Sophia Bekele profiled as "Achieving Women" by The Standard Daily - Nairobi

Oct. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Nairobi Kenya: The Standard Daily, one of premium private newspapers in East Africa, profiles Sophia Bekele as an "Achieving Women", calling upon her as "The Global Telecommunication policy Leader"

Taking stock of her decade of professional activities and  achievements,  including the policy advise she has rendered to global organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and a number of others; her initiation of the .africa project at ICANN and being the first African to be appointed on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)'s powerful policy seat of the GNSO and more...

Benda Kageni, the editor of Standard Daily, spoke to the Achieving Women how she intends to put Africa on the ICT world map".  

The full interview can be found here:  
http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102516344150-322/Sophia+Bekele+as+Achieving+Women-+Standard+NewsPaper.pdf

An Excerpts from the Q & A below:

Sophia  at a Glance by Standard

▶Has a Bachelor Degree in Business Analysis & Information Systems
▶ Has an MBA in management  Information System
▶ Has had Managerial positions with financial/banking multi-nationals such as Price WaterhouseCoopers & Bank of America
▶ Broke-off from her Corporate career to  focus on third world technological development
▶ Started CBS International with a mission to transfer technology to emerging economies .Its affiliate Sbcommunications Networkpls (Sbcnet) based in Ethiopia specializing in systems   integration and dedicated to serving emerging economies.  
▶ She is a Certified Information SystemsAud itor (CISA), Certified Control Specialist (CCS), Certified in Governanace of EnterpriseIT (CGEIT),
▶ A Rotary Harris Fellow (PHF) and active Ambassador to various Rotary Clubs
Since 2010
▶ Co-Founder & Executive Board Director SF-Inernert Society (ISOC)
▶ Alumni Board Director, Golden Gate University, San Francisco
▶ Advisor, World Affairs Council, Contra Costa

And her current focus, DotConnectAfrica:  "DCA's purpose is to get the public involved in the process and to give back to society.  Profits from .Africa will be reinvested in projects to develop the continent"

         Sophia's heart is in Africa where she says you get an opportunity to build something from scratch and bring services to people

FIRST AFRICAN WOMEN

Having been the first African at ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Council of the gNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization), which advises on global internet policy over such generic domain names as .africa,  Bekele wanted to do something for her continent.

She initiated the ".africa" project which she hoped would  help foster the spirit of Pan-Africanism and help Africa become more connected to the rest of the world.
"The .Africa name is more than an internet identifier.  It is branding Africa in a common theme," says Bekele. "It is branding African products and services. It is for all companies trying to do business in Africa and those that want a Pan-African identity. Having an African domain will help them in reaching out to Africa.  It will boost business and boost regional integration".

In the past the primary ending of web addresses had been '.com', '.net', '.org' and '.biz' but with the expansion we begun to see endings such as '.sport' and '.travel' in web addresses. With the liberalization also came geographic names '.eu' was the first to be launched for Europe followed by '.asia' for Asia".

STUDIED IN THE USA

Bekele now an Executive Director with DotConnectAfrica has worked as an adviser with ICANN and with her organization CBS International, a private California based firm, engaged in transfer of technology to developing economies, felt that she has the passion and the expertise to deliver on  the project.

         "I studied in the USA, but my heart has always been in Africa", says the Ethiopian born"

HELPING START UPS

Bekele has works in advising Corporate Development & Communication for various start-ups within the US and assisting various companies in private/public markets in corporate governance and risk management areas.

         "I still do other projects, but my whole energy is on ".africa".   It is in Africa that you get an opportunity to build something from scratch and bring services to people. It may not be financially rewarding at times, but it is intellectually stimulating. Through this we can leave our internet footprints in Africa".

Link to her Bio webiste: www.SophiaBekele.com