Agenda

Houlin Zhao was first elected 19th Secretary-General of the ITU at the Busan Plenipotentiary Conference in October 2014. He took up his post on 1 January, 2015.  ITU Member States re-elected Houlin Zhao as ITU Secretary-General on 1 November 2018. He began his second ​four-year term on 1 January 2019.
Prior to his election, he served two terms of office as ITU Deputy Secretary-General (2007-2014), as well as two terms as elected Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (1999-2006).

Houlin Zhao is committed to further streamlining ITU's efficiency, to strengthening its membership base through greater involvement of the academic community and of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and to broadening multistakeholder participation in ITU's work.

Isabelle Durant, of Belgium, took up the position of Deputy Secretary-General on 3 July 2017. She briefly served as Acting Secretary-General from 16 February to 13 September 2021.

Since she joined UNCTAD, Ms. Durant has relentlessly contributed to making international trade more inclusive and greener. She has also been an advocate for gender equality.

Ms. Durant has been heavily involved in the socio-economic response of the UN to the coronavirus crisis and has led the work of UNCTAD in this area. This covered a broad range of interrelated issues including finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.

A former vice prime minister and senator of Belgium as well as vice president of the European parliament, Ms. Durant possesses solid experience in public affairs, intergovernmental processes and providing concrete assistance to countries.

She is well known for her acute skills in empowering people, addressing vulnerabilities at local and national levels and supporting governments towards good governance and sustainable policies.

Ms. Durant also served as minister of transport and energy in Belgium for four years. She oversaw mobility, infrastructure, energy and sustainable development policies between 1999 and 2003.

As such, she chaired alongside the government of the time, the presidency of the European Union (EU) and particularly the presidency of the EU Council of Transport Ministers.

As vice president of the European Parliament for the period 2009 to 2014, Ms. Durant chaired different permanent delegations, such as that of EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific countries following the Cotonou Agreement and other economic partnership agreements.

Ms. Durant also possesses a wealth of knowledge about relations with civil society representatives and the private sector, notably as the responsible vice president for the relations between the European Parliament and the civil society.

As a Belgian senator from 2003 to 2009, Ms. Durant served on the committees for foreign affairs and social affairs and participated in many election observation missions, including to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Tunisia.

She also served as a senior expert on local governance in Algeria in 2015 and 2016. In addition, she participated in or headed EU parliamentarian delegations to Iran, Myanmar and Haiti.

Immediately prior to becoming deputy head of UNCTAD, Ms. Durant was a member of the parliament of the Brussels capital region and of the Economic Affairs Committee. In the framework of a large reform of regional economic tools, she was especially involved in innovation, sharing and the circular economy.

Born in Belgium in 1954, she holds a master’s degree in economic and social policy from the country’s Universite Catholique de Louvain.

She is married and has three children.

Dr. Tawfik Jelassi was appointed UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information on 1st July 2021. In this position, he is responsible for the Organization’s programmes on building inclusive knowledge societies, leading digital transformation, strategizing the role of ICT in education, and fostering freedom of expression.

Dr. Jelassi holds a Ph.D. doctorate in information systems from New York University (USA) and postgraduate diplomas from the University of Paris Dauphine (France).
Dr. Jelassi has extensive experience in higher education, scientific research, and information & communication technologies. He held academic, corporate and government leadership positions in Europe, the USA, and Tunisia.

Among others, he was Programme Director and Professor of Strategy and Technology Management at IMD Business School in Lausanne (Switzerland, 2015 – June 2021). Prior to that, he served as Minister of Higher education, Scientific Research and Information & Communication Technologies in the democratic transition government of Tunisia (2014 – 2015). Prior appointments included being Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ooredoo Telecom in Tunisia, Dean at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris), and Professor & Chairman of the Technology Management Department at INSEAD (Fontainebleau).

Haoliang Xu was appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director for the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support by the UN Secretary-General in July 2019.

Previously, we was UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific (2013-2019); Deputy Regional Director, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in New York (2010-2013); UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Kazakhstan (2007-2010); Country Director, Pakistan (2005-2007); Deputy Resident Representative for Programme, Pakistan (2004-2005); Country Manager and Senior Deputy Resident Representative, Timor-Leste (2002-2004); Deputy Resident Representative, Iran (2000-2002); Programme Manager, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in New York (1997-1999); Programme Officer/Junior Professional Officer, Kazakhstan (1997-1999).

Before joining the UN, he was a computer-aided design engineer with Louis Berger International Inc. in New Jersey and assistant lecturer at Tongji University in Shanghai. A Chinese national, he holds a Bachelors in Engineering from Tongji University in Shanghai, Masters’ of Science in Management from Stevens Institute of Technology (USA), and Masters’ of International Affairs in Economic Development and Policy Analysis from Columbia University (USA).

Eng. Majed Almesmar holds a bachelor degree of science in Electrical Engineering.
He has over 27 years of experience in the field of telecommunications and
regulatory. He held various top-level management within various telecom
operators locally, regionally and internationally. At present, Mr. Almesmar is the
Director General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory
Authority (TDRA) – UAE. Also, he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
ICT Fund-UAE and member of the advisory council of Dubai Chamber of Commerce
for the Digital Economy. Mr. Almesmar is a very active participant in the ITU
activities and was the Chairman of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 as well as
WSIS 2018.

 Through her dedicated 20 years of hard work in the information technology (IT) and e-government sectors, Al Hammadiwas distinguished with a high level of knowledge of IT strategies, business models, local culture, latest technical trends, and change in the organizational structure.
 
Al Hammadi graduated from Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) Program in 2015, and HEC-CTO Program in 2019. She has an MA in Executive Business Administration and a BA in Computer Science from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, and she is currently studying for her PhD on the Impact of the Use of IT in Digital Government (Qatar as a Case).
 
During her career, she held various leadership positions in IT departments across different government agencies, including the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and accomplished several strategic projects in the country.
 
 Al Hammadi has also been an active board member of Qatar National Broadband Network (Qnbn), in addition to taking part in several high-profile committees, such as the e-Government Steering Committee. She is also a member of other internal ministry-level committees.

Karen McCabe is a Senior Director of Public Affairs & Marketing at IEEE where she drives efforts to build and connect communities working at the intersection of technology, standards, and policy. Karen has held various leadership and senior management positions in the technology sector, with a specific focus in the global standards and technology domain. Karen is engaged in efforts in climate change, digital inclusion, identity management, data governance, ethics and technology, and global standards in trade and policy. Karen is a member of the OECD Internet Technical Advisory Committee and works with an array of organizations and bodies to connect technologists, industry leaders and policymakers where she develops partnerships and builds alliances across stakeholder communities.

Thomas Schneider is Ambassador and Director of International Affairs at the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) in the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). He is a long-standing expert in digital governance and in the governance of the information and knowledge society and artificial intelligence. He is leading the Swiss delegation in various key international fora in these fields. He has been coordinating the Swiss activities with regard to the implementation and follow-up of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) since 2003. He is currently chairing the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) (since 2018) and he is the president of the EuroDIG Support Association (since 2012). From 2014-2017, he chaired ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and he has been responsible for organizing the 2017 UN Internet Governance Forum in Geneva, on behalf of the Swiss government. He has been participating in the meetings of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, as personal advisor of former Swiss president, Ms. Doris Leuthard (2018-2019).

Mr. Schneider is acting as head of the Swiss delegation in a number of international fora such as ITU, UNESCO, UPU, UN Internet Governance Forum and other UN bodies as well as at the OECD, the Council of Europe, etc.

From July 2018 to June 2019, he has been participating in the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, as advisor of panel member and former Swiss President, Ms. Doris Leuthard, 2018-2019.

In December 2017, he was elected as the chairman of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee on Media and the Information Society (CDMSI) and thus led the CDMSI’s work on the impact of AI on media, human rights and democracy. Before that, he had been a CDMSI bureau member since 2011 and vice-chair in 2014. He was a member of the Council of Europe (CoE) expert groups on Internet intermediaries (2016-2017), on cross-border flow of Internet traffic and Internet freedom (2014-2015). He was vice-chair of the CoE’s expert group on rights of internet users (2012-2013) and chair of the CoE's expert groups on new media (2009-2011) and on human rights in the information society (2006-2009).

He is responsible for the cooperation with ITU for the AI For Good Summit 2020, on behalf of Switzerland as the host of the event. He also represents Switzerland in the OECD’s Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP), which is leading the OECD’s work on AI, as well as at UNESCO’s Commission V (Information and Communication) and UNESCO’s work on AI.

He is the head of the Swiss delegation at the main conferences and meetings of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNESCO’s Commission V and the OECD’s Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) since 2017. He has represented Switzerland in the ITU Council Working Group on WSIS (since 2005) and co-chaired the ITU Council Working Group on Stakeholder Participation in ITU's activities related to WSIS (2006-2010).

Moira is a Vice President of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing), and Chair of IFIP IP3. She was awarded the IFIP Silver Core in 2016 for service.  She believes that ethical behaviour and leadership is the keystone of any profession and works to develop understanding of ethics and the value of the IFIP Code of Ethics.

Moira is an accomplished speaker and has presented at conferences around the world.  Notably, she has attended and presented at WSIS Forums since 2012. Moira is an independent consultant.  Her current work is focused on instructional design and online course development.  Moira is a Professional Member and Fellow of IITPSA (Institute of IT Professionals South Africa), She received the IITPSA Distinguished Service in ICT Award in 2009. She is also a member of ACM and IODSA. 

Moira serves on the Council for the National Museum in Bloemfontein, South Africa.  

Michael W. Hodin, Ph.D. is CEO of the Global Coalition on Aging, Managing Partner at High Lantern Group, and a Fellow at Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College. He has spoken internationally on the topic of aging, including at G20, APEC, Davos, and the World Knowledge Forum (WKF). He is also a blogger on Medium.

Mike is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 2010-2013, was Adjunct Senior Fellow with a focus on population aging. In 2013, Mike was invited by then-Committee Chairman Bill Nelson (D-FL) to lead a Members’ Roundtable with the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Mike was also the recipient of the 2012 Fred D. Thompson Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. He sits on the Boards of the Foreign Policy Association, Business Council for International Understanding, NYC Blood Center, American Skin Association, American Federation for Aging Research and Emigrant Savings Bank, where he is Chairman of its compensation committee. Mike was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing. And he sits on the Advisory Board for the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging.

Ms. Gitanjali Sah will serve as the Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the WSIS  Forum 2022 Inauguration Ceremony.