The Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society, PICISOC, is now holding its elections for new members to its board. The Chapter is looking to elect 7 members to take PICISOC forward. The format of election will see the top four candidates being elected onto the baord for 2 years while the next 3 will only serve for 1 year. Another opportunity will be given for newer board members to be elected for the final year of the life of the board. Board members are only elected for 2 year terms. The elected officials will meet immediately after the election to elect a Chair, a Treasurer, a Secretary and a Vice-Chair.
A total of 11 candidates have been nominated representing a wide range of experience and fields in IT. 1 late female candidate withdrawal means that only 2 females will be contesting for a place in the board. Angu Mangal has been an active member of PICISOC with most of her work done with the Women in IT working group and Internet Governance.
Les Allison returns with strong recommendation for the Treasurer’s position as position he has held for a long time. Franck Martin was instrumental along with former Chair, Rajnesh Singh, in helping to take PICISOC to where it is today. Andrew Molivurae represents the new brand of active PICISOC members, a member of the previous board Andrew also brings years of experience from Vanuatu.
Other candidates with strong background and active participation in PICISOC are David Leeming who has championed many IT initiatives in the Solomon Islands including the incredible growth of the PeopleFirst Network and the One Laptop Per Child initiative in the Solomon Islands. He now runs his own consultancy firm and is a strong favorite to make it into the board. Will Tibben works out of the University of Wollongong, Australia but takes an active interest in IT issues in the Pacific. He has strong background in radio broadcast.
Aisake Kora and Rakesh Chand who has an active interest in accessibility for disabled persons are candidates out of Fiji. Andrew Berquist an active PICISOC member out of American Samoa. Jimmy Son works out of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea while Maureen Hilyard is from the lovely Cook Islands.
A full bio of each candidate can be found on the PICISOC website.
As to where and for whom I am casting my vote. I am looking for experience and passion for IT development in the region. I am also interested in seeing a wide representation from candidates all over the Pacific so obviously some candidates out of Fiji will not be getting my vote.
Here is my pitch. If you are in IT or believe in the objectives of PICISOC, I encourage you to join. Its interesting, its sometimes boring but it is also a lot of fun. PacINET, PICISOC’s premier regional IT conference will be held in Port Vila 2010.