Rinalia Abdul Rahim


Organization:	Internet Society
Country:	Malaysia
LinkedIn:	Rinalia Abdul Rahim

Rinalia Abdul Rahim is joining the Internet Society as the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Implementation on 1 January 2018.^[1] She has over 20 years experience in ICT for development and previously served as an ICANN board member from 2014 to 2017. ^[2]

Biography[edit | edit source]

Rinalia earned her bachelor's degree in political science from Princeton University and her master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has held a variety of roles, including: Member of the Wawasan Open University Council/Board of Governors; Member of the National Information Technology Council by appointment of the Prime Minister; Executive Council Member of the Internet Society Malaysia Chapter; and Advisor to the Youth Social Enterprise Initiative and Member of the International Advisory Panel for the UNDP Asia Pacific Development Information Programme. She has also served as Vice Chair of the Global Action Network Council, Member of the Technical Advisory Group for the World Economic Forum-UNESCO Partnership for Education initiative, Strategy Council Member and High Level Advisor for the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, and Advisor to the International Task Force on Women and ICT.^[2]

From 1997 to 2000, Rinalia served as policy technologist for the Malaysian government entity known as MIMOS Berhad. According to ICANN, "Her public policy responsibilities involved developing ICT strategies, policies and programs for national development as well as institutionalizing the multistakeholder consultation approach to policy-making. She also engaged the international development community to explore global mechanisms for nurturing pioneering 'ICT for development' (ICT4D) initiatives and for building capacity in the developing world."^[2] From 2001 to 2008, she was executive director of Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP). During her tenure, the GKP Secretariat moved from the World Bank Institute and became a registered non-profit organization in Malaysia.^[2]

ICANN Activities[edit | edit source]

Member, ICANN Board (2014–2017)
Member, Task Force on Arabic IDNs, an initiative of the ICANN Middle East Strategy Working Group (2013 – present)
Member, Arabic Generation Panel for the Internet Root Zone Label Generation Rules Project (2014 – present)
Member, At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) by appointment of the ICANN Nominating Committee (2011–2013)
Member, ALAC Executive Committee/Leadership Team, ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee (2011–2013)
Co-Chair, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Regional At-Large Organization ICANN 46 Beijing Organizing Committee (2013)
Chair, ICANN Accountability and Transparency Review Team 2 ALAC Candidate Endorsement Committee (2012–2013)
Convenor, At-Large Multistakeholder Policy Roundtables at ICANN 46 (Beijing) and ICANN 47 (Durban) Meetings (2013)
Member, ICANN At-Large Finance and Budget Sub-Committee (2011–2012)
Co-Chair, ICANN At-Large Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Working Group (2012–2014)
Official Observer, ICANN IDN Variant TLD Program Project 2.1 on Development of Label Generation Ruleset Process for the DNS Root Zone (2012–2013)