(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Internet regulation body ICANN (www.icann.org) announced this week it has named three individuals to serve as non-commercial stakeholder group representatives on the new Generic Names Supporting Organization Council at its September 30th board meeting.
The appointees include Mohammed Rafik Dammak of Tunisia, Rosemary Sinclair of Australia and Debra Hughes of the United States.
The board’s structural improvements committee reviewed the applications from a range of volunteers before recommending to the full board three candidates to serve on the GNSO Council for the next two years.
The newly appointed individuals were recommended by the SIC based on their skills, experience, background, knowledge, passion and ability to help build non-commercial participation and contribute to the work of the GNSO.
The committee paid particular attention to the candidates’ ability to contribute to diversity of geographic representation on the council.
Dammak is a research student in Interdisciplinary Information Studies at Sakamura Laboratory, University of Tokyo where he is conducting research on ubiquitous computing. He is an active participant in IETF, IGF, the Creative Commons community and several ICANN projects that have served to focus his attention on technology, IDNs and community participation matters.
Hughes is currently serving as senior counsel for humanitarian organization, the American Red Cross, where she advises the organization on matters related to consumer privacy and consumer protection. She also works closely with the ARC’s information technology and information security teams to manage online matters and other Internet issues.
Sinclair is the chair of the International Telecommunications Users Group and managing director of the Australian Telecommunications Users Group. She is a member of the group that recently created the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, and has worked on high-speed broadband deployment in Australia and in other parts of the Asia/Pacific region.
Additionally, the ICANN board has approved a set of recommendations to improve the structure and operations of the GNSO, particularly in terms of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy development process.
This restructuring of the GNSO Council is just one part of ICANN’s overall independent review and restructuring effort.
The organization recently signed a new agreement with the US Department of Commerce that ensures that ICANN will be independent and remain as a private, not-for-profit organization.
The newly structured GNSO Council will hold its first meeting in Seoul, South Korea on October 28th.
