Your Elected Leaders: Shaila Sharmin, Policy SIG Co-Chair

Key Takeaways

• Operational background informs policy decisions
• Neutral facilitation ensures consensus in SIG discussions
• Women’s mailing list boosts ICT gender diversity
• IPv6 transition remains top regional priority
• Community learning path starts with listening

Summary

Shaila Sharmin, a cybersecurity architect at Prime Bank PLC, has been re‑elected as Co‑Chair of APNIC’s Policy Special Interest Group for APNIC 60, following prior terms at APNIC 52 and 56. Her career spans ISP, WiMAX and banking sectors, giving her a practical view of how number‑resource policies affect network operations. Sharmin also founded the APAC‑ICT‑Women mailing list and volunteers with Bangladesh’s NOG, promoting inclusivity in the regional Internet governance community. She stresses neutrality, listening, and the ongoing IPv6 transition as key to effective policy work.

Pulse Analysis

APNIC’s Policy Development Process (PDP) relies on volunteer‑driven Special Interest Groups to translate technical realities into regional guidelines for allocating IPv4, IPv6 and other number resources. The Policy SIG, chaired by Shaila Sharmin, acts as the first‑line facilitator, gathering proposals, steering discussions, and preserving the consensus‑based ethos that distinguishes the Asia‑Pacific Internet governance model. Her engineering roots give her a pragmatic lens, allowing the group to assess how policy drafts will affect day‑to‑day network operations across diverse operators.

Beyond the technical arena, Sharmin leverages her experience in ISP, WiMAX and banking cybersecurity to champion a more inclusive policy community. She co‑founded the APAC‑ICT‑Women mailing list, providing a dedicated space for female professionals to share insights and influence resource‑allocation debates. This outreach aligns with broader industry efforts to diversify the talent pipeline, recognizing that varied perspectives improve the robustness of policy outcomes. By bridging operational expertise with advocacy, she demonstrates how volunteer leadership can simultaneously strengthen network reliability and promote gender equity in the ICT sector.

The next phase of APNIC’s policy agenda centers on completing the IPv6 migration while managing the dwindling IPv4 pool responsibly. Sharmin emphasizes that neutral chairmanship is critical for navigating contentious topics such as address transfers and allocation fairness. Her call for newcomers to “listen and learn” reflects a mentorship culture that sustains community expertise. As the region’s digital economy expands, the Policy SIG’s ability to synthesize operational feedback into balanced regulations will be decisive in preserving an open, secure, and scalable Internet for businesses and consumers alike.