my recommendations have little value if I cannot successfully get buy-in from the parties involved.

I am a good listener, and have no problem changing my position when the arguments of others demonstrate that need.

An understanding of the importance of good governance practices and an ability to contribute to the Board in this regard

I spent a very significant part of 2013 serving on the 2nd Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT2) and in the CCWG Accountability over the last two years.

The Board is and will continue to be presented with thorny issues that often have no clear and simple resolution. Understanding this, I think, is the first and perhaps most important step in being able to address them. As mentioned above, I have a track record of thoughtfully and successfully addressing difficult problems, and I have no doubt that this would serve me well on the ICANN Board.

I was a member of the CCWG Accountability and drafted all of the ALAC Statements on various versions of the proposals. I believe that I was the first person to mention the concept of a "single designator", the basis for the final accountability mechanisms.

I, along with many in At-Large were very opposed to some of the proposals made prior to the final ones and I was one of those that helped craft the final compromises.I am also very involved with the Work Stream 2 activities.

I have served as Chairman of the Board for Creative Commons Mexico for the last 5 years. Creative Commons Mexico is a non-profit organization in charge of hosting and building awareness on the use of Creative Commons licenses in Mexico.

I have been advisor to the Board for many NGOs in Mexico and Argentina, all on a pro-bono basis with volunteer work.

I am a member of the ALAC, appointed by the NomCom, in which I have held and co-held the pen, from the very beginning of my term in 2013, for several ALAC statements. I have also contributed with comments and suggestions to several ALAC statements which have been drafted by other fellow ALAC members. I have been active in several working groups inside the At-Large community as well as other working groups with the larger ICANN community. I am currently serving as the At-Large (ALAC) appointed Co-Chair of the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG) in which we were, after facing a large number of challenges, able to finalize a series of recommendations to enhance ICANN’s accountability to the larger internet community, making it possible for the ICANN Board of Directors to forward the proposal to transition the IANA Stewardship from the U.S. government to the global internet community. As part of out work in the CCWG, we will now look into the implementation of the WS1 recommendations and carry out the second phase of our work to develop stronger frameworks on human rights, diversity, AC/SO accountability, transparency, jurisdiction and the role of the Ombudsman.

I am a member of the Board in ISOC Mexico Chapter and have contributed to continue its mission in the Mexican landscape by being in charge of the Corporate Governance reform that will allow ISOC Mexico to have a successful transition to a new leadership after 15 years.

I am member of the Board to Trustnet de México, S.A. de C.V. which is a company dedicated to provide integrated solutions for customers in the IT sector at both private and public business. The company has sales excessive of 50 million dollars per year.

I am Chairman of the Board for Creative Commons Mexico. The size of the organization varies because it carries its work mainly by volunteers but a fair average could be 20 people. Creative Commons Mexico is a non-profit organization dedicated to host and create awareness on the use of Creative Commons licenses in Mexico.

I am Chairman of the Board for Fulton & Fulton SC. The size of the organization is 10 people. Fulton & Fulton SC is a Mexican law firm dedicated to provide advice in the field of Intellectual Property, Corporate Governance, civil and commercial litigation.

I am member of the Board in ISOC Mexico. The size of the organization is about 450 members. ISOC Mexico is the Mexican chapter for ISOC.

I have been Board member for Alternativa Digital, S.A. de C.V. a Mexican company dedicated to provide technology services in the field of hosting and software solutions to different clients that vary from government to private companies. The size of the company is 20 people.

I am member of the Board for Trust Care S.A.P.I. de C.V. a Mexican company dedicated to provide healthcare services based on IT and which currently has sales of over 50 million dollars.

I am a member of the Board for Trustnet, S.A. de C.V. a Mexican company dedicated to provide IT solutions in virtualization, data centers and big data. This company has sales in excess of 100 million dollars.

I am Chairman of the Board for Creative Commons Mexico. The size of the organization varies because it carries its work mainly by volunteers but a fair average could be 20 people. Creative Commons Mexico is a non-profit organization dedicated to host and create awareness on the use of Creative Commons licenses in Mexico.

I am member of the Board in ISOC Mexico. The size of the organization is about 450 members. ISOC Mexico is the Mexican chapter for ISOC.

As a member of the ALAC, the CCWG, Creative Commons Mexico and ISOC Mexico, I have been able to work with people from all around the world. One of the skills needed to work with such a wide variety of people is to be able to handle and attend meetings in different time zones. For example, the CCWG will hold a weekly meeting that will rotate schedule in order to accommodate calls at 6:00, 12:00 and 19:00 UTC so the different regions have an evenly distributed burden in those hours that might be too early or too late to attend calls.

Furthermore, I have attended different meetings, ICANN and not ICANN related, that take place in different regions. That requires me to adapt rapidly to different time zones in order to effectively perform in the meetings.

There are other working groups to which I have contributed but for the benefit of the Evaluation Committee Members' time I will not go through all of them. However I remain open to questions on this or any other related topic.

I began getting involved with ICANN in the Mexico City's meeting back in 2009. That was my first meeting. After that I applied to the Fellowship program and in 2012 I got selected for the first time.

My first involvement was with the IPC as being an IP attorney seemed to be naturally in line with the spirit of the IPC. I then realized that while I shared some point with the IPC I really was more into users' role in ICANN. Therefore, I began participating in the At-Large community meetings.

I then applied to the NomCom process in 2013 in order to be considered for the open position in the ALAC for Latin America and the Caribbean. I can happily say that I was successfully appointed by the NomCom to perform in the ALAC for the LAC region for the term beginning at the end of ICANN's GA in 2013 and ending by the end of GA in 2015.

While performing my duties as an ALAC member I have held the pen on drafting various ALAC statements and have also been an active member in various Committees and Subcommittees which include the Cross Community Working Group on Internet Governance, the Social Media Working Group, the ALAC Executive Committee, the At-Large Subcommittee on Finance and Budget, the CROPP and most recently the CWG on the IANA Stewardship Transition and the CCWG on enhancing ICANN accountability.

I have had the honor of co-chairing the CCWG on enhancing ICANN accountability along with Thomas Rieckert and Mathieu Weill. I am also the appointed ALAC member for the LAC region in the CCWG and Chair of the Legal Sub-team of the CCWG.

I was also part of the ICANN community representatives that attended NETmundial on behalf of the ICANN community.

I have had the opportunity to learn and grow from and within ICANN's community. I have a commitment to continue to learn and give back to the community that has given me so many valuable experiences and knowledge and therefore I would like to continue serving the community.

I believe I can bring a fresh view to the Board by providing inputs that while reflecting the regional diversity needed, will also encompass a global vision on how regional needs might fit into a global landscape.

I can add value to the work done by the Board by bringing new views, skills and expertise from a community member that has been involved long enough to be knowledgable of ICANN but short enough to haven't been involved into engagements that could compromise my performance as a Board member. In other words, I could add value by collaborating with the rest of the Board members in an un-conflicted fashion.

I can also add value to the Board's work by sharing my knowledge on legal and governance issues as well as my contacts with different regional and global high-level stakeholders for the benefit of ICANN and the accomplishment of its mission.

I can add value by contributing with independent and creative thinking that can provide out of the box solutions to the challenges of an organization like ICANN.

I can contribute to the Board's work by bringing my negotiating and listening skills on board in order to help achieve consensus and build bridges between the Board and the different stakeholders.

I can add value to the Board by bringing in fresh thoughts and experience to the decision making process of the Board for the benefit of the global internet community.

I can add value to the Board with the expertise acquired through my role as CCWG-Accountability Co-Chair and help in this coming implementation phase that will be as important as the previous phase.

I meet the selection criteria for the Board position because:

a) I have demonstrated to be committed to my work for ICANN with my contributions to various working groups including the CCWG on enhancing ICANN accountability, group which I co-chair.

b) I have demonstrated to be an accomplished person by being able to contribute to ICANN's mission with my voluntary work at the same time as successfully being partner to the law firm I work for in a way that no activity conflicts with the other in any way, either if its time wise or subject wise, I have successfully managed to deal with both areas in a way that let's me give the best of me to both.

c) I have demonstrated to be a person with sound judgment and open minded through my many collaborations to the ALAC and the three Cross-Community Working Groups I am involved with by feeding the discussion on many issues and proving to constructively contribute to find common solutions that are supported by the wider community.

d) I have demonstrated to be objective in my judgments and analysis of situations by successfully avoiding to pollute my work with subjective issues that otherwise would not be constructive for a certain end.

e) I believe I have a good reputation amongst the community and the leadership of various stakeholder groups and constituencies.

f) I have demonstrated to be a team player and feed into group-decision making with my views and always considering the views of others in order to reach consensus that can help us move forward towards common goals.

g) I have a good understanding of ICANN's mission and I am very aware of the impact that Board decisions as well as failure to act may have on the global internet community. Having been an ALAC member for the past 2 years and co-chair of the CCWG on enhancing ICANN accountability has helped me realize the importance of my actions with regards to the potential impact to the wider internet community.

h) I am familiar with the technical, operational, commercial and social aspects that the DNS may impact and have had the opportunity to contribute to different processes in the field of policy making, provision of legal advice, advocacy on different issues related to users rights and also been an active user of the DNS by registering and using several domain names for my personal use as well as for the use of my business and those of my clients.

i) I have had the chance to contribute to shaping the future of internet governance in different fora from NETmundial to the IGF in which ICANN is also central to the broader picture as a key stakeholder and internet corporation.

j) I am convinced that if ICANN is successful in its mission, we all get benefits from its success. The better ICANN does its work, the better internet users, business and governments enjoy a stable DNS.

k) I have deep respect for diversity and understand it as a strength within the organization.

l) I understand the role of the different stake-holders in the internet eco system and am willing to find ways to achieve agreements and foster joint solutions to common problems.

m) I have demonstrated to be able to work in written and spoken English with no problem at all.

n) I have held Board positions in 6 organizations of different types that range from non-profit to business.

I will contribute with sound judgement, experience and deep knowledge of ICANN's new structure.

I will contribute with deep knowledge and understanding of the users problems and challenges in regard to the policy involving the domain name space.

I will contribute to help the Board better understand the challenges that end users face in the different regions, understanding that a single issue may have multiple approaches and solutions.

I will be able to advance the interests of internet users in the ICANN Board by establishing a continuous channel of communication with the At-Large community  that will allow me to better understand how the different issues being discussed in the Board may affect and to what extent, the interests of end users across regions.

I will advocate for end users' interests in the discussions held by the Board and strive to assure that the Board understands and takes into account the impact its decisions may have on end users worldwide.

I will provide the Board with a balanced and objective view of end users in relation to the different issues being discussed and the possible impact any decision may have on end users

My understanding of the new ICANN structure is that the post transition ICANN is very similar and at the same time very different to the original ICANN. 

It is the same in that the way we work on policy will not change under the new structure but it is also very different in that now we have two new bodies that are key to ICANN's activities.

The first body is the empowered community which will be key in exercising the new powers that intend to be the checks and balances to the Board's activities.

The second body is the PTI which will continue to perform the IANA functions and that will need to comply with the SLAs agreed with its clients in order to continue to perform said functions.

My understanding is deep as I have the benefit of having co-chaired the CCWG on accountability and that has provided me with vast experience on the field.