Markus Kummer

Region:	Europe
Country:	Switzerland
Email:	kummer [at] isoc.org
Website:	http://markuskummer.com
Facebook:	Markus Kummer

Markus Kummer, a consultant who specializes in Internet governance and policy, serves on the ICANN Board. He was appointed by the Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH) of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), filling Bill Graham's seat. His term began at the conclusion of ICANN's Annual General Meeting in Los Angeles, California in October 2014.

ICANN Biography

"Markus Kummer is an independent consultant specializing in Internet governance and policy. Until September 2014 he was the Internet Society's Senior Vice President. He joined the Internet Society in 2011, to assume the position of Vice-President in charge of public policy. Before, he worked for the United Nations, first as Executive Coordinator of the Working Group on Internet Governance and subsequently of the Secretariat supporting the Internet Governance. In this capacity he was responsible for preparing and organizing the first five annual IGF meetings between 2006 and 2010. In 2013, he was asked by the United Nations to chair the preparatory process for the annual IGF meeting held in Bali, Indonesia ... Markus joined the United Nations in 2004, after holding the position of eEnvoy of the Swiss Foreign Ministry. He was a member of the Swiss delegation during the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) where he chaired several negotiating groups, including the groups dealing with human rights and Internet governance ... Markus served as a career diplomat in several functions in the Swiss Foreign Ministry since 1979. He was posted to the Embassies of Switzerland to Portugal, Austria. Norway and Turkey as well as the Swiss Mission to the United Nations in Geneva ... Between 1998 and 2002 Markus was seconded to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), where he was in charge of administering and negotiating Free Trade Agreements with partner countries such as Canada, Mexico, Chile, Singapore, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Macedonia and the Palestinian Authority ... Before joining the Swiss diplomatic service, Markus worked as a journalist at the news desk of Swiss Radio International in Bern. He has a master's degree in languages, literature and journalism from the University of Bern ... Markus is based in Geneva, Switzerland."

Professional Experience

Before joining the IGF, Mr. Kummer held several other notable positions:

• A career diplomat in the Swiss Foreign Ministry.
• A member of the delegation of Switzerland participating in the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, where he led many negotiating groups, including one on Internet governance.
• From 2004 to 2005 he served as the Executive Coordinator of the WSIS Working Group on Internet Governance.
• Most recently, in February 2011, he also joined the Internet Society and is currently its Vice President. His tasks include advancing key Internet security policy positions on problems such as cybersecurity and network neutrality.

Resources

• Markus Kummer at the Berkman Center, Phillips Academy (2004)
• Swiss diplomat leads debate over policing the web (April 6, 2004), SwissInfo.ch
• Reforming Internet Governance: Perspectives from the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) (page 273) by William J. Drake (United Nations Publications, 2005)
• Calls to end US domination of the internet (July 31, 2005), New Scientist
• Interview With Markus Kummer, Head, UN Working Group On Internet Governance (September 22, 2005), Intellectual Property Watch
• Digital Solidarities, Communication Policy and Multi-stakeholder Global Governance: The Legacy of the World Summit on the Information Society (page 129), by Marc Raboy, Normand Landry, Jeremy Shtern (2010)
• Multistakeholder Cooperation: Reflections on the emergence of a new phraseology in international cooperation (14 May 2013), Internet Society