[NCUC-DISCUSS] My candidate statement to EC Asia/Australia/Pacific

Tue Nov 18 13:18:32 CET 2014

Dear NCUC members,

I wish to thank David Cake for nominating me for the EC Asia position. I
gladly accept standing in the elections and wish the other candidates all
the best. Below is my candidate statement:

*1. Why do you want to serve on the EC?*

Serving on the NCUC EC will help me engage more with ICANN and utilize my
experience in areas that I care about such as freedom of expression,
privacy, and access. It is also a good time for me to be in the EC since I
have earned my PhD and have more time to spare compared to last year. I
must admit that I had little time to spare for NCUC in 2014 because of my
doctoral research and so I am confident that I'll have more time to use for
EC duties in 2015.

*2. Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and
affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the
relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCUC
Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might
have.*

I am a Yemeni national currently residing in Sweden where I teach mostly
master students in the area of global journalism and new media at Örebro
University. Much of my experience is in the area of freedom of expression
online and digital journalism particularly in the Middle East. I have a
degree in computer engineering so I do software development and understand
various technical aspects of networks. Professionally, I started as a
journalist, was the editor-in-chief of Yemen's national English-language
newspaper Yemen Times during 1999-2005 and have written for The Wall Street
Journal and Gulf News. Since 2006, I started focusing more on policy and
social aspects of internet governance and access and did research around
internet censorship and circumvention.

In 2006, I created a news aggregator and search engine for news called Yemen
Portal
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=https%3A%2F%2Fyemenportal.net%2F&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>
and when it got censored by the Yemeni authorities, I did started my
activism in 2009 through Alkasir
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAlkasir&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
software I created to map and circumvent censorship around the world and
which awarded me TED fellowships
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ted.com%2Fprofiles%2F523871%2Ffellow&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>
and the Orebro University's 2010 Democracy award
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oru.se%2FEnglish%2FNews%2FThe-tool-that-sidestepped-Arab-censorshipNy-sida%2F&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>.
My work was featured on many media including CNN
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2Fvideo%2F%23%2Fvideo%2Ftech%2F2011%2F02%2F16%2Fdougherty.digital.activism.cnn&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
The Guardian
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2010%2Fnov%2F28%2Finternet-radicals-world-wide-web&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
Voice of America
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.voanews.com%2Fcontent%2Fopening-the-middle-east-internet-97310199%2F172116.html&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
WIRED
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fted%2F2010-09%2F03%2Fted-fellows-walid-al-saqaf&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
The Fast Company
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fastcompany.com%2F1731691%2Fyemen-hero-access-blocked-sites-facebook-twitter-egypt-revolution-protests&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
Huffington Post
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fmagda-abufadil%2Fbreaking-digital-firewall_b_5965426.html&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
Columbia Journalism Review
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cjr.org%2Ffeature%2Fcensory_overload.php%3Fpage%3Dall&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
TEDxUU
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqePG7qeDZys&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
and most recently, Fusion TV
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Ffusion.net%2Fstory%2F27797%2Fwhy-a-yemeni-computer-engineer-abandoned-his-silicon-valley-dreams-and-became-a-cyberactivist%2F&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>.
I am still relatively new to ICANN as I have been an ICANN Fellow twice (my
ICANN journey started with ICANN 46). Since then, I co-founded and
currently chair ISOC-Yemen
<http://t.signauxdix.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJN7t5XX4Rs3g6VRJgRz5wvCLRW2zq5cM56dB2Rf3GmCG602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fisoc.ye%2F&si=4815485689397248&pi=0f91fc46-c03a-4f02-a18e-b9715d4075a0>,
which was recognized as an ICANN ALAC structure this year.

*3. The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the
Constituency.  What level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role
on a weekly and overall basis?  Describe any concerns or limitations on
your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN
Meetings in person. *

I am able to give at least one hour per week and more when needed to carry
out EC tasks and will do so to the best of my ability. I am currently
working at the university as a lecturer and am a consultant in areas
related to internet governance and freedom of expression with a focus on
the Arab world. I traveled frequently with an average of three trips per
month and have ongoing university classes, projects and other commitments.
So if I am to attend EC and ICANN Meetings, I'll need to plan well in
advance to ensure that I make it in person. Otherwise, I will strive to
participate remotely and through mailing lists.

Considering that my candidacy is for the Asia and Pacific region, I wish to
emphasize that I am not based in Yemen right now. I am based in Sweden but
travel frequently to the region. I also should say that most of my strong
contacts are in south west Asia. I have contacts in Iran, Pakistan, China,
Indonesia, but not much beyond that.

*4. Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep
members apprised of your EC-related activities?*

I strongly believe in the need to engage current members and one thing that
I personally am motivated to do is initiate a wiki that could help map out
NCUC and how it works including the various working groups, initiatives,
and meetings. Having an online wiki would be immensely useful for members,
newcomers and potential members to find information that is up-to-date and
easy to navigate (I wrote more on that in a separate email). Members could
be updated by email with a link to the wiki's relevant page(s) for any new
update would be extremely helpful as access to a particular part of the
wiki could have back links to other parts that provide a thorough
background. This is important because otherwise new members may get lost or
be unable to understand what is going on. While useful to engage in live
discussions, it is extremely difficult to sift through archived public
mailing list messages.

I am also keen to initiate a light online form for newcomers to fill when
applying for membership of NCUC so they could at least tell the existing
members what they could contribute with, their interests, their backgrounds
and other useful information.  The form could also be filled by those who
are already members and want to know if they could have a place in NCUC.

*5. How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the
future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why? *

NCUC's role could be enhanced by networking with individuals and entities
beyond ICANN. I think that could happen by attracting members affiliated to
other organizations and seeking their professional advice on fundamental
issues affecting internet users. NCUC could forcefully advocate for freedom
of expression, privacy and access directly through its own internal
activities but indirectly through its members, who are NCUC ambassadors
that are affiliated to other organizations. Networking and reaching out to
others is an important policy that NCUC should pay more attention to.

Sincerely,

Walid

-----------------

Walid Al-Saqaf, PhD

Program Director
Master of Global Journalism (MAGJ)
Örebro University, Sweden

Office: +46 19 303 339
Mobile: +46 76 233 9737
Room: F3125 - Forumhuset

email: walid.al-saqaf at oru.se
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