Hello,
Thought I’d blog today about the key responsibilities of the NED role, as many of you are asking me about my stance on particular issues etc.
I have personal views on many of the issues you’ve asked me about, such as multi-year registrations, the DRS, marketing support for registrars, WHOIS privacy, last year’s Nominet elections, credit control issues, etc. The registrars that are part of the UI Group and the registrars I work with at Sedo most definitely have individual opinions on specific policies. The domain investors that I work with as part of my work with Sedo and the PAB also hold individual and collective opinions in regards to specific Nominet policies. The one thing I can be sure about is that while some of those views will overlap, many of the opinions will be as divergent as Nominet’s own Membership.
The role of NED requires that candidates put aside personal viewpoints and regard issues strategically – considering them from the point of view of the multi-stakeholder community. So, for example, while I feel that WHOIS privacy is a very important part of data protection safeguarding for private individuals, there are other considerations – registrars lose out on vital revenue generation they could otherwise generate by providing bespoke WHOIS privacy services, the system is open to manipulation as trading entities pose as private individuals, consumers may be denied access to information they need to follow up on trade transactions, IP lawyers and brands waste resources on researching the correct owner details of infringing domains whose ownership is screened, potential domain buyers find it difficult to contact the owner directly, domain owners must be protected from data theft/mining; there are legal, governance and political considerations etc. etc.; and that is just one example.
The Board, including NEDs, must be independent and objective in considering policy and strategic issues – something I will do my utmost to uphold should you elect me. It is important that we all remember that it is not the remit of non-exec directors to micromanage Nominet’s operations and it is definitely not part of the job to pursue personal views or affiliations.
If elected, I will work to represent all Members’ feedback on issues such as those mentioned above and the multitude of other key topics that are part of all of our daily interaction with Nominet. I will, however, if elected, endeavour to especially provide feedback from the viewpoint of registrars, domainers or domain investors, international Members, New Media and the advertising industry. My overriding objective will be to regard issues strategically, with the ultimate goal of providing more rounded Membership feedback, as the recent governance review has pointed out is necessary, so that the .uk namespace can continue to benefit from effective self-regulation and a strong and stable .uk infrastructure.
I’ve included the key considerations of the job spec below from Nominet’s website with a description of how I feel my application meets them. Do you disagree? Would you like to see statements from me/other candidates about specific issues?as always, would be delighted to hear from you by email, phone or leave a comment here.
1. Contribution to Nominet strategy
As a Non-executive director, my MBA and experience in developing and implementing a highly successful strategy for Sedo in the UK would allow me to fill this responsibility very effectively. My experience with other TLDs (including ccTLDs), ICANN and other industry bodies gives me great insight into the external environment, which affects Nominet. As part of my role with Sedo and my volunteer role with Pilotlight, I am responsible with coming up with creative but effective strategic solutions to barriers to development and to “think outside the box”, or outside typically corporate limits.
2. Oversight
My background in operations and strategy development, as well as my formal MBA training enables me to work with key performance indicators in evaluating executive performance. If elected, I will fulfill this part of my role by working with the performance evaluation structure selected to support Nominet’s executive management in achieving the company’s vision and strategic objectives.
3. Networking
I have a large and varied network of contacts in the domain space – both in the UK and abroad. I speak fluent German as well as basic Spanish, Italian and French, which proves useful when networking at international events like ICANN and trade shows. I really enjoy meeting stakeholders as part of my role as Nominet PAB member and have attended many registrar lunches, member events and AGMs both in a private capacity and as PAB member, in order to connect with stakeholders of all backgrounds, to help me in providing rounded and well informed feedback to Nominet.
4. Audit
Part of the non-exec directors’ role is to ensure that the company’s accounts are a true and fair reflection of its actions and financial performance, that appropriate internal controls are put into place and are monitored satisfactorily. I am well equipped to carry out this duty – financial modelling was part of my MBA and I completed a brush-up course in strategic financial modelling in January, through Helmsley Fraser. These skills are used in my work at Sedo and in my not-for-profit work with Pilotlight – so I have experience of both corporate and NFP financial reporting.
5. Declaration of interests
Nominet maintains a register of directors’ interests, which is reviewed by the company’s auditors annually. As stated, I am of course, willing to declare all interests, not only in the register, but also on an ongoing basis at Board meetings, when and if, a potential conflict arises, as I do in my work with Nominet’s PAB.
