ICANN appoints first corporate affairs executive

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 13:08

IT People - People

Australian Paul Levins has been appointed in the newly created role of executive officer and vice president of corporate affairs for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Mr Levins, who has more than 25 years experience in the Australian private and Government sectors, will develop and direct ICANN’s corporate affairs, marketing and media strategies.

His most recent position was the general manager of operations and corporate affairs for Bilfinger Berger Australia, a German-owned holding company in the infrastructure, building and services sector with a turnover of almost €2.5 billion and over 5000 staff. He has also been a corporate affairs manager for Telstra Corporation.

ICANN president and CEO, Dr. Paul Twomey, another Australian, welcomed Mr Levins to the role at the recent ICANN meeting in Morocco.

“I am very pleased that Paul has joined the ICANN management team. He has a wealth of experience communicating with a wide range of communities. This will be particularly important when working within ICANN’s bottom-up consultation model,” Dr Twomey said.

According to Mr Levins, his appointment is timely given the increasing global interest of users in the workings of the internet.

“ICANN has an incredibly important role. By ensuring there is a single, stable Domain Name System, ICANN is helping the internet deliver as a global tool for communication, research, commerce, education and social expression.

“I’m particularly looking forward to working within ICANN’s model of governance. ICANN is a not-for-profit organisation with a model of consultation that works. The internet isn’t owned by anyone, but what happens with this model is that anyone can have input as a stakeholder,” he said.