Grant Forsyth

InternetNZ Election 2004
Councillor Biography - Grant Forsyth

Grant is currently a sitting member of the InternetNZ Council, a position he has held since his election in 2002. During his time on Council, Grant has participated actively in the International and Legal & Regulatory sub-committees, contributing to various submissions to Government, ENUM, and SPAM task force.

Since 2000 Grant has been one of three elected Business Constituency Representatives on ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) DNSO now renamed gNSO (generic Names Support Organisation) Council of. The gNSO is responsible in providing policy advice to the ICANN board. Grant is currently active on ICANN's Nominating Committee tasked with the appointment of 9 individuals to the ICANN Board and other bodies. ICANN is an international organisation responsible for managing the global assignment of domain names and IP addresses.

"I actively support ICANN as the global, non-governmental, self-regulatory coordinator of the critical naming and numbering resources of the Internet, ensuring a stable and secure Internet for all users. I see the successful operations of InternetNZ as a leading exemplar of this model for New Zealand. To that end, I seek to ensure that business and consumer issues areactively contributed and championed in both bodies."

Grant took up the role of Manager Industry and Regulatory Affairs at CLEAR Communications in December 1998 and continues in this role for TelstraClear today. In this role Grant is responsible for managing the development and articulation of TelstraClear's public policy position on matters to do with its relationship with the industry and government officials.

Prior to joining CLEAR, Grant held the position for five years as Chief Executive of TUANZ (The Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand Inc) instigating the call for greater competition in Telecommunications.

Grant has spent 13 years in the computer software industry. Initially working as a systems analyst for large corporations in the USA and England. Grant made the move to PCs, packaged software and general management upon returning to New Zealand where he worked for PAXUS. He left PAXUS to run, along with three others, his own software development and distribution company introducing unix open systems for PCs.

Grant has a BE from the University of Auckland, an MSCE from the University of Washington in Seattle and completed an Executive MBA at the University of Auckland in 1995.

© 2004 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated Thursday, 17-Mar-2005 17:01:16 NZDT