Tarek Kamel: A Loss to the Internet Community
It was indeed very sad news yesterday that Tarek Kamel passed away. Despite his suffering and illness, no one expected death could be that close. Just last week I was chatting with friends in common about his persistence in planning to attend the upcoming ICANN meeting in Montreal, with permission from his doctors. That was Tarek Kamel: always forward looking and a real fighter for what he believed in.
Tarek’s death moved not only his family and friends, but a wider group, especially in the Internet community. Let me share why.
Who is He in a Nutshell?
Tarek Kamel had a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and information technology from the Technical University of Munich. From 1992 to 1999, he was the manager of Egypt’s Communications and Networking Department at the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC/RITSEC). During this period, he established Egypt’s first connection to the Internet, steered the introduction of commercial Internet services in Egypt, and co-founded the Internet Society of Egypt (the Egyptian Chapter).
Kamel joined the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology at its formation in October 1999, where he was appointed senior advisor to the minister. Then he served as the minister of communications and information Continue reading




