AFNOG NII AWARDS 2010
ANNE-RACHEL INNE RECEIVES THE AFRICAN NETWORK OPERATORS' NII SERVICE AWARD
Accra, Ghana, 10 June 2010 - The African Network Operators Group (AfNOG) has awarded Anne-Rachel Inne the Network Information Infrastructure (NII) Service Award for 2010 in recognition of her contribution to improving and sustaining Africa's Internet environment. AfNOG presented the Award during its 11th Meeting and the celebration of AfriNIC.s five years of operation held in Kigali, Rwanda on 2nd June, 2010.
The NII Service Award was instituted in 2009 during AfNOG's 10 years anniversary by Dr Nii Narku Quaynor, who himself received the Internet Society.s prestigious Jonathan Postel Award in 2007 for his service in the region and example of dedication, commitment and leadership for the young generation to emulate.
"Anne Rachel Inne came from the business sector but engaged in the technical community work at global level to strengthen the African local community" says Dr Nii Quaynor, AfNOG Convener and honorary Chair of the NII Award. "This year's award recognizes a woman who very early engaged herself with the community and worked in supporting ccTLD through re-delegation processes and other related issues'. According to Adiel Akplogan, CEO of AfriNIC and recipient of the 2009 NII Service Award "Recognizing her efforts and her work seem to me the obvious choice for the Award Committee. I am very proud to share this recognition with Anne-Rachel who, as a woman found her way through an environment dominated by men and excelled. I look forward to working with her to do more for our dear continent". Anne-Rachel currently works with the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) and is very active in leading the organization.s efforts to improve Internet Policy in the Africa Region. Before handing over Award to Anne-Rachel, Dr Nii Quaynor stated that "She has also demonstrated an immense commitment with her continued engagement with AfriNIC & AfNOG community in the interest of Africa as a whole. Anne-Rachel has made the African Technical community better known to many African economic and political organizations". It was announced during the awards ceremony that a website dedicated to the Nii Awards would be launched soon to keep the memory of this Award alive as well as to better inform the community.
Besides the main Nii Award, a Junior Award was also given to Michuki Mwangi for his continuous contribution to the internet technical community.
Michuki Mwangi is currently the Snr Education Manager at the Internet Society (ISOC) and lead several training activities within AfNOG and AfriNIC program. According to Dr Nii Quaynor "Michuki Mwangi has contributed tremendously to the local community in Kenya through his work with ccTLD, Internet exchange point and Root servers in the country. Michuku has also contributed in pan African ways as a regular AfNOG Instructor, as a leading member of AftLD and for championing the establishment of country NOGs. Michuki's contributions are globally recognized and he is a good example for next generation engineers".