Alexa Raad and Leslie Daigle have been working with Internet technology and business for longer than it’s fashionable to admit. Together, they bring a unique perspective on the state of the Internet, following the evolution of its technologies and business practices from early days until now, and they enjoy discussing possibilities for the future.
Alexa Raad
I believe in adopting an entrepreneurial approach in service of a higher mission.
For over twenty-five years, I have worked on commercializing technologies that had the potential to significantly change, and I hoped improve, our lives. I started out my career at AT&T and soon went on to work on what was to become AT&T’s set of Internet related services such as access and hosting. After a stint helping to start Bell Atlantic (now Verizon’s) Internet services, I went on to e-commerce and electronic wallet technologies back when e-commerce was but a buzzword, and Amazon was just a rainforest.
Next I joined Verisign, the company at the nexus of the Dotcom boom, working on gaining adoption for the Domain Name System (DNS) the naming and addressing infrastructure underpining every website, application or resource online. Fascinated by traditional supply chain problems such as counterfeits and spoilage, and the application of existing technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification to a new and scalable addressing architecture, I advocated for and implemented “Track and Trace” solutions to aid in blood and pharmaceutical products safety. As mobile devices became more prevalent, I was captivated by the possibilities of a mobile Internet, and spent two years working on a start-up in that field.
Next, I accepted the challenge of heading up one of the best known name spaces (or Top Level Domains) on the Internet, .org. I helped usher in technologies and policies to make .org safer.
When the Internet hype cycle became the “trough of disappointment” I was dismayed at the dark underbelly of the Internet and got into the then fledging cybersecurity industry.
I have been a CMO, a COO, a CEO, and an entrepreneur, but throw away the titles and what is left is a disrupter who likes to build companies agitating for a better and kinder Internet.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexaraad/
Leslie Daigle
I believe in collaboration as the means to achieve the impossible.
For over twenty-five years, I’ve been involved in developing Internet protocols and technology. I started out with application standards, when I was working at Bunyip Information Systems Inc (founded by the people who created the first Internet search engine, Archie). I got involved in the IETF, and then the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), which I chaired for 5 years, while I worked at VeriSign and then Cisco.
In 2007, I joined the Internet Society as its first-ever Chief Internet Technology Officer. While there, I built and led teams of experts to help identify Internet-wide issues and bring cross-industry groups together to address them. World IPv6 Day and Launch were products of those efforts.
I left the Internet Society in 2014 to pursue independent projects and have been discussing with people what really matters about the Internet ever since. Most recently, I’ve joined the Global Cyber Alliance (https://www.globalcyberalliance.org) as their Global Technology Officer: same remit, working with people to make the Internet better for everyone!
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ledaigle/
- Website: https://www.thinkingcat.com/