Last Saturday, August 1st, marked the first anniversary of my work at the Internet Society (ISOC) in my current capacity.
This year has gone by incredibly fast, and it’s been a year full of amazing experiences.
The global nature of my work has led me to travel around the world and kept me in permanent touch with our global community.
Along with members of our regional teams, I’ve participated in major events in vastly different geographical locations. This has allowed me to witness the Internet Society’s relevance and growing role worldwide.
I’ve met with ISOC chapter leaders in every region. I’ve met with members of the Internet Hall of Fame in many places. I’ve spoken with our organizational members and leaders of other stakeholder groups.
Along with the chance to work in such varied locations and cultural environments, the possibility of meeting and working with such interesting people makes me feel this job is unique.
This is very gratifying. Each day, in every region, the ISOC community works on projects and initiatives that contribute to advance our vision of building an Internet for everyone. Not just any Internet, but an open Internet that serves as a platform for promoting human, social, and economic development; for narrowing the divide between the more developed and the less developed sectors of global society. In short, an Internet that will help improve the quality of life for all humans.
During the course of this intense year, I’ve sensed greater integration among the various areas that are part of ISOC and across the organization’s many components (chapters, members, trustees, staff …), the result of which is an increase of our advocacy capacity.
Our chapters are more involved in our activities; we’ve launched the new Beyond the Net program and are in the process of creating the Chapters Advisory Council.
InterCommunity 2015, the global event we recently organized, was not only an innovative experience in terms of participation and networking. It also gave us the opportunity to organize 20 events in different parts of the world with very good levels of participation. This has undoubtedly contributed to energize and motivate all of us.
Together with our community, we are building a solid force, while also permanently strengthening our partnerships with other organizations in pursuit of our goals.
What more can I say about this first year at ISOC? It’s been a fascinating year, filled with challenges and satisfactions. And I hope it’s just a small preview of what’s to come.
Photo: Raúl speaking at the LACIGF event earlier this week.