Paul Twomey

Dr Paul Twomey has held a range of leadership positions in both the private and public sectors. Formerly with McKinsey& Company, Paul was, from 1997 to 2000, the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Australian National Office for the Information Economy and the Federal government’s Special Adviser for the Information Economy and Technology. Prior to that he was Executive General Manager of the Australian Trade Commission.

Paul was one of the founding figures of ICANN, the international not-for-profit entity charged with technical and policy coordination of many of the key functions of the global Internet. After four years as Chair of its Governmental Advisory Committee Paul served from 2003 to 2010 as President and CEO of ICANN, a role in which he was described by the New York Times as “the Chief Operating Officer of the Internet.”

In 2000, Paul founded Argo Pacific as Internet and cyber security consulting business. Companies he has co-founded include, Leagle, STASH, Voy Robotics, and Biosecurity Systems which delivers integrated technology and services to diminish the risk of COVID-19 and other epidemic infections in tourism destinations, public buildings and sporting events.

Paul is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation where he focuses on Internet governance, e-commerce and cyber security. He sat as a commissioner on the Global Commission on Internet Governance, chaired by former Swedish Prime Minster, Carl Bildt. He is Core Theme Leader for the theme “Managing information and technology in the public interest” for the Global Solutions Summit. He has contributed to the policy making inputs for the past three G20 meetings.