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Michael Wallmannsberger bio / election statement

MW

The Internet is about creativity, collaboration and human connectedness. It is central to New Zealand's social and economic wellbeing.

I am standing for President because I believe in values of openness, collaboration and innovation. I believe that stewardship of New Zealanders’ equal rights to communicate, collaborate and innovate with confidence, using the Internet, is InternetNZ’s responsibility.

As a candidate for President, I offer:

  • Fresh leadership with a clear vision and direction for Council and the Society.
  • Extensive experience as a former officer, Council member and director of NZRS.
  • A strong technical perspective, as an Information Security Consultant by profession.
  • A strong governance perspective, having served on Council, the NZRS board, the board of a Crown Entity (StandardsNZ) and having completed the Institute of Directors course.
  • Open, inclusive, collaborative and consensus based decision making – an approach I have learned is best through my experience chairing diverse representative committees in politics.

If elected, I will aim to be a facilitator to enable the elected Council to achieve consensus on strategy and the decisions that come before the Council. In order to be effective, I will also work to ensure that there is structure and process to provide meaningful and appropriate member input into major decisions and to enable a chief executive and staff to deliver the outcomes Council asks for.

I have consulted widely and developed some key policies and objectives, both substantive and relating to process and structure.  These will provide a starting point for InternetNZ’s forward-looking vision and direction. If elected, I will work with the Council and members, who have the ultimate say, to refine and implement these.

To emphasise just one objective, I hope that over the next three years InternetNZ can better represent and engage important constituencies that use and benefit from the Internet. As country-code manager for .nz and a public good advocate, we could and should benefit from a stronger partnership with Maori and more effective representation, including at the Council level, of key constituencies (for example: regional development agencies, small business, enterprise, users, technical experts, service providers, content creators, Government, voluntary organisations and industry associations).

As President, I will work to ensure that:

Substance

  • InternetNZ continues to maintain a world class registry, DNS and ccTLD (country-code Top Level Domain) Operation.
  • InternetNZ focuses on policy and advocacy priorities, including the Government’s broadband initiative, copyright, security and stability issues, international engagement and promotion of the Internet.
  • Council addresses InternetNZ’s long-term financial sustainability.
  • We improve the InternetNZ membership experience.
  • Council reviews InternetNZ’s future strategic direction including how it serves the interests of all its constituents as a matter of priority, involving subsidiary boards, staff members and key constituent stakeholders in the process.

Process

  • The powers of the Council are always exercised collectively.
  • We review and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of InternetNZ’s governance and management processes.
  • InternetNZ introduces a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and managing risk.

Structure

  • The offices of President and Vice-President and Councillor are non-executive roles.
  • InternetNZ appoints a permanent CEO reporting directly to the full Council through an open, competitive recruitment and selection process involving the full Council and maintains a clear distinction between governance and management roles.
  • There are no changes to the essential nature of the corporate structure of NZRS and DNCL.
  • InternetNZ does not proceed with the proposed Digital Opportunities Foundation unless there is a specific, tangible opportunity to attract significant co-investment from a third-party.
  • Committees of Council are restricted to governance functions and operate with clear terms of reference and powers agreed by the full Council.

I hope that you share these values and objectives for the Internet and InternetNZ. If you do, please vote for me for President. I am happy discuss my ideas and answer questions from members during the election period. Please feel free to contact me through the InternetNZ members-discuss list or privately, off list (michael at wallmannsberger.co.nz).

 

Michael Wallmannsberger
July 2009

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