Nigel Roberts is a British

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

Early life

Roberts was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and grew up in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Education

Educated at

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

and Prescot Grammar Schools, he received his first degree in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from

Essex University The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass universities. The university comprises three campuses in the county, in Southend-on-Sea and ...

. In 2008 he was awarded a First in law from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and the College of Law (now known as the University of Law).

Computer Gaming

Whilst still an undergraduate at Essex, Roberts was one of the group of students who conceived and developed the world's first multi-user computer game (MUD) along with Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle.

Honours

On 7 June 2022 it was announced that he would be awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the University of Essex. The degree of Doctor of the University was conferred at the University's commencement ceremony on 18 July 2022.

Career

His first job was with

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

(DEC) as a software engineer, where (among other projects) he subsequently worked on the pioneering ALL-IN-1 email and office automation system. In 1996 he founded the Island Networks group of companies, including CHANNELISLES.NET, the registry operator of the .gg and .je top level domains for

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

and

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. Co-incidentally, in the early 2020s .GG became popular with esports players and gamers. In 2005 he became the first person in the UK to obtain damages in court in a lawsuit against a sender of unsolicited email.

ICANN

In 1999, Roberts was one of the original members of the ICANN DNSO Names Council, representing the

ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...

constituency. and has been an active participant at ICANN since its foundation. He was one of the participants in the US Government's ''International Forum on the White Paper'' (IFWP) in 1997–1998, which led to ICANN's creation. He later served as one of three elected councillors representing Europe on

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

ccNSO The Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the policy-development body for a narrow range of global issues regarding country code top-level domains (ccTLD) within t ...

Council, one of the two successor bodies to the ''Names Council'' between 2013 and the end of June 2018. In September 2017 he was proposed to the ICANN board of directors by .pr ''(

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

)'', .ci ''(

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

)'' and .be ''(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

)''. In the subsequent world-wide poll, he was elected receiving 67% of the vote. He served as a director on the ICANN board between October 2018 and October 2021 On 16th April 2025 it was announced that he would be returned unopposed to the ccNSO Council in a Special Election.

Politics

He ran as a Liberal Democrat for the UK Parliament in the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Constituency in the 1997 General Election and later served as an elected member of the Alderney legislature (the States of Alderney) during 2002–2003.

Radio &c

He was a board director and council member of the

Radio Society of Great Britain The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) is the United Kingdom's recognised national society for amateur radio operators. The society was founded in 1913 as the London Wireless Club, making it one of the oldest organisations of its kind in the ...

between 1991 and 1996. He holds the

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

callsign GU4IJF. He presents an occasional music programme on Channel Island local FM and DAB community radio station QUAY-FM and serves as a director of its parent, Alderney Broadcasting, which is a Registered Charity. Between November 2021 and February 2024 he served on as one of the directors of the Royal Connaught Residential Home, a local Island charity.

Professional societies

He has been a Chartered Fellow of the

British Computer Society image:Maurice Vincent Wilkes 1980 (3).jpg, Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957. The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned ...

since 2005. He was awarded Fellowship of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 2016 and became a Fellow of the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and inco ...

in 2019. He is a Chartered Engineer, a

European Engineer European Engineer (EUR ING) is an international professional qualification and title for highly qualified engineers used in over 32 European countries. Contemporary EUR ING engineers are degree-qualified and have gained the highest level of profes ...

and a

Chartered IT Professional Chartered IT Professional (in full, Chartered Information Technology Professional) denoted by CITP is a professional qualification awarded under Royal Charter to IT professionals who satisfy strict criteria set by the British Computer Society (B ...

. He is a member of the British Computer Society's ''Fellows' Technical Advisory Group (F-TAG)'' He is also a member of

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

References

External links

CHANNELISLES.NET

US Government's International Forum on the White Paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Nigel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) States of Alderney Members British computer scientists European amateur radio operators Alumni of the University of Essex Fellows of the British Computer Society People educated at Prescot Grammar School