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Sophia Bekele

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Sophia Bekele
Sophia Bekele in San Francisco California, 2013
Born
Sophia Bekele Eshete

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Occupation(s)Business Person, Corporate Executive, Consultant
Years active1990–present

Sophia Bekele Eshete (Amharic: ሶፍያ በቀለ; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) is a woman of Ethiopian ancestry. She is an international entrepreneur, and corporate executive, governance and risk management specialist, policy advisor on ICT, commentator and philanthropist.[1] [2]

As an entrepreneur, Bekele has founded and run various companies and initiatives. She is presently the founder and Executive Director of DCA Group Trust based in Mauritius, and CEO of DCA Registry Systems Kenya (Ltd). Bekele is also the founder of a 5 year "Yes2dotAfrica" global awareness campaign, for re-branding Africa using the .africa internet domain name[3] She is also the founder and CEO of tech start-ups, CBS International in California and SbCommunications Network (SbCnet) plc, based in Addis Ababa. [4][5]

Early life and Family

Bekele is the daughter of Ato Bekele Eshete Wolde Michael a founder and former Board Director of United Bank,S.C and United Insurance,S.C 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. [6] [7]

Higher education

Bekele has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Analysis and Information Systems from San Francisco State University and a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University.[8] [9]

She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Control Specialist (CCS), and certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), certifications issued to professionals who demonstrate competent knowledge and proficiency in the field of IS Audit, Security & Enterprise IT governance principles and practices.[10] [11]

Career

Bekele was recruited out of college by Bank of America and later held managerial positions with UnionBanCal Corporation and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Her initial field of expertise was Information Security.

CBS International

Bekele set up CBS International, a company based in California focused on technology transfer to emerging economies. Bekele started an Ethiopian company SbCommunications Network, plc, (SbCnet) specializing in systems integration, technology integration and support services.

Bekele in Kigali Rwanda 2007

.africa

During her tenure at ICANN from 2005-2007, and the Council of the GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization), Bekele was instrumental in initiating policy dialogue over IDNs that resulted in the introduction of IDNs under which new Internet Domain names in Arabic, Cyrillic, Russian, Chinese and non-Latin alphabets will become available, thereby providing non-English/non-Latin language native speakers an opportunity to access and communicate on the Internet in their native languages. [12] [13][14][15]

In 2006 Bekele turned her focus to .africa – a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) for the Africa geographic name that she championed during her appointment at ICANN. The project has been introduced and will be delegated for operation under ICANN’s new gTLD programme.

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 with DotConnectAfrica introducing it to the Pan-African inter-governmental organizations – the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) and received endorsement for DCA.

Enterprise Technology Magazine called her "Sophia Bekele: Champion of .africa initiative" [16] 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":

Bekele currently[when?] 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 .dotafrica (pronounced as ‘DotAfrica’) geographic name string to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). [17]

Controversies

Bekele's eight year .africa journey was not without challenges over the issues of accountability and transparency on the bid for .africa, including the African Union Commission(AUC) who allegedly disavowed the first endorsement they gave her organization DotConnectAfrica in 2009 to apply for the .africa gTLD,[18] to subsequently request for the same directly from ICANN, at the ICANN 42 International meeting held in Dakar Senegal from 23–28 October 2011.

AUC requested ICANN to include all similar name strings ".africa", ".afrique" and ".afriqia", in the list of "reserved names", to afford special legislative protection to the AUC to own these strings so as to make it unavailable to anyone, through a method of bypassing the formal application process of the ICANN's new generic top level domains (gTLDs). Bekele opposed to the AUC's request as it became known later that ICANN could not reserve the names for the AU, however ICANN did recommend to the AUC to use Government Advisory Committee to raise concerns that an applicant is seen as potentially sensitive or problematic, or to provide direct advice to the Board, so as to change the outcome of the gTLD.[19] AUC implemented the advice during the GAC objection period at the detriment of DCA and subsequently went ahead to directly endorsed another firm from SouthAfrica to apply to ICANN, who was also supported by its own AU Dotafrica Task Force.[20][21][22]

According to the public part of their application, the South African company submitted a "non-community" application to ICANN naming AUC as a “co-applicant” and giving the .africa registry and intellectual property rights to the AUC in a separate contract[23] These were later challenged through the DCA Vs ICANN IRP case overseen by the constituted .africa International Tribunal. On 9 July 2015, the .Africa IRP International Tribunal in its final declaration[109] ruled that DCA Trust, was the prevailing party. The Tribunal also recommended that ICANN continue to refrain from delegating the .AFRICA gTLD and permit DCA Trust’s application to proceed through the remainder of the new gTLD application process. The Tribunal further declared that ICANN is to bear, pursuant to Article IV, Section 3, paragraph 18 of the Bylaws, Article 11 of Supplementary Procedures and Article 31 of the ICDR Rules, the totality of the costs of this IRP and the totality of the costs of the IRP Provider.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]

Following July 2015 IRP ruling, Sophia Bekele's organization DCA Trust took ICANN to court over the way it handled the IRP declaration, on April 12, 2016. Following this, a United States District Court, Central District Of California - Western Division has granted a Preliminary Injunction for DotConnectAfrica, the decision for case no. 16-CV-00862 RGK (JCx) [PDF] [41] The ruling detailed among other things that The balance of equities tips in favor of granting the preliminary injunction.[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] This also follows a March 4, 2016 ruling which her organization was granted as an Ex Parte Application for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), Interim Relief [PDF Case No: CV 16-00862 RGK (JCx)][54] that ICANN should hold off from delegating the .AFRICA top-level domain (TLD) to the competing application sponsored by the AUC - ZA Central Registry (ZACR).[55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]

Since then, the case has been remanded from Federal court due to lack of jurisdiction. The Judge stated that in the event that DCA ultimately prevails in this action, the gTLD can be re-delegated. [68][69] [70] The case will be set in a jury trial in 2019 [71]

References

  1. ^ "Uniting Africa through IT". News.
  2. ^ "Sophia Bekele-Eshete: Restructuring Africa's Social, Political and Economic Landscape". News.
  3. ^ "Announcing the birth of the dot.africa generation". News.
  4. ^ "Ethiopian Women Unleashed, Stories of Accomplished Ethiopian Women- Sophia Bekele Eshete". News.
  5. ^ "Fem Bosses: Sophia Bekele – Executive Director & Founder of DotConnectAfrica". News.
  6. ^ "Fem Bosses: Sophia Bekele – Executive Director & Founder of DotConnectAfrica". Innov8tiv magazine.
  7. ^ "Ethiopian Women Unleashed: Stories of Accomplished Ethiopian Women". Archive Ethiopian Women Unleashed.
  8. ^ "Sophia Bekele: From model to tech entrepreneur". CapitalFM.
  9. ^ "The determined executive". The Reporter Ethiopia.
  10. ^ "Stories of Accomplished Ethiopian Women, Sophia Bekele Eshete". Ethiopian Women Unleashed. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  11. ^ KonnectAfrica, Lovelyn Okafor (July 24, 2014). "Sophia Bekele-Eshete: Restructuring Africa's Social, Political and Economic Landscape". Business Magazine. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  12. ^ The Reporter Daily (April 6, 2013). "An Ethiopian woman fighting for .africa, a new generic Top-Level Domain". Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved Feb 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ The Register, Cade Metz (Nov 16, 2007). "ICANN speeds IDN ccTLDs". Policy. Retrieved Feb 28, 2014.
  14. ^ CNET, Lance Whitney (Oct 30, 2009). "ICANN approves non-Latin domain names". ICT Journal. Retrieved Feb 28, 2014.
  15. ^ The Domains, Michael Berkens (Oct 21, 2013). "First 4 New gTLD's (ALL IDN's) Cleared By ICANN To Go To Delegation". ICT Journal. Retrieved Feb 28, 2014.
  16. ^ Joyce Tonda (2011-11-30). "Sophia Bekele, Ethiopian champion of the dot africa \initiative". Enterprise Technology. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  17. ^ DCA (2012-06-13). "ICANN New gTLDs - Application Details". ICANN. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  18. ^ "African domain gets a nod". ITWeb Online. August 12, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  19. ^ CircleID, Sophia Bekele (March 8, 2012). "Steve Crocker to Elham M.A. Ibrahim". ICANN. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  20. ^ The East African, Mwaura Kimani (Dec 5, 2011). "Internet war: Scramble for .africa domain as January deadline looms". Technology News. Retrieved Feb 17, 2014.
  21. ^ The Human IPO (April 27, 2012). "Guest Post: Who deserves control of .africa gTLD?". Technology News. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ CircleID, Sophia Bekele (Oct 24, 2012). "The "ICANN Africa Strategy" Is Not the Same as the 'African Agenda'". Technology News. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  23. ^ CircleID, Sophia Bekele (April 2012). "Application ID: 1-1243-89583, ZA Central Registry NPC trading as Registry.Africa". ICANN. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  24. ^ "Unredacted: ICANN's hidden role in fierce battle over .Africa rights". The Register. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  25. ^ "DCA Trust wins .africa IRP, ICANN to pay over Kshs 60 million in costs". CIO East Africa. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "ICANN loses .Africa case: IRP panel rules in favor of DCA". DomainNewsAfrica. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  27. ^ "Ethiopian Born Entrepreneur Sophia Bekele Wins .Africa Domain Name Accountability Suit Against ICANN". Ethioinfodesk. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "DCA Trust IRP Decision: ICANN Failed the Global Internet Community". Domainmondo. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  29. ^ "ICANN Loses Independent Review Panel Decision For Unfairly Treating TLD Applicant & Improper Deference to Governments". IpjJustice. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  30. ^ "Breaking: DotConnectAfrica Trust victorious on its challenge of ICANN Board over .africa". TandaaBiashara. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Review Panel Chides ICANN Board, Government Reps". BNA. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  32. ^ "Having been slammed and embarrassed, ICANN tells the world: We've done nowt wrong". The Register. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  33. ^ "Will 2016 Politics Trump Bipartisan Support for the MSM and DOTCOM Act?". Circleid. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  34. ^ "ICANN gibt DCA-Bewerbung zweite Chance". Domain-Recht.de. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  35. ^ "Rage Against the ICANN Machine". CircleID. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  36. ^ "ICANN's dotAfrica Dispute". BBC Click. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  37. ^ "What Brands Need to Know About ICANN's Treatment of the .AFRICA Applications". Fairwinds Partners. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  38. ^ ""Case far from Closed" says BBC: Unsuccessful ICANN interview on .africa Cover up". DomainNewsAfrica. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  39. ^ "ICANN Accountability: "Creative Ambiguity" at Work in the ".AFRICA" Decision". BBC Click. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  40. ^ ".Africa IRP: The Transcript that cost ICANN – GAC's "Creative ambiguity, We leave things unclear so we don't have conflict"". DNA. Retrieved Aug 5, 2015.
  41. ^ "DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN Court Case, Order re: Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction [PDF, 45 KB]" (PDF). ICANN. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ "Judge Halts .Africa Domain; Lengthy Litigation Likely". Bloomberg BNA. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  43. ^ "News Review: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable". Domainmondo. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  44. ^ ""Yedaly Declaration" on .Africa dismissed by US Federal Court as Conflict of Interest!". ItBusinessDirect. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  45. ^ "I bless the reins down on .africa … Dot-word injunction hits ICANN". TheRegister. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  46. ^ ".Africa: US Court grants Injunction to DCA Trust, says Balance of Equities tips in favor of DCA". DNA. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  47. ^ ".africa domain frozen by US court injunction". ItWeb. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  48. ^ "US Court grants DCA preliminary injunction, ICANN can't delegate dotAfrica domain". Aptantech. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  49. ^ "It's open season on ICANN as judge rules new gTLD applicants CAN sue". DomainIncite. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  50. ^ "US court puts a halt on .africa domain". HTXT. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  51. ^ "Applicant for .Africa Domain Challenges ICANN Litigation Waiver". Bloomberg BNA. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  52. ^ "DCA Alive! Court Grants Preliminary Injunction on .Africa". DomainingAfrica. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  53. ^ "Preliminary Injunction Issued Barring Delegation of .Africa Top-Level Domain Until Case Resolution". BNSK Blog. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  54. ^ "DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN Court Case, Minute Order re Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for TRO [PDF, 24 KB]" (PDF). ICANN. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ "This is why you can't get a .africa domain name just yet". Tech Cabal. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  56. ^ "Domain names: What's in a name?". FinancialMail. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  57. ^ "Kenya, S.Africa domain row intensifies". Nation Media. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  58. ^ "New Delay for Long-Awaited.Africa Internet Domain". Bloomberg BNA. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  59. ^ "ICANN told to wait on .africa delegation". TrademarksandBrandsOnline. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  60. ^ ".africa domain held up again". ITWebNews. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  61. ^ ".africa dispute will be in court on 4 April". HTXT. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  62. ^ "Court Bars ICANN from Delegating .Africa Pending Federal Court Hearing". DomainingAfrica. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  63. ^ "ICANN Temporarily Stopped from Delegating .AFRICA Pending Federal Court Hearing on 4 April 2016". ICANN. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  64. ^ "US Court halts .Africa delegation until a preliminary injunction case by applicant DotConnectAfrica is determined". DNA. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  65. ^ "Delegation of DotAfrica domain suspended as DCA granted relief by US Court". TechMoran. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  66. ^ "Delegation of DotAfricagTLD blocked, DCA gets relief from US Court". Aptantech. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  67. ^ "US Federal Court Enjoins ICANN From Delegating New gTLD dot AFRICA". DomainMondo. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  68. ^ ".Africa domains Launch Begins, but litigation continues". DomainNewsAfrica. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  69. ^ ".Africa gTLD redelegation possible if DotConnectAfrica wins case". CIO East Africa. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  70. ^ "Third time lucky: ICANN beats off .africa ban". TheRegister. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  71. ^ "Dot-Africa saga going to jury trial... thousands of miles away in America". TheRegister. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
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