I am a Principal Engineer and the unofficial Corporate Irritant at Cisco Systems. I work on fun projects like IoT security, our open standards engagements, identity management, and technology policy. My views on this blog do not necessarily represent those of Cisco, of course.
The Internet could not have been built on a common understanding on how computers communicate. I am very proud to participate be the IETF. I’ve also produced a few Requests for Comments (RFCs), which cover a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the handling of private network addresses to how we manage zone information. I’ve also chaired several activities over the years, including the Namespace Research Group (NSRG) in the Internet Research Task Force.
I also serve as a co-Rapporteur in the International Telecommunication Union’s “D” or ”Development” Sector on Question 3/2: “Securing information and communication networks: best practices for developing a culture of cybersecurity”. Many countries share their national experiences with an eye toward improving confidence in the Internet.
NetAid began as an online concert for the benefit of the United Nations Development Program in 1999. It featured a diverse collection of Artists from The Eurythmics to Bono and Wycliffe Jean, an was held in Geneva, London’s Wembley Stadium, and the Meadowlands in New Jersey. It was the first ever concert of its kind, with over 25,000 people watching online at any one time. That was a lot back then. The NetAid program itself was merged with Mercy Corps in 2007.
I was Silicon Graphics’ Internet Architect for seven years, where we had a worldwide network of offices. SGI hardware was trailblazing, and the people who worked there were remarkable. This is where the multimedia Internet was born.
IntelliGenetics was a small biotech company that sold, among other things, gene sequencing software. It also held the GenBank contract. GenBank was the predecessor to the Human Genome Project. I worked on that as well as BIONET, which was a collaboration of molecular biologists, funded by the National Institutes of Health. That was my introduction to user interface design. We also ran a free gene sequence search engine, and distributed the GenBank database using – wait for it – netnews.