I am Julf (Johan) Helsingius, Finnish citizen resident in the Netherlands (so my region is Europe), male and currently employed as chairman of the board at IoT service provider BaseN.
As far as I know, I don't have any conflict of interest, but in the spirit of transparency I am currently serving as the chair for the Finnish Internet Association (the ISOC chapter in Finland), and co-chair for the RIPE cooperation working group.
I am now serving my first term as NCSG chair, but the pile of unfinished stuff is still pretty high, so I would be happy to serve for a second term, so I can with good conscience say what every chair should be able to say - "I left the NCSG in slightly better shape than how it was when I started".
As to qualifications, i am not going to list my CV, but I have served as chair, board member or CEO for many organisations, both commercial and non-commercial, and my privacy activism and strong belief in human rights is pretty well known.
As my employment is part-time these days, I have the time required.
Happy to answer any questions.
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GNSO Council
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GNSO Council
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Tomslis Samme-Nlar
Name: Tomslin Samme-Nlar
Thank you Amin for this nomination and all who have seconded.
Like I said in 2021 when I was nominated for my first owned term, I know the work that is ahead for councilors and it gets even more critical and tedious as years pass, as the multi-stakeholder model grows older and as more non-GNSO stakeholders pick interest in the policies we develop in GNSO and their wish to influence it grows. Personally, I think management of the GNSO policy development process (which is the primary responsibility of the council) has never been more important than now, when debates of fracturing the Internet are high and at the same time, many developing and minority communities are increasingly depending on the Internet to combat poverty, social injustice, preserve their rights, etc.
It is with this understanding that I accept this nomination and I don't do this lightly. Knowing that being an NCSG councillor at the GNSO council can be very tough and lonely (as a group) at times. Representing non-commercial interests in the council where almost every other constituency in there has commercial interests is not an easy task but one we must stand up for.
I currently reside in the region where all ICANN meetings are in the hours of the night when we should be sleeping (APAC), I have no known conflict of interest which would arise in performing this role and I have reasonable time available to efficiently perform the role (not burned-out enough yet).
I look forward to continuing advancing NCSG's purpose and principles.
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Manju Chen
As promised, I have included my statement for the GNSO Councilor below.
My name is Manju Chen, and I reside in the APAC region. I’m a female who works as an assistant manager at NIIEPA, a non-profit organization that promotes a national information infrastructure in Taiwan.
There are no conflicts of interest for me to perform the role of GNSO councilor. My first term on Council was an eye-opening and rewarding experience, and I believe I’ve shown my capabilities and commitment to work on the Council. Like Tomslin, I reside in the APAC region, where meetings are commonly scheduled at ungodly hours, yet I am proud of my attendance records for all Council activities.
I am currently the chair of the Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement and serve as the Council liaison to the Work Stream 2 Community Coordination Group. I have no problems committing my time and effort to work on the GNSO council as I have been doing for the past 1.5 years.
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Peter Akinremi
Dear all,
I would like to appreciate the opportunity to serve as the GNSO Councillor. Thanks to Tomslin for nominating me and for the support of the entire Non-Commercial to serve on the GNSO council.
I have been involved in the Internet governance space and policy conversation and engagement since 2013. And over the years, I have contributed and learned while volunteering and serving in various capacities at different levels. Through the privileges of exposure and opportunities, I have developed strong stakeholder engagement and policy development and its implementation.
My consulting and global experience uniquely position me to drive and connect the dots. As a Principal Consultant with Compsoftnet (CSN), I advise small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on regulatory compliance, Data Protection, and international standards, and capacity development. Also, I am the Executive Director of Africa Rapporteur Network, a nonprofit organization that provides RTI (Rapporteuring, Translation, and Interpretation) services in Africa while availing access to policies, multilateral and multi-stakeholder outcomes in their preferred languages.
Currently, I represent the Noncommercial (NCUC) on the Nominating Committee of Internet Corporation Assign Names and Numbers (ICANN), GNSO ICANN Fellowship selection committee, and the Vice Chair of the NCSG Policy Committee. Have served on the Standing Selection committee as a member and as a Vice Chair, West Africa Coordinator of Africa Civil Society on Information, and many times resource person to the regional, continental, and global IGF.
My commitment to the mission and objectives of the Noncommercial group has been unwavering and I have evolved over time in my participation and engagement within the Noncommercial and ICANN ecosystem.
I am interested in serving as a GNSO Councilor to enable me to contribute to the GNSO policy development process and lend my energy and experience in managing PDPs activities. As a GNSO councilor representing the Interest of the Noncommercial, I would bring the perspective of the noncommercial house to the policy conversation. This is critical because of the loud interest of the commercial or other entities in ICANN policy development which can cause ripple effects and damage the trust of the ICANN community and ICANN mission.
In terms of governance, governing policy development processes and activities requires sensitivity to the need of different stakeholder groups. Also, it requires the ability to engage, active listening, organization, team spirit, and readiness to volunteer in smaller working groups.
With an understanding of the time commitment and the workload of the GNSO council, I can commit the time to participate as a GNSO Councilor. Also, there is no conflict of interest that hinders my participation as a GNSO Councilor.
I look forward to working with other NCSG councilors to represent the interest of the noncommercial while contributing to the ICANN policy development process.
