- Name, declared region of residence, gender and employment;
Rafik Dammak
Tunisian national residing in Japan, Asia
MaleSoftware Engineer and Architect, working on data center services.
- Any conflicts of interest:
none
- Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position:
I cannot pretend to be new to NCSG. I volunteered in different roles previously, and my last role was as GNSO councilor till 2020. I only came back lately to participate in a working group on behalf of NCSG last year i.e. GGP for applicant support working group and kept following NCSG and ICANN activities via attending NCSG policy calls, ICANN meetings remotely and so on.
I would like to volunteer for the NCSG chair position for a second time as I was NCSG chair from 2013 to 2015. I do believe I am familiar with the duties and expectations for such a role, and with the provisions in the NCSG charter.
I am aiming:
- To keep advocating for NCSG positions and non-commercial interests. in particular with the new and continuous challenges within ICANN.
- For that purpose, I will do my best as I did before to keep NCSG membership informed about NCSG Executive Committee activities and ICANN updates in general. I also want to emphasize working and cooperating with the members of EC and other NCSG committees to make us more effective, coordinated for the benefit of the whole NCSG. I will also work with the the leadership of NCSG constituencies NCUC and NPOc
- As NCSG chair, I will keep focusing on helping newcomers and those interested in policy to grasp more about ICANN and in particular how GNSO functions with regard to working groups and policy development processes, and onboard them more effectively. I will also continue the work on the existing membership engagement through the NCSG monthly policy conference calls or topic webinars, regular ICANN reports and making that information more accessible and digestible.
- Continue the ongoing work on updating our operating procedures and document them, and identifying anything missed to be covered. Ensuring that expected and regular activities to be done in a timely manner such as preparing for ICANN meetings, applications reviews, responding to ICANN consultations, deadlines and work with other groups. Basically keeping a functional NCSG and improving it.
- Qualifications for the position:
I served NCSG interests in several roles and became aware about our members' needs, expectations but also keeping learning about them, also about the challenges that still need to be dealt with.
I participated in several working groups within ICANN on behalf of NCSG. I was co-chair of the new applicant support working group , a cross working group between GNSO and ALAC aimed to give support for new gTLD applicants from developing countries. I was also the co-chair of the cross-community working group on Internet Governance which covered IG topics from ICANN standpoint. The group was formed prior to the first Netmundial to connect ICANN to UN and other IG processes and keep the community informed. I was the GNSO council liaison to the EPDP team to monitor the discussion in that working group and report to the council on a regular basis. This EPDP or the Expedited Policy Development Process was aimed to come up with a new policy to replace the temporary specification and get Whois complied with GDPR. I ended-up being vice-chair then working group chair to deliver the final report.
As indicated before, I was GNSO councilor for NCSG so I am familiar with GNSO policies, processes and procedures, following the changes happening there but also the challenges for many PDP processes lately. I am also aware of the dynamics of the groups we have to work with in GNSO and developed good relations with their leaders for many years. I was NCSG Policy Committee chair focusing on improving the work there and enhancing NCSG policy capabilities. I kept in touch with our councillors to consult and share thoughts.
I was appointed by NCPH to the GNSO council leadership, working with the chair and CPH vice chair. In this role, as a leader of the GNSO council, I had to consider various viewpoints and work with the leadership to improve GNSO as a whole. This leadership was one of the most productive in terms of devoting ideas to improve policy making at GNSO. GNSO is the home of NCSG. Its improvement directly affects NCSG interest and I was glad to be a part of a process that set the stone for the betterment of GNSO processes and successful policy.
I was NCSG and NCUC chair, doing the admin and organizational work at stakeholder group and constituency level, liaising with ICANN staff and leadership, with other groups officers. That gave me insight about members' expectations, capabilities of NCSG as a group and familiarity with ICANN as a structure.
• Statement of availability for the time the position requires:
Yes, I am available and committing as NCSG chair to allocate the required time to do what is expected and go beyond when needed. That can be confirmed by my attendance in the different groups where I am participating or participated. I understand the time requirements and when there is a peak of activities like around the ICANN meeting.
• The nominee’s statement may also include any other information that the candidate believes is relevant:
I may have listed too many roles and activities to emphasize my work and I assume that doesn't seem exciting or thrilling nor inspiring. However, what I care more about is representing NCSG and ensuring its sustainability. I am practical and pragmatic due to my background. I cannot promise a lot for the sake of getting elected because nobody can do everything by themself, alone and we need to work with others to achieve NCSG goals. I also stepped back for some time allowing me to do retrospectives and having enough time to think about involvement in NCSG and what to do better.
Now, I will be grateful to come back and continue the work, to be accountable, to be responsive, to try to improve things as much as possible and to be judged through my actions:
- Informing members about policy discussion and/or ICANN activities and involving them .
- Improving onboarding of new members and the inreach of existing members
- Preparing new leaders who will run for positions in future.
- Working with other groups and counterparts, within GNSO and outside, to promote NCSG positions and create more synergies in the different positions, but also fixing issues and disagreements such as board seat 14 process/selection. Coordinating with ICANN as an organization through its different staff and departments.
- Working with NCSG constituencies and coordinating our activities for better synergy and effectiveness.
- Working with NCSG committees, and coordinating with our representatives to the GNSO council.
- Dealing with the new and old challenges faced by NCSG such as the Holistic Review or changes within ICANN itself that might impact us as a group. Focus on keeping NCSG functioning and improving its capabilities
I am happy to respond to any question or inquiry. I am looking forward to the call with candidates and being able to talk with you all.
Take note of my statement and keep me accountable about my commitments if I am elected.
Candidate Statement - Bruna Santos
Name: Bruna Martins dos Santos
Declared region: LAC
Gender: Female
Employment: Global Campaigns Manager at Digital Action
Conflicts of Interest: none that im aware
Reasons for willingness to take on the position: After a long time serving in administrative positions throughout NCSG and NCUC, as chair of both groups, and first term as GNSO Councilor I would humbled if given the opportunity to continue to be one of the NCSG elected members to the GNSO Council and work on behalf of our community but in a more strategic way. Given the current difficulties of engagement on policy work from our members - either through lack of knowledge of ICANNs PDPs and structure or lack of means for participation -, I remain committed to engaging with our membership and other ICANN Stakeholder groups on the most pressing issues.
Having spent a couple of years in leadership positions I believe I was able to have a comprehensive view of the challenges faced by our Stakeholder Group while existing as the sole civil society voice within GNSO, as well as some of the intricacies of our groups. Added to that, after the completion of my first term of the GNSO council I'm now even more ready to start leading some of our policy positions together with our other councilors and PC. In light of being an avid advocate for ICANN's Multistakeholder model and Civil Society participation on it, as well as NCSGs relevance to the model, I would love the challenge if elected to my second and last term as GNSO Councilor
Qualifications for the position:
I hold a BA in Law with experience in Internet Regulation, Human Rights and International Law and experience in policy making processes regarding the Internet that started back in 2011 while I had the chance to work at the drafting team of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet. Ever since then, I have worked for the brazilian government until 2016, as a legal advisor on social matters, and as advocacy coordinator for several collectives and Civil Society Organizations in Brazil, and have engaged with politicians and policy makers, as well as other stakeholder groups in high level conversations pertaining the most different aspects of the Internet. Currently I hold the position of Global Campaigns Manager at Digital Action where I help lead the Global Coalition for Tech Justice and the Year of Democracy Campaign in calling big tech companies out for the harms promoted by their products and services.
Moving on to ICANN, I have been involved with our stakeholder group since 2017 - when I joined as a member after remotely following our discussions for years. Ever since, I have served as NCUC Chair, Vice-Chair and NCUC EC representative for the LAC region, and currently hold the position of NCSG Chair. Besides the leadership positions, I have contributed to NCSG's policy work, having volunteered for being one of the pen holders for some of the provided input to the New gTLDs Subsequent Procedures WG Comments and am an alternate at the EPDP Phase #2.
Statement of availability for the time the position required:
I confirm that I have the required availability to focus on the needed discussions and processes where a GNSO Councilor is required. Despite working full time I have managed to successfully complete my terms both as NCUC and NCSG Chair, as well as my 1st term as a NCSG Couniclor, with a fair amount of time dedicated to the position's duties. The same is likely to happen if I'm elected.
Additional information:
Apart from my work at ICANN I am also one of the co-coordinators of Internet Governance Caucus and an IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group member, have acted as one of the key constituents at the roundtable designated for debating recommendations 3A/B of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and help coordinate the Internet Governance Forum's Best practice Forum on Gender and Digital Rights.
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.
Name, declared region of residence, gender and employment;
Hago Dafalla
Sudanese national residing in Sudan, Africa
Male
Lecturer , Ahlya University, Sudan..
2- Any conflicts of interest:
no
3--Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position:
I am involved in the NCSG community since 2012. I volunteered in different ICANN Working group previously.
I would like to volunteer for the NCSG position for this period. I do believe I am familiar with the duties and expectations for such a role, and with the provisions in the NCSG charter.
4- I am aiming:
To keep advocating for NCSG positions and non-commercial interests. in particular with the new and continuous challenges within ICANN.
For that purpose, I will do my best to keep NCSG membership informed about NCSG Executive Committee activities and ICANN updates in general. I also want to emphasize working and cooperating with the members of committees to make us more effective, coordinated for the benefit of the whole NCSG. I will also work with all leadership of NCSG constituencies NCUC and NPOc
As NCSG council member. Surly I will keep focusing on helping newcomers and those interested in policy to grasp more about ICANN and in particular how GNSO . I will Work to pump new blood into the organization and encourage others to get involved in this organization and play an effective role by nominating themselves and competing to occupy these executive positions in this organization, which has remained limited to specific groups and specific people exchanging executive positions in it. It is time for change.
5- Qualifications for the position:
I served in many positions and I am interests in several roles , I am aware about new members' needs, expectations but also keeping learning about them, also I know the challenges that still need to be dealt with in this organization.
As I said before I participated in several ICANN working groups. I served as Multistackholder advisory groub for Arab IGF and for North Africa IGF. I participate in the first Netmundial by several topics.
I was the AfriNic NOMCOM Member for 2011 and 2012.
6- Statement of availability for the time the position requires:
Yes, I am available and committing as NCSG council member to allocate the required time to do what is expected and go beyond when needed.
7- The nominee’s statement may also include any other information that the candidate believes is relevant:
What matters most to me is to be more effective and to truly represent NCSG that meets the aspirations of its members and employees, to be satisfied with myself, and to ensure its sustainability. I am interested in teamwork and need to work with others to achieve NCSG goals. for more information see my C.V attached here.
