New experts join our team - Policy and Security

Back in April, I wrote about a couple of new roles we were creating to help with our vision of an Internet that is open, secure and for all New Zealanders.  

The short version of that post was that Ellen Strickland would be moving into a new Chief Advisor International role, leaving us to fill her former role as Policy Director. We would also be hiring our first ever Chief Security Officer, a new role for these security-conscious times.

It’s exciting to be able to share the appointments we have made!

Kim Connolly-Stone joined us as Policy Director in June. She has a long track record working on digital economy, digital skills and digital inclusion policy issues from her time at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Kim’s broad network of relationships across government and the Internet community, and her understanding and knowledge of many of our policy areas, make her an exciting addition to our team. 

Besides getting to know the team, Kim has begun driving our work on digital inclusion - where our goal is to spur massive improvements for tens of thousands of people. Achieving that requires a strong coordination role and a persuasive policy voice. Look out for action in both areas in the coming months, done in a way that meets our aim of being a good ecosystem player - not crowding out the hard work of others, but helping it to succeed.

Sam Sargeant will be joining us in the Chief Security Officer role in August. Sam brings a wealth of experience in the security arena, having most recently been at the GCSB in an information assurance leadership role. His past record at REANNZ and FX Networks, along with the web services and registrar arena, brings together a unique set of skills and experiences for us. 

Sam will be getting across work that other colleagues have been working on since mid-year. This involves key projects around understanding the security situation of our .nz registrar customers and how to raise the bar across the sector, and on the role we can play more broadly in debates about security and trust in this Internet age.

I am delighted that InternetNZ is capable of attracting such talented people to these roles. If you have thoughts on how Kim and Sam can help meet our shared goals and create impact in their roles I’d invite you to share them with me or with Kim and Sam direct.