1. Full name of the nominee: Peter de Blanc
2. E-mail address of the nominee: pdeblanc@usvi.net
3. Organization you work for (if apply): COBEX International, Inc.
4. Snail-mail address (street, city, country):
PO Box 1678
St. Thomas, VI 00804
5. The region that includes the country of which you are a citizen: North America
6. The region that includes the country in which you reside: North America
7. A clear statement of acceptance of the nomination:
"I accept the nomination for ICANN board position extended by Kilnam Chon, ccTLD Constituency Member (.kr) and GA Member (chon@cosmos.kaist.ac.kr)"
8. If you are a Member of the Names Council, state your intention to resign from the Names Council if you are elected to the ICANN Board:
"I am not a member of the Names Council."
9. A Curriculum Vitae (no more than 500 words long):
I am a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
1966: My professional career began at IBM Research Labs in New York. This intensive introduction to the corporate world assisted me in my decision to become an entrepreneur.
1967: Founded a company to design specialized sound and lighting systems for entertainment business. Spent 10 years in design and construction of large multi-media nightclubs, production of theme events and audio-visuals, and technical theatrical production.
1977: Created a word processing system based on the Processor Technology "SOL" computer, Xerox Diablo printers, and remote communication with a 300 baud modem. When technology advanced, we brought out our "second generation" Multi-User system with an Altos 8000 running 4 user MP/M and WordStar.
1979: Moved to the Caribbean, and continued integration and sales of computer systems.
1981: My business moved into consulting. Founded Octagon Consultants to provide network and system design, installation and training. Contracted to United Nations Industrial Development Organization for several missions. One mission completely computerized the Island of Montserrat, training 160 civil service employees and deploying computers in all government departments.
1989: Hurricane Hugo devastated the Virgin Islands. Spent a full year assisting in restoring computer and communication systems, and on data recovery, for both the Public and Private sector.
1991: Seeing a need for cheaper communications in developing countries, I consulted on uucp mail gateways, radio links, and other ways of reducing comm. costs. The Internet seemed like a good vehicle, so I researched Free-Net systems. What seemed to be lacking was an appropriate funding model.
1994: Partnering with Virgin Islands Public Broadcast System and my Rotary Club, we created a FreeNet, bringing public Internet access to our community. The funding model worked, and the operation became self-sustaining. At its peak, before commercial ISPs came on the scene, there were over 3,000 people using the FreeNet.
1994: My paper, "Networking the Caribbean was accepted for presentation at the ISOC annual Meeting.
1994: Founded COBEX International, Inc.
1994: Establish NIC.VI for registering Domain Names in .VI ccTLD.
1995 to Present: Continuing activities promoting Internet in developing countries, with emphasis on funding models for public access by under serviced populations.
1999-2000 Serve on the AdCom of the ccTLD Constituency.
Anytime: For relaxation, I play pop and classical music with friends on baroque recorder.
10. A statement indicating your ideas, intentions and/or the reason why you consider you should be elected to serve on the ICANN Board:
Are there moments in your (Internet) life that really stand out in your memories? One of those moments for me occurred when I was conducting a FreeNet seminar where our community residents could sign up for an account, and learn how to send and receive e-mail. A 70-year-old woman signed up, and sent en e-mail to her grandson in college. He must have been on-line, because the grandmother got an answer in 5 minutes. She was truly amazed. "Why, he hardly ever answers my (snail) mail to him. This is wonderful!" she said as she went to the terminal to compose another e-mail.
So often we are so caught up in the high-speed world of Internet Time and money that we forget our roots. The Internet could be, perhaps is meant to be, the "Great Equalizer". Anyone with access and a bit of training can communicate and publish their ideas internationally. The great potential beneficiaries of the Internet revolution are those persons living in countries with high telephone long-distance costs relative to their country’s GDP or personal earning level in local currency. However, they will only benefit if they can get affordable, ubiquitous Internet access. Sometimes that must be (free) via a public access terminal.
I feel that is our responsibility, as Internet professionals, to champion the cause of outreach to under serviced populations. Internet access can and does make a difference in the world-view of those who have it. It multiplies educational opportunities through formal methodologies, such as distance learning, and informal methodologies, such as chat, newsgroups, bulletin boards, and instant messengers. More simply, it advances globalization by providing low cost communications. Internauts must be able to "reach out and touch someone" beyond any country’s national borders at a price they can afford to pay. Access to information and communication is on a par with the right to vote in a democracy.
It is also our responsibility to give more than lip service to the concepts of "Open and transparent process" while we go about the work of Internet governance. We need more outreach and encouragement of those "sitting on the sidelines", so they become a part of the process. The process will be completely open when all the stakeholders are present and participating.
I stand for "limited Internet governance, personal freedom and responsibility, and a robust and interoperable DNS".
Our work should encourage co-operation and consensus, while remaining sensitive to the limited ability or desire of some of the members of each constituency to pay a lot of money for what they are used to receiving essentially free.
I have extensive experience in funding models, especially for non-profits, service organizations like Rotary Clubs and Chambers of Commerce. I believe I can make a strong contribution to assisting ICANN in devising ways of getting funded that would remove some of the burden from the members of the constituencies of the DNSO, and which could result in a surplus of funds that could be used as grants for training and development.
Finally, I must say that if elected, while I serve on the board I intend to be a conduit for the expression and expansion of ccTLD issues and agendas, as my ultimate loyalty is to the constituency I belong to.