ALEX BERASKOW
2016 Nomination Committee Candidate
Candidate Statement:
Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) are an important part of Canada’s
economy, considered to be its back bone: over 1 million registered employer
businesses (98% of all businesses), about 50% of Canada’s workforce and over 40%
of Canada’s private sector economy.
My candidacy for the CIRA Board is rooted firmly in my 3 decades of governance
experience, working with Not for Profit as well as For Profit organizations, in my
broad experience in business as a successful entrepreneur and SME owner, as well
as my core belief in the importance of the Internet, for both economic and social
prosperity. Over the past several decades we have seen significant transformations,
and no doubt that pace will keep accelerating. Our civil society depends on access,
that is secure and always available, guarding individual privacy, and ubiquitous.
Moreover, I have been in the technology sector – information technology – for 4
decades. I continue to be in awe of the progress that has been made in hardware,
software and in its adoption (occasionally referred to as peopleware). I have been a
champion of harnessing that power throughout my career and continue to do so (in
past with ITAC and currently with CATA, Ted Rogers School of Management, the
Telfer School of Business, and Invest Ottawa).
Most importantly, I believe my value to the CIRA Board also includes my experience
as an entrepreneur who successfully transitioned a growing business into a stable
and financially sustainable enterprise. I understand firsthand what it takes to grow
quickly and to build the infrastructure required to manage that growth – in difficult
economic times and when the environment is in flux. CIRA is at that crossroads –
where it needs to figure out how to manage its growth and mature as an
organization all while remaining nimble and adaptable and attractive to its
employees and the broader community it serves. I understand full well “intentional
planned deficits” as well as the compelling need for the “operational norm of a
balanced budget”. Equally, I have direct experience in both out bound and in bound
marketing, developing new products and services, and “re-pivoting” the business as
required.
My professional and academic background:

Recognised as Business Person of the Year by The Greater Ottawa Chamber
of Commerce.





A Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) who has been directly involved in the
Information Communications and Technology (ICT) industry for the past 4
decades
Experience and expertise in the ICT industry, in having executive level
responsibility for 5 different firms over 3 decades•MBA degree in finance
and accounting
Graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Program (2014)
Owner of three successful Management Consulting Firms, including Canada’s
most awarded consulting firm
Financially literate; previous board responsibility for finance and audit for 3
boards
In personal terms:






Inquisitive, hard working , committed to continuous learning
Thrive in environments that question the status quo and that value disparate
view points
Adept and comfortable managing risk and assessing options
Enjoy working on highly functioning teams to solve important problems
Fully bilingual, raised and schooled in Quebec and now resident in Ottawa
Long distance cyclist ( Cairo to Capetown, LEJOG, and New Zealand) and
world traveler
In summary terms, I understand the Internet, the technology that underpins it and
the reason that business demands it. With both a technical and business
background, I understand full well the importance of the internet as a significant
infrastructure – in the first world through the third world. It is important to get it
right, especially on a global scale (“build, connect, secure”). With explosive growth
of ubiquitous computing and connectivity, it continues to drive all economies along
with social and political change around the world. The registration process of
“property” is a cornerstone of the Internet, (just as property rights are a cornerstone
of capitalism).
I have been directly involved in the ICT industry for the past 4 decades. My career
started as a system engineer, working with mainframes and then progressed to
being President and CEO of Canada’s most award winning management consulting
firm (IT/net). I have also worked within the domain of Portfolio Management – the
selection of projects and programs that balance risk with return. This could be of
interest to meet Corporate Social Responsibility needs.
Currently I sit on 3 boards: two of which are not for profit (NFP) ones and one
corporate board. Recently I joined the Advisory Council (Entrepreneurship &
Strategy) at Ryerson University (Ted Rogers School of Management). The ICD
professional program provided me with the appropriate governance framework
from which to consider serving on a board of directors as an independent member.
Part of the pre-qualification for the program was passing an examination on
financial literacy. Recognising the nostrum – “noses in, fingers out” – I see the board
role as a “second set of eyes” providing critical oversight, while dealing with both
technology and management issues that are joined at the hip, while work
collaboratively with others, making the best judgement calls with the available
information.
I have also been on the boards of both CATA and ITAC. As a strong advocate of the
importance of ICT to the prosperity of Canada, I have appeared before
parliamentary committees as well as being part of lobbying groups promoting the
ICT industry.
I have also worked within the domain of Portfolio Management – the selection of
projects and programs that balance risk with return. This could be of interest to
meet Corporate Social Responsibility needs.
Candidate Resume:
https://cira.ca/sites/default/files/public/alex-beraskow-2016cv.pdf
Answers to Mandatory Questions:
1. Why do you want to be on CIRA’s Board of Directors?
Recognizing the importance of the internet to Canada's prosperity - economic and
social - I would like to be part of the process that "takes a leadership role in shaping
Canada's Internet".
My passion for Canada's Internet started before the Internet became popular. In
1991, as President and COO of Vision 2000, I led a consortium of 33 large firms in
the ICT industry that developed a business plan for Advanced Personal
Communications – anytime, anyplace, any device. While the organization was
stillborn, the foresight and planning was prescient.
Having sold my management consulting business, I am now looking for new
challenges and the sense of accomplishment that follows. As a management
consultant for 3 decades, both as a practitioner and an executive running the
practice, I have acquired a broad range of experience and expertise in all aspects of
technology, its management and its adoption. I would like to continue to put that
experience and expertise to good use. It is the next phase of my career.
Specifically, I want to continue putting my governance experience, along with my
financial and investment management experience, and my passion for the Internet
to good use. I enjoy working with other executives, providing oversight, assessing
and guiding strategy along with decision making. I also enjoy working with bright
like-minded people to a common goal, through critical collaboration. Critical
collaboration - the intersection of critical thinking and collaboration - provides a
very valuable forum for learning as well as improving the status quo.
CIRA is an organization which will attract people with significant expertise and
depth. Working with a world class organization is a significant lure.
2. What specific skills or experiences do you have that make you a
qualified candidate for the CIRA Board?
Over the past 3 decades, I have sat on 10 boards in varying capacities; I was a
member of the executive committee for 3 of those boards. Three of those boards –
CATA, ITAC and Vision 2000 - were in the Information Communication and
Technology (ICT) domains. To upgrade my board governance skills I completed the
ICD (Institute of Corporate Directors) program (Rotman School). It had entrance
requirements, including financial literacy, as well as a written exam and a mock
board session.
Financially literate, I have sat on the audit & finance committee of two boards, and I
am guiding the financial restructure of another private company as a board
member. I know both GAAP and GAAS. After completing my MBA in Finance and
Accounting I taught the course. While on the board of the Rideau Club (Ottawa) I
was the Treasurer and on the Executive Committee as well. Since then I have
worked extensively in finance and accounting systems, lastly implementing large
ERP systems.
I have worked with 4 different investment managers managing multimillion dollar
portfolios in the past 2 decades. For one board I wrote the investment management
policy as well developing a better approach to finance ongoing operations.
I have been part of the ICT industry sector for the past 4 decades in various
capacities.
3. What do you feel are the top three challenges and opportunities
facing the .CA domain name space over the next three to five years?
There are a series of challenges and opportunities in the .Ca domain name space as
well as that business. The CIRA FY 17 – 20 STRATEGIC PLAN presents the following
analysis: Market is changing fundamentally and rapidly, Canada’s Internet
performance is underwhelming, .CA growth is slowing over next four years, and
Domain channel is under-performing
In addition I saw a series of other challenges.
The first challenge – really an imperative and as such an ongoing challenge to keep
doing it well – is to “provide a stable, secure and trusted domain services”. While
the technical management of the DNS is in the hands of the Internet Corporation of
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the actual deployment and management is
delegated (country code top level domain – ccTLD and now gLTD and nTLDs).
Issues will continue on the value chain of “build, connect and secure”. Challenges
will continue on trademarks, legitimacy and residency, and the dispute resolution
process. ICANN has a narrow definition of cybersquatting – the illegitimate use of
someone else’s trademark. However there are many web names (not domain
names) that are taken that are never used, held at the prospect of a sale. That is a
property that sits fallow and possibly inhibits the formation of legitimate
businesses, possibly causing confusion in the market place. Typically that is all
managed by the registrars.
The 2nd challenge is a marketing one. Having had the monopoly on domain name
registration, CIRA revenues have grown very nicely. Once IPv6 is fully deployed,
more devices will connect to the Internet, increasing security concerns, while
slowing the growth of domain name registration (and the revenues that follow).
The challenge is creating more awareness and recognition; the opportunity is for
more revenue
The 3rd opportunity is one of mandate – how to play an ever increasingly role in
“leadership shaping Canada’s Internet”. Currently there is a vacuum on internet
policy nationally as Canadians do not see that there is a single body that is looking
out for them. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – promoting research as well as
community programming – deserves further thought. CIRA could start being more
of a champion, not just a custodian.
A 4th challenge and opportunity that comes from the latter two challenges and
opportunities is to improve CIRA revenue sources. Given that CIRA has a nice
investment fund is it making optimal use of it (striking the balance between return
and risk)? What new products and services can be developed?
4. What specific actions do you propose that the Board of Directors
could take to overcome the challenges and/or take advantage of the
opportunities presented?
On one hand as a candidate board member it would be premature on my part to
start prescribing solutions and write prescriptions without full consultation and
agreement on issues – with other stakeholders (board members, government
officials) and especially CIRA staff.
Board governance is all about the roles of oversight and insight: “noses in, fingers
out”. While I am reluctant to propose recommendations to the possible challenges
that I identified without a more fulsome understanding of the issues at hand, I do
want to show knowledge and competence and so my answers are somewhat
"hypothetical".
WRT to the 1st challenge – excellence in operations
1. Due diligence over operations, maintain strict compliance, along with
performance measurement and quality assurance
2. Continue international participation to get best practices, etc.
3. Consider adoption of ISO standards
WRT to the 2nd challenge – marketing - while CIRA has a social media strategy and a
President who blogs, CIRA could start creating more mind share among Canadians
by
1. Developing and presenting policy papers on all aspects of the internet – not
just maintaining the .CA domain.
2. Showcase its prominent role in security of the .CA domain.
3. Launch a search for new products following the Ipsos Reid study.
WRT to the 3rd challenge – mandate
The nostrum – define yourself or others will define you – applies. CIRA has the
opportunity to shape public policy, to show that it is the custodian and steward and
in time to become the champion for what Canadians feel about the internet. That
would increase its relevancy and position it well for its next evolution. .
I suspect that the few Canadians that know CIRA, see it as a birth registry whereas it
should be an important pillar of our economy.
WRT to the 4th challenges – new revenue sources.
I would be curious to review the CIRA investment policy as it might be too risk
averse; conceivably the wrong firm has been hired as the investment manager.
Astute money management can produce remarkable results, as some pension funds
have found out.
The other obvious approach – aside from finding new products – is to raise fees.
While not a favoured approach, especially given the size of “restricted investments”
currently, it is an alternative that needs review.