Name: Julf (Johan) Helsingius
Declared region of residence: EU (Netherlands)
Gender: Male
Employment: Chairman of the Board, BaseN (IoT service provider based in
Finland)
Any conflicts of interest: None
Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position:
Having spent 5 years on the GNSO Council, and been involved with
ICANN much longer, I am painfully aware of both the challenges
facing ICANN and the community, as well as how the non-
commercial and civil society viewpoints tend to be ignored. I am
hoping I can make a positive contribution to representing and
focusing the interests of the community
Qualifications for the position:
Coming from a technical background, I have been involved
with the Internet community for something like 35 years, and
strongly defended freedom of speech and civil rights (earning
me the EFF Pioneer Award back in 1997), and been part of many
different internet governance and policy processes and forums.
I have served 2 years as NomCom appointee to the GNSO Council,
3 years as the GNSO liaison to the GAC, as well as chair of the
GNSO Standing Selection Committee. I am currently serving as the
chair of the Finnish chapter of Internet Society, and co-chair
of the RIPE cooperation (permanent) working group.
I also used to be a member of the cypherpunks movement that
resulted in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies (I
piloted David Chaum's eCash technology back in the 90s), so
quite familiar with the "web 3.0" technologies that might
threaten the current DNS system.
Statement of availability for the time the position requires:
My current day job as Chairman of the Board for BaseN takes
approximately 2 days a week, and my other duties a day or so
more, leaving 2 days per week free for NCSG duties (if needed).
Optionally, any other information that the candidate believes is relevant:
Cultural reference - while I am an European white male with a
grey beard, I am culturally confused (Swedish-speaking Finn
living in the Netherlands, married to an American).
Name: David Morar
Region of residence: United States (North America) / Romania (Europe)
Gender: male
Employment: PostDoctoral Fellow, New York University
Conflict of Interest: I have an advising relationship with the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, but will recuse myself in either/both capacities on any issues that would imply or even remotely seem to be any conflict of interest
Reasons for willingness to take on the position:
Professionally, I have been an academic for more than a decade, studying, to an extent at arms length, important topics, structures, institutions, always finding ways to deeply understand them, but rarely fully committing myself to their practice. My area of expertise, technology policy and governance provided ample opportunities to do so, but I’ve always felt that I would be better suited as an observer, with whatever level of participation felt appropriate. I became an ICANN Fellow in March 2017, at ICANN58 in Copenhagen and things changed a little bit with each new fellowship (March 2018 at ICANN61 in Puerto Rico, and then March 2019 at ICANN64 in Kobe). I made one another small step when I joined the NCSG EC and started to truly understand the importance of the real world application of everything I’ve been studying, from the theories of multistakeholderism, to the concepts of technical internet governance. This doesn’t mean that it would be easy, or that theory fell neatly into place when dealing with reality, but that’s what made it fascinating. As part of the EC, I got to witness the amazing work that Bruna Santos, our current chair put in, and it made me eager to do more. It made me want to work harder within and for the NCSG. Building on Bruna Santos’ work, I want to help enable NCSG to have a strong presence and participate in all aspects of policy-making and governance at ICANN and to advocate for the values it treasures such as freedom of expression, privacy, access and other values. I aim to also help NCSG members to get involved with the policy discussions and come up with a solid outreach plan that can help with capacity building and maintaining and increasing the diversity of NCSG especially from less represented regions and demographics. Being a part of the policy making conversations in Europe and the US has renewed my thinking that the way forward is through an engaged public being at the table when important decisions are made, and this position would be the right way that I can make sure that happens in the internet governance space.
Qualifications for the position:
My work has been, as previously noted, mostly in the academic space, having worked on a PhD on multistakeholderism in Internet Governance. I have been active in the internet governance space and count myself lucky to have been awarded three-time participation in the ICANN Fellowship program (which is celebrating its 15th year this year!), which kickstarted my career in internet governance! The ICANN Fellowship connected me to world class colleagues and mentors, brought me life-long friendships and most importantly put me on a fast track within the IG world. Since then I have been an active participant (and panelist) at the Global IGF and IGF-USA, as well as part of capacity building endeavors like the CYBERSSIG and NASIG. Beyond these direct connections to the IG world,
and including my time as part of the NCSG EC, I have had substantial career working on internet governance and policy topics, as a two time Google Policy Fellow, a research fellow, and a visiting scholar on three continents (Europe, North and South America), as well as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Communication Technology (JoCTEC). My work has appeared in op-eds with the Wall Street Journal and San Francisco Chronicle, and publications with the Brookings Institute and the Internet Governance Blog, among others. I am equipped not only with the subject matter expertise on the issues I’ve spent years analyzing, but also with the skill of being able to quickly and substantially understand new areas of work. My two years spent on the Board of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management afforded me great insights into working with those at the top of an international organization, which, coupled with learning from Ms. Santos’ time as chair on how to directly and properly engage with other stakeholder groups, the board and the org positions me for success!
Statement of availability for the time the position required:
As an academic I am very much built to successfully divide my time between my responsibilities. I will be cycling off a few of my academic positions and fellowships at the end of summer, so I will be even more available to pursue the work of Chair of NCSG.
Stephanie Perrin Candidate Statement
Wisdom Donkor
STATEMENT
Name: Wisdom Kwasi Donkor
Declared Region: of Residence: Africa
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation (AODIRF)
Do you have any conflict of interest?: None
Reasons for willingness to take on the position:
I appreciate the nomination and support received from the community to continue serving on the council. Serving on the council has given me a comprehensive view and understanding of GNSO and practical policy development, my first term has been a learning curve in practical policy work. I have listened to and learned a lot from colleagues on the council, and I've had the opportunity to harness my policy development skills. This experience has primed me strongly if considered for my second term. Not only will I be able to continue supporting NCSG and policy work but also be given the chance to coach and elevate the community in ensuring we can all be at our best and exceed expectations every step of the way.
Qualification for the position:
I have over 15 years of expertise implementing various types of policies on e-Government Network and Infrastructure, e-Government Applications, Community Networks, Internet Governance policy formulation and community development, open data policy creation and implementation, Geospatial Technologies policies and implementation, and Event Planning and Management.
For several years, I've been a part of the global Internet governance community, participating in a variety of roles and strategic leadership positions at both the national and international levels. Many legislative gains for a sustainable Internet in Africa have been lobbied for, fostered, and impacted by me.
I am now the Executive Director of the Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation (AODIRF) as well as the organizer of the Africa Geospatial Data and Information Conference and Africa Open Data Conference.
How many Hours a week you are able to dedicate to the position: I have enough time to devote to council work.
Are you involved in any working Groups or PDP efforts, if so please state:
Transfer policy review working group
Council Committee for Overseeing and Implementing Continuous Improvement (CCOICI) GNSO Council Small Team on DNS Abuse
