Donald Clark
InternetNZ works to ensure the Internet in New Zealand is open and uncaptureable. I would relish the chance to support the defence and furthering of this vision as a Councillor.
Already, since arriving in NZ 6 years ago, I have been fortunate in being able to make some contribution to this sector.
At DPMC (Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) I was the PM's telecommunications / ICT advisor (amongst other portfolios) and was deeply involved in the process that led to the separation of Telecom NZ.
I am now the inaugural Chief Executive of REANNZ, which owns and operates KAREN - the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network. KAREN has been operating for 18 months now and is passing over 180TB of data per month. Shortly we will start a trial connecting the country's schools and polytechs. We have also been chosen by the government as a vehicle for becoming an anchor tenant to secure a new trans-Tasman cable. Renewal investment in KAREN is forecast at over $40 million over the coming two years.
I am passionate about enabling new investment in open fibre infrastructure. All our KAREN policies and engagements are geared around this; as is our contribution to wider state sector efforts.
Whilst a chemical engineer by training, my work career has revolved around the nexus of technology and business. I believe I can bring to the Council a mixture of deep knowledge of government policy and regulatory issues, large scale commercial exposure to the national and international telco markets and, by nature of our work with KAREN, an understanding of global trends in network design and economics.
For examples of some of my recent activity see:
- Google Tech Talk (with Vint Cerf mainly asking the questions) [January 2008]
- analysis of the international advanced network environment and justification for KAREN in NZ [June 2008]
