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Biographies

Tomas Lamanauskas Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Tomas Lamanauskas is Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, elected at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference of 2022, and taking up duties as of January 2023. His 25 years of experience spans across sectors of telecoms and digital policy, regulation and strategy, stemming from executive level positions in agencies, companies, and organizations across Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific region. As Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, Tomas focuses on the financial sustainability and operational excellence of the organization. He also works to raise the digital industry’s ambition in fighting the climate crisis through the Green Digital Action initiative and promotes investments into the digital infrastructure as well as digital resilience through the Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative and other efforts. Additionally, Tomas contributes to the global efforts to harness the opportunities and mitigate challenges of new technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence, including through his role as a co-chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on AI. He is also playing a key role in ensuring ITU’s support to other UN-wide development and governance efforts, including through the World Summit of the Information Society process and membership at the Operational Steering Committee of the UN Joint SDG Fund. Tomas holds Master’s Degrees in Public Administration (Harvard), Leadership and Strategy (London Business School), Telecommunications Regulation and Policy (The University of the West Indies) and Law (Vilnius University). Elisa Tonda Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of UNEP's Industry and Economy Division Elisa Tonda is the Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of UNEP's Industry and Economy Division. This Branch works to boost resource-efficient growth and innovation to break the links between economic growth and environmental degradation. Elisa was formerly the Head of the Production and Consumption Unit of UNEP's Economy Division whose main goal is the promotion of sustainable production and consumption policies, practices and initiatives through the engagement of governments, the business community and civil society organizations.. The Unit has also played a leading role in the strengthening UN Environment's contribution to the greening of global value chains, and has been coordinating the development of several initiatives in the domain of circular economy. Prior to that, Elisa has been the Regional Officer of the Economy Division based in Latin America and the Caribbean Office in Panama City. In this function, she supported the UN Environment's initiatives addressing Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production in this region. Elisa has also been the Officer in Charge for the Brazil office. During her professional experience with UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), prior to joining UN Environment in November 2009, she was responsible for project development and management in the area of Cleaner Production and sound chemicals management. During her former professional career, she worked in the private sector on environmental authorizations and permits, environmental certification including certification according to ISO 14001, the design of environmental service facilities including waste management facilities, the design and operation of landfills, the environmental impact assessments of landfills and mining sites, and the remediation of contaminated industrial sites. Elisa has a Master degree in Environmental Engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy and in Sustainable Development from the University of London, UK. Jean-Manuel Canet WP3/5 Vice-Chair and Q9/5 Rapporteur, ITU-T Study Group 5 "Environment, EMF and Circular Economy" / Senior Manager, Climate Biodiversity, Orange Jean Manuel Canet is a Senior Manager in charge of Climate and Biodiversity in the CSR Department of Orange Group. He has developed an expertise in the assessment of the environmental impact of ICT goods, services and organizations. He earlier led numerous projects to assess and reduce GHG emissions related to IT, for customers such as the European Parliament, France Télévisions or Zurich Financial Services. He serves as Vice-Chair of the ITU-T SG5 Working Party 3 on “Climate change, adaptation, mitigation and net-zero emissions” and Rapporteur of the “Assessing the impact of telecommunications/ICTs on climate change, biodiversity and the environment - including the influence on other sectors” question. He served as a member of the Advisory Panel of the UNFCCC “Momentum for Change” initiative. Jean-Manuel graduated from Télécom ParisTech and the MBA Programme of the “Collège des Ingénieurs”. He holds a certificate in carbon accountancy from the French National Agency for Energy and Environment and a certificate in carbon finance from Carbone 4 Academy.
Reyna Úbeda Engineer to ITU-T Study Group 5 "Environment, EMF, Climate Action and Circular Economy" Reyna Úbeda studied Industrial Engineering and she completed a Master on International Management from the University for Economics and Environment Nürtingen- Geislingen in 2014. She joined the ITU’s Standardization Bureau in 2015. She is the Engineer of ITU-T Study Group 5 on Environment, EMF, climate action and circular economy. Reyna speaks English, Spanish and German. David Ogden Deputy Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) David Ogden is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Mr. Ogden joined the United Nations Environment Programme in March 1997 and served as the coordinator of the Stockholm Convention through its negotiation and following its entry into force. He chaired the coordinators group that was responsible for the organization and conduct of the first simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in February 2010. He was also the former chief of the Governance Branch. David Ogden worked for the United States Environment Protection Agency from 1987 to March 1997 mostly within the Office of International Affairs where he served as the lead analyst for international chemicals management issues. He holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science, a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs, a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a certificate to teach social studies at the secondary level. Leila Devia Former Director, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the South American Region, Argentina (BCRC Argentina) Leila Devia is a lawyer specialized in the legal regime of natural resources from Faculty of Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She has a PhD in Legal Sciences from the University of Salvador (USAL) and a Postdoctoral degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She is the former Director of the South American Regional Center for Training and Technology Transfer dependent on the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (United Nations Environment Programme). She is also a Member of the Enforce Network on Compliance with Legislation on Illicit Traffic in Hazardous Waste, Member of the Argentine delegation for the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions and Member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She is Consultant on International Technical Cooperation issues in the International Chemical Agenda (Chemical Products and Waste). Leila Devia teaches undergraduate and postgraduate law at the University of Buenos Aires, El Salvador University, Universite Paris I Panteón-Sorbonne, Cema University, Austral University and the Argentine Business University (UADE). She is also an author of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) and many other publications, including "Climate Change (an Argentine perspective in relation to international trade and forest management)" as the author, and "The Paper Mills in Question" and "MERCOSUR and the Environment" as a co-author. Additionally, she serves as an expert reviewer for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Ilias Iakovidis PhD, Adviser on digital aspects of green transition, DG CONNECT, European Commission Ilias works on maximising the positive impact of digitalisation on the green transition in cooperation with several Commission services and external stakeholders. He has initiated the European Green Digital Coalition, launched in 2021 by Commissioner Breton. Members of the Coalition have committed to work, with the support of the European Parliament Pilot project, on science-based methods to estimate the net environmental impact of digital solutions, and, to develop guidelines for deployment of such solutions in major climate critical sectors that lead to quantifiable emission reductions. Ilias also works on the Digital Product Passport as introduced in the Eco-design for Sustainable Product Regulation. The aim is to accelerate the transition to circular economy by supporting products' sustainability and enabling sustainable business models (e.g. product as a service). Before 2017, Ilias has contributed to the EU Agenda of eHealth and ICT for Active and Healthy Ageing for over 20 years. Areas he pioneered include digitally supported Integrated Care, 'Virtual Physiological Human' (digital twin of patient), Personal Health Systems and Electronic Health Records. Thomas Ebert Policy Analyst on green digital twin transition, Seconded National Expert, DG Connect, European Commission Thomas Ebert has been working for the German Environment Agency since 2018 as Research and Policy Officer in product policy and circular economy. In September 2023, he joined DG CONNECT at the European Commission as a Seconded National Expert focusing on the sustainable and digital twin transition.

Tomas Lamanauskas

Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union

Tomas Lamanauskas is Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, elected at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference of 2022, and taking up duties as of January 2023. His 25 years of experience spans across sectors of telecoms and digital policy, regulation and strategy, stemming from executive level positions in agencies, companies, and organizations across Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific region. As Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, Tomas focuses on the financial sustainability and

operational excellence of the organization. He also works to raise the digital industry’s ambition in fighting the climate crisis through the Green Digital Action initiative and promotes investments into the digital infrastructure as well as digital resilience through the Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative and other efforts. Additionally, Tomas contributes to the global efforts to harness the opportunities and mitigate challenges of new technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence, including through his role as a co-chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on AI. He is also playing a key role in ensuring ITU’s support to other UN-wide development and governance efforts, including through the World Summit of the Information Society process and membership at the Operational Steering Committee of the UN Joint SDG Fund. Tomas holds Master’s Degrees in Public Administration (Harvard), Leadership and Strategy (London Business School), Telecommunications Regulation and Policy (The University of the West Indies) and Law (Vilnius University).

Elisa Tonda
Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of UNEP's Industry and Economy Division

Elisa Tonda is the Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch of UNEP's Industry and Economy Division. This Branch works to boost resource-efficient growth and innovation to break the links between economic growth and environmental degradation. Elisa was formerly the Head of the Production and Consumption Unit of UNEP's Economy Division whose main goal is the promotion of sustainable production and consumption policies, practices and initiatives through the engagement of governments, the business community and civil society organizations.. The Unit has also played a leading role in the strengthening UN Environment's contribution to the greening of global value chains, and has been coordinating the development of several initiatives in the domain of circular economy. Prior to that, Elisa has been the Regional Officer of the Economy Division based in Latin America and the Caribbean Office in Panama City. In this function, she supported the UN Environment's initiatives addressing Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production in this region. Elisa has also been the Officer in Charge for the Brazil office. During her professional experience with UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), prior to joining UN Environment in November 2009, she was responsible for project development and management in the area of Cleaner Production and sound chemicals management. During her former professional career, she worked in the private sector on environmental authorizations and permits, environmental certification including certification according to ISO 14001, the design of environmental service facilities including waste management facilities, the design and operation of landfills, the environmental impact assessments of landfills and mining sites, and the remediation of contaminated industrial sites. Elisa has a Master degree in Environmental Engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy and in Sustainable Development from the University of London, UK.

Jean-Manuel Canet
WP3/5 Vice-Chair and Q9/5 Rapporteur, ITU-T Study Group 5 "Environment, EMF and Circular Economy" / Senior Manager, Climate Biodiversity, Orange

Jean Manuel Canet is a Senior Manager in charge of Climate and Biodiversity in the CSR Department of Orange Group. He has developed an expertise in the assessment of the environmental impact of ICT goods, services and organizations. He earlier led numerous projects to assess and reduce GHG emissions related to IT, for customers such as the European Parliament, France Télévisions or Zurich Financial Services. He serves as Vice-Chair of the ITU-T SG5 Working Party 3 on “Climate change, adaptation, mitigation and net-zero emissions” and Rapporteur of the “Assessing the impact of telecommunications/ICTs on climate change, biodiversity and the environment - including the influence on other sectors” question. He served as a member of the Advisory Panel of the UNFCCC “Momentum for Change” initiative. Jean-Manuel graduated from Télécom ParisTech and the MBA Programme of the “Collège des Ingénieurs”. He holds a certificate in carbon accountancy from the French National Agency for Energy and Environment and a certificate in carbon finance from Carbone 4 Academy.

Reyna Úbeda
Engineer to ITU-T Study Group 5 "Environment, EMF, Climate Action and Circular Economy"

Reyna Úbeda studied Industrial Engineering and she completed a Master on International Management from the University for Economics and Environment Nürtingen- Geislingen in 2014. She joined the ITU’s Standardization Bureau in 2015. She is the Engineer of ITU-T Study Group 5 on Environment, EMF, climate action and circular economy. Reyna speaks English, Spanish and German.

David Ogden
Deputy Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS)

David Ogden is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Mr. Ogden joined the United Nations Environment Programme in March 1997 and served as the coordinator of the Stockholm Convention through its negotiation and following its entry into force. He chaired the coordinators group that was responsible for the organization and conduct of the first simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in February 2010. He was also the former chief of the Governance Branch. David Ogden worked for the United States Environment Protection Agency from 1987 to March 1997 mostly within the Office of International Affairs where he served as the lead analyst for international chemicals management issues. He holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science, a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs, a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a certificate to teach social studies at the secondary level.

Leila Devia
Former Director, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the South American Region, Argentina (BCRC Argentina)

Leila Devia is a lawyer specialized in the legal regime of natural resources from Faculty of Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She has a PhD in Legal Sciences from the University of Salvador (USAL) and a Postdoctoral degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She is the former Director of the South American Regional Center for Training and Technology Transfer dependent on the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (United Nations Environment Programme). She is also a Member of the Enforce Network on Compliance with Legislation on Illicit Traffic in Hazardous Waste, Member of the Argentine delegation for the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions and Member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She is Consultant on International Technical Cooperation issues in the International Chemical Agenda (Chemical Products and Waste). Leila Devia teaches undergraduate and postgraduate law at the University of Buenos Aires, El Salvador University, Universite Paris I Panteón-Sorbonne, Cema University, Austral University and the Argentine Business University (UADE). She is also an author of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) and many other publications, including "Climate Change (an Argentine perspective in relation to international trade and forest management)" as the author, and "The Paper Mills in Question" and "MERCOSUR and the Environment" as a co-author. Additionally, she serves as an expert reviewer for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Ilias Iakovidis
PhD, Adviser on digital aspects of green transition, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Ilias works on maximising the positive impact of digitalisation on the green transition in cooperation with several Commission services and external stakeholders. He has initiated the European Green Digital Coalition, launched in 2021 by Commissioner Breton. Members of the Coalition have committed to work, with the support of the European Parliament Pilot project, on science-based methods to estimate the net environmental impact of digital solutions, and, to develop guidelines for deployment of such solutions in major climate critical sectors that lead to quantifiable emission reductions. Ilias also works on the Digital Product Passport as introduced in the Eco-design for Sustainable Product Regulation. The aim is to accelerate the transition to circular economy by supporting products' sustainability and enabling sustainable business models (e.g. product as a service). Before 2017, Ilias has contributed to the EU Agenda of eHealth and ICT for Active and Healthy Ageing for over 20 years. Areas he pioneered include digitally supported Integrated Care, 'Virtual Physiological Human' (digital twin of patient), Personal Health Systems and Electronic Health Records.

Thomas Ebert
Policy Analyst on green digital twin transition, Seconded National Expert, DG Connect, European Commission

Thomas Ebert has been working for the German Environment Agency since 2018 as Research and Policy Officer in product policy and circular economy. In September 2023, he joined DG CONNECT at the European Commission as a Seconded National Expert focusing on the sustainable and digital twin transition.