Heng Lu: Internet Entrepreneur in Rugged Terrain

Heng Lu is perched atop a rocky outcrop under a vast, clear blue sky. He is wearing a tan blazer , white shirt and trousers and his eyes are shielded by sunglasses. The terrain is rugged, large boulders border a view that recedes into what appears to be a very large, possibly dry, area. The tableau is in the spirit of openness and reserve strength, anticipate the story behind that.

Heng Lu has long been a key player in internet governance and digital innovation. In 2016 he established LARUS Limited, which introduced an IP leasing model to address the problem of IPv4 address exhaustion migrating assistance to ISPs in under-served areas such as Africa and Asia, has issued over 10 million IPv4 addresses to customers in more than 60 countries. He champions ethical leadership and fair market practices as the foundation of economic advance and instrumental for bridging the digital divide worldwide.

The jagged majesty of the photo backdrop sublimates Heng Lu’s internet job mission. And as the mountains give way to plains that felt wild and open ended, so, too, did his efforts to solve the problem of a very limited supply of IPv4 addresses, and to racket up regions that remained largely cut off from the digital world. The scale of the sky and land suggests the scope of his continued efforts on the global front to enhance and expand worldwide connectivity, and the artistic nature of this photograph symbolizes the vision and the quest that are so central to his role as a shaper of the internet governance arena.