Chairing the LACNIC Policy Forum: A place of prestige:

01/04/2016

Chairing the LACNIC Policy Forum: A place of prestige:

Those who have served chaired LACNIC’s Policy Forum have gained prominence within the community, as they are seen as activists involved in issues of concern to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Now that the call for candidates to elect a new chair for the LACNIC Policy Development Process is open, Christian O’Flaherty and Nicolas Antoniello, two outstanding ICT professionals, shared their views on the position they occupied at different times.

O’Flaherty chaired the Policy Forum from 2004 to 2008. In the words of O’Flaherty, “a regional Internet address registry’s Policy Forum is the most important community in the management of the region’s Internet resources. The Forum discusses and agrees the rules that determine how the regional registry distributes its resources.” In this sense, O’Flaherty observed that “the proper operation of the regional registry depends on the work of this community.”

Regarding his experience, he noted that chairing the Policy Forum is “a great responsibility but also a unique opportunity to get to know each country’s needs and influential stakeholders.”

He explained that forum chairs are at the service of the regional Internet community, serving as a link between the Registry and the members of the community, its businesses and organizations.  He considered that the opportunity to lead the Policy Forum was a great honor and a “highly recommendable” personal and professional experience.

Nicolas Antoniello chaired the LACNIC Forum from 2009 to 2015. In his opinion, in addition to the responsibility and commitment to the regional and global Internet community, charing the Forum offers the chance to be actively involved in a policy development process that is key to the region. According to Antoniello, “It allows being part of the changes when changes are necessary, participating both in the in-depth analysis of the requirements leading to the development of new policies and the review of those already in force.”

Antoniello values his six years of experience as Forum chair. “The balance is very positive. It leaves you with knowledge and experience of the collective process through which proposals and policies are developed, as well as infinite amounts of learning. Even on a personal level, it helps improve communication and —why not?— leadership skills in broad discussions involving the entire region. You also get to know many colleagues and friends without whom this which I call “an adventure” would not be possible or make sense,” he concluded.

The current call for candidates to the position closes on 12 April and only requirement is that candidates must be LACNIC members or nominated by a LACNIC member.  More information is available at http://www.lacnic.net/web/elecciones/2016-co-moderador

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