[bestbits] The 2 Best Bits candidates to the CSCG

[Niels ten Oever]

Dear all,

Thank you Nadira and the candidates for making themselves available for
this work.

One question to ask: does our definition of 'civil society' include
'social purpose companies'? I am asking this because Global Partners
Digital is a 'social purpose company' [0], and whereas for me that would
fall under the term 'civil society', there are several defintiions of
civil society which would exclude GPD on this basis.

If we're OK with counting social purpose companies as civil society, I'm
more than happy to support Sheetal's candidacy, having worked with her
in several fora.

Best,

Niels

[0] http://www.gp-digital.org/who-we-are/



On 08/23/2016 11:02 PM, Nadira Alaraj wrote:
> Dear Best Bits members,
> 
> The following 2 candidates expressed their interest on August 16^th &
> August 22^nd respectively, to the role of Best Bits representative to
> the CSCG. 
> 
>   * Poncelet Ileleji, Coordinator -The Gambia YMCAs Computer Training
>     Centre & Digital Studio
>   * Sheetal Kumar, Programme Manager | Global Partners Digital
> 
> /Note: their bios are included below./
> 
> Before forwarding the names to the current CSCG, I would like to ask you
> to support or question their candidacy of the voice of Best Bits in the
> following CSCG Procedures <http://internetgov-cs.org/procedures> by
> August 28^th .
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Nadira ALARAJ
> 
> Outgoing Representative of Best Bits
> 
> =====
> 
> _*Poncelet O. Ileleji bio:*_
> 
> Poncelet is a computer Scientist by Profession with 20 years in the
> field, he has been involved with the use of ICT as a tool for
> sustainable development both as a lecturer, researcher and consultant
> for the Gambia YMCAs, where he is the coordinator of the computer
> training centre and digital studio.  He has also served as consultant
> for several projects in Africa covering ICT for D, Learning,
> Technologies and Education, Internet Governance and Health Informatics. 
> He served also as an International Coordinator for the International
> YMCA of New York, International Camp Counselor Program; He also
> represents Computer Frontiers Inc in the Gambia.
> 
> Poncelet served as the country coordinator for the World Links program
> in the Gambia during the program life cycle in The Gambia from 2001 to
> 2005, The program was funded and initiated by the World Bank and it
> adopted a constructivist approach to teaching with ICT that emphasized a
> shift away from teacher-centered lecture-based instruction towards
> student-centered, project-based learning during the program life cycle
> from 2001 to 2005 in the Gambia.
> 
> He Is a member of the British Computer Society, and also a fellow of
> Mirandanet (www.mirandanet.ac.uk <http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk>) and an
> active member of the Association for Progressive Communication (APC).  
> He is a founding member of the Information Technology Association of the
> Gambia and was elected president of the Association in March 2010 is
> term ended in April 2014 (www.itag.gm <http://www.itag.gm>). He is also
> the national resource person for the West African Internet Governance
> Forum www.waigf.org <http://www.waigf.org> the Gambian Chapter and
> former board member of  Africa ICT alliance www.aficta.org
> <http://www.aficta.org> and  he is a member of the Internet Corporation
> for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) NPOC Constituency www.npoc.org
> <http://www.npoc.org>  serving presently as Policy Chair and
> representing NPOC on the Executive Committee of the Non Commercial
> Stakeholders Group (NCSG) of ICANN he has also served  on various ICANN
> working groups. He is an adviser to Ministry of Information
> Communication and Infrastructure, The Gambia  on the Gambian membership
> of  the Governmental Advisory Committee of ICANN. He also serves on
> the   Working Group for WG 3 – Privacy and Transparency Online for
> Freedom Coalition,
> https://www.freedomonlinecoalition.com/how-we-work/working-groups/working-group-3/  
> and also represents is organisation in the Open Data Charter as a
> Steward on the implementation committee, http://opendatacharter.net/
> 
> ---------------
> 
> _*Sheetal Kumar Bio:*_
> 
> Sheetal currently works at Global Partners Digital where she provides
> strategic oversight for an internet freedom programme to protect and
> promote human rights online. She is firmly committed to transparent and
> inclusive internet governance processes and has in the past year, been
> part of civil society advocacy at the WSIS+10 Review, where she
> participated in panels at the WSIS Forum and the Informal Interactive
> WSIS Stakeholder Consultation as well as at the IGF. She is also
> committed to facilitating regional-level advocacy efforts, including for
> example through the African Declaration Declaration for Internet Rights
> and Freedoms, having recently participated at a side session on internet
> rights at the NGO Forum to the ACHPR. As part of work to promote a
> greater diversity of voices and a human rights perspective in internet
> governance, she has overseen the publication of resources on
> cybersecurity policy and human rights, a resource of case studies on
> civil society participation in internet governance and an introduction
> to the UNHRC's UPR for human rights online.  Her involvement and direct
> engagement in processes has allowed her to gain a familiarity with the
> main issues and trends in internet policy and an understanding of the
> opportunities and challenges that the current internet governance system
> presents for public interest, human rights and civil society voices.
> 
> Sheetal holds an MSc in Media, Communications and Development from the
> London School of Economics and an MA in International Relations with
> French from the University of St Andrews. Her studies included global
> internet and communications policy, the evolution of the internet,
> communication for development, media in the global South and more
> broadly, theories relating to power, media and communications and
> technology.
> 
> Promoting participatory, inclusive and democratic policy processes, and
> developing effective communication across communities has always been
> the impetus of her work. Before joining GPD, Sheetal worked for the
> Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), managed communications
> for the Senegalese health organisation, Enda Santé and provided support
> to the Knowledge Management Department of UNESCO West Africa’s regional
> headquarters. In a previous life, she was an editor for an HIV/AIDS
> charity educational website and English language teacher.
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Niels ten Oever
Head of Digital

Article 19
www.article19.org

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