Opening and closing remarks
Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of the Office for Europe at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (Geneva, Switzerland), representing ITU in Europe and directing actions, projects, initiatives and experts groups targeting 46 countries of the Europe Region. His portfolio includes set of Regional Initiatives for Europe, designed by the European Member States and focusing on the ICT In frastructure, Digitization, Digital Inclusion, Accessibility, Innovation and Cybersecurity. Along the professional career, Mr. Ponder held official positions in the public sector and was a contributor to the legislative projects having the impact on the public policy. Since 2014 Mr. Ponder has been working for ITU holding diverse positions in the General Secretariat, Telecommunication Development Bureau, and Regional Presence, addressing complexity of information society development and digital transformation at national, regional, international level, including United Nations level. For several years he has managed ITU's work on the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, leading towards the establishment of the annual WSIS Forum, WSIS Prizes, WSIS Stocktaking, others.
Session 1: National case study: the impact of modern ICT on the development of the digital economy of Ukraine
Mr Marco Obiso is the Head of the Cybersecurity division and currently acting as Chief of the Digital Network Society Department in the Telecommunication Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the lead UN-specialized agency for icts, and has been working in the field of Information and Communication Technologies for the past two decades. He has been operating in several ICT related domains such network infrastructure development, system integration, application cooperation, IT Service Management, Internet governance and information security. As Head of the cybersecurity division, he is currently facilitating the work of ITU in elaborating Cybersecurity strategies and implementing programmes and initiatives as well as leading the ITU's efforts on enabling the use of ICT applications, for the benefit of ITU Member States, including providing technical assistance in establishing capabilities and working to strengthen coordination and cooperation within the UN system. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Rosheen Awotar-Mauree works as Study Group Advisor at the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of ITU, with focus on Study Group 1 “Enabling environment for the development of telecommunications/icts". She has over 20 years of experience in the field of ICT for development. She coordinated projects and other developmental actions for ITU in the Europe region and on Cybersecurity at the global level which included the Global Cybersecurity Index, the National Cybersecurity Strategy and implementing the National CERT for Cyprus. She managed Government IT Security initiatives in the field of sensitization, audits, implementation of information security management systems (ISMS) based on ISO 27001/2 standards and in international cooperation to operationalize the national CIRT and the national PKI. She has also been involved in the elaboration of national ICT strategies. She holds CISSP and CRISC certifications. Rosheen received her first degree in Computer Science with honours in Information Systems, in 1994 (through a State Scholarship) and her MBA in 1996, both from Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. - Click here to access the presentation.
Session 2: Approaches of the UN System to support digital transformation
Ms. Sarah Delporte, Project Officer in charge of UN Affairs and UN Partnerships at ITU Office for Europe. Prior to joining the ITU, she had several experiences in the communication and marketing sectors. She holds a double master's degree in Public Policy and Human Development from the UNU-MERIT, specialized in social entrepreneurship and public policy, as well as a bachelor's degree in communication and marketing. She has also followed journalism training. She is passionate about applying innovative and integrative solutions to create a sustainable and inclusive future for all. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Sophie Treinen, Information and Knowledge Management Officer and Digital Agriculture Team Leader, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. She provides assistance to the countries of the region addressing the role of information, communication and knowledge sharing. Her major responsibility is to develop approaches for developing institutional and individual capacities. She supports the development of a national digital agriculture strategy, and pays particular attention to systems, which make the most of digital and more conventional technologies to address stakeholders' needs. She is also applying participatory approaches and examining gender issues linked to the introduction of new digital Information and Communication Technologies. - Click here to access the presentation.
Mr. Ryan Dos Santos works as a Technical Officer in the Digital Health Flagship programme within the WHO Regional Office for Europe's Division for Country Health Policies and Systems, providing support on aspects of digital health and innovation to support health systems strengthening and reform in the Region's 53 Member States. Ryan has a background in computer science and worked for many years leading information technology management in some of the larger companies in his home country. He also has more than a decade of experience working with WHO in information technology, digital health and public health. In working to ensure improved access to healthcare and empowerment through digital health, Mr. Dos Santos supports the implementation and delivery of the Digital Health Flagship (DHF) through policy analysis, assisting with development of technical guidance on digital health and supporting the development of products and activities in the area of digital health. - Click here to access the presentation.
Mr. Milan Dacic serves as Representative for Europe of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Part of career he spent as researcher and other part in public administration and international organizations (some duties: Director of Hydrometeorological Service and Permanent Representative of Serbia with WMO, Head of international relations of the Yugoslav Federal Hydrometeorological Institute, UNFCCC and IPCC Focal Point, senior officer of the Ministry of Environmental Protection working on climate related issues, Director of the Serbia's Country Office of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe - REC, WMO consultant). Milan was instrumental in setting-up of sub-regional SEE Virtual Climate Change Center and worked on advancing its operational functions as science to policy interface. While working as WMO Consultant Milan contributed to design of the South East European Multi Hazard Early Warning System for the Western Balkans and Turkey. On country level he was coordinating the creation, negotiation, and final adoption by the Parliament of the Law on Meteorological and Hydrological Activities in Serbia. He actively contributed to design of legislative framework and operational practice in the disaster risk management. While working in WMO, he engaged with eighteen countries of SEE to develop and agree the data policy for improved data sharing supporting the global and regional data processing and forecasting centers in Europe. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Maria Teresa Pisani is Economic Affairs Officer at the Economic Cooperation and Trade Division of UNECE, where she leads the work on policies and standards for sustainable trade facilitation, and is currently managing a global multi-stakeholder initiative on sustainable value chains in the clothing industry. At UNECE since 2011, she has been focusing on trade and environmental governance. Before joining the UN, Maria Teresa has been with the European Commission, and the ILO, and has managed World Bank funded projects for institutional reforms in emerging economies around the world. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Mariia Pavlova joined UNIDO's Regional Coordination Division for Europe and Central Asia at the beginning of 2019 as a Project Associate facilitating the implementation of several projects and Country Programmes, as well as coordinating UNIDO's engagement with the UN Development System in the region. Previously, Mariia has had experiences working with the OSCE and the IAEA. Mariia obtained her Master's and Bachelor's degrees in the field of European studies and is currently pursuing a phd in political science. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Natalija Ostojic Technical Project Analyst, UN Women Serbia. She is a programme management specialist with over twelve years of professional experience working for the government, civil society, and international organizations on promoting women's rights, achieving gender equality, eliminating violence against women and all forms of discrimination, and ensuring that gender is appropriately integrated into development policies, strategies, and programmes in the Western Balkan countries. Through capacity building and technical assistance to political parties, government institutions, local communities, organizations of persons with disabilities and women csos, worked on enabling women to take a more prominent role as economic, social, and political change agents in the region. Completely coordinated and managed several calls for proposal for csos and local self-governments with assistance portfolio of approximately $4M, several nationwide research projects, and awareness raising campaigns against EVAW aimed at local communities. Passionate about design thinking, social innovation and mainstreaming gender into climate change policies and activities. Holds an M.A. in Political Sciences and a B.A. in English Literature from University of Belgrade and has attended University of Oslo Master Course in International Development. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Sarah Fuller is an education consultant who currently works with the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia as the project manager for the regional digital learning initiative learnin. Her work spans both research and programming and focuses on integrated approaches to educational development, particularly evidence generation, mental health and well-being in education, formative assessment, and teacher professional development. She has worked with the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and UNESCO on education sector analyses, gender equality and education, and data mapping in South-East Europe. Sarah conducts research and trauma-informed professional development for early childhood educators in Rwanda. She has a Master's in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University and is an alumna of Harvard Medical School's global mental health program in refugee trauma and recovery. - Click here to access the presentation.
Session 3: ITU-UNEP-UNITAR E-waste Monitoring for the Western Balkans
Mr. Matthew Billot is the Regional Coordinator, Science-Policy, at UNEP Europe Office. Matt has over twenty years' experience in undertaking environmental assessments as well as environmental management and policy. Matt worked for WSP Environment and Energy in the UK as an Associate Director of the Environmental Planning team. He was responsible for undertaking environmental impact assessments of development proposals across a wide range of sectors, particularly property, industry and transport. Matt joined UN Environment in 2010 as the Head of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) Unit within UN Environment's Science Division (Scientific Assessment Branch) and was responsible for the Integrated Environmental Assessment Section and, in particular, delivering UN Environment's flagship Global Environment Outlook-5 assessment in 2012. He is currently responsible for delivering the activities of UN Environment's sub-programme 7 'keeping the environment under review' in the pan-European region. In particular, focusing on establishing a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) for the region by 2021. This involves building the capacity of countries to generate, share and use environmental data/ statistics and information for multiple purposes ranging from national state of environment reporting and MEA reporting to Agenda 2030/SDG follow-up and review. Matt manages the delivery of other key UN Environment products and services, which include producing the regular GEO Assessment for the pan-European region and providing web-based tools and technologies to support sharing of environmental data and information from national to global levels. - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Rosie McDonald is an E-waste Data Associate Officer within the ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. Her work focuses on e-waste data and statistics capacity building activities as part of the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. She is also supporting ITU's efforts in the use of digital technologies for monitoring, mitigating, and adapting to climate change. Prior to ITU, her work focused on greenhouse gas modelling for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector of the UK national greenhouse gas inventory. Within a higher education setting, she has experience of working in widening participation, STEM enrichment and teaching environmental statistics and Geographic Information Systems. She holds a phd in Environment Sciences from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, an msc in Environmental Protection and Management from The University of Edinburgh (UK), and a bsc in Geography from the University of Aberdeen (UK). - Click here to access the presentation.
Ms. Giulia Iattoni is a Programme Associate at the Sustainable Cycles Programme, co-hosted by the United Nations University (UNU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Giulia graduated cum laude in Environmental Engineering at the University of Bologna and spent a research period at the Technical University of Vienna, focusing on water quality and resources sustainability. Since 2019, Giulia has been involved on various projects on e-waste data collection and quantification, as well as on projects concerning the analysis of e-waste management models and related environmental impacts at the national and regional level. Giulia is co-author of the recently published Regional E-waste Monitor in the CIS plus Georgia and of the Regional E-waste Monitor for the Arab States. She is also designing and conducting workshops to build institutional capacity on e-waste statistics and legislation for several countries worldwide. - Click here to access the presentation.
