In memory of Roger Hicks
Roger Hicks was there when our organisation was founded in 1995, and he was still there, more than 20 years later, at NetHui in 2017.
When he became the Internet Society of New Zealand’s founding chair, he brought with him nearly three decades of experience in telecommunications, systems engineering and IT, and he continued to use his skills, knowledge and passion for the benefit of the Internet in New Zealand well past his retirement.
Roger penned The Internet Society of New Zealand: Roles, Goals, and Ambitions, published in computing journal StandardView in 1996, which outlined the organisation’s intentions and aspirations – these principles still hold true today.
He tabled the first Chair’s report at our AGM, presciently highlighting that the challenge of the organisation was that its work must be “achieved in an environment of major national and international change for the Internet. The changes will not wait for [the organisation].”
Former Council President and Executive Director of InternetNZ Keith Davidson says he felt privileged to have worked closely with Roger in the early years of the organisation.
“Roger was a very gentle gentleman, and had a way of quiet persuasion, unusual at the time when many of the InternetNZ members engaged in talking at each other rather than to each other,” said Keith.
“He pushed for the introduction of monetary charges being required for .nz names, which did not go down well with the techies of the day, given the unpopularity of the concept of paying for domain names back then. He also had many strongly held principles that were most useful in establishing the early .nz policies, and for the broader InternetNZ mandate.
“I was massively appreciative of his guidance and vision [during my tenure],” says Keith.
While Roger handed over the Chair’s reins in 1996, he continued to be involved in shaping the Internet in New Zealand for at least another decade — he was on the .nz Oversight Committee (the precursor to the Domain Name Commission), on the Second Level Domain Policy Working Group, led a governance structure review of the organisation, and represented the Society at international meetings on Internet governance.
He was also a founding Board member of the Asia Pacific Internet Association and one of the first members of the NZ Network Operators Group (NZNOG).
InternetNZ officially acknowledged his contributions to our organisation and the development of the Internet in New Zealand by making him a Fellow and life member in 2004. But that wasn’t the bookend for Roger — he continued to attend NetHui until at least 2017.
That year he was captured on video, asked what he liked about the InternetNZ-run conference.
“As always at NetHui, the most inspiring thing is the people,” Roger said. “From way past, I recognise a few faces, but there’s a lot more faces I don’t recognise and that to me is great, that’s the development of InternetNZ to me, the fact that I don’t recognise the faces.”
Our sincere condolences go out to Roger’s whānau, friends and those that worked alongside him over the decades. His place in our organisation’s history, and in shaping the .nz domain name space, won’t be forgotten.