[Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: Jonathan B. Postel Technical Academy Created to Extend Internet Technical Skills in Kenya

[Greg Wood]

Hello,
For your reference, the following release is being distributed today  
(9 Feb).
Sincerely,
-Greg

JONATHAN B. POSTEL TECHNICAL ACADEMY CREATED TO EXTEND INTERNET  
TECHNICAL SKILLS IN KENYA

Award winners' donation funds equipment, personnel, and connectivity  
for new ICT center in Kendu Bay

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., USA and GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--9 February 2010-- 
Winners of the most recent Jonathan B. Postel Award have donated their  
award to help establish a technical academy with computer equipment,  
staff, and Internet connections in Kendu Bay, Kenya. The new Jonathan  
B. Postel Technical Academy will provide individuals in Kendu Bay the  
opportunity to gain technical skills and experience, increasing their  
capacity to communicate, collaborate, and interact with people  
throughout the world.

The Internet Society presented the 2009 Jonathan B. Postel Service  
Award to CSNET (the Computer Science Network), recognizing the  
pioneering work of the four principal investigators that conceived and  
later led the building of CSNET--Peter J. Denning, David Farber,  
Anthony C. Hearn and Lawrence Landweber--and the U.S. National Science  
Foundation program officer and visionary responsible for encouraging  
and funding CSNET--Kent Curtis. CSNET was the research networking  
effort that during the early 1980s provided the critical bridge from  
the original research undertaken through the ARPANET to the modern  
Internet. The awardees have donated the US$20,000 presented as part of  
the Postel Award to help create the new technical center.

"We are honored to help create the Postel Technical Academy in Kendu  
Bay. We believe it extends Jon Postel's vision of a broadly accessible  
Internet that brings people together," said Lawrence Landweber, one of  
the CSNET principal investigators recognized by the 2009 Jonathan B.  
Postel award. "The Postel academy also continues the CSNET legacy of  
empowering people around the world to communicate and collaborate  
through the use and understanding of networking technology."

Establishment of the Jonathan B. Postel Technical Academy will be  
coordinated by Inveneo, a nonprofit social enterprise that gets the  
tools of information communications technology (ICT), such as  
computers, telephony, and Internet access, to those who need it most-- 
people and organizations in rural and highly underserved communities  
of the developing world. The Postel Technical Academy will comprise  
part of the Kendu Bay Community Knowledge Centre, which is run by the  
local organization Rachuonyo Online Networks, and will be co-located  
with a Cisco Networking Academy, providing additional synergy and  
opportunity for collaboration to the Postel Academy students and  
instructors.

"The people of Karachuonyo are really looking forward to building ICT  
skills with support from the 2009 Jonthan B. Postel Award winners,"  
said Kennedy Kabasa, an ICT coordinator in Karachuonyo, Kenya, where  
the Postel Technical Academy will be located. "This initiative will  
enable us to help bridge the shortage of ICT skills and infrastructure  
in the region, and allow our people to participate more fully with  
others from all over the world in this wave of technology."

About the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award
The Jonathan B. Postel Service Award was established by the Internet  
Society to honor individuals or organizations that, like Jon Postel,  
have made outstanding contributions in service to the data  
communications community. The award is focused on sustained and  
substantial technical contributions, service to the community, and  
leadership. With respect to leadership, the nominating committee  
places particular emphasis on candidates who have supported and  
enabled others in addition to their own specific actions. Previous  
recipients of the Postel Award include Jon himself (posthumously and  
accepted by his mother), Scott Bradner, Daniel Karrenberg, Stephen  
Wolff, Peter Kirstein, Phill Gross, Jun Murai, Bob Braden and Joyce K.  
Reynolds (jointly), Nii Quaynor, La Fundacion Escuela Latinoamericana  
de Redes (EsLaRed), and CSNET. The award consists of an engraved  
crystal globe and a US$20,000 honorarium. For more information, see: http://InternetSociety.org/postel

About Internet Society
The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization founded in  
1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education,  
and policy. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet  
Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet's premier technical  
standards body. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva,  
Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development,  
evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people  
throughout the world. For more information see http://InternetSociety.org

About Inveneo
San Francisco-based Inveneo is a non-profit social enterprise whose  
mission is to get the tools of information and communications  
technology (ICT) to people and organizations that need them most, in  
rural and highly underserved communities in developing countries. To  
accomplish this, Inveneo identifies and certifies affordable and  
highly sustainable ICT hardware, software and power solutions for  
organizations that provide vital services--healthcare, education,  
economic development, and relief--to some of the poorest communities  
in the world. Inveneo delivers these solutions by partnering with in- 
country ICT entrepreneurs who are trained and certified by Inveneo to  
design and deploy ICT technologies for challenging environments.

Media Contacts
Greg Wood
Internet Society
wood at isoc.org
+1-703-439-2145

Peter Brooks
Inveneo
peter at inveneo.org
+1-415-255-1554