ICANN Taps Paul Twomey to Develop and Lead its Governmental [...]

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names andNumbers (ICANN), a new, non-profit, international corporation formed tooversee a select number of the Internet's core technical managementfunctions, today announced that it has selected Dr. Paul Twomey aschairman of its Governmental Advisory Committee. An Australiangovernment official with responsibility for information economy issues,Dr. Twomey will lead the committee charged with providing advice andcounsel to ICANN on a wide-range of government-related matters.

"We are delighted to have someone of the caliber of Dr. Twomey joiningour effort," said Eugenio Triana, ICANN board member and liaison to theGovernment Advisory Committee. "With his combination of Internet andgovernment experience, Dr. Twomey will be invaluable in our efforts towork with leaders and nations across the globe to help ensure thecontinued, smooth functioning of the Internet. It is a tribute to Dr.Twomey's outstanding qualifications that the Board of Directors votedunanimously for his appointment."

Consisting of representatives of national governments, multinationalgovernmental organizations and treaty organizations, the GovernmentalAdvisory Committee (GAC) will act as an independent advisory body toICANN's Board of Directors. The GAC is charged with advising ICANN onthe concerns of governments, particularly where ICANN's policiesinteract with national laws and international agreements. The precisestructure and mandate of GAC is yet to be developed. Leading thiseffort will be one of Dr. Twomey's main responsibilities.

Dr Twomey is currently the chief executive officer of Australia'sNational Office for the Information Economy (NOIE, www.noie.gov.au).The NOIE has direct responsibility for developing and coordinatingstrategies to address the convergence of the information economy,information technology and telecommunications issues driven by thedigital revolution. Dr. Twomey is also the Australian government'sSpecial Adviser for the Information Economy and Technology. In thiscapacity, he is charged with providing strategic advice to thegovernment on developing its information economy and informationtechnology priorities and strategies, including a National Strategy forthe Information Economy (www.noie.gov.au/nationalstrategy/index.html).

"The role of the GAC is a significant element of ICANN," said Dr.Twomey, "And I acknowledge that ICANN's invitation for me to chair theGAC is a great compliment to Australia's role to date in the Internetreform process. In my position as Chairman, I will endeavour to ensurethat the principles affirmed by ICANN, which are those of fairness andtransparency of policy and procedure, are upheld, and that theseprinciples are exercised to the maximum extent feasible."

About Paul Twomey

Prior to his appointment to his current role, Dr Twomey held consecutiveExecutive General Manager positions with the Australian Trade Commission(Austrade); first as head of strategic development, and more recently asthe leader of its operations throughout Europe. He was also the leaderof Austrade's Global Information Technology and TelecommunicationsNetwork, assisting Australia's IT&T firms to market their products andservices to key European, American and Asian markets.

Dr Twomey has also worked as a consultant with the global managementconsultancy McKinsey & Company. In this role, he advised majorcorporations from the telecommunications, financial service and tourismsectors in Australia, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong. Dr.Twomey holds a PhD in International Relations from the University ofCambridge. He is widely published in academic and popular journals.

About ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is anew, non-profit, international corporation formed to oversee a selectnumber of the Internet's core technical management functions. Betweennow and September 2000, ICANN will take over responsibility forcoordinating domain name system management, IP address space allocation,protocol parameter assignment, and root server system management, aprivatization called for the in U.S. Government's White Paper on theManagement of the Internet Domain Name System.

In the past, many of these functions have been handled by the U.S.government, or by its contractors and volunteers. This informalstructure represented the spirit and culture of the research communityin which the Internet developed. However, the growing size andinternational importance of the Internet has necessitated the creationof a technical management body that is both more formalized instructure, and more fully reflective of the geographic diversity of theInternet community.

ICANN is a non-profit corporation with an international board ofdirectors. Its initial board is led by interim chairman Esther Dyson,and has members drawn from several nations. This initial board iscompleting ICANN's by-laws and procedures and working to pave the wayfor a smooth and stable transition to private sector management oftechnical management functions. The day-to-day management of ICANN isled by its interim President and CEO, Mike Roberts.The initial board members will be succeeded by board members elected byfour different constituency groups, collectively representing a broadrange of the Internet's technical and user communities around the globe.=

Twomey Contact:

Brendan Harkin
National Office for the Information Economy
General Manager, Public Affairs
61-29240-0912

ICANN Contacts:

Sean Garrett
Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
415-923-1660
sgarrett@alexanderogilvy.com

Europe:
Patrick Worms
Vice President, Technology Communications
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Brussels
(+32-2) 545 6609
patrick.worms@ogilvy.be

Asia:
Patricia Ratulangi
Senior Associate, Technology Practice
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Singapore
Tel 65 2779563
patricia.ratulangi@ogilvy.com