Satish Babu

Country:	India
Email:	sbabu [at] ieee.org
LinkedIn:	Satish Babu
Twitter:	@satish_babu

Satish Babu is a past President of the Computer Society of India, where he held charge during 2012-13. During his tenure, he was instrumental in making CSI an At-Large Structure of ICANN. He was the Founding Director of the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software, working there from 2011 through 2015 while on his Sabbatical. He is also the Founder-Chair of ISOC India Trivandrum Chapter (ISOC-TRV). Satish was elected as the Chair of the Asia-Pacific School on Internet Governance (APSIG) in July 2019.

Satish was elected to the ICANN NomCom in June 2014, and successfully completed two terms in the NomCom (2014, 2015). He is a Co-Chair of the ALAC Working Group on IDNs. He was a Vice Chair of APRALO during 2014-16, was elected as APRALO Chair in Sep 2016, and re-elected in May 2018. He was a member of working groups such as the Meeting Strategy Working Group and several ATLAS-II related WGs. He is also the Co-Chair on the ALAC Committee on the Global Public Interest.

Satish is associated with IEEE in various capacities, ISOC, IGF (which he has been attending since 2009) and several NGOs, particularly those dealing with Disaster Response & Resilience and livelihoods development. He is an early user and advocate of the Internet, having used it since 1993. He set up and ran FishNet (fishnet.frlht.ernet.in), one of the earliest free email services in India, in 1994.

Satish is a founder and key organizer of the India School of Internet Governance (https://insig.in), which has been organized in 2016 (Hyderabad) and 2017 (Trivandrum). The 3rd edition of inSIG2018 is scheduled for 13-15 October 2018 at India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi. Fture editions are scheduled for Kolkata (2019) and Mumbai (2020).

Other Positions Held

• Past President of the South East Asian Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC)
• Member, IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee (2017, 2018)
• Member and Secretary, ISOC Chapter Advisory Committee Steering Committee (2018)
• Participant in IGF since 2009, and presenter of workshops in multiple years
• First Chair of the IEEE Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technologies (SIGHT, 2012-13)
• Member of MGA Board, IEEE Computer Society (2013)
• Member NomCom, IEEE Computer Society (2012)
• Asia-Pacific Cordinator, Geographic Activities, IEEE Computer Society (2009-2013)
• Chair, Distinguished Visitor Program, IEEE Computer Society (2012,2013)
• Member of Internet Society since 2009, and Founding-Chair of ISOC India Trivandrum Chapter

Interests and Prior Jobs

• Promoter and President, InApp Information Technologies , 1999-
• Founder-Director, International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), 2011-2015
• Executive & Chief Executive, South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), 1984-1999. SIFFS is an NGO of small-scale artisanal fishers of South India.
• Worked with several social initiatives and NGOs in the early part of career (1984-1999). Later, during 2005-2007, worked in the civil society response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in its rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction phases in Kerala and Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu in South India

Controversy 

In 2020, DotAsia, its CEO Edmon Chung, and directors Maureen Hilyard, Satish Babu, Lim Choon Sai, Atsushi Endo, and Lianna Galstyan were sued by DotPH over the .SPA Top Level Domain. 

A full profile is available in Wikipedia.

Internet Society

Nominating Committee

At-Large Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN related to the interests of individual Internet users (ICANN Bylaws). Not to be confused with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Internet Governance Forum