Community Feedback Shapes the Revised Draft of ICANN's Next Strategic Plan

Maarten Botterman is an independent strategic adviser on Internet governance and related issues with more than 25 years' experience in guiding governments and major organizations on the economic, business, and societal impacts of current and future Internet innovations and technologies. During those 25-plus years, he participated in and led more than 50 international projects and studies and published more than 80 peer-reviewed reports for governments and industry on Future Net issues with teams, including experts with advanced academic degrees from many disciplines, ranging from technology and mathematics to economics and law, and from many different countries and cultures.

Maarten was employed as Head of Unit and Senior Adviser to the Dutch Government (1987–1995) and as Scientific Officer to the Communications Technology Research program that was run by the European Commission (1995–1999). These years brought many insights about the public interest and governance aspects of the developing global, networked knowledge society. These insights were further deepened when working for RAND Corporation, setting up and running an Information Society policy practice in Europe (1999–2006), with an emphasis on policy evaluation and scenario planning. Since 2006, he has been working as an independent strategic adviser to governments and businesses in close cooperation with leading independent research institutions in Europe (including RAND Europe, TNO Netherlands, DTI Danmark, Inno France, and CIVIC Germany). Today, he is internationally recognized as a governance and future Internet expert and is a regular contributor to international Internet governance events such as the Internet Governance Forum, where he is leading the Dynamic Coalition for the Internet of Things.

Next to advising the Dutch government and the European Commission on Internet governance issues, he got deeply involved in ICANN's work as a Board member and Chairman of the Public Interest Registry (2008–2016), over time actively participating in more than 40 ICANN meetings. Having worked internationally since 1995, he has extensive experience in working with people from different national and cultural backgrounds, and is comfortable in engaging in English, German, French, and Dutch (mother tongue). He has a reputation as an independent, trustworthy, out-of-the-box thinker who is able to look at issues from several perspectives with strong awareness of the bigger picture. Having served on boards and having reported to boards, he has extensive experience with effective board governance and the responsibilities and obligations that come with a director's position on a U.S. nonprofit board. Over the years, he has been a frequent guest speaker and/or moderator, mostly at smart technology-related events.

Maarten holds an advanced degree in business economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a certified coach and has a certificate in medical-based knowledge, both of which help in better understanding of what drives people in decision-making and going through life. In addition, he has completed several board excellence trainings with internationally renowned institutions, including Harvard Business School, INSEAD, IMD, MIT, Yale School of Management, and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. His areas of interest include government, civil society, and technology.

Maarten is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board by the Nominating Committee in 2016 and served as Board Chair from 2019 until 2022. His third and final term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.

Chris Chapman concluded his appointment in 2016 as the inaugural Chairman and Chief Executive of the Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA), the independent regulator of Australia's broadcasting, telecommunications, spectrum, and online services. His role was recognized by the Federal Minister for Communications as having been discharged for a decade with distinction.

In recognition of the broad-ranging experiences he encountered over that decade, the organizational transformation he prosecuted and sustained throughout his term, and the significant contribution that the ACMA made to the policy debate about regulation in these sectors, Chris was appointed President of the International Institute of Communications in 2016. He is the first president in the organization's nearly 50-year history to be appointed from the Asia Pacific region.

Since 2016, Chris' directorships and work have covered a broad spectrum of interests including philanthropic and not-for-profit, sports advisory work (particularly in the governance space), film script development, international media and communications developments, bleeding-edge digital technologies, and digital transformation consulting. He also has several digital platforms under development.

Some earlier career highlights include serving as the Associate to the Chief Justice of Australia, working as a corporate lawyer and legal counsel, holding senior management positions with the Seven Network, and being the Chief Executive of the Sydney Olympic stadium, the Optus broadband joint venture, and Prime Infrastructure Limited.

Chris has successfully chaired organizations in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, several of them very complex ones requiring agile stakeholder skills. Without exception, he has overseen appropriate corporate governance and has developed a reputation for effective chairing and a collegiate approach. In the mid-1990s, the Australian Government appointed him Chair of Film Australia, one of the country's most treasured cultural organizations.

Chris received double Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance – with Merit) degrees from the University of New South Wales. In addition, he completed the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

He was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board of Directors by the Nominating Committee in 2022. His term will expire at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.