In alphabetical order:
                  

Mr Sami Alfakhri, Senior Economist, Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), Saudi Arabia

Mr Sami Alfakhri is a Senior Economist at the Communication & Information Technology Commission (CITC) in Saudi Arabia, where he has been working since December 2002. He has 17 years of combined experience in the field of economic studies, benchmarking analysis, regulatory industry (telecom) and costing analysis in telecommunication markets. In his current position, Mr. Alfakhri is responsible for preparing studies and reports related to the ICT sector. During his work with CITC he has directed several projects, including the Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) Project in 2007 and the Price baskets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) project in 2014. Mr. Alfakhri holds a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from the American University, and an advanced diploma in Analytic Economics from the Institute of Economics in Colorado, USA. 

Mr Iwao Aota, General Manager, Production Engineering Division, Mazda Motor Corporation, Japan

Mr Iwao Aota was named the General Manager of Mazda Motor Corporation's Production Engineering Division in April 2015.  Prior to this appointment, Mr  Aota was a Deputy General Manager of the Production Engineering Division from 2014 to 2015.
From 2008 to 2012, he was the General Manager of Mazda's Powertrain Production Engineering Department.  From 2001 to 2008,  he was the manager of the Foundry & Forging Production Engineering Group.  Mr Aota has been responsible for production engineering in the areas of rough parts, machining and assembly with regard to powertrain units, including engines and transmissions.  He has worked for Mazda Motor Corporation since 1982, acquiring more than 30 years of experience. 

Ms Annie Baldeo, Executive Officer of the Policy, Planning and Market Economics Division, Telecommunications Authority, Trinidad and Tobago

Ms Annie Baldeo is the Executive Officer of the Policy, Planning and Market Economics Division at the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. She has served with this organisation for over ten years. Preceding this, Annie was employed with the National Information and Communication Technology Secretariat of the Ministry of Public Administration where she was involved in the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s first National ICT Plan.
Her academic qualifications include a Bachelors of Science Degree (with Honours) in Management, Economics and Finance from the University of the West Indies, and an MBA in Strategic Planning from Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom. During her service at the Telecommunications Authority, she has gained a wealth of knowledge in the areas of ICT policy formulation and implementation particularly in the fields of Universal Service and the Digital Divide. 

Dr Alexandre Fernandes Barbosa, Head, Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (CETIC.br), Brazil 

Mr Barbosa leads several information and communication technologies (ICT) surveys and research projects on the socioeconomic implications of ICT in Brazil. He is responsible for conducting nationwide ICT surveys for the production of ICT-related statistics on the access to and use of ICTs in different segments of society and capacity building in survey methodologies in Latin América and lusophone countries of Africa. Mr Barbosa is also the Chair of the Expert Group on ICT Households indicators from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Mr Barbosa holds a PhD degree in Business Administration from Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), a Master Degree in Business Administration from Bradford University (UK), a MSc Degree in Computer Science from Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and a BSc Degree in Electrical Engineering from Catholic University (Brazil). He has also conducted postdoctoral research at HEC Montreal (Canada). 

Dr Steve Chan, Professor and Chair, Cyber Analytics and Network/ Relationship Science, Swansea University

Professor Steve Chan, PhD is the Chair for Network/Relationship Science Analytics at Swansea University. At the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s CyberPsychology Research Centre, he is a Professor of Network/Relationship Science. At Hawaii Pacific University, he is a Research Professor of Sensemaking and Visualization Analytics. Other academic appointments include having served as a Prince of Wales Innovation Fellow as well as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and MIT.
Dr Chan is the Chief Strategist for IBM Smarter Cities and Safer Planet, Director of the IBM Center for Resiliency and Sustainability (includes the IBM Network Science Research Center), Director of the Sensemaking-U.S. Pacific Command Fellowship, and Director of the Pacific-Asia Institute for Resilience and Sustainability (legislated by the State of Hawaii). He is an Advisor to the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) at Europol, and he serves on the Program Committee for NATO CYCON.

Mr Antonio Correia, Chairman, National Communications Authority, Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications, Timor-Leste

Mr Correia is the President of the Autoridade Nacional de Communicações (ANC) of Timor-Leste. Mr Correia has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications sector and has played an active role in the liberalizations process of the country's telecommunication market. Prior to his appointment as the President of the ANC, Mr Correia served as a the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of Transport and Communications. He was also a Senior Engineer at Timor Telecom. Mr Correia holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the UNDIKNAS University in Indonesia. 

Ms Sarah Sung Ju Eo, Senior Researcher, Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT)

Sarah Sung-Ju Eo is senior researcher at Statistics Information Centre of the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT). KAIT is an affiliated non-profit organization of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), manages ICT-related policies, and produces ICT statistics in Korea.  The Statistics Information Centre is responsible for the data collection, analysis and dissemination of ICT-related statistics in Korea and provides Korea’s ICT data to international organizations. She holds a Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Ms Ghida Fakhry, International broadcast journalist and former senior news and programs presenter for Aljazeera English

Ghida Fakhry is an international broadcast journalist and former senior news and programs presenter for Aljazeera English. She joined AJE at its launch in 2006 as lead female anchor in the network's Washington DC broadcast center before moving in 2010 to its headquarters in Doha, where she anchored the channel's flagship Newshour and hosted its award-winning documentary program Witness.
With 20 years experience in print and television broadcast journalism as foreign correspondent, news anchor, columnist and bureau chief for international news organizations, Ghida Fakhry has conducted in-depth interviews with Heads of State and Government from across the political spectrum, and reported extensively from the United Nations.
Ms Fakhry has hosted and moderated debates and high-level panel discussions with leading policy-makers and international experts at major international/UN conferences on international affairs, peace and security, human rights, women's empowerment, freedom of expression and the safety of journalists, dialogue among civilizations, global health and humanitarian issues and international development.
She holds a masters' degree in international relations, and a masters' degree in near and middle eastern studies from the school of oriental and african studies (SOAS), University of London. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

Mr Kazunari Furugen, Senior Vice President, Member of the Board, and Senior Executive Manager of Corporate Business Headquarters, NTT WEST, Japan

Mr Kazunari Furugen took up his position as Senior Vice President, Member of the Board, and Senior Executive Manager of Corporate Business Headquarters in June 2014. Prior to this appointment, at this Corporate Business Headquarters, he launched Cloud Solutions Department as an Executive Manager and started up new business projects such as Smart Community, Regional revitalization and Smart City.  Mr Furugen started up the project “Smart Hikari Town Kumamoto” with Kumamoto City and Kumamoto Prefecture in 2012 to revitalize local areas of Japan and led this project to a significant success.  This project became one of the finalists of Smart city Awards in Smart City Expo World Congress 2014 in Barcelona.
Mr Furugen was born in Okinawa and graduated from Ryukyu University in Okinawa prefecture with a degree in Electronic Information Engineering.
Since Mr Furugen joined Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation in 1984, he had mainly engaged in the development of the communication system for 15 years. From 1999 to 2000, as a Director, he had been responsible for leading IT Environment Planning for Kyushu-Okinawa G8 Summit. And in 2008, he was appointed General Manager of Okinawa Branch and contributed much to the regional revitalization by use of ICT in Okinawa prefecture.

Mr John Garrity, Manager, Policy Research, Global Technology Policy, Cisco Systems

John Garrity manages policy engagement and research in Cisco’s Global Technology Policy team, developing data-driven analysis on technology issues contributing to the expansion of fixed and wireless broadband, including national broadband agendas, Internet protocol network traffic and Internet governance. Working with government and private sector partners, he focuses on expanding the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and network connectivity for economic growth, competitiveness, and social inclusion. Previously at Cisco, he was part of Cisco’s Strategy and Economics team, helping guide strategic direction for the Emerging Markets business unit. Prior to joining Cisco in 2006, Mr Garrity worked at the World Bank in the Corporate Strategy Group, and has held positions in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as well as in state government. He holds a Masters degree in Applied Economics from the Ohio State University.

H.E. Dr Debretsion G/Michael, Deputy Prime Minister Ranking, Finance and Economic Cluster Coordinator, and Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Ethiopia 

H.E. Dr Debretsion Gebremichael is Deputy Prime Minister of Ranking, Finance and Economic Cluster Coordinator, and Minister of Communication and Information Technology of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. From 1991 to 2005 Dr Debretsion worked as head and government official in various federal and regional government positions. From 2005 to 2010, he worked as Director General of the Ethiopian ICT Development Agency where he played a key role in developing the country’s ICT Policy, Electronic Government Strategy, and the formulation and implementation of several ICT assisted development projects. Dr Debretsion served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation from 2005 to 2010, and is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopian Electric Power and Utilities since 2010. Dr Debretsion holds a PhD in Information Technology from Capella University, Minneapolis, United States, and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of London. He received his Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Faculty of Technology, Addis Ababa University. Dr Debretsion has more than 20 years experience in governance, leadership, policy formulation and telecommunication/ICT infrastructure and service development.

Dr Enrico Giovannini, Full Professor of Economic Statistics, Rome University “Tor Vergata”, Italy

Enrico Giovannini is an Italian economist and statistician, full professor of economic statistics at the Rome University “Tor Vergata”. From April 2013 to February 2014 he was Minister of Labour and Social Policies in the Italian Government. From August 2009 to April 2013 he was President of the Italian Statistical Institute (Istat). From January 2001 to July 2009 he was Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of the OECD, where he established the "World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Politics" and launched the Global Project on the "Measurement of Progress in Society", which fostered the setting up of numerous worldwide initiatives on the issue "Beyond GDP".

He is Senior Fellow of the LUISS School of European Political Economy, Visiting Fellow at the European Political Strategy Centre of the European Commission, Vice-president of the High Level Group on Competitiveness and Growth of the European Council, Co-Chair of the “Independent Experts Advisory Board on Data Revolution for Sustainable Development” established by the UN Secretary-General, member of the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board, of the “Commission économique de la Nation” established by the French government, as well as of boards of several Italian and international institutions.

In October 2014, the President of the Italian Republic made him “Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica”, the highest ranking honour of the Italian Republic. He is author of more than ninety articles and four books on economic and statistical topics.

 

Ms Vanessa Gray, Senior Analyst, ICT Data and Statistics Division, ITU

Vanessa Gray is a Senior ICT Analyst in the ICT Data and Statistics Division of the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. She helps to design and coordinate the Division’s analytical publications, including the Measuring the Information Society Report (MISR), and contributes to and coordinates the analysis of information society developments, including in the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Ms Gray is the ITU focal point for the Inter-agency and Expert Group (IAEG) on MDG/SDG Indicators and provides advice on the work on monitoring the MDGs and SDGs in the area of ICTs. Ms Gray holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Ms Margarita Guerrero, Director, Statistics Division, UNESCAP

Ms Margarita F. Guerrero heads the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), a premier training institute on official statistics under the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. SIAP’s suite of training programmes cover technical skills on production and use of a broad range of statistical domains as well as soft skills for managing and leading national statistical processes and development. These programmes are designed and delivered through an active network of partnerships with organizations engaged in statistical development and capacity building.
She has over 30 years of experience in the field of statistics—as a university professor, methodologist, official statistician, senior manager, trainer and expert advisor in a wide-range of statistical areas in national, regional and international settings.  In taking the helm of SIAP in 2012 she has applied her in-depth understanding of capacity levels of national statistical systems and models of learning and capacity-development through training in evaluating, innovating and creating highly targeted and practical programmes.  In recent years, SIAP has been in the forefront, working with partners in developing appropriate programmes on statistical quality management through adoption of national quality assurance frameworks, improving agricultural and rural statistics, use of big data for official statistics and modernizing statistical systems. 
Margarita has a Ph D degree in statistics from Iowa State University, USA. 

Ms Areewan Haorangsi, Secretary General, Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

Ms Areewan Haorangsi is Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), a post she has occupied since February 2015. She was elected Secretary General of the APT in November 2014. Prior to this position, Ms. Haorangsi served as the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), Thailand. Her long tenure with MICT from 2003 included responsibilities for a variety of portfolios, including Principal Adviser for Foreign Affairs, Acting Principal Adviser for Communications, Executive Director of Policy and Strategy Bureau, and Executive Director of International Affairs Bureau. She also has extensive international experience including through her postings as Chairman of ASEAN Telecommunication and IT Services Sectoral Working Group; Chairman of the Working Group on Economic Transformation, People Empowerment & Engagement, Innovation and Human Capital Development; and Vice Chairman of the Management Committee of the APT from 2011-2014. Before 2003, she worked in the Ministry of Transport, where she started her career in 1981. Ms. Areewan Haorangsi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (International Relations), from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and a Master of Business Administration (Management of Technology) from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand.

Dr Yuko Harayama, Executive Member, Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan

Ms Yuko Harayama is an Executive Member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) at the Cabinet Office. Prior to joining the CSTI, she spent two years at the OECD as the Deputy Director of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (STI), and ten years at the Graduate School of Engineering of Tohoku University as a professor of Science and Technology Policy.
In Japan, she served as a member of different commissions related to Science, Technology and Innovation at Cabinet Office and Ministerial levels.
Her experience prior to Tohoku University includes being a Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Geneva. Ms Harayama holds a Ph.D. in Education Sciences and a Ph.D. in Economics both from the University of Geneva.
She has received Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2011 and was awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Neuchâtel in 2014.

Dr Iñigo Herguera, Professor of Economics, University of Madrid and Chair of the Expert Group on Telecommunications/ ICT Indicators (EGTI)

Iñigo Herguera is an associate professor in economics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and has a number of publications in international refereed journals. His research field is industrial organization, anti-trust and regulation. He has worked as the Director of the Statistics Division at the telecommunications regulatory commission in Spain for 11 years and participated and chaired several international expert groups on benchmarking telecommunications and ICT indicators. He has been consultant in relevant cases on regulation of the telecommunications industry and has been involved in several anti-trust cases working both for private corporations as for regulators and public institutions (energy regulator, European Commission). He hold8s a degree in Economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, a Diplom in European Studies from the Universitaet des Saarlandes and a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute.

Dr Basuki Yusuf Iskandar, Head of the ICT Research and Human Resources Development Agency, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Indonesia

Since February 2014, Mr Basuki Yusuf Iskandar has been Head of the ICT Research and Human Resources Development Agency within the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. His agency is responsible for organizing technical policy formulation & program planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on ICT research and human resources development. He has held several high-level posts within MCIT, including Secretary General and Director General of Post and Telecommunication. Before joining MCIT, he was Director of Irrigation and Director of Culture, Science and Technology at the National Development Planning Agency. He received his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Study (Management of Technology) from Vanderbilt University, Nashville - Tennessee, USA.

Dr Johannes Jütting, Manager, PARIS21 Secretariat

Mr Johannes Jütting is the Manager of the PARIS21 Secretariat within the OECD's Development Co-operation Directorate. He leads the partnership’s work in supporting developing countries to strengthen capacity to better produce and use statistical data for policy-making and monitoring of development outcomes. He also contributes to the reflections on the design and implementation of the OECD Development Strategy as well as the Post-2015 Development Framework.
Mr Jütting joined the Development Centre of the OECD in 2002 as a Senior Economist focusing his research and policy work on institutions, decentralization and statistics/indicators. From 2006 onwards he led the Poverty Reduction Unit where he worked mainly on employment and informality, social protection and gender and created the WIKIGENDER and the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). Mr Jütting also co-directed the production of the first OECD's Perspectives on Global Development 2010 on “Shifting Wealth”, and led the second edition published in 2012 on “Social Cohesion”. Prior to joining the OECD in 2002, he was a Research Fellow at the Center for Development Research in Bonn (ZEF) where he directed a research group on poverty (1997-2002).
Mr Jütting, a German national, holds a PhD (1997) in Development and Agriculture Economics and a Masters in Agriculture (1994) from Humboldt-University (Berlin) and received his habilitation in development economics from the University of Bonn. He also studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Rennes in 1991.

Dr Seung Keon Kim, Vice President, Statistics Information Center, Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT)

Dr Seung Keon Kim is the Vice President of the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT). KAIT manages ICT policies in Korea, produces ICT statistics, and is affiliated to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP). In addition to his contribution to KAIT, Dr Kim Seung Keon also serves as the Secretary General of the Korea Big Data Forum and is the Chief Organizer of the World IT Show (WIS), the largest ICT exhibition held in Asia.
Dr Kim holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. Before joining the KAIT, Dr Kim was a Professor of Public Administration at Yonsei University. Between 1992 and 1995, he also served as a Chief Administrative Assistant for the Korea National Assembly; between 1995 and 1998 he was a Member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

Mr Igor Kuzma, Senior Counsellor, Statistical Office, Slovenia

Mr Igor Kuzma is a senior GIS specialist at the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS). He has extensive experience in the processing and dissemination of geospatial statistical data and in the area of big data. Between 2004-2010 his focus was in the area of satellite imagery; since 2011 he has been specializing on mobile telephony data. Mr Kuzma’s practical work on big data includes the development of new methodologies and testing of various analytical and GIS tools to optimize the data analysis and production of applicable derivatives. The latter include the improvements and enhancement of the statistical sampling process by means of big data and various dissemination products and services.
Mr Kuzma is acquainted with legal issues regarding the access and handling of big data and has proven experience in presenting and negotiating with relevant stakeholders (data providers, Information Commissioner, data users). He is also experienced in the dissemination of sensitive personal data as open data by means of the integrated system for the dissemination of geospatial statistics. Currently, Mr Kuzma acts as a project leader of the ongoing big data project dealing with mobile telephony data at SURS. Mr Kuzma holds a degree in Geography and History.

Dr Dražen Lučić, President of the Council of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM)

Dr Lučić is the President of the Council of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) and Member of the Board of Regulators of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) since 2013. Before that, he was HAKOM’s Executive Director for four years. 
Before joining HAKOM, Dr Lučić worked at Ericsson in Croatia, Western Europe and Israel for more than 20 years, rising from the post of engineer in the R&D Department to Senior Sales Director for one of the global telecommunication networks operators. He has a PhD degree in electrical engineering – telecommunications from the University of Zagreb. Dr Lučić is one of the founders of the Postgraduate Specialist Study in Electronic Communications Market Regulation at the University of Zagreb, where he is also a lecturerer. He is author and co-author of more than 50 scientific and professional papers, and has been a speaker and a moderator at many national and international conferences world-wide.

Ms Esperanza Magpantay, Senior Statistician, ICT Data and Statistics Division, ITU

Ms Esperanza Magpantay is the Senior Statistician of the ICT Data and Statistics division (IDS) of the ITU, where she has been working since December 2000. She is responsible for the collection and dissemination of ICT statistics particularly through the Yearbook of Statistics, World Telecom/ICT Indicators Database and the ICT Eye. Ms Magpantay coordinates the work of the ITU Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH) and the ITU’s representative at the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and its Steering Committee. Before joining ITU she worked for 7 years at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva as a statistical officer. She has a degree in Statistics from the University of the Philippines.

Mr Tango Matsumoto, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Chief Information Officer (CIO), Fujitsu Limited, Japan 

Mr Tango Matsumoto is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Fujitsu Limited, and Head of Research Center for Practical Wisdom, Economic Research Center of Fujitsu Research Institute.
Bachelor's in Economics, Keio University. 1980, joined Fujitsu; more than two decades of successful sales and management experience in the financial and infrastructure system sales division; 2006, Head of Corporate Planning & Business Development Office; 2012, Corporate Vice-President, responsible for formulating a global marketing strategy; since April 2014, Corporate Senior Vice-President and Head of Global Marketing; April 2015, CTO&CIO.

Mr Philippe Metzger, Director General, Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), Switzerland

Mr Philipp Metzger took office as Director General of the Swiss Federal Office of Communications on 1 January 2014. Before that, Philipp Metzger was Deputy to the Director of the Tele-communications Development Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) based in Geneva. He had already held previous positions at OFCOM, including Vice-Director and Head of the Telecom Services Division from 2007 and Deputy Director General from 2012.
After passing his bar exam Bern in 1992, Philipp Metzger began his career in major commercial lawfirms in Geneva and London. From 1996 to 2001, he was a Legal and subsequently Senior Legal Officer at the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Brussels and Geneva, mostly dealing with European Economic Area matters. He then served as a Senior Corporate Counsel of a US multinational IT corporation company in Amsterdam and rejoined EFTA in 2002 as the Director of the Trade Relations Division which assists the EFTA States in their free trade negotiations with partner countries worldwide. Philipp Metzger holds a Master of Arts in European Studies degree from the College of Europe (Bruges/Warsaw). 

H.E. Dr Win Busayi Juyana Mlambo, Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Zimbabwe

Dr Win B.J. Mlambo is the first Deputy Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services to be appointed since the creation of the Ministry, and a Member of the House of Assembly in Zimbabwe, Chipinge East Constituency. Before his appointment as Deputy Minister he spent about 9 years as a Diplomat at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London. Previously, he was seconded from the Public Sector to set up the first Regulatory Authority in Zimbabwe and became the first Acting Director General to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).  Before that, he had spent about 20 years working in different aspects of ICT fields in both the private and public sectors of Zimbabwe. Dr Win B.J. Mlambo holds a PhD in Communications, a Master of Arts Degree (MA) in Communications Policy and Regulation (University of Westminster, London); a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA, Pennsylvania State University, USA); and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computer Science and Physics from the University of Zimbabwe.He has vast experience in telecommunications and regulatory matters of the sector, international ICT standards, qualities and practices. He has a great passion and a strong sense of rural community empowerment, and believes in leap-frogging poverty eradication through the adoption of ICTs and inciting innovative potential in young entrepreneurs.  

H.E. Mr Mario G. Montejo, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology,  Philippines

Secretary Montejo, a mechanical engineer by profession and an innovator, believes that the use of science and technology is always a sound development model for the improvement of the individual and society in terms of improved processes, products, services. With his substantial background in engineering design and innovation spanning more than 20 years, he was selected as the 2014 University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) Most Distinguished Alumnus, and 2011 Distinguished Alumnus in Science and Technology. In 2010, the University of the Philippines College of Engineering named him one of the “100 Outstanding Alumni Engineers of the Century” during the Centennial celebration of the University of the Philippines. Before joining the government service, Secretary Montejo was president of several engineering related firms along with the more recent ecotourism-related company. His motto, ‘Local technology works!’ affirms a belief in the creativity of Filipinos, particularly the Philippine scientific community.    

Mr Kiyoshi Mori, Director-General for International Affairs Global ICT Strategy Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan

Mr Kiyoshi Mori has been Director-General for International Affairs, Global ICT Strategy Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) since 2014. In his current position, he promotes international cooperation and international dialogue on both a bi-lateral and multi-lateral basis in the ICT field. After joining the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI, currently abbreviated as METI) in 1986, he mainly dealt with trade issues and energy issues for over twenty years as Director’s positions for International Energy Affairs, Middle East and Africa, Energy Resources and Trade Finance and Deputy DG for Trade and Economic Cooperation in METI. He also served as a Guest Scholar at the Economic Studies of the Brookings Institution and as a member of the Governing Board at the International Energy Agency. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and an LL.B. from the Department of Law, University of Tokyo.

Ms Khopotso Mtwazi, Director, Information Society Evaluation, Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, South Africa

Ms Khopotso Mtwazi is the Director of Information Society Evaluation in the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services of South Africa. She has been holding the post since year 2005, and she is responsible to lead the development of indicators and associate systems to measure progress towards building an Information Society, including tracking the role of ICTs in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. She was part of the team that drafted the first Information Society and Development Plan of South Africa. She has also successfully led the conceptualisation and development of a national evaluation system, called e-Barometer, aimed to measure the e-Readiness status of South Africa. She joined the public service in 1999 from a community development background. She has since worked in various Government Departments specialising in different facets of both social and economic policy development management, advocating for vulnerable groups. She also has an extensive experience in development work, as a conceptualiser, manager and leader of programmes as well as a researcher, analyst, coordinator and integrator. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma, in ICTs and the Knowledge Society, from University of Dublin – Ireland and Masters of Management in Public and Development Management from University of Witwatersrand.

Mr Andrew Murray, Statistician, Central Statistics Office, Ireland

Mr Murray is responsible for the production of official statistics for the Services sector in Ireland. Previously he was responsible for the production of Inflation statistics in Ireland. However, it is as a lead member of Ireland's Big data group that has led him back to the world of telecommunications where he started his career. He is responsible for creating Tourism statistics from telecommunications data in Ireland both from a technological and legal (Data protection) standing. Andrew is also Ireland's expert on Big data on various UNECE High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Statistical Production and Services. He has also been central in a number of collaborative projects between the official statistical world and the private sector. Andrew started his career as a technology researcher in the Telecommunications companies Broadcom Research ltd and Openet-Telecom. He is currently pursuing a PHD from University College Cork (Ireland) in the Big data field and holds a BSC in computing from Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland).            

Mr Mustafa Naseem, Director, Innovations for Poverty Alleviation Lab, Pakistan

Mr Mustafa Naseem is a Pakistani educator, social entrepreneur and founding Director of Innovations for Poverty Alleviation Lab (IPAL) at the Information Technology University (ITU). Prior to joining ITU, Mr Naseem held senior positions at the MIT Global Startup Labs (formerly MIT AITI) South Africa Program, the Deming Center Venture Fund (DCVF) and the International Development Design Summit (IDDS). Mr Naseem's interests lie at the intersection of technology, policy and entrepreneurship geared towards solving global development challenges. Naseem graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Masters in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) on a Fulbright Scholarship. Naseem has received numerous awards throughout his career, Including the ATLAS Institute Director's Fellowship, the Dale Hatfield Research Scholars Award, the Fulbright Alumni Grant, the IDIN Alumni Grant, the Center for Policy Research (CPR) Young Scholar Award and the Design for Social Innovation and Leadership (DSIL) Scholarship.

H.E. Mr Pastor Ngoua N'neme, Minister of Digital Economy and Post Office, Gabon

Pastor Ngoua N'neme is the Minister of Digital Economy and Posts since January 2014. Before his nomination at the government, he worked for the Customs Administration, where he held various positions of responsibility starting from 1988. He dealt with the control and evaluation of goods, economic regimes, international relations, trade negotiations, fight against fraud and the reform and modernization of the customs. The last position held before his nomination was Managing Director of Customs Administration. In addition, Mr Ngoua N'neme contributed to train executives from the Gabonese and foreign administrations as a free-lance teacher at the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences of the Omar Bongo University, at the National Institute of Sciences of Management and at the Institute of the Economy and Finances. Mr Ngoua N'neme holds a DES diploma from École des Douanes de Neully-sur-Seine (France) and a diploma of 3rd cycle in Money, Finances and Banking from Université Paris II (Assas, France). He is also a former student of ENA (Paris, France). Mr Ngoua N'neme is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

Mr Tadashi Onodera, Chairman, KDDI, Japan

Mr Tadashi Onodera is Chairman of the Board of Directors of KDDI Corporation. Since his retirement as President of the Corporation in the year 2010, Mr Onodera has continued to play a key role in the operations of KDDI as a member of the company's executive committees.  As a visionary veteran of the wireless industry with business administration and technical expertise, he is a member of the Cyber Security Strategy Headquarters of the Cabinet and Chairman of the Committee on New Industry and Technology of the Japan Business Federation. Mr Onodera holds a Bachelor of Engineering, in Electrical Engineering, from the Tohoku  University.

Mr Seizo Onoe, Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice President,  Member of Board of Directors and Managing Director of R&D Innovation Division, NTT DOCOMO, Japan

Mr Seizo Onoe was named Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice President and Member of the Board of Directors in June 2012. Prior to this appointment, Mr Onoe was Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the R&D Strategy Department from 2008 to 2012. From 2002 to 2008, he was Vice President and Managing Director of the Radio Access Network related development departments. Mr Onoe has been responsible for leading research and development initiatives in the areas of analog cellular systems, digital cellular systems, W-CDMA/ HSPA, LTE, LTE-Advanced and 5G. He works on the research and development of radio access networks, core networks, consumer devices and cloud services. He has worked for NTT and NTT DOCOMO since 1982, acquiring more than 30 years of experience. Mr Onoe has a master’s degree in electronics from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering.

H.E. Mr Yasuo Sakamoto, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan