Candidate Statement 2020

Name: Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix
Residence: Currently NA, possibly EUR in the fall, depending on the public health situation
Gender: Male
Employment: doctoral researcher, University of Michigan Law School
Conflicts of interest: none

Bio/Why serving on the EC? 
I am currently a doctoral student at the University of Michigan Law School, writing my dissertation on the history of data protection law. I joined NCUC in the fall of 2017 after having contributed to the work of the WS2 Jurisdiction subgroup (my first foray into ICANN-related work) As a member of the NCUC, I have gotten into the habit of contributing to public comments related to (the very exciting matters of!) finance, budget, and planning.

Additionally, I have been the NCUC delegate to the NCSG EC for more than a year and a half, time during which I have been in charge of managing the relation with our hosting and customer relations management (CRM) software provider, besides executing the other duties that fall upon NCSG EC members. Things have not been moving as fast as they could have, but I am still happy to report that we are on the way towards being able to spend the money ICANN allocates to us for technical matters on improving our existing systems rather than fixing oustanding issues.

If elected, I would gladly remain involved with such technical matters for a certain time (in coordination with the NCSG EC,) at least long enough to put in place the basic improvements that were initially foreseen, and so that the whole thing can be easily "managed" by any member of the EC.

Time commitment

I do not have specific limitations on my ability to attend either online or in-person meetings. I am aware that chair is a particularly high-commitment position, and I am ready to give it the necessary time and effort.  

Communication to members

I will continue to support the mailing list as the main channel of communication for EC-related matters and will strive to report regularly on the EC's activities.

I will also try make the best use of the outreach tools we have at our disposal too and do my best to leverage the various experience and skills of EC members and of the broader membership.

NCUC's role and function

As far as the constituency itself is concerned, I think my departure point for everything is that both the constituencies, the SG and their respective ECs ought to work as a team as much as possible. 

Beyond that, we also have to figure out how to harness our diversity and make that our strength. There have been efforts deloyed towards that goal (as recently as yesterday!) and I will seek to support and further such capacity-building initiatives. I am also interested in exploring all possible ways to foster leadership among our members. I believe that defending the interests of civil society is not as straightforward as it looks, and I will be glad to put my efforts on identifying and featuring what brings us together, in full knowledge of our differences. All that so that we can work more effectively and reach our policy objectives. A challenge, certainly, but one I will be glad to undertake! 

As far as policy areas that deserve attention, I believe we have experienced policy developers in our constituency and more widely in the stakeholder group, and will be happy to listen to them as to the areas that deserve attention. I have affinities with data protection given my professional background, but I know very well there is more than that policy-wise happening at ICANN! 

Candidate Statement, Olga Kyryliuk, NCUC EC-Europe position 

Name: Olga Kyryliuk
Region of residence: Europe
Gender: Female
Employment: CEO & Founder, The Influencer Platform (Ukraine); Independent Researcher & Consultant for the Open Internet for Democracy Initiative, Freedom House, the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine
Conflict of interest: None

Reasons for willingness to take on the position

I’ve been part of the ICANN community since 2017 when I attended my first ICANN58 meeting in Copenhagen as a part of the NextGen Program. Shortly after that I joined NCUC and since then remain an active member, which is proved by my continuous contribution to NCUC outreach activities, participation in working groups, and drafting of public comments. In 2019, I was serving as a member of the selection committee for the ICANN NextGen Program and currently represent NCUC at the NCSG Policy Committee. By now I am quite well aware of the concerns and challenges faced by non-commercial stakeholders within ICANN and am willing to invest my time and expertise to strengthen NCUC’s capacity and voice among other more powerful stakeholders.

I am putting lots of efforts into improving civil society capabilities and facilitating multistakeholder cooperation at the national and regional levels, and would happily add on top of that raising awareness of NCUC and bringing more voices to the community. I am well aware of the specifics of the European IG community and its problems, have extensive professional network including representatives of different stakeholder groups. I highly appreciate the work that has been done on this position before me and will do my best to keep our region actively engaged in NCUC activities. Maintaining regular communication with the members, running outreach activities, fostering member’s active participation in WGs, and PDPs would be a priority for me. I believe it to be extremely important to strive for better diversification of the workload in terms of policy discussions and public comments, which is currently managed by very few people at the extreme of their human capabilities. For that more members should get involved in policy discussions and be able to support the NCUC/NCSG position when needed.

Qualifications for the position

I hold a Ph.D. degree in international law and am CEO and founder of The Influencer Platform – a Ukrainian-based organization that trains and unites stakeholders who stand for digital rights, equal opportunities, communities’ empowerment, and the open Internet. I have over eight years’ experience in issues lying at the intersection of law and technology, including digital rights, data protection, privacy, artificial intelligence, digital sovereignty, and content regulation, as well as four years in rights protection of internally displaced persons. Currently, I’m providing consultancy and expert support to the Freedom House, the Council of Europe, and a range of international companies working all over the world. Prior to establishing my own organization, I’ve been working with the government of Ukraine and the world’s leading humanitarian organizations – the International Committee of the Red Cross and Danish Refugee Council.

I am actively involved in regional and international Internet governance and human rights initiatives, serving on the Executive Committee of the South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance (SEEDIG), and being a founding member of the Internet Freedom Network for Eastern, Central Europe, and Eurasia. Additionally, I’m a regular contributor to the agendas of SEEDIG, EuroDIG, IGF, RightsCon annual meetings, IFLA WLIC, and Internet Freedom Summit, where I’m also presenting as a speaker or a moderator.

Time commitment

I fully acknowledge how time and energy-consuming is to serve on the Executive Committee, especially in such a complex environment as ICANN, but it would be my absolute pleasure to contribute to NCUC development and growth in the upcoming year. I am equally aware that some weeks might be more hectic than others, but I’m part of various IG processes long enough to get used to the huge workload and permanent adjustment to time zones. I believe my legal background and experience in project management would be an asset to perform the duties expected from this position.

Best,
Olga Kyryliuk

STATEMENT NCUC EC AFRICA

Name: Benjamin Akinmoyeje

Region: Africa

Gender: Male

Employment: Research Student

Any conflicts of interest: None

1       Why do you want to serve on the EC?

Serving as  NCUC EC Africa representative for the last one year has been a learning experience, I have had the privilege to motivate my constituency's engagement. We have seen increased participation of non-English speaking members. We have made some efforts to interpret announcements in french as often as possible. Finally, we succeeded in getting the second edition of Policy writing course for members with English as a second language.

Subsequently, I hope to increase the engagement of NCUC in the policy development process assertively. I hope to champion the process of simplifying topical issues for the participation of new members and the group. I hope to improve the visibility of NCUC within ICANN by ensuring a consistent push of the civil society and non-commercial agenda in  providing

My charge this term will be to consolidate on some of the gains we have made, by increasing NCUC participation and contribution in policy discussion and outreach in Africa.  I will endeavor to put NCUC in every IG event in Africa wherever ICANN GSE is present or not. I will work with the other ECs and the chair to improve capacity building and help strengthen the mentee’s and mentor’s engagement in NCUC.

The spread of COVID-19 is causing disruption worldwide, forcing conference cancellations, and leaving everyone scrambling for alternative ways of disseminating the work that was to be presented. This has caused an unprecedented demand for digital technologies not only to facilitate containment of the spread of COVID-19 but also to enable business continuity across all continents, including Africa. With this in mind, I will work to make sure the participation of NCUC members across Africa and elsewhere takes part in NCUC discussions.

2.      Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and affiliations relevant to serving.

I have a specialization in ICT4D and Digital Health with over 10 years’ experience working in international development. I am currently a DAAD postgraduate research scholar at the Namibia University of Science and Technology and Regional Coordinator of ICT4si.org [ict4si.org] .

An active member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of NIGF, Alumni of the first AfriSIG, Alumni of AfriNIC and ICANN fellow, member of ISOC Nigeria and Namibia Chapter.

I am a member of Nigeria Coalition of Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), consistently advocating for affordable and inclusive Internet access.

I belong to the coalition of Africa Center for Citizens Orientation (ACCO), championing improving access for women and girls to up-to-date ICT education and some existing ICT facilities in Abuja and northern Nigeria.

My area of research is Persuasive Technologies for health behavior change and personal informatics. I have over ten years’ experience working as an ICT4D manager in an international NGO and in public health in Nigeria. Participate in the last IGF remotely.

Experience within ICANN

Fellowship Alumni AfrICANN group

Universal Acceptance Technical Working Group - member - participates in regular calls.

Cross-Community Working Party - Human Right - member - attend calls and contributes.

In collaboration with the NCUC - EC and ICANN Staff  organized the Policy Writing course.

Developed a blog to enlist members for the webinar

Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all gTLDs PDP Working Group – member – regularly on call of this WG

He is a member of other committees: ISOC IoT SIG, Nigeria ICANN Multi-Stakeholder Group,     Member and (Cybersecurity) Alumni Diplo Foundation, ISOC Namibia & Nigeria chapters.

3  The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the Constituency. What level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role on a weekly and overall basis? Describe any concerns or limitations on your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN Meetings in person.

 I  commit 8 hours or more per week and I am readily available for emergency calls or assignments. I have been committed to the course and development of the visions and missions of NCUC and ICANN. I am a full-time researcher and a student of Informatics. I am dedicated to the service of NCUC.

4   Communication with membership is critical. How would you keep members apprised of your EC-related activities?

As a member of EC representing the African region, I have engaged my constituency actively using social media (skype, Facebook, twitter, etc). This has led to some increased interest in engagement and commitment. I hope to scale that up by moving our communication to the mailing lists with regular communication.I  will continue to explore more ways to interpret and simplify the topical issues in order to get improved participation from our members.  I will use available channels of communications such as emails, newsletters, blogs, and targeted social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Zoom, and Google Meet. Also, I will work with existing NCUC communications strategies and members to advance the work I am doing in the NCUC EC. I hope to drive engagement by linking my EC activities to some of the real-life issues and benefits of NCUC activities to the African users, especially on the issues of Access, Local Content, Human Rights, Development, Privacy, and Multilingual Internet. These issues, when addressed, will ultimately grow the domain name business in Africa. Ultimately reinforcing the stability, security and resilience of the global network

I hope to consolidate the gains we made in reducing Gender-gap participation from Africa in NCUC, I will continue to champion increased recruitment of female members.

5        How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why?

The  PIR - ISOC issue has been a major issue of discussion for the past months, and  NCUC’s view in this conversation is critical.

With the ongoing Evolving  ICANN’s Multistakeholder  Model - it is certain NCUC engagement will evolve in the process.

With the ongoing Evolving ICANN’s Multi-stakeholder Model - it is certain NCUC engagement will evolve in the process.

The pandemic has changed everything, also it will change  NCUC’s engagement and functions; we need to evolve to online engagement and advocacy.

Our recruitment effort and inclusion of more academia, CSOs, and other non-commercial users from developing countries online is paramount.

We need to ensure the noncommercial interest or space is not reduced during the online-only engagement.

Post Covid19 era requires innovation to engage our members actively in policy development processes, this challenge is critical. I am committed to help develop solutions to sustaining NCUC members' engagement online.

Areas ICANN policy needs attention

The great PIR -ISOC sale is a major policy concern moving forward.

ICANN Africa Strategy 2021- 2025  will see more NCUC contributions during implementation and hopefully we bring best practice to the region’s DNS market growth.

New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross-Community Working Group: the mechanism to utilize the resources should help improve and grow the Internet where it is lacking, especially in Africa.

I look forward to continuing to serve the community to improve the participation of all diverse groups, especially those from developing countries and newcomers to ICANN.

Kind regards,

Benjamin Akinmoyeje

Name: Hago Dafalla
Region of residence: Africa
Gender: Male
Employment: Faculty of Education, Computer Department, Zawia University, Libya

Conflict of interest: I have no conflicts of interest.1. Why do you want to serve on the EC?
First, in order to represent the best representation of Africa in this position, and secondly in order to serve and possible all stakeholders to exercise good stewardship cemented in human dignity. We need a period of renewal for another blood in the veins of this organization until the election of new people to the benefit of everyone.
To help my continental African and to raise the voice of African in ICANN. To try to support african people in the ICANN community.
I’ve been part of the ICANN community since 2008 when I attended my first ICANN meeting in Egypt, Cairo. I joined NCUC  since 2010 then remain an active member, which is proved by my continuous contribution to NCUC outreach activities, participation in ICANN working groups.
I am quite well aware of the concerns and challenges faced by non-commercial stakeholders within ICANN and am willing to invest my time and expertise to strengthen NCUC’s capacity and voice among other more powerful stakeholders.
2. Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCUC Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might have.
I am Electronics Engineer (System Administrator and Network) I completed a Master degree in Computer Engineering and Networks. I hold a Ph.D. degree in the Information Technology.

I am actively involved in regional and international Internet governance and human rights initiatives, serving on the Executive Committee of the Arab Dialogue on Internet Governance, and being a  member of the Internet Freedom Network for Africa . Additionally, I’m a regular contributor to the agendas of Arab IGF, annual meetings, where I’m also presenting as a speaker or a moderator. I am regional director of East Africa for African ICT Foundation (https//africanictfoundation.org).

MY activities:

I am participating in many activities:

April To May 1996 : Training in E-Mail by Dr. Khursheed, McMaster University, Canada.

11 to 19 July 1998: Network Training workshop for Countries in the Early Stages of Internetworking,

Network Navigation and Services Track, Geneva, Switzerland, Using UNIX as Operating System.

20 to 21 July 1998: Developing Countries Networking Symposium, Geneva, Switzerland, Using UNIX as Operating System.

21 to 24 July 1998: INET’98 Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, Using UNIX as Operating System.

26 July 1998 to Now: Internet Society Memberships (ISOC).

12 Oct. to 7 Nov. 1998: Fifth College On Microprocessor-Based Real-Time System in Physics, in the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, Using LINUX as Operating System.

-1 To 19 Feb. 1999: Second ICTP-URSI-ITU/BDT School on The Use of Radio for Digital Communication in

Developing Countries, in the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP),Trieste, Italy,

7 to 11 May 2001: African Network Operators’ Group (AFNOG) Workshop for Internetworking in

Scalable Network Infrastructure, Accra, Ghana.

12 to 13 May 2001: African Network Operators’ Group (AFNOG) Meeting, Accra, Ghana.

8-13 June 2003: African Network Operators’ Group (AFNOG) Workshop for Internetworking

In Scalable Internet Services. Kampala, Uganda, Using UNIX as Operating System.

14 to 15 June 2003: African Network Operators’ Group (AFNOG) Meeting, Kampala, Uganda.

- ICANN Meeting in Cairo, Egypt 2008.

- ICANN Meeting  in Sydney, Australia 2009.

-ICANN Meeting in Belgium.

-ICANN Meeting in Costa Rica.

- I am a Member of Locking of a Domain Name Subject to UDRP Proceedings PDP WG Working Group, ICANN.

- I served as a Member of The Inter Register Transfer Policy Part C working Group, ICANN.

- I am participated in the 3rd Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum On ICT Research, Scandic Marina Congress Centre - Helsinki, Finland ,2010.

-  I am participated in the 2010 Euro-Africa E-Infrastructures Conference, Scandic Marina Congress Centre -Helsinki, Finland.

-  I am participated in the 6th  International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

-  I am participated in the AFRINIC Meetings, 2001,2003,2006,2011 and 2012.

- I served as NomCom 2011and 2012, AfriNic.

-  I am participated in the African Peering Coordinate Forum (AFPIF), Peering Coordinators Day, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

-  I am participated in the EGM on the Roadmap for Internet Governance in Arab Region,  United Nations House, Beirut, Lebanon.

-   I am participated in the first and second, seventh  African Internet Governance Forum.

-  I am participated in the First and Second Arab Internet Governance Forum.

-  I am participated in the Internet Governance Forum, Bali, Indonesia, 2013.

3. The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the Constituency.  What  level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role on a weekly and overall basis?  Describe any concerns or limitations on your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN Meetings in person.

I have dedicate about 14 Hours a week and more if there are some more meetings available. I will perform my duties and responsibilities perfectly . Also to increase my contribution in ICANN Meetings in person and online meetings .

4. Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep members apprised of your EC-related activities?

The Communications for the memberships is very important and it can be available through mailing list and regular announcements.

5. How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why?

I promise to continue to raise issues with NCUC policy and rules. I need to raise the issues in Cyber security, especially in Social Security ( protections of children from the dangers of Internet). We need to  continue engaging more youth people in ICANN Process and to hear their voice and their contributions. We have to continue engaging in the GNSO PDP process.

I shall pressure to see new faces in ICANN Board Members especially in developing countries. More about me see my C.V. attached here

Name: Franco Giandana 

Declared region of residence: LAC 

Gender and employment: Male - IT-IP Lawyer

* Any conflicts of interest; None. 

Questions:

• Why do you want to serve on the EC? 

I have already sat as LAC rep. within the NCUC EC for one term, and I believe this opportunity to be a privilege. Furthermore, I am confident that I with continuing in this role, I will be able to strengthen the NCUC LAC community engagement with the constituency and the ICANN communtiy.  

• Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCUC Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might have.
  
  First as an ICANN fellow, and later as the LAC rep. to the NCUC EC, I have developed a sincere interest to the internet governance ecosystem and ICANN. During this whole time, I have met wonderful people that inspires me to do a great job and I believe that, in the path of learning more about ICANN, I will be able to perform better. As an IT-IP lawyer I am involved in other Internet Governance initiatives which I think build my profile as a young profesional involved in the IG world. 
• The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the Constituency. What level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role on a weekly and overall basis? Describe any concerns or limitations on your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN Meetings in person.
  
  My level of commitment will be the same as the one I have now, or even bigger. I can put in the amount of time that is needed to conduct this role in the best way possible.
• Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep members apprised of your EC-related activities?
  
  I personally know many of the people in the LAC NCUC community, which is a great asset to keeping the community informed. At the same time, I will keep posting information on social media and sending emails. 

I hope this information is helpful. I wish you all a good day. 

Kind regards, 

NCUC LAC Chair

Candidate Statement

Nomination: Name: Lia P. Hernández Pérez

Region: LAC EC

Gender: female

Employment: Lawyer, Executive Directress (IPANDETEC Central America)

Conflict of interest: None

 Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position: 

I have been working for several years in Internet Governance, representing Panama and the Central American region. I am convinced that new technologies must be prioritized at the highest levels of civil society, governments, academia and other actors in the social ecosystem in order to make the most of technological discoveries and inventions. However, I do not stop seeing with concern as women and young people we are displaced or not included in high-level discussions, especially those who come from small countries, like all of the Central American region.

 Qualifications for the position:

         In academic affairs, I studied a Master in Law of New Technologies and Legal Informatics at the University of Bologna, Italy. Im 2008, I got a scholarship from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), to study a Master's Degree in Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technologies Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain. 

I have been Professor of Law of the New Technologies of the Master in Management and Knowledge Technology with the University of Panama and the Carlos III University of Madrid. 

I am author of a large number of articles, monographs, interviews and essays on the Law of New Technologies, specially on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, gender, open data and government.

From the professional aspect, I have worked as a legal consultant of numerous companies, until I became a  founding partner of Legalit Abogados, first firm in Panama specialized in new areas of law such as technology, environment, tourism, etc. Since 2012, with a group of colleagues, we found the Panamanian Institute of Law and New Technologies (IPANDETEC), a non-profit organization that promotes the use and regulation of ICTs and the protection of human rights in the digital environment. After several years of activism, the organization spread operations to the entire Central American region. This organization has a team of professionals and members in each of the countries of the region, producing studies of personal data protection; analysis of cybersecurity strategies in the Central America region, from the perspective of human rights and social inclusion; open data, biometric, encryption and cybercrime observatories.

 Statement of availability for the time the position requires:

I am fully aware that the work ICANN does is great and requires a great deal of time. For this reason, I pledge to prioritize my responsibilities at ICANN for the benefit of the region.

Although it sounds difficult and complicated to do, as a member of the LACIGF Board of Directors, I have struck a balance between my responsibilities as director of a regional organization and a lawyer, so I will make sure to give my commitment to the organization as well.

As a woman, an Afro-descendant, a lawyer, all my life I have dealt with multiple tasks at the same time to demonstrate that we are capable, regardless of gender, profession, or race, and this responsibility will not be the exception.