Sophia Bekele

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Sophia Bekele
Sophia at the ICANN's 28th Intl Public Meeting in Lisbon,Portugal, March 2007.
Born	Sophia Bekele Eshete Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa
Occupation	Business Person, Corporate Executive, Consultant
Years active	1990–present

Sophia Bekele (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) is a business and corporate executive and writer. She is the founder and CEO of CBS International, a private California-based firm engaged in technology transfer to emerging economies, and SbCommunications Network, an Ethiopian IT company. In 2002 SbCNet was known for being successfully awarded a highly controversial bid for a government contract to build an integrated information network infrastructure for the Ethiopian Parliament. Bekele has written editorials to various newspapers in the interest of business, technology, and public affairs and was an elected member of the ICANN Council of the GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization), which advises on global internet policy. She has also served on United Nations-sponsored committees, such as the UNECA-sponsored African Information Society Initiative (AISI), where she represents the private sector towards the economic development of Africa and creation of policies of enabling environment and bridging the economic gap through the use of ICT.

1 Early life and work
2 International work 1998 - present
3 Public positions
4 Writing
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life and work

Bekele is the daughter of Ato Bekele Eshete Wolde Michael, one of the founders of the Ethiopian company United Bank and United Insurance^{[citation needed]} and Sister Mulualem Beyene Engida, a medical nurse.

Bekele attended a private Catholic high school, then traveled to America to acquire her Bachelor's Degree in Business Analysis and Information Systems at San Francisco State University. Recruited out of college by Bank of America, she began working in information security.^[1] She earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in management Information Systems from Golden Gate University, also in San Francisco, California, which led to managerial positions with UnionBanCal Corporation and then PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Bekele has published numerous articles on issues concerning technology for development, good governance, regional economic integration, business, women’s issues and politics, mostly in associations of her development work in africa.^[2].

She is also a certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), a professional designation for competent knowledge and proficiency in the field of Informations systems Audit, Control and security. In the United States, Sophia has served on the board of the Informations Systems and Audit Association , San Francisco Chapter.^[3].

As of 2008, Bekele resides in Walnut Creek California

[edit] International work 1998 - present

In 1998, Bekele left the corporate world and spent time traveling around the globe, visiting Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa, before launching a new career as an entrepreneur.^[1] She started CBS International, a company based in California, with a mission to transfer technology to emerging economies. As an affiliate of CBS International, Bekele also set up a local company in Ethiopia, SbCommunications Network, plc, specializing in systems integration and dedicated to serving emerging economies.

Bekele has been invited to speak at various forums and summits in Africa, sharing her company's activities and strategies on such topics as "what works for Africa". She was also a panelist at a meeting on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), held by the UN General Assembly in New York.^[4]

Concurrently, Bekele was appointed as an advisor to the United Nations African Information Society Initiative AISI, an action framework by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), to build an African Information Society. In her tenure in AISI, Sophia co-authored the Common Position for Africa's Digital Inclusion, a recommendation which reflects Africa's position in the global arena on ICTs.^[5]^[6]

Sophia in Kigali Rwanda 2007

During her first two years in Africa, Bekele built business alliances with local and international firms, including partnerships with Bay Area firms through CBS International, her US-based firm, where she became known for her efforts to adapt Western business methods and practices into the traditional Ethiopian business model.^[1] Her efforts paid off when Bekele's company CBS won its first multi-million international contract with UNOPS, the United Nations Operations for Project Services, to deploy a sophisticated turnkey fiber optic-based information technology infrastructure, for the African Union General Secretariat within Conflict Management and Prevention. CBS International handled the technological inputs and services procurement from the United States, while SbCnet provided field management and strategic technological integration services.

In 2002, SbCnet was awarded a multi million dollar international contract for the implementation of an integrated data networking infrastructure project at the Ethiopian Parliament.^[6] The Ethiopian business weekly, Addis Fortune, referred to it as the most controversial contract that the government had. Originally awarded to Bekele's competitor GCS in 2001, it involved building an integrated information network infrastructure for the parliament. Bekele's company came in second, and issued immediate complaints. Reportedly with aggressive lobbying by Bekele, the bid was audited,^[7] and it was determined that the awarding of the contract had been improper, and the Parliament reversed the decision and awarded the bid to Bekele in 2002.^[8]

It is almost possible to assume that the private press has, for all practical intentions narrowed down on the 'sensationalist' value of the story without considering the core values of the process at stake and the precedent setting process at work in this matter. Precedence is being set, because this is the first time since the renaissance of our democracy that an illegally awarded contract on a national scale project has been successfully suspended, cancelled and reversed in the interest of higher ideals.

—Sophia Bekele, writing a May 2002 opinion column in the Addis Fortune, ^[9]

After the contracting controversy, Bekele's next target was the issue of elite private sector business in Ethiopia, specifically what she regarded as the illegitimate formation of a stock exchange. She wrote an editorial claiming that this entity was planned without the proper rules, regulations, infrastructure and controls:

...it is better for us to have a proper open stock market where market forces determine the price of a share and security instruments...and should not be left to the machinations of a Share Dealing Group...the truth of the matter is that Addis Ababa Chamber of commerce cannot be both the sponsor and the regulator (oversight) according to the by-laws of the group... Government is the only agency that could put the regulatory frameworks and principles under which a proper stock exchange or commodities exchange can exist.

—Sophia Bekele, writing a June 2002 opinion column in the Addis Fortune^[10]

To her vindication, the government eventually rejected the proposal for the share dealing group in November 2002.^[11] In April 2008, the Ethiopian government launched a commodities exchange market, aimed at boosting fair trade and stabilizing its food market.^[12]

Focusing on the US market since 2003, Bekele and her company consult for clients in public/private markets, primarily in corporate governance and risk management areas, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. She also advises in corporate relations/communications programs within public companies.^[13]

[edit] Public positions

Sophia at the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa advocating for Solar Cooking 2007

Bekele was nominated, elected and served as a 2005-2007 member of the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)^[14] and was present at the March 2007 meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.^[15]
Bekele contributes to the Rotary Club where she was named Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary International [1] also is Director of International Services - Rotary Club of Addis Ababa.
Eastern Africa representative on the Interim Steering Committee for African Stakeholders Network (ASN), under the sponsorship of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force^[16]
The African Technical Advisory Committee for the UNECA- sponsored African Information Society Initiative (AISI).^[17]
Bekele served on the Board of directors of the International Information Systems Audit and Control Association, San Francisco Chapter.