Leadership

The Honorable Diana Lady Dougan, Chairman has served in diverse technology, media and foreign policy leadership positions in both industry and government for over thirty years. This includes senior policy appointments by three US Presidents (both Republican and Democrat) in full U.S. Senate confirmed positions. During her six year service as the first statutory U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy and administratively as Assistant Secretary of State from 1982-88, Ambassador Dougan oversaw US telecom, IT and broadcast interests internationally on behalf of a dozen federal agencies. She is currently a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and active on a variety of corporate and public policy boards and commissions. Over the years, she has spearheaded a number of international initiatives involving information technology and sustainable development including founding the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) in conjunction with the World Bank and the Center for Information Infrastructure and Economic Development (CIIED) under the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Ambassador Dougan's public service has been honored with a diversity of awards including a "Peabody" for excellence in broadcast journalism for a PBS/NPR Special she produced featuring Bill Moyers. Early in her career she was the first CATV Marketing Director and youngest executive at Time Inc. (now TimeWarner AOL). She has been accorded the permanent rank of Ambassador.

The Honorable Tedson J. Meyers, Vice President and General Counsel, Cyber Century Forum is one of the nations leading international telecommunications law experts. He was founder of the International Communications Law Committee in the Bar Association, President of the International Council for Computer Communications (ICCC) and a number of other positions in the forefront of telecommunications, satellite and HDTV technology. Prior to his many years as a senior partner at Coudert Brothers as well as his own law firm, he served in several public policy positions including Assistant to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and Chief of Educational Broadcasting Projects (as well as Assistant to the Director) of the Peace Corps. He is a former Member of the Washington DC City Council, appointed to that post by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. He continues to serve in a number of public service capacities including Chairman of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Law Library of the U.S. Congress, and Chairman of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation of the United States. As President of the Cosmos Club and Chairman of the Cosmos Club Foundation he has played a major role in expanding the diversity and next-generation leadership for this unique Washington-based assembly of learned men and women, founded by Alexander Graham Bell and John Wesley Powell.

G. RUSSELL PIPE, Treasurer and Managing Director, Cyber Century Forum is widely recognized as one of the first international experts on trans-border data flow. As editor of I-Ways and Trans-border Data Reports he provided the first substantive digests for policymakers, industry and academics dealing with the fast evolving electronically based services industries. He has served as an advisor to the UN, ITU, OECD and other multi-lateral organizations and NGOs on major policy and regulatory matters relating to telecommunications and information technology and services. In 2002 he authored the research report on Mobile E-Commerce which was featured in the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) UN 2002 E-Commerce Development Report. On behalf of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity supported by grants from the World Bank, Mr. Pipe prepared a comprehensive research guide on telecommunications trade issues, emphasizing developing country involvement in the WTO Doha Round. In 1995 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) and served on behalf of Cyber Century Forum as Managing Director of the Center for Information Infrastructure and Economic Development under the auspices of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Early in his career he worked for the U.S. Congress.

*SPECIAL PROJECTS:

SPIRIT OF AMERICA. Jim Hake, Project Director and Founder

Mission and Objectives
The mission of Spirit of America is to expand the abilities of Americans serving abroad to improve the quality of life of people at the grass roots level. Our objectives are to:

• Increase the reach, scale and impact of the informal humanitarian activities that take place on the front lines in troubled regions.
• Contribute charitable goods that can have a positive, practical and timely impact in the local communities where American personnel are involved.
• Improve foreign perceptions of the American people and our presence abroad.

Overview
Spirit of America is supported through private sector contributions and in-kind support. It is being launched under the auspices of the CYBER CENTURY FORUM, a 501c3 public foundation dedicated to supporting projects and initiatives involving information technology and services that promote sustainable development and quality of life. The Spirit of America initiative is designed to help Americans serving abroad improve the lives of people where they serve - places like post-war Iraq and Afghanistan. Through Spirit of America's extensive Internet and website capabilities, it will match up donors with requests submitted by U.S. servicemen and women, Foreign Service, USAID and other reconstruction and assistance personnel for things that will help the local people; e.g., sports equipment, clothing, tools, school supplies, toys and tools. The focus will be on items that established aid bureaucracies and the military are not designed to handle and that typically fall in the gaps between large-scale assistance programs. Utilizing the powerful tools of the Internet, Spirit of America provides facilitating networks of people and technology to enable requests from US personnel abroad to be met though an extensive network of donors in the United States. Donors select the specific requests that they wish to support. Spirit of America collects the donated funds and procures the goods, or secures the direct donation of the requested goods, and arranges shipment to the requestor. The requestor distributes the goods according to the terms outlined in their request.

Background
U.S. citizens serving abroad, civilian and military, have always been the strategic "face" of America. They are our country's front line representatives in the world's most troubled places. Increasingly, they are charged with maintaining and building peace in countries where the needs, and the challenges to stability, are enormous and, where America is often viewed negatively or suspiciously. The success of those serving America abroad depends, in part, on their ability to tangibly demonstrate American goodwill. Americans have a long history of personal generosity to others in need in far away lands. Moreover, thousands of Americans serving abroad have routinely contributed personal time and energy far beyond their job descriptions to help meet special needs in the communities they serve. It is indeed part of the "Spirit of America". Often these needs may be too small or unusual to be addressed by major government or NGO bureaucracies or planning cycles-yet can make an important difference. The activities of U.S. Special Forces Civil Affairs in Afghanistan provide a powerful example. After building a schoolhouse for a small village, a Special Forces team led by Sergeant Jay Smith went on to raise money from their families and friends back home to provide baseball equipment. Within a few weeks the village children had a league and were playing baseball regularly. The village's quality of life, and its perception of America, improved. Sergeant Smith met a small need but made a big impact. This is just one of hundreds of current examples of the voluntary work of American personnel abroad in identifying needs on the ground and taking the initiative to get help from home. The dozens of sewing machines, hundreds of baseballs and thousands of pencils and notebooks and other small items they have put in the hands of those in need have already made a difference.

Spirit of America's initial priority will be to increase the scale and impact of the activities that are already being undertaken, primarily by American soldiers, in post-conflict areas. Following a short pilot project period, SOA plans to be fully operational by Fall 2003 including having in place a customized technological as well as non-bureaucratic human network to expand and replicate these successful and personalized efforts by some of America's most entrusted citizens - those who represent and serve the United States abroad.

Cyber Century Forum^®
Email: info@cybercenturyforum.org