The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is changing leadership for it's board. Today they announced that Peter Dengate Thrush, someone who's been involved with the organization since its birth, is now the new chairman.
Vint Cerf, the current board chairman, is often referred to as one of the "founding fathers of the Internet" for his key technical and managerial role in the creation of the TCP/IP protocols, and has been described as a charismatic leader of the ICANN board since 1999. As such, those who work there (like ICANN CEO Paul Twomey) have expressed concern about who will fill those shoes once he leaves.
It seems that Cerf approves of the new appointment, as well noting the significance of appointing a New Zealander to the board's top slot.
"This is the first time in ICANN history that the chairman of the board has been drawn from someplace other than the U.S.," Cerf said.
Cerf plans to spend his time in retirement from ICANN to focus more on his role at Google as chief Internet evangelist.
[via InfoWorld]