DotAsia Board Elections 2024

Kashif ADEEL

• As the Board Finance Committee Chair during 2021-2023, I spearheaded an effort to return the organization and its subsidiaries to profitability. We have been at a breaking point in the direction, and my 20-plus years of management experience spread across large-scale business transformation initiatives with some of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East and Pakistan allow me to suggest with much confidence that the crucial task can and should be accomplished. If elected for the new term, I will be happy to support this work.

• As a seasoned project manager, I tried to identify good operational practices at DotAasia and foster them, while working hard to improve counterproductive practices and help the staff find their bearings, particularly in the area of digital strategy and marketing. There still is a lot we should do to ensure the registry’s entrance on the path of sustained growth, and I hope to continue counseling the staff and overseeing the process.

• With my record of service as a Co-Chair for APNG, Chair for the fellowship committee for APSIG and Chair for Internet Research Community (IRC), I am not new to community projects at DotAsia and have remained very close to the regional community. We made some progress in the community project sponsorship area but we have a great chance for improving this work so that every ccTLD would be able to reap the benefits of its association with DotAasia, and I am going to remain a part of the effort.

• Last but not least, With much expertise gained over the previous tenure (2021-2023, I trust I can further contribute to the betterment of DotAsia’s institutional development and to promotion of its growth in the first place.

Candidate BIO:

Thomas BARRETT

Candidacy Statement | SOI

 I hereby submit my Candidacy Statement to serve on DotAsia’s Board. 

I represent the .PW Sponsor member, as Admin Contact for the ccTLD (PW Registry Corp). I have been involved with the .PW ccTLD since 2003, when I led the IANA re-delegation with the support of the government of the Republic of Palau. 

I also own two ICANN-accredited registrars: EnCirca (c.2001) and Name Share (c.2003). I am a member of the ccNSO, Intellectual Property Constituency, and Registrar Stakeholder Group within ICANN. 

I am interested in helping the DotAsia registry fulfill its mission to serve the Asia internet community. I can provide global and independent insights towards helping DotAsia grow and prosper. I can also contribute deep technical, financial, and strategic expertise and experience to help ensure the success of the DotAsia organization. 

I also serve as Chair of the Web3 Working Group for the Internet Committee of the International Trademark Association. This is my fifth year leading INTA’s efforts to identify new policies and regulations for protecting intellectual property on the blockchain. 

I serve on ICANN’s Nominating Committee. I previously served as Chair of the Nominating Committee Review Working Group. The NomCom appoints half of the ICANN Board as well as other positions. The Review Working Group is implementing 27 recommendations, including ICANN Bylaw changes to improve the accountability and transparency of the Nominating Committee process and appointments. This is useful experience that can be applied on behalf of future DotAsia board governance. 

I developed the first business class for the DNS Entrepreneurial Center in Giza, Egypt and presented SWOT ccTLD workshops in five countries including: Egypt, Oman, Qatar, UAE (Dubai), and Tunisia. I also have served on the Program Committee and Speaker for the Middle East DNS Forum since 2015. 

Here is a summary of my qualifications for the DotAsia Board: 

Internet and Board Governance 

I have extensive internet and board governance experience, including: 

• ICANN (1998-Present) 
• Board member of NetBenefit Ltd, a public company on the London Stock Exchange (1999-2001) 
• Founding Board member of Afilias (c.2000) 
• Finance Committee member for my town (~$30 million budget) 
• Ethereum Naming Service Decentralized Autonomous Organization Delegate 

ICANN activities include: 

• Delegate to the ICANN Nominating Committee (second consecutive year) 
• Previously concluded as Chair of the Nominating Committee Review Working Group 
• Names Collision Analysis Project (NCAP) 
• NextGen Mentor 
• GNSO Guidance Process for Applicant Support (of next gTLD Program) 

Extensive TLD Registry Experience 

In addition to launching the .PW Registry and being a Founding Board member of Afilias, I worked with Neustar to launch .BIZ, the second new gTLD. 

Since launching EnCirca in 2001, I have served in an advisory or consulting capacity to several ccTLD and gTLD TLD Registries, including: 

• I serve on the .US Stakeholder Council. Previously, I served on Neustar’s Kids.US Advisory Council 
• I serve as a member of the fTLD DMARC Working Group for .BANK and .INSURANCE. Previously, I was on fTLD’s Security Standards Advisory Group 
• I served on the .PHARMACY Advisory Committee (As their largest registrar) 
• EnCirca is the exclusive ICANN Registrar for .POST, .CPA and .REALTOR TLDs 
• EnCirca also designed and maintains the verification platform for the .POST, .BANK and .INSURANCE Registries with integration to over 30 other ICANN registrars 

Deep DNS Business and Technical Knowledge 

• I own two successful ICANN-Accredited Registrars 
• I developed the first business class for the DNS Entrepreneurship Center in Giza, Egypt and presented SWOT ccTLD workshops in five countries including: Egypt, Oman, Qatar, UAE (Dubai), and Tunisia. (see DNS Entrepreneurship Center) 
• I also have served on Program Committee and Speaker for the Middle East DNS Forum since 2015 
• I have managed the involuntary bulk transfers of over sixty registrars terminated by either ICANN or TLD registries (both gTLD and ccTLD) 
• Chair of the Blockchain Committee for the International Trademark Association and Advisor, DAO Delegate, or Director of several blockchain projects 

Personal 

• I reside in Rockport, Massachusetts, US 
• Married, wife Colleen and four adult children 
• Mechanical Engineer with degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MSME) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (BSME). 
• More information here: LinkedIn Profile: Thomas Barrett | LinkedIn. 

If you would like to ask me any questions or schedule a personal video chat, feel free to contact me at tbarrett[at]pwregistry.pw. 

Candidate BIO:

 Tom Barrett is President and Founder of the .PW ccTLD registry and two ICANN-accredited domain name registrars: EnCirca, and Name Share. Tom also serves as Chair of the Blockchain Committee for the International Trademark Association and recently launched Altroots, a brand protection service for blockchain domains. 

EnCirca specializes in partnering with top-level domain registry operators, including serving as exclusive registrar for .CPA and .REALTOR, and designing and maintaining the verification platform for the .BANK and .INSURANCE registries. EnCirca also provides registration, custody backup and trademark protection services for blockchain-based domain name projects. 

Previously, Tom helped launch ICANN’s first two new gTLDS while at Neustar (.BIZ) and NetNames (.INFO), where he was a founding Board member of Afilias. Tom sold NetNames to NetBenefit, a public company on the London Stock Exchange and served on their Board of Directors. 

Even earlier, Tom led the development of the SAEGIS trademark research platform for Thomson-CompuMark (now part of Clarivate), conducted business process re-engineering at Accenture and worked on jet engine factory automation for General Electric and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Tom has engineering degrees from MIT and WPI and lives north of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 

Boyoung KIM

Candidate BIO:

The first draft of the updated Board Elections Procedures (BEP)(BGC-004) for the Board Elections 2024 incorporates feedback from the observations raised previously, as well as edits in alignment with the Proposed Amendments to the DotAsia Articles of Association.

The second draft of the updated Board Elections Procedures (BEP)(BGC-004) for the Board Elections 2024 incorporates recommendations from the Election Committee (EC) Report on the Board Elections 2023 as well as comments received in response to the first draft.

Note also that there are 2 versions of the second draft posted:

• SECOND DRAFT-A anticipates that the proposed amendments to the DotAsia Articles are approved by Members
• SECOND DRAFT-B is a backup in the case that the proposed amendments are not approved by Members

The final draft of the updated Board Elections Procedures (BEP)(BGC-004) for the Board Elections 2024 is also posted in 2 versions:

• FINAL DRAFT-A anticipates that the proposed amendments to the DotAsia Articles are approved by Members
• FINAL DRAFT-B is a backup in the case that the proposed amendments are not approved by Members

The procedural aspects incorporated into both drafts are essentially the same (DRAFT-B does not include provisions for the Nomination Committee related processes which are to be introduced by the proposed amendments).

The final Board Elections Procedures (BGC-004 version 2) was posted on Feb 27, 2024 based on the FINAL DRAFT-A in accordance with the timeline and as a result of the Member adoption of the amended Articles of Association.

Video replay of webinar conducted on March 28th, 2024 to present changes for Board Election 2024

If you can’t view the embedded video, click this link to view it in a separate browser window

Big Pulse – https://www.bigpulsevoting.com/

Nomination/Seconding:

In order to be eligible to propose or to second a nomination for a candidate, a Member must be
listed on the DotAsia website, at: http://www.dot.asia/dotasia-organisation/communitygovernance/ on or before the opening of the Nomination Period.

Voting:

In the case where voting is necessary, in order to be eligible to cast a ballot for the Board
Elections, a Member must be listed on the DotAsia website, at: http://www.dot.asia/dotasiaorganisation/community-governance/ on or before the opening of the Voting Period

In accordance to DotAsia Board Elections Procedure (BGC-004) section 2.1, Members must reply to both the Secretariat and the third-party Administrator to confirm or update the Voter Name and voting email address to be used. This confirmation must be received before the commencement of the Nomination Period.

If the Member does not confirm or update the Voter Name and the voting email address prior to the opening of the Nomination Period, they will not receive a nomination form or ballot paper, and may not nominate, second or vote in the election.

Voters list can also be found here: [ pdf ]

1. Eligible voters receive an invitation-to-vote email with a one-click link that automatically signs them into the ballot – the voters simply click and vote. After they cast their vote, the voters receive a confirmation email with a unique vote receipt. Please do not share this email.
2. Upon voting, you will also receive an email from the Scrutineer to confirm your vote.
3. Reply to the Scrutineer within the deadline listed in the email to complete the vote.

Video Webinar Tutorial available here.

After you submit your vote you are issued a unique ‘Vote Receipt Code’, for each ballot that you vote in. The vote receipt code is shown on a secure webpage after you vote and is also emailed to you.

Contact the Election Compliance Administrator at boardelections@board.dot.asia

The drawing of lots, if required, in the case of an equality of votes, will be carried out
automatically (algorithmically) and not manually by the voting platform.

Under the Election Committee’s discretion, additional time may be afforded to cast votes.

First-past-the-post, (FPTP) also known as simple majority voting. The candidate with the most votes wins. However, please note that Geographical Diversity Requirement will be considered (refer to DotAsia Board Elections Procedures (BEP), Item 2.8).

3rd Party Scrutineer, Election Committee and 3rd Party Election Compliance Administrator.

As a not-for-profit organization in Hong Kong, DotAsia follows the guidance of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Specifically, the Best Practice Checklist – Governance and Internal Control in NGOs (Section 1.5) identifies the following for Nomination and Election of Board:

• Establish a mechanism for all Board members and voting members to nominate candidates for Board membership, in addition to those identified by the Nomination Committee
• Adopt an election procedure with adequate checks and balance to ensure fairness and transparency in the process (e.g. by requiring members to declare their relationship with the persons they are going to nominate and reminding members not to unduly influence other members’ nomination or election decisions).

DotAsia and its community reviews the DotAsia Board Elections Procedures (BEP) annually. The BEP identifies a clear process from nomination to voting. To ensure a fair and transparent process, third-party Election Committee members, Scrutineer and an Election Compliance Administration are invited to operate and monitor the Election.

As a voter, the ICAC wants to remind members NOT to unduly influence other members’ nomination or election decisions (such as soliciting, accepting or offering return of favor or personal gain)