Nigel Roberts
Nigel Roberts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Liverpool, UK |
| Website | http://about.me/nigel.roberts |
Nigel Roberts is a British computer scientist.
Early life
[edit]Roberts was born in Liverpool and grew up in Lancashire.
Education
[edit]Educated at Wigan and Prescot Grammar Schools, he received his first degree in Computer Science from Essex University. In 2008 he was awarded a First in law from the Open University and the College of Law (now known as the University of Law).
Computer Gaming
[edit]Whilst still an undergraduate at Essex, Roberts was one of the group of students who conceived and developed the world's first multi-user computer game (MUD) along with Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle.[1]
Honours
[edit]On 7 June 2022 it was announced that he would be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex. The degree of Doctor of the University was conferred at the University's commencement ceremony on 18 July 2022.[2][3]
Career
[edit]His first job was with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) as a software engineer, where (among other projects) he subsequently worked on the pioneering ALL-IN-1 email and office automation system.[4]
In 1996 he founded the Island Networks group of companies,[5] including CHANNELISLES.NET, the registry operator of the .gg and .je top level domains for Guernsey and Jersey. Co-incidentally, in the early 2020s .GG became popular with esports players and gamers.[6]
In 2005 he became the first person in the UK to obtain damages in court in a lawsuit against a sender of unsolicited email.[7][8][9]
ICANN
[edit]In 1999, Roberts was one of the original members of the ICANN DNSO Names Council, representing the ccTLD constituency.[10] and has been an active participant at ICANN since its foundation. He was one of the participants in the US Government's International Forum on the White Paper (IFWP) in 1997–1998, which led to ICANN's creation.[11]
He later served as one of three elected councillors representing Europe on ICANN's ccNSO Council,[12] one of the two successor bodies to the Names Council[13] between 2013 and the end of June 2018.
In September 2017 he was proposed to the ICANN board of directors by .pr (Puerto Rico), .ci (Côte d'Ivoire) and .be (Belgium).[14] In the subsequent world-wide poll, he was elected[15] receiving 67% of the vote.[16][17] He served as a director on the ICANN board between October 2018 and October 2021[18][19]
Politics
[edit]He ran as a Liberal Democrat for the UK Parliament in the Ipswich Constituency in the 1997 General Election[20] and later served as an elected member of the Alderney legislature (the States of Alderney) during 2002–2003.
Radio &c
[edit]He was a board director and council member of the Radio Society of Great Britain between 1991 and 1996.[21] He holds the amateur radio callsign GU4IJF.[22] He presents an occasional music programme on Channel Island local FM and DAB radio station QUAY-FM[23] and serves as a director of its owner, not-for-profit Alderney Broadcasting Co. Ltd. Between November 2021 and February 2024 he served on as one of the directors of the Royal Connaught Residential Home, a local Island charity.[24]
Professional societies
[edit]He has been a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society since 2005.[25]
He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2016[26] and became a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in 2019. He is a Chartered Engineer, a European Engineer and a Chartered IT Professional. He is a member of the British Computer Society's Fellows' Technical Advisory Group (F-TAG)[27] He is also a member of BAFTA.[28]
References
[edit]- ^ Bartle, Richard (2004). Designing Virtual Worlds. New Riders. p. 5. ISBN 9780131018167.
- ^ "Outstanding individuals to be honoured at Graduation 2022". University of Essex. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "BCS Fellow Receives Honorary Doctorate". British Computer Society. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "ICANN Wiki". icannwiki.org. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "Local Firms Promote Their Island on the Internet". Guernsey Press. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
- ^ "The Online Gaming's Community's Favourite TLD". The Online Gaming's Community's Favourite TLD Press.
- ^ "Spam victory a first". guernseypress.com. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Businessman wins e-mail spam case". BBC News. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Claim back £300 per spam". The Register. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Election Statement: Nigel Roberts". www.wwtld.org.
- ^ "Washington Post". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
- ^ "Council Members | Country Code Names Supporting Organisation". ccnso.icann.org. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Nomination and Election Report Council Nominations and Elections to ccNSO Council 2014" (PDF). ccnso.icann.org. 16 December 2013.
- ^ "ccNSO Board Nominations, September 2017". icann.org.
- ^ "Results for Election 8173be8bdd2". ICANN Tally Election Server.
- ^ "Nigel Roberts elected to ICANN Board". World News.
- ^ "Roberts elected to ICANN Board". Domain Incite. 4 December 2017.
- ^ "The ccNSO Council Nominates Nigel Roberts to fill ICANN Board Seat number 12". ccnso.icann.org.
- ^ "BCS Fellow Nigel Roberts appointed to ICANN's Board of Directors". Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Ipswich: Constituency - Politics - The Guardian". TheGuardian.com. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "UK Companies House Annual Returns". companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
- ^ "QRZ Database". QRZ.COM. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Quay-FM - Meet the Team". quayfm.gg. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
- ^ "The Connaught - Meet Our Team". Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "BCS Register of Members". wam.bcs.org. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Local Web Pioneer Awarded For His Work - Island FM". 20 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ "F-TAG Members". BCS.
- ^ "Local internet pioneer joins BAFTA". gsy.bailiwickexpress.com. Retrieved 22 September 2023.