Fellows 2014

as of 24 July 2014

Ramy Abdou, Egypt University of Edinburgh	Academic background: I hold a Bachelor degree in Engineering (Communications), Cape Breton University, Canada. I further hold an LLM in International and Comparative Law, Indiana University, USA. Currently I am enrolled in the LLM program in Innovation, Technology and the Law, University of Edinburgh, UK Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Internet governance is central issue to regulation and the way by which Social Media platforms process is under persistent scrutiny. Privacy, Copyrights and data protection are quintessential for the promotion of human rights.
Marília de Aguiar Monteiro, Brazil Ministry of Justice - Department of Consumer Protection	Academic background: Currently, Coordinator for the Information Society at the Department for Consumer Protection from the Ministry of Justice in Brazil. LL.B held by Getulio Vargas Foundantion School of Law in Rio de Janeiro with an interchange semester at the Institut d'Études Politique de LIlle and winter volunteer internship at the Alternative Law Forum, in Bangalore, India. Worked as researcher at the Brazilian Observatory on Digital Policies at the Center for Technology and Society (CTS-FGV). Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Currently working as Coordinator for the Information Society at the Ministry of Justice’s Department for Consumer Protection I deal every day with internet themes with regard of consumer protection, such as e-commerce, social networking, digital payment and privacy protection. With the past revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, Brazilian Public Administration has given international support for a multistakeholder, collaborative Internet Governance with intense protection of citizens’ rights and liberties. At the Ministry of Justice, our mission was to collaborate with the debate by redrafting the Data Protection Bill. Participating at the European South School on Internet Governance would provide me with a unique opportunity to engage in discussions with international players and their different problem solving approaches, an essential dialogue, since Internet issues are universal per se and collaborative approaches are the core Internet principal. The international experience has always been an important source of inspiration for us, e.g. dealing with deep impact inspection technologies and the protection of consumers. The multistakeholder and collaborative aspects of internet governance is of my special interest and for so, I have worked along with the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) on a project of the multistakeholder approach of the CGI.br with Port 25 Management, one of the first examples of a multistakeholder internet policy implementation. I have been interested by internet related policies since my graduation, being my final thesis an analyses of Brazilian Court decisions on internet intermediary liabilities and the Brazilian Civil Framework for the Internet. As a researcher for the Brazilian Observatory on Digital Policies in partnership with the CGI.br I have monitored and analyzed national and international policy debates for internet related issues that could influence the future of Brazilian internet innovation and development, with assertive contributions to the public debate.
Inam Ali, Jordan IT consultant	Academic background:I had bachelor degree in computer science, and have many professional certificates as Project Management Professional, Certified Information security Auditor. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: From NTIA announcement on Globalizing IANA functions to the upcoming Netmundial, Internet seems to be at the cross roads. And would be of great interest for me to participate in the Euro-SSIG to gain comprehensive learning and experience about Internet governance which I will be able to disseminate to local community. I’m working hard to engage with the global internet discussions to shape the future of the internet, and being from developing country I need to know more about Internet policy development and Internet Governance issues, after my humble participation in internet related meetings and forums (such as IGF2012, ICANN46, ICANN49, ArabIGFs) I realized that to have voice and be heard you have to be on the same level of knowledge, I really admire this fellowship program, it gives people -especially from developing countries- the chance to learn more about internet governance issues and help them to engage with the debates on a strong solid base. I do believe that during and through Euro-SSIG I will meet people with similar interest and passion who will helped me to expand my network, my knowledge, and to get answers to challenging that I have been considering
Yusif Amadu, Ghana University of Ghana	Academic background: BSc IT Multimedia Communication – Open University of Malaysia Diploma: Information Technology, Computer Applications- City & Guilds International - United Kingdom Certificate: eTechonology (Web Programming) - NIIT India Certificate: IT Service Management- Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Ghana Training of Trainers: LMS, eLearning Tools, UNIs – China Certificate: ICT for Dev’t, Education and Training – ICWE GmbH - Tanzania Certificate: Managerial Devt./ Report Writing and Presentation Skills -Management Dev. & Productivity Institute. – Ghana Certificate: IT Project Management -University of Ghana Certificate: Facilitation Skills –Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration - Ghana Certificate: Online Facilitation – KABISSA - USA Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Given the opportunity to participate at the Euro-SSIG, will help me as ICANN Fellow to get more insight on Internet governance and standards and also share the knowledge I have acquired with other participant. More so, the knowledge I will acquire will help me to continue write articles on Internet Governance on University of Ghana mailing list which has about 3000 subscribers and my blog, invite more participants to my Facebook Internet Governance group, share the knowledge acquired with my other IT colleagues and my students. I will also organize workshops for other IT professionals in other Universities in Ghana. I have created a Facebook group on Internet Governance (Know more about how internet governce, ICANN "Break fast" ) with about 300 subscribers, I post articles on internet governance, ICANN News etc. After the fellowship, I have organized Training of Trainers workshop on ICANN and Internet Governance with my colleagues, I have reviewed the training materials we use in our training for students and staff, and included topics like: Who Runs the Internet?, What Does ICANN Do?, DNS and DNSSEC, Registry, Registrar and Registrant ect. I organized Internet Governance training program for some selected staff in my University.
Maha Amasheh, Germany Hostserver	Academic background: Magister of arabic, islamic and middleage Studies Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I started working in the Domainservice business, so i am required to get knowlege about internet governance and what changes are made.
Mark Buell, Canada Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)	Academic background: Bachelor of Arts; Advanced Diploma, Public Relations Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: As the Senior Communications Advisor at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the registry for the .CA top-level domain, I provide communications advice and analysis on international Internet governance issues to the organization's CEO and senior management team. By participating in the SSIG, I believe I will gain a deeper understanding of the institutions and processes that govern the Internet, thereby enabling me to perform better.
Tyko Dirksmeyer, Germany German Research Institute for Public Administration	Academic background: I studied linguistics, political science and philosophy for my first master's degree, and I am currently writing up my PhD dissertation on a language spoken in two villages of Nepal. Over the coming year, I will be pursuing an additional master's in public policy, focusing on inclusive global governance and its potential for development. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Internet governance is the field where many of my interests converge: In my work as a consultant for public institutions in Germany at the local, state and federal levels on participatory governance as well as information and communication management, "e-issues" regularly come up, as do questions of how the infrastructure is organized that everybody has come to rely upon. Stints in the diplomatic arena and as a representative of various groups in multi-stakeholder settings have taught me how difficult it is to arrive at mutually agreeable solutions to common problems when perspectives and objectives differ. Studying and working in a number of places around the world, I have observed both the unifying and promotive powers of the Internet as well as the divisive and restraining forces where barriers to accessibility hinder the free flow of ideas. Participation in Euro-SSIG will help me integrate various bits and pieces of information about Internet governance I have gathered along the way into a coherent picture, and provide me with a unique opportunity to meet people from around the world who share the desire to work on the future of global communication infrastructure together.
Enton Drogu, Albania Stockholm University	Academic background: I have graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana, Albania. I am currently studying LLM in Law and IT at Stockholm University. I am a scholarship holder of the Swedish Institute (SI) and member of SI Network for Future Global Leaders. During the academic years 2009 - 2011 I have studied two master programs. The first one, during the academic year 2009-2010, MA in European Studies - Public and Private Management (at Bremen University of Applied Sciences) and the second one, during the academic year 2010 - 2011, Master of Business Law in Business Competition and Regulatory Law (at Freie Universitat Berlin). I have 10 years of work experience in public institutions and private companies. I am a member of the Albanian National Bar Association. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a significant impact for the society. It has been a transformative force for individuals, businesses and governments. By introducing new processes and technologies, its continuously advanced innovations have a significant impact on our every day life. The ICT has driven social, economic and legal challenges seeking progress and efficient productivity around the world. Therefore, I am very much interested in issues related to the internet. The program you are offering is very interesting. It represents the role of the internet seen from the perspective of individuals, businesses and institutions dealing with the internet related matters. In addition of giving an overview of the present situation, the program includes challenges for the future, which leads to very interesting discussions and longsighted views. It would be a great opportunity for me to share my knowledge in the area in questions and learn more from the lectures and discussions that will be held.
Juan Du, China Hong Kong Baptist Univeristy	Academic background: I am now studying communication in Hong Kong Baptist University as a Ph.D student, and my research areas are social media and Internet governance, especially in the Chinese context. Before that, I studied in East China University of Political Science and Law, and received the Master Degree of Law in Intellectual Property, and the Bachelor Degree of Law in Economic Law. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: One of my major research areas is Internet governance. My current research is about how the Chinese government uses comprehensive measures to construct a panoptic mechanism to control the Internet. On this basis, I want to further investigate how can other stakeholders participate in the process of governance, and how can the networked individuals empower themselves in the digital age. So I think the Euro-SSIG will offer me a precious opportunity to study, to think, and to communicate with people from different stakeholder groups and backgrounds.
Daniel Fink, Brazil Manager Stakeholder Relations for ICANN	Academic background: PhD in Management Science. KAIST, Republic of Korea, 2013 Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: The Euro-SSIG program will provide a very important background on IG issues and help me to get ready for future activities in the field.
Barbara Giovine, Italy Lawyer	Academic background: 1998 International School of English in Exeter (UK) (got Cambridge First Certificate in English) 1999 University of Santa Barbara (California) English Summer School 2006 Bachelor degree in Law (University of Padua, Italy) with an issue about E-signature in Italian legal order 2012 Became a Solicitor 2013 founded a Law firm (iannuzzigiovine.it) Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Since I was a student I've used the Internet for studying and for amusement. I've always been conscious that Internet is a fundamental resource for people life and professional activity since it provides immediate connection and information before every other media or other technological instrument. I recently matured a strong curiosity on the Internet architecture hidden behind world wide web appearent frontline, asking me who really runs the Internet. So I started researching on Internet Governance and I gained a lot of information on the net structure, on Internet Domain Name System, on ICANN's role and on fundamental issues connected with this multistakeholder network. Now I would like to learn more. While I was looking for a summer school where I can have an insight on Internet Governance, I realized the EURO SSIG is what I need. I listened to past years alumni's experiences. I am so fascinated by this school because it is attended by the Internet governance major experts and students from all over the world.
Ana Kakalashvili, Georgia Tbilisi State University	Academic background: 2010-ongoing - Law student at Tbilisi State University (Bachelor, 3rd year) focusing on the subjects of FOI, Human Rights, e-governance, copyright/IP. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I’m interested to participate at Euro-SSIG because of my great interest for Internet Governance. I’m active in Internet Governance for the past 3 years. During this period I have attended 3 EuroDIG conferences as a representative of youth and participated in ArabIGF as a speaker. I’m lobbying for stronger youth voices in IG processes. Since I got involved in IG processes, I started specializing within my law studies in the direction of Internet. Besides that, I’m a member of ISOC Georgia Chapter since 2014; I served as a coordinator of Digital Rights Working Group at Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) and I’m currently working as a web-administrator and social media manager in two NGO’s of Georgia. For me it’s very important to attend an IG orientated academic course that covers various dimensions of IG as only this way I can get an extensive knowledge on many different aspects of IG and go into more depth of it. This knowledge and experience would be very beneficial for me as am soon undertaking a research on one of IG topics for my graduation in 2014. My motivation to attend Euro-SSIG is that for people like me, interested in IG, such an opportunity isn’t available in my country. Neither is enough for me to only attend IG conferences in order to comprehensively understand global IG discussion. Although, I might be young compared with other fellows of Euro-SSIG, I’d be more than glad to be a part of Euro-SSIG this year in Germany as a young female participator.
Sandra Lettenbichler, Austria nic.at	Academic background: Bachelor's Degree from the Management Center Innsbruck Abroad modules at the Asian Institute of Management and at San Francisco City College Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: With my work at nic.at I am regularly exposed to discussions and inquiries regarding Internet Governance and Policy. To fully understand that topic and form my own point of view, it is important to understand an learn about the role of different stakeholder and also the various implementation possibilities.
Kathrin Merkle, Germany Council of Europe	Academic background: MA Sociology, Political Science and Education Science; University of Heidelberg (1989) HERTIE School of Governance, Berlin: Executive seminar on Public Sector Modernisation (2012) Teaching European Cultural Policy at the University of Strasbourg (since 2008) Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Responsible for the follow-up of the 2013 Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Culture that launched an Action Plan suggesting the creation of a platform for exchange of experiences and good practices for policy makers, practitioners and civil society on the impact of digitisation on culture and to study common European orientations.
Christopher Mondini, United States of America ICANN	Academic background: I hold a Masters Degree in International Economics and European Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Bologna Italy and Washington DC. I earned my undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, in International Law and Politics. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I wish to attend in order to solidify my knowledge of the history, theory and prospects for Internet governance, as I am increasingly asked to represent these views on behalf of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. I am responsible for engagement with all categories of stakeholder at ICANN, though I have worked in Internet governance issues per se for only two years. I have a lot of experience with corporate governance and technology multinational companies, and an academic foundation in international relations. I believe that the program will give me a solid foundation of knowledge, an important credential to establish my bona fides, and an opportunity to build relationships with fellow students and faculty. It will firmly link me to a growing cohort of individuals from diverse sectors examining these issues and advancing the field of Internet governance. I am eager to learn and contribute, and will do my best to bring my team building and facilitation skills to bear in a way that I hope results in mutual benefit among all participants.
Sofia Morales, Mexico National University of Singapore	Academic background: LLB National University Autonomous of Mexico LLM in Intellectual Property and IT Law at National University of Singapore Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and New Media, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. National University of Singapore since 2005 Researching areas: Perception of Surveillance (Lateral surveillance) and Intellectual Property Rigths in the digital world. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I am interested to participate in this course because I want to have the possibility to be close to the real actors of the governance process and acquire a more practical perspective than just the academic approach. As coordinator of the module "Governance and New Media" at the National University of Singapore, I feel the responsibility to fully understand the governance process, consolidate my knowledge, have a clearer standpoint and an updated vision of recent trends. All this, with the purpose to develop the curriculum to transmit the students the most current content and generate more interest and awareness, as well as foster their active participation in this crucial and interesting process. On the other hand, I want to discover new areas of research related to governance.
Jenny Oelbermann, Germany Institute of Legal Information Technology at the Leibniz University Hannover	Academic background: I studied law at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg from 2002 to 2008. In 2008 I completed my First State Examination. After absolving my legal apprenticeship in the Regional Court of Offenburg in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg (2008 to 2010), I passed my bar exam in 2010. From 2010 to 2011 I took part in the LL.M. Masters program “Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law” held by the Institute of Legal Information Technology at the Leibniz University Hannover also known as EULISP. Currently I am working at the notary`s office “Huhn, Siebert + Stehle”. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I’m especially interested in domains. The domain is a symbol for the content of a website. The first domain was “symbolics.com” in 1985. Because information on the internet grows exponentially and the average user only gives attention to the first three sites of search engine results, the information architecture of the internet must be improved. A solution for arranging information are websites of generic second level domains like “musik.de”, if the websites are linked to related websites, which also belong to the meaning of the generic term. The related websites of the domain “musik.de” are for example websites which sell music or give information about music. If the generic domain is connected to websites belonging to the meaning of the generic term, the generic domain name evolves the entire meaning. Concerning the future of domains of country code TLDs, the state should link related websites, belonging to the same TLD and the state should have the pre-emption right for the domain or a part of the domain for setting links to related websites, because of public interest in a good information architecture.
Mariia Parubets, Ukraine University of Hamburg	Academic background: My background is in law, with my bachelor degree obtained from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) and my LL.M in Intellectual Property and Knowledge Management from the Maastricht University. My master thesis was devoted to domain name disputes and UDRP. Currently I proceed with PhD in Law and Economics at the Hamburg University, my research focus is IPR protection in internet and rationale behind it. I participated in number of events linking IPRs and internet, privacy and internet, including IT camps, courses (e.g. “Law and Information Society in Europe”), relevant seminars and lectures at Maastricht University, Vienna University and Bucerius Law School. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I am convinced that Euro-SIGG can be beneficial for me personally as well as to future work in the field of internet governance in my home country. Currently I am conducting a research connected to intellectual property protection in internet, its rationale, limits, and regulatory competition of the systems of protection. I strongly believe that Euro-SIGG will contribute to my understanding of political decisions, technical processes and economic justification, which stand behind recent changes (like new gTLDs expansion) and enlighten regarding future developments. Besides contributing by its content, Euro-SIGG promises to be a useful networking event. I look forward to getting to know opinion of people from professional and national backgrounds different from mine on topic of my research as well as other up-to-date issues connected to the future of internet. I also think all these connections can be very useful when it comes to comparative part of my research and expert interviews. From the perspective of the country of my origin, I believe it is important to enhance understanding of Ukrainians of the importance of processes happening in the field of internet governance, especially now, and I would like to become an additional linking point between Ukrainian civil society and European internet governance community.
Valentina Pavel, Romania The Association for Technology and Internet	Academic background: During my Bachelor degree in Law at the University of Bucharest and my master programme in Law and Technology at Tilburg University, the Netherlands I gained strong knowledge about IT regulations, especially intellectual property, electronic commerce and privacy. I performed individual research and wrote different articles on Internet related issues such as a master thesis in cloud computing and the regulatory framework for telecommunications and information society services - where important chapters were dedicated to privacy and electronic communications, data retention and the analysis of the proposed General Regulation on Data Protection. I am still active on an academic level by taking part in different research projects. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Given the recent IANA transition announcement and the trend to globalize ICANN, I think Euro-SSIG will help me gain more in depth knowledge about the complexity of relationships involved and contribute to building up more capacity for me to be able to participate in the future of IG and multistakeholder model debate. Following my recent ICANN Fellowship for attending the Singapore meeting, I believe I now have a general overview of the current issues and challenges, however I would like to be able to build a comprehensive mind map of all the dimensions of IG and improve my knowledge about the technical operations and functions and their policy impact. At the same time, I am interested in understanding how the domain name market works and what are the reasons different counties chose to operate gTLD and ccTLD either by the same body (such as in Romania for example) or by separate bodies. Moreover, I am particularly interested in understanding the connection and nature of relationship between ISOC, IETF, IAB and to learn more about the different IG forum meetings worldwide. Additionally, I will be curios to discuss different conclusions and opinions after NETmundial and exchange ideas about possible multistakeholder mechanisms together with the other participants.
Stephanie Perrin, Canada University of Toronto	Academic background: I have a BA, Honours, and a Masters degree, and am currently a PhD student at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. My research area is why privacy enhancing technologies are not implemented. I am also a member of the Experts Working Group at ICANN, and have spent my federal government career (30 years) in information policy, particularly privacy. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I am interested in doing my research at ICANN, using an ethnographic approach to study the actors in the network, in the context of why privacy policy and technological approaches have been so difficult to implement. I am currently reading on Internet governance, and I believe this would be an excellent opportunity to discuss with experts and with other interested in the topic, some ideas about where Internet governance could be heading. I have also just been nominated as a civil society representative to the planning committee for the Brazil meeting, and since I doubt that this meeting will resolve all the issues, I think that this summer school would help me understand the topic much better. This should enable me to serve the civil society community better. It looks like fun too! I have no funding for this, so the student discount would be much appreciated.
Rachel Pollack, United States of America UNESCO / Oxford Internet Institute	Academic background: I hold a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and a Master of Social Sciences from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. In fall 2014, I will begin an MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: My academic and career interests lie in the intersection of the Internet and human rights. At UNESCO, I have been able to promote freedom of expression online through working on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+10 review process and the Internet Governance Forum, as well as research projects such as the recent publication 'World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development' and a new comprehensive study on the Internet, which is currently underway. I would like to participate in the Euro-SSIG because it would allow me to further develop my knowledge and expertise of Internet governance issues, while also connecting with other academics and practitioners from around the region with shared interests.
Plamena Popova, Bulgaria University of Library Studies and IT (UniBIT)	Academic background: Master degree in Law (2003) – Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Doctor of Intellectual Property Law (2009) – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, (Subject of dissertation - “Copyright Law and Architectural Works”) Visiting Fellowship (2010) – Columbia University in the City of New York (Subject of research project – “Google Books Library Project and Europeana: Comparison in Copyright Law Perspective”) IFLA CLM (Copyright and other Legal Matters) Committee Member (2011) Research interests – Copyright Law, Internet Governance, Cybersecurity, Trademarks Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I would like to be part of Euro-SSIG 2014 mainly on the following reasons: In the current academic year was initiated the development of academic course, addressing the issues of Internet governance (developed in cooperation with ICANN). I believe that my attendance at Euro-SSIG shall be beneficial to the development of the said course with respect to development of curricula, eventual involvement of lecturers, further improvements and exchange of ideas. I am a representative of UniBIT (member of EURALO since 2013). In a view of the upcoming EuroDIG 2015 that shall take in Bulgaria I consider my eventual participation as an opportunity for further involvement/engagement in the relevant processes. Of course, I consider my participation (if chosen) in Euro-SSIG as a great opportunity for personal improvement in the knowledge’ area, subject to this program. In general, I consider Euro-SSIG as a great opportunity which comes in the perfectly right time for me (and the relevant ALs – UniBIT).
Lucile Ravasse, France Afnic	Academic background: Master of science in management, Major in Marketing; HEC Paris Business School (graduated in 2009) Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: One year ago i decided to join Afnic as marketing manager. I did not know anything about the domain name industry but i wanted to discover the Internet throw a really challenging job. With a year of experience in this Industry i am now fully convinced that i did the right choice, especially because the environnment is thrilling. Getting the opportunity to participate to your program would allow me to improve my skills and knowledge about the Internet governance, which is maybe one the major stake of our industry today. Besides, as a Tld marketing manager, i need to understand and anticipate what the Internet will look like in 3, 5 or even 10 years. Understanding the different aspects of the Internet governance will concretely help me in my every day job.
Sami Saadaoui, Tunisia ISOC Tunisia Chapter	Academic background:I hold a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering with honors, and an MBA & M.Sc in information technology from CARTHAGE university. I currently completing a PhD focused on Data Strategy and Governance at CARTHAGE University I am a Civil Society Activist : member of ISOC Tunisia Chapter, active member of the ICANN At-large Community member of ICANN Capacity Building Activities Task Force Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I want to explore more in-depth aspects related to Internet Governance, including topics and issues related to the infrastructure and critical Internet resources, cybersecurity, Human Rights and privacy issues, and the freedoms of expression and information. I think that the 8 th European Summer School on Internet Governance will offer in-depth courses that provide deeper understanding of a particular issue and areas of importance in Internet Governance, and their impact on my country & my region (Tunisia MENA region , Africa...)
Valentina Scialpi, Italy City University of Hong Kong	Academic background: I hold a BA in Political Science and a MA in International Relations, both from the University of Roma Tre, in Italy. I specialized on Internet governance, censorship and freedom of expression. Currently I am a PhD research student in the Department of Media and Communication at the City University of Hong Kong. My research focus is new media policy and ICT for development and democracy. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: I am interested in partcipating at the Euro-SSIG because Internet governance in one of the main focus of my research interests. I read the program of the Summer School and I found it very relevant to my research area.
Kateřina Slavíková, Czech Republic CZ.NIC	Academic background: My academic background is surprisingly in a veterinary. This demonstrates that Internet can offer great opportunities for all and the formal education represents only one of the success factors. I started to work for CZ.NIC, national domain name registry in the Czech Republic, more than 2 years ago. My first introduction with domain name world was on “customers support” answering various questions from domain name holders. After 6 months I´ve joined marketing department. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Marketing in CZ.NIC, similar to other national domain name registry, is not only about selling domains, but also about the whole Internet eco-system and various CSR activities. One of the biggest and the most successful CZ.NIC campaigns was “Jak na Internet” (How to use the Internet) – already 100 short educational movies were focused on various aspects and benefits of the Internet. Taking part in Euro SSIG, I can expand my current view and understand Internet and the whole environment more deeply. I´m looking forward especially to presentations from the other national domain name registries and meeting colleagues from other NIC, speak together and find inspiration for my further work.
Aliki Xu, China Goldsmiths College, University of London	Academic background: I graduated from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China in 2013 with a BA degree in Pedagogy. I have since then been studying in Goldsmiths, University of London for a MA degree in Global Media and Transnational Communications. Please explain why you are interested to participate at the Euro-SSIG: Because I am interested to find out more about the multiple factors that are at stake when it comes to Internet and Internet governance, the geopolitical, economic, social and cultural, the technical and the material. As I literally crossed the Great Firewall of China and landed in the other side in 2013, I also became interested in issues such as the digital divide, and online human rights, particularly in relation to freedom of expression.