[Chapter-delegates] Year End Thoughts

[Richard Hill]

Dear Bob,

Thank you for this.  I fully agree with your summary of the challenges
facing the Internet.

Best,
Richard

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chapter-delegates
> [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org]On Behalf Of Bob
> Hinden
> Sent: mercredi, 24. décembre 2014 00:39
> To: ISOC Chapter Delegates
> Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Year End Thoughts
>
>
>
> It's been an amazing year for the Internet Society.  In late
> December 2013 the Board announced that we hired a new CEO, Kathy
> Brown.  She followed Lynn St. Amour who had announced she had
> decided to step away after being the CEO for more than 12 years,
> and who created the Internet Society we all know so well.  I have
> an immense amount of gratitude to Lynn for her dedicated service
> to the Internet Society and how she handled the transition to a new CEO.
>
> Kathy started as Internet Society CEO and President on the 6th of
> January. Not very surprisingly, the world in which we work did
> not pause, and if anything, everything seemed to accelerate.
> Looking back it feels a lot longer than a single year.  Some of
> the events where Kathy and ISOC had important roles include:
>
> Internet Hall of Fame in Hong Kong
> NETmundial meeting in São Paulo
> World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
> IGF Istanbul
> ITU Plenipotentiary in Busan
> ISOC Board meetings in Hong Kong, London, and Honolulu
>
> Plus almost countless IETF, ION, ICANN, and INET meetings.
>
> Leadership roles inside of the Internet Society have changed,
> resulting in what I think is a much stronger organization. The
> Internet Society is now in a better position to address the
> issues that face the Internet in the coming years.  The new
> leadership team builds on what was done before and greatly
> strengthens the Internet Society.
>
> The Internet has reached the point where it is an important force
> in the world, and governments and corporations around the world
> have noticed.  It almost seems like everyone wants to control the
> Internet, but they don't understand how or why the Internet is
> successful.  As a result, the challenges facing the Internet are
> growing.  This include governments who want to capture the
> operation and management of the Internet, corporations who ask
> users to trade their personal information for free service,
> governments who spy on Internet users traffic, countries blocking
> access to Internet sites, and increasing amount of attacks on
> companies, users, governments, and physical infrastructure by
> governmental and non-governmental actors.  All while the work to
> bring the Internet to everyone is hardly done.
>
> We all have much to do to keep the Internet open and bring its
> benefits to everyone in the world.  This is not the first set of
> challenges the Internet has faced, nor will it be the last.
> While I am very concerned about the challenges, I am also very
> optimistic that these will be overcome and the Internet will
> continue to grow to be the open global communication platform for
> everyone.  It is too much of an asset for everyone to be lost.
> The years ahead will be as interesting, gratifying, and
> challenging as the year we are now completing!
>
> I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a Prosperous New Year!
>
> Bob Hinden
> Chair, ISOC Board of Trustees
>
>
>