Sophia Bekele

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Ms. Sophia Bekele is an entrepreneur, business executive, ICT activist, and international policy adviser on ICT/Telcom to public and private enterprise. She is the founder and CEO of CBS International and DotConnectAfrica.

She was also the founder and CEO of CBS International, a private California-based firm engaged in technology transfer to emerging economies, and SbCommunications Network, an Ethiopian IT company. In 2002 SbCNet was known for being successfully awarded a highly controversial bid for a government contract to build an integrated information network infrastructure for the Ethiopian Parliament. Bekele was also an elected member of the ICANN Council of the GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization), which advises on global internet policy. She has served on United Nations-sponsored committees, such as the UNECA-sponsored African Information Society Initiative (AISI), where she represents the private sector in discussions about the economic development of Africa. She is also involved with the creation of policies towards bridging the economic gap between Africa and other economies, through the use of Information and communication technologies (ICT).

Early life and Family

Bekele is the daughter of Ato Bekele Eshete Wolde Michael, a businessman who was engaged in various sectors of the Ethiopian economy, also a founder and Board Director of United Bank,S.C and United Insurance,S.C one of the first and largest Banks and Insurance institutions in Ethiopia and Sister Mulualem Beyene Engida, a medical nurse. She attended a private Catholic high school, then traveled to America to acquire her Higher education.

Career

After coming to the US, she studied and acquired her Bachelor's Degree in Business Analysis and Information Systems at San Francisco State University. Recruited out of college by Bank of America, she began working in information security. She earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in management Information Systems from Golden Gate University, also in San Francisco, California, which led to managerial positions with UnionBanCal Corporation and then PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

International Work

In 1998, Bekele left the corporate world and spent time traveling around the globe, visiting Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa, before launching a new career as an entrepreneur.

Bekele quickly moved on to entrepreneurship by starting-up and building a technology supply and integration company that successfully delivered on important information and communications technology projects for an inter-governmental organization and a national government institution in Ethiopia. Bekele set up CBS International, a company based in California, as a private technology supplier to various clients, including value-added resellers with a mission to transfer technology to emerging economies including Africa. As an affiliate of CBS International, Bekele also set up a local company in her home country of Ethiopia, SbCommunications Network, plc, (SbCnet) specializing in systems integration and dedicated to provide technology integration and support services.

During her first two years in Africa, Bekele built business alliances with local and international firms, where she became known for her efforts to adapt Western business methods and practices into the traditional Ethiopian business model. Her efforts paid off when Bekele, as President/CEO brought and won her first multi-million international contract to deploy a turnkey large technology supply and integration services contract to build a state-of-the-art fibre optic ICT infrastructure for the Organization for African Unity (OAU) which has since been transformed to the African Union headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.. The ICT project that Ms. Bekele delivered for the African continental organization provides high-speed network infrastructural access and data services to a large number of users working at the African Union Commission headquarters campus site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The project was funded under a United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) project that was designed to build the capacity of the African inter-governmental organization. Furthermore, the supervisory authority was the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Through the AU data networking infrastructure project, Ms. Bekele gained valuable experience working with the United Nations and its affiliates, as a technology vendor and service provider and important inter-relationships.

Following the success of the AU ICT project, Ms. Bekele's using her local company SbCnet in Ethiopia, arranged a strategic partnership with Dimension Data Holdings of South Africa to bid on the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia House of Peoples' Representatives Ethiopian Parliament data networking infrastructure supply, installation and commissioning project. She won the international competitive bid (ICB) and was awarded a multi million dollar international contract for the implementation of an integrated data networking infrastructure project and entered into contract with the Ethiopian federal government, to deliver and implement the parliamentary information systems networking project. This project involves the delivery of a fully-redundant optic fibre network infrastructure is based on CISCO and advanced cabling infrastructure within a campus network environment, with Broadband Internet Access. Ms. Bekele as Supplier's Project Director managed a multi-national team of experts and oversaw the foreign procurement of various technology goods from a network of suppliers arranged through her US-based CBS International. Through the strategic partnership that Bekele established, the network cabling infrastructure was implemented to the most exacting world-class standards by Sbcnet and Dimension Data Advanced Infrastructure, a service unit of the global Dimension Data Holdings of South Africa."
The Ethiopian business weekly, Addis Fortune, referred to it as the most controversial contract that the government had. Originally awarded to Bekele's competitor GCS in 2001, Bekele's company, which had been second on the list, issued immediate complaints. Reportedly with aggressive lobbying by Bekele, the bid was audited, and it was determined that the awarding of the contract had been improper, and the Parliament reversed the decision and awarded the bid to Bekele's company in 2002.

"It is almost possible to assume that the private press has, for all practical intentions narrowed down on the 'sensationalist' value of the story without considering the core values of the process at stake and the precedent setting process at work in this matter. Precedence is being set, because this is the first time since the renaissance of our democracy that an illegally awarded contract on a national scale project has been successfully suspended, cancelled and reversed in the interest of higher ideals.
Sophia Bekele, writing a May 2002 opinion column in the Addis Fortune, "

With these registered successes in ICT project delivery, Ms. Bekele was appointed by H.E. K.Y. Amoako, then Executive Secretary of the UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to serve on the Advisory Technical Board (ATAC) of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) that advised the UN Under-Secretary General of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on building a new information society for Africa. This ATAC formulated policy and provided policy guidance and direction especially on how to reduce the digital divide between the developed countries of the West and Africa. The increasing penetration of ICT’s and widespread adoption of digital technologies into Africa is due to the deregulated and liberalized policy environment established in various African countries, which could be rightly credited, in part to the positive impact of the work of the AISI-ATAC since 2000. Ms. Bekele co-authored the 'Common Position for Africa's Digital Inclusion', which was developed in response to the ECA Conference of Minister's Resolution 812 (XXXI). The 'Common Position' was a blueprint that reflected Africa's ICT position communicated to various global forums such as the G8 DOT Force, United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN Task Force), World Economic Forum, New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiatives, etc. Her ATAC work at the UNECA provided Ms. Bekele with useful experience on how to harness the potential of digital technologies in the aid of socio-economic development. She has continued to use this identifying framework for future ICT projects and activities that are geared towards building a 21st-century e-enabled society in Africa.

After the contracting controversy with the Ethiopian Parliament, Bekele's next encounter was the issue of the elite private sector business in Ethiopia, specifically what she regarded as the illegitimate formation of a stock exchange. She wrote an editorial claiming that this entity was planned without the proper rules, regulations, infrastructure and controls:

"it is better for us to have a proper open stock market where market forces determine the price of a share and security instruments...and should not be left to the machinations of a Share Dealing Group...the truth of the matter is that Addis Ababa Chamber of commerce cannot be both the sponsor and the regulator (oversight) according to the by-laws of the group... Government is the only agency that could put the regulatory frameworks and principles under which a proper stock exchange or commodities exchange can exist.|source=-Sophia Bekele, writing a June 2002 opinion column in the "Addis Fortune", "

To her vindication, the government eventually rejected the proposal for the share dealing group in November 2002. As a followup, though there was no direct link with Bekele, in April 2008 the Ethiopian government launched a commodities exchange market, aimed at boosting fair trade and stabilizing its food market.

Following service in the AISI Steering Committee, Ms. Bekele was elected to the gNSO Policy Advisory Board of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) through the Nominating Committee Selection in December 2005,, an internationally organized private-public partnership with the mission of Internet governance, promotion of competition, and the achievement of broad representation of global e-communities within the Internet; and development of global policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus based processes.

Focusing in the US market since 2003, Bekele and her companies consulted for clients in public/private markets, primarily in corporate governance and risk management areas, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. She also advised in corporate relations/communications programs within public companies.

Currently, Bekele's focus is on the .africa – a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) for the Africa geographic name that she initiated during her appointment at ICANN. The project will be introduced and delegated for operation under ICANN’s new gTLD programme. Bekele travels globally for her work and shuttles regularly between her residences in Walnut Creek, California and Africa, where she also has a firm base.

ICANN Work

Ms. Bekele was nominated to serve on ICANN's GNSO policy board from 2005-2007, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Vinton Cerf. Elected by the NomCom, Sophia was the first African to serve and hold a seat the GNSO. During her tenure, Sophia was instrumental in initiating policy dialogue over IDNs as well as the formation of an IDN working group. She was later credited for championing the inclusion of the global IDN community within this policy dialogue. As a result, Ms. Bekele was also nominated to chair ICANN's IDN Working Group. She was one of the co-authors of ICANN's IDN policy guidelines.

Ms. Bekele initiated the formation of the AfriICANN grouping within ICANN.

Sophia also initiated the first African-run bid for a .africa TLD, and is currently championing it across Africa under the non-profit, public-private partnership organization [DotConnectAfrica]. Her organization has been endorsed by various prominent Pan-African organizations and African governments.

Championing the International Domain Name (IDN) Policy

As a gNSO adviser to ICANN Bekele participated actively in policy development for IDNs and campaigned and championed the efforts to introduce IDNs in the ICANN policy dialog. Bekele successfully made the case at ICANN on behalf of the global IDN community. In a written Testimonial, and on behalf of the group

"Bekele was very influential in drafting the IDN policy guidelines as well as developed a framework for leading a language group. This required contentious and controversial matters with complicated political and commercial implications and interests. Ms Bekele strongly advocated and further went on to aggressively bring the voices of the global public of early adapters of IDN businesses and countries who implemented IDNs to the policy of ICANN" , said Mr. Yoav Karen, then Member of ICANN's President IDN Advisory Committee, Current ICANN gNSO Council member and Executive member of IDRU.

1. "..Ms. Bekele, as a former gNSO advisor to ICANN, you have worked hard and long to champion Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). You have made the case within

ICANN for a policy development process that will see IDNs in service of the world community. And you have done so successfully.|source=-David Allen, Executive Director 05 December 2010, INTERNATIONALIZED DOMAIN RESOLUTION UNION,. In recognition of her championing the cause of IDNs, the above global IDN group later organized under and organization, IDRU endorsed her DotAfrica Initiative and gave the following citation in recognition of her significant contributions.
"

Championing the DotAfrica .africa gTLD Project

Following her successful achievement of IDN work for ICANN and for the global internet community, Bekele re-started the DotAfrica initiative following the important experiences gained from her work as gNSO advisor to ICANN. Bekele made a clear case for a DotAfrica (.africa) gTLD for Africa within ICANN and also the global Internet Community on behalf of the global African and Pan-African constituency., ,, ,. She soon led the .africa initiative under a successful venture DotConnectAfrica organization, a non-profit, non partisan self start-up, and traveled throughout the various African countries and globally speaking and advocating the benefit of adapting to a .AFRICA (pronounced as ‘DotAfrica’) Top Level Domain name (TLD) for the African Continent. Her most significant accomplishment so far for the .africa gTLD project is undertaking and sustaining a successful global campaign, energizing it and giving it global momentum and raising its Pan-African and International profile to a position of relevance, and introducing it to the Pan-African inter-governmental organizations – the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) and getting them to endorse it. , . Bekele's presentations, speeches and publications used for this global campaign and promotional work to create awareness of the .africa TLD are chronicled on the Organization's website.

Bekele therefore was recognized and credited for her efforts by the global internet community as well as various leading African and International media. As such, she was mentioned in the Economist article as "leading the .africa initiative". The Diplomat East Africa named her "Brains Behind .africa" . Enterprise Technology Magazine called her "Sophia Bekele: Champion of .africa initiative" CIO East Africa calling her views "controversial" on who should run gTLDs, saying "Sophia Bekele has been in the news if not for promoting DotConnectAfrica’s bid for the DotAfrica geographical gTLD for the past three years, then in a controversial statement about the same":

1. ".. Governments have a role to play, especially regarding the establishment of an enabling and supportive environment for ICT initiatives to thrive. However, there is a role for everybody, and global Internet governance is currently based on a multi-stakeholder modeled by ICANN. Governments already have their two-code country-level top-level domains (cc TLDs), but they also have a role to endorse geographical gTLDs. The problem is that this power to endorse is often interpreted and extended to include overall sovereignty over the new gTLD. We believe this should not be the case since it is monopolistic and anti-competitive coupled with problems of lack of transparency and accountability...|source=-Sophia Bekele, in an interview on 09 March 2012, for the main story of CIO East Africa, ."

Ms. Bekele currently oversees the .africa new gTLD initiative of DotConnectAfrica Trust. As Executive Director of DCA Trust & CEO of DotConnectAfrica Registry Services Limited, she has led a multi-national team of experts to prepare and submit an application for the DotAfrica (.AFRICA) generic Top-Level Domain. DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust) has already submitted an application in May 2012 for the .AFRICA (pronounced as ‘DotAfrica’) geographic name string to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a U.S.-based non-profit organization that is overseeing the global Internet expansion project to introduce new generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs) under the new gTLD Program. .

Bekele is a firm believer and an advocate of the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance and often writes and is asked to speak on this and related subject.,

Corporate Experience

Sophia began her career working for multinational institutions in large financial/banking companies in Corporate America such as Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi/Union Bank of California, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, as well as building various start-ups with international business portfolios. Most of Ms. Bekele's work is characterized with overseeing the control and security activities for technologies, auditing computer IT systems, evaluated new product & system services and recommending cost effective solutions, project management, client relationship, operational and business risk assessment, business process re-engineering, writing recommendation reports to Executive Management for operational improvements, and corporate good governance.

CBS International

Ms. Bekele founded CBS International, a private corporation with the goal of supporting technology in organizations working in emerging markets. The company's self-described mission is to: "Utilize our experience in consulting services in sales, software training, and provide our clients with a total systems solutions to help lower their cost and maximize efficiency in the delivery of quality products and services." CBS also consults on Business Process Engineering, implementation of Corporate Strategy & Governance & Sarbane Oxley compliance initiatives. It is based near Silicon Valley, California.

Currently, Ms. Bekele and her company assist various clients in public/private markets, primarily in corporate risk governance, including the recent Sarbanes-Oxley , GAAP & PCAOB and IT governance. Internationally, Sophia also consults on Milennium Challenge issues including anti-corruption, democratic governance, free market economics, and the development of internet and ICT infrastruture and regulatory policy.

DotConnectAfrica

Ms. Bekele also founded DotConnectAfrica. She is responsible for creating the foundations for running a viable non-profit with public/private partnership model, that is going to have a sustainable future with the project initiatives that it undertakes. The flagship projects which invoked the initialization of the organization is the "dotafrica" (.africa) Top Level Domain Name, which is to be the Continental Domain name to register Africa's businesses and other entities that are of concern to Africa.

Currently, Ms. Bekele's responsibilities include identifying opportunities and risks for delivering the company’s services as a web-based business, including identification of competitive services, opportunities for innovation, and assessment of marketplace obstacles and technical hurdles to the business success; Identify technology trends and evolving social behavior that may support or impede the success of the business; and Evaluate and identify appropriate technology platforms (including web application frameworks and the deployment stack) for delivering the company’s services.

Other Endeavors

She is a Alumni Board Member of the Golden Gate University, Founder and Board Member of ISOC San Francisco Bay, a former board member of Information Systems and Control Association (ISACA-SF), advisory member to the World Affairs Council of Contra Costa County, and adviser to United Nation Agencies, where she serves as expert advisor on ICT policy for various UN Agencies Boards and committees, including UNECA (Economic commission for Africa), UNPAN, UNGAID.

Education

Ms. Bekele holds an MBA in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Golden Gate University, San Francisco and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Systems from San Francisco State University. She is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Control Specialist (CCS), and Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT).

Writing

Bekele has written articles and editorials on issues concerning technology for development, good governance, regional economic integration, politics, and Internet Governance that is of global public interest and Africa.

Selected works include:

• The Empire Fights Back
• The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part II
• A Cornerstone of Democracy: Good Governance (editorial)
• Free flow of ideas - a cornerstone for democracy (editorial)
• Not only a vision, a common vision
• Yes, Justice has been served! (editorial)
• The Solar Cooking story of Fresno

External Links

1. Open letter to Congress, Sophia Bekele wrote an open letter to congress to defend status quo of internet governance, July 13, 2012
2. Application to ICANN, DCA Trust has applied to ICANN for the ".Africa" Geographic name, June 05, 2012
3. Defending Multi Stakeholder model, Bekele writing on Internet Governance:, April 5, 2012
4. DotConnectAfrica Welcome 2012 - The Year for new gTLDs,Welcome 2012 - The Year for new gTLDs - Yes2dotAfrica Campaign, Jan 14, 2011
5. DotConnectAfrica to ICANN, DCA's Executive Briefing Note following, Executive Briefing Note at the ICANN-42 Public Forum Meeting at Dakar, Senegal, Oct 23, 2011
6. Champion of .africa, Sophia Bekele names as Champion of the .africa initiative,, June, 21, 2011
7. Thank you Note, Bekele thankful for support and encouragement of the .africa initiative , June 11, 2011
8. Open letter to NTIA-US Department of Commerce, Sophia Bekele sent an open letter to the NTIA making a preliminary case for the .africa gTLD, Jan 20, 2011
9. DotConnectAfrica, spoke on way-forward on the contribution of the ".africa" name to an ICT enabled environment, and launched its "Yes to a .africa Campaign", at the AITEC ICT summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.html, Sep 11, 2010
10. Bekele, Ms.Sophia Bekele, provided a Keynote address for AITEC Summit during the opening panel discussions.html, Sep 11,2010
11. DotConnectAfrica, DotConnectAfrica registered maximum success in East Africa as the voice was echoed globally.html, April 06, 2010
12. Policy Development,Statement of Interest (SOI) Members of the Vertical Integration Policy Development Process Working Group, April, 01, 2010
13. Public Forum announcement, African Union endorsment of ".Africa" and urging for ICANN to expedite process for TLDs,Nairobi, March,11,2010
14. DotConnectAfrica, African Union endorsed the domain name ".Africa" to DotConnectAfrica org, Addis Ababa, February 18, 2010
15. Policy Development,Statement of Interest (SOI) for the Policy Development Process Steering Committee-Policy Development Team, March 19, 2009
16. Internet Governance, Internet Governanace & Policy Divide, San Francisco, March 10, 2009
17. Public Forum announcement, Continuing interest in the work of ICANN, IDNs and DotAfrica, Paris, June 25, 2008
18. Farewells, ICANN Meeting...and had a lot of respect for, Cary Karp from registries, Mawaki Chango, noncommercial, Ross Rader, registrar, and Sophia Bekele, the NomCom appointee..., ICANN Public Forum, Part 2 Thursday, 1 November 2007
19. DotAfrica, [http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/jpacomments2007/jpacomment_069.pdf DotAfrica�s position on JPA -National Telecommunications and Information Administration], NITA, Los Angeles, California, Feb 2008
    
20. AfriICANN-discuss, A debate on dot.africa, Nov 2007
    
21. AfrICANN-discuss, DotConnectAfrica's initiation of DotAfrica), Nov 2007
    
22. Aftld-Discuss [AfriICANN-discuss], Who is DotAfrica?, Nov 2007
    
23. ICANN IDN, GNSO Final report, Oct 2007
    
24. AfriICANN-Discuss, [http://lists.aftld.org/pipermail/aftld-discuss/2007-October/000183.html Dot Africa�s position on fast tracking of IDN ccTLD], Oct 2007
    
25. GNSO IDN, Comments in Response to the ccNSO-GAC Issues report on IDN Issues, Aug 2007
    
26. GNSO IDN, Outcome Report of the GNSO IDN Working group, Mar 2007
    
27. At-Large policy, Policy matters for conference call agenda, Mar 2007
    
28. AfriIcann, Going forward with ICANN- The African Region Perspective, Mar 2007
    
29. AfriICANN, ICANN - GNSo Policy update - presentation to African Group by Sophia Bekele, Lisbon, Mar 2007
    
30. GNSO IDN, Outcome Report of the GNSO IDN WG, Mar 2007
    
31. GNSO IDN Regarding IDN Working Group membership issues, Mar 2007
    
32. ICANN IDN, IDN Working Group, Jan 2007
    
33. GNSO-IDN-WG, IDN Chair Nomination, Oct 2006
    
34. ICANNwiki, ICANNWiki Caricature, Wellington New Zealand, Mar 2006
    
35. DotConnectAfrica's Website,dotconnectafrica.org - African's Map on Digital Inclusion, Mar 2006
    
36. GNSO IDN, On IDN dialog - a debate with John C. Klensin, Mar 2006
    
37. ICANN, Nominating Committee | Biographical Information on the ..., Nov 2005
    
38. ICANN NomComm ICANN | Nominating Committee Announces Final Selections for Key leadership positions..., Vancouver, Canada Nov 2005
    
39. ICANN, Sophia Bekele, Statement of Interest, Nov 2005
    
40. ISOC, appointment to a founding member & board of directors of Internet Society, San Francisco (ISOC-SF), San Francisco, Ca, March 2009
    
41. GGU, Internet Governance and the policy divide, San Francisco, Ca, March 2009
    
42. IP Justice, New Domain Names (gtlds), Sao Paulo Brazil, Dec 2006
    
43. Andrew Mack, Andy's Global View: In a world of .com and .org, why not .Africa?, Sept 2007
    
44. Del Rey Studios "A New Hope" the idea of 'ICANN The Movie' was born! Mar 2007
    
45. TWiNic, NomComm announcement - Sophia Bekele, Nov 2005
    
46. JPNic,NomComm announcement -Sophia Bekele, Nov 2005<br

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