The NomCom gives all nominees the opportunity to post statements here for the community to see. This is Mirjam’s:
Since I came in touch with RIPE in 1993, I was fascinated by the
openness and friendliness of the community. People come together to collaborate, to share knowledge and to work on a common goal. Over the years, I developed a deep awareness of what RIPE is and learned to love the people and cherish our values. I had the privilege to work closely with the former RIPE Chairs, Rob Blokzijl and Hans Petter Holen and I was very excited when I was selected as RIPE Chair in 2020.
I have a computer science background. Most of my career I worked as technical community builder and collaborated with stakeholders from various sectors including technical, security, academic and government.
I helped to build connections and motivated others to become a core part of the larger RIPE community. In my earlier career, I developed and organised technical workshops primarily in developing countries. I also served as the chair of the IETF Education Team for over ten years.
RIPE developed as a community of network operators, but it is also an important actor in the Internet Governance arena. RIPE plays an
essential role in maintaining a stable Internet infrastructure. I
believe that it is vital for the future of the Internet that we remain
relevant and independent (from political and commercial pressure).
It is my goal to ensure that RIPE is seen and respected as a source of expertise and technical knowledge. Working groups play an important role in this effort and are key to the success and the reputation of RIPE. I will continue to support WG chairs in their leadership roles.
I believe that one of our strengths as a community is our openness and our flexibility that allows us to adapt to new developments. We
demonstrated that building trust and relationships pays off. This was apparent during the COVID pandemic where our community was instrumental in keeping the network running.
One of my main goals is to ensure that we remain open to new
participants and new ideas. We need to identify people and stakeholder communities who we want to engage more with and who we need to be part of our community. This includes regulators and law enforcement, but also other technical groups we need to connect with. I want to help people to relate to the mission of our community and convince them to get involved.
Over the last years we documented how RIPE operates and how we make decision. Among other topics, we updated our policy development process and the relationship between RIPE and the RIPE NCC. This will not only help new RIPE participants, but also people who look at our community from the outside.
Another important focus area is the relationship between RIPE and the RIPE NCC which is based on mutual agreement and collaboration. I will continue to maintain and strengthen this relationship.
I see my role as RIPE chair in facilitating, motivating and empowering others, someone who listens and can relate to individuals with diverse backgrounds, cultures, styles and expertise.
It would be a pleasure and an honour to continue as a member of a new RIPE Chair Team to support this wonderful community.