Andrei Kolesnikov

Affiliation:	RU-CENTER
Country:	Russia
LinkedIn:	Andrei Kolesnikov

Andrei Kolesniskov (Андрей Колесников) is known as a "Runet Veteran" and Internet activist. He has been the CEO of the RU-CENTER, a non-profit organization responsible in the administration and operation of the .ru (Russia) ccTLD registry, since 2009.

Career History

Before assuming the position of CEO for RU-CENTER in March 2009, Koleniskov served as Council Member for the organization and Deputy Media Director for VympelCom, a telecommunications company in Russia from 2005 to 2009.

He represented Russia in the development of the "Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society,” which was adopted by the G8 member countries during the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) conference in 2000.

In 1991, he served as a Telecommunications Engineer for the All-Union Research Institute of Applied Automatic Systems (AUIAAS) and San-Francisco-Moscow Teleport (SFMT) joint venture. He was instrumental in the development of an e-mail system with direct terminal access and Internet channel connecting computers of AUIAAS and research networks in the USA. He was also one of the eight individual representatives for Internet service providers who signed an agreement that paved the way for the delegation of the .ru ccTLD. From 1994 until 1995, he took part in the development of the first license for telematics and led the introduction of Russia-On-Line, the first and largest Internet-dial up access service provider in Russia. He entered the telecommunications industry through public initiatives, including helping launch the telecommunication connection between the United States and USSR in 1988.

ICANN Involvement & Other Activities

Mr. Kolesnikov is a member of the SSAC and has previously been a member of ICANN's GNSO Council. He was appointed by the NomCom in October 2009 and served through September 2011. In November 2011, he issued a statement regarding RU-CENTER's interest in submitting an application to ICANN for the .children TLD in New gTLD Program.

Andrei Kolesnikov is an active participant in different international organizations and conferences dedicated to the development of the Internet, such as the IGF, RIPE, CENTR, APTLD, and the ITU. He is also a member of Friendly Runet Foundation, a division of the Safe Internet League dedicated to combating child abuse and pornography. On Dec. 20, 2011, Andrei signed a partnership agreement between RU-CENTER and the foundation to fight against the spread of malicious content on the web.

Education

Andrei attended the Moscow State Academy of Fine Chemical Technology- Lomonosov (MITHT).