Keith has been watching the development of the Internet since the mid 1980′s, and has considerable respect for the evolution of the technology, the commitment of the technical community, and the enormous enablement and transformation in communications and information availability brought about by the popularization of this medium.
He has served, and continues to serve in a number of governance and management roles relating to the Internet. Although he comes from a newspaper printing and publishing background, he also owned and operated a regional ISP in New Zealand during the 1990′s and early 2000′s.
InternetNZ was formed in 1995 as an open membership society largely aligned to ISOC principles, seeking to promote and protect the Internet and keep it open and uncaptureable. InternetNZ is also the delegated manager for the .nz ccTLD. It also participates in a broad range of outreach activities in New Zealand and within the Pacific Islands.
Keith was elected as Chairman / President of InternetNZ for 4 years from 2001, having served as Treasurer for the 3 preceding years. After heading the governance board, he was recruited to serve as InternetNZ’s CEO for 4 years from 2005 to 2007.
He is currently contracted by InternetNZ as International Director, to manage key international relationships. He is also the current vice chair of APTLD, the independent association of ccTLD managers for the Asia Pacific region.
Within ICANN he is a vice chair of the governing council of the Country Code Name Supporting Organisation (ccNSO). Also in ICANN he currently chairs the ccNSO “Framework of Interpretation Working Group” which is investigating and developing the policy framework for use in the delegations and redelegations of ccTLDs.
Within the Internet Society, Keith has been a member of the Pacific Island Chapter for many years, and has established programmes enabling travel fellowships for Pacific Island techies to attend various PICISOC and PacNOG, NZNOG and other relevant events.
He has also represented InternetNZ on the Internet Society Advisory Council for several years, as InternetNZ is an organizational member of ISOC. He has served as one of the co-chairs of the ISOC Advisory Council for the past 2 years, but felt it necessary to resign that role effective from taking up his position on the ISOC Board in August 2012.
He convened and chaired the inaugural Pacific IGF meeting in New Caledonia in April 2011. Also, for the Asia Pacific IGF, he serves on the organising committee for the three annual forums held to date. He has participated in a large number of technical fora including IETF, IGF, WSIS, ITU, APRICOT, APAN, APIA (organiser of APRICOT) and APStar groups.
He has served in a number of governance and CEO roles dating back to the 1980’s when he was first appointed to the board of a public listed company in New Zealand, and has been a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors for many years.
Keith is fully committed to the Internet Society’s core principles, and with a strong appreciation of the Internets underlying technologies, significant roles in the development of public policy in national, regional and global environments.
