ICANN names cybersecurity expert as new chief

Stuart Corner
Saturday, 27 June 2009 04:58

Business IT - Technology

Internet security expert Rod Beckstrom is has been named as the new CEO of ICANN to replace Australian Paul Twomey who steps down on 30 June. The appointment has been greeted with enthusiasm by leading figures in the Internet community.

Beckstrom is billed as a "global entrepreneur, analyst and author" and "has exactly the sort of strong personal and technical background that ICANN needs as we enter a period of unprecedented growth and change for the Internet," according to ICANN chairman, Peter Dengate.

He added: "In addition to his cyber security expertise, he's been a successful CEO of a global enterprise, done NGO work and volunteer work and a bestselling author. It's an extreme understatement to say we are enthused."
 
Vint Cerf, considered the 'Father' of the Internet, welcomed his appointment saying: "Rod Beckstrom is strikingly well-prepared to undertake a new role as CEO of ICANN. His experience in industry and government equip him for this global and very challenging job."

Google chairman and CEO, Eric Schmidt, added: "Rod's extensive technical and commercial expertise is world class, and I can think of no one better positioned to lead ICANN's critical mission as the Internet's role in society continues to increase in scope and importance."

Beckstrom is the former director of the US National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), where he formed a working group of leaders from the nation's top six cybersecurity centres spanning the civilian, military and intelligence communities. He has been an active participant in the non-profit arena, serving on the board of trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund and the Jamii Bora Trust, a micro-lending group based in Nairobi, Kenya with more than 210,000 members. He has co-authored four books. The most recent, "The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations", details how diverse and untraditional organisations, can become virtually self-perpetuating, regardless of the status of their respective leadership, according to ICANN.
 
"The Internet has changed the way the world communicates and conducts commerce," said Beckstrom. "And in no small way, this multi-stakeholder, bottom-up organisation [ICANN] has been and will continue to be at the core of the Internet's ongoing evolution. Quite simply, the proof that ICANN works, is that the Internet works."

Twomey announced his resignation in March. Although he will step down as president on 30 June The ICANN board asked him to stay on for handover period and he will hold the new position of senior president until 31 December 2009. When he announced is resignation he noted that renewal of his contract would take his tenure as head of ICANN to a decade, which he believed to be too long.