Adriana Rivero “Making sure that everyone’s voice is heard is the way to go”

31/05/2017

Adriana Rivero entered the world if ICTs out of necessity; today, she is Head of Community Development at LACNIC. She has the privilege of being one of the first five members of the staff of the Regional Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Since then, 15 years have gone by and “many challenges” have been overcome, making LACNIC a leader of the global Internet ecosystem.
Rivero notes that success has been possible thanks to the regional Internet community’s growth and maturity.

What was your relationship with the world of ICTs 15 years ago?

My relationship with the world of ICTs was practically non-existent. In the late ’90s, family reasons gave me the opportunity to live abroad for four years. During those years in the United States, one might say that my “first contact with ICTs” was through the emerging world of online shopping and certain services offered by the university where my husband and I were studying.

When and how did your relationship with LACNIC begin?

When I returned to Uruguay in 2001, the country and the region as a whole were in the midst of an economic crisis. I was coming back to Uruguay with no job, an eight-month old son and another one on the way. At that time, LACNIC was in the process of establishing itself in Montevideo, not having been officially recognized yet but already in its final stages of consolidation as the fourth Regional Internet Registry. Raúl Echeberría, who was in charge of LACNIC at the time and led the organization for many years, offered me to join the working team. At that time, LACNIC staff included three people in Montevideo and two in Sao Paulo.

What roles have you played within the LACNIC community? Did they meet your expectations? What aspects would you highlight?

After joining LACNIC, for many years my job was to make sure that members were able to exercise their rights, as well as to offer the LACNIC community the possibility of participating in deciding how Internet number resource are allocated in the region.
Over these 15 years, we have faced many challenges, including reaching the many different communities that exist in the region; offering training and learning opportunities, creating spaces to promote participation and networking through various events and forums; as well as articulating collaborative efforts with other organizations working towards regional Internet development.
Looking back, I see a community that has grown immensely, not only in number but also in maturity, so I can say that my expectations have been met. Today, the LACNIC community recognizes our work and considers LACNIC to be a relevant, key player in the Internet ecosystem.

What role do you think the LACNIC community has played in the management of number resources over the past 15 years?

The LACNIC community has always supported the open, collaborative, participatory, bottom-up model for the definition of Internet resource management policies. Throughout these 15 years, the community has taken on an increasingly relevant role and has become more involved in the definition of these policies. This is reflected not only in greater participation in the Public Policy Forum and discussion lists, but also in other opportunities for member participation, such as the number of candidates running in the latest election for Public Policy Forum chair. We are also seeing greater LACNIC community participation in Internet governance issues, both at regional and global level. Since 2008, topics considered relevant for the LAC region and discussed at the Regional Internet Governance Forum (LAC IGF) have been included in the Global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) agenda.

What are the LACNIC community’s identifying features?

The LACNIC community includes 33 Latin American and Caribbean territories, each with its own peculiarities and different realities. Despite this diversity, the community faces the same day-to-day issues and works towards the development of an increasingly open, stable and secure Internet. Our community should benefit from collaboration and cooperation opportunities such those offered by LACNIC. Through them, LACNIC helps create conditions so that the Internet will be an effective tool for social inclusion and economic development for all countries and citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean.

How do you envision Internet governance 15 years from now?

I believe the multistakeholder model has produced good results in Internet governance, so we should continue working in this direction. From our role within LACNIC, we must continue to work to guarantee that every stakeholder can have a voice in these processes, to maintain spaces for dialogue, and to foster greater and more inclusive participation to make sure that all interests are represented.