Agenda

Prof Dorothea Kleine is Co-director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development at the University of Sheffield, where she leads the Digital Technologies, Data and Innovation (DDI) group. Her research investigates sustainable human development, global justice, and the role of ICTs in making progress towards these aims. Themes such as gender equality, participation, justice and choice run strongly through her work.

She has published widely and is particularly well-known for her theoretical work on applying the capabilities approach to digital development, as laid out in Technologies of Choice (MIT Press). Dorothea Kleine has researched with partners in Africa and Latin America, as well as advising UNICEF, UNEP, DFID, GIZ, IDRC, Nokia, GSMA and Oxfam.

She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. Before joining Sheffield, she worked at Cambridge and Bonn universities and was director of the ICT4D Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London. Recently she co-facilitated the international participatory process of agreeing on minimum ethical standards in ICT4D/ICTD research (ictdethics.wordpress.com). Dorothea Kleine is a co-director of the GCRF GeDIA Network (gedia-network.org) which unites women changemakers and their male allies for more gender-just digital futures.   

Known as Telecom Father Figure,  being in the field for last 49 years., blend of Telecom,Mobile, Educatiion, connected to aboout one lac EducationalInstiututes, President of AICTE The only person in the world Inaugurating & Ribbon Cutting World’s largest Consumer Electronic Show CES Las Vegas, USA for continuous ten years.

CMAI, Asia’s largest ICT association having 48,500 members & 74 MOU partners worldwide; Vice Chairman International Telecom Union APT India; Member Governing Board Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council (Govt. of India), Director National Fertilizers Ltd. Associated with several industry associations.

Actively engaged in ICT, Mobile, Telecom, Education, Alternate Energy, Multimedia, Infrastructure & Education Sectors. Ten China offices & in several other Countries including USA, UK, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Bangkok etc. Known for delegations to various Countries and receiving incoming delegations. 

Representing on more than 180 Government Committees, Groups and very deeply involved in Policy Formulations on Telecom, Mobile, IT, Education.

Industry Academic Interface, Guest Speaker, National Vocational Courses with AICTE/MHRD in Institutes

Signature events are NTA ICT World Communication Awards and National Education Awards (at National and State Levels), presented by Secretary General, International Telecom Union, Geneva; Head of Commonwealth Telecom organisation, UK, Ministers from India, Africa etc. 

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal had led a research project on ‘Designing the Structure of a Technological University’  at GTU for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality higher education to the young and to promote life-long learning. During 2020-21, he worked on meeting the challenges of Covid 19 at universities and on the issue of ‘Post-Covid Universities of the 21st century’, that can provide affordable and high quality technical and general education.   

His present research focuses on using the experience of 2020-21 to strengthen inter-actions among universities and to permit a greater set of options to every student and to make his learning process more broad-based. These include the strategies required for ensuring that the fourth industrial revolution does not flounder due to scarcity of properly trained and skilled technologists, who are culturally in tune with the idea of a global citizenship and who appreciate the contribution of cultural diversity to progress during the last few decades.   

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal had served Gujarat Technological University as its Vice Chancellor for two successive terms. In his career spanning over 45 years, he has served at universities in India & Canada such as the prestigious Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat University, Gujarat Technological University and University of Windsor. Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering, has taught and guided research work in the areas of computer networking, digital communication and cyber security . At EE Department at M.S. University, during the 1980s, he established the first general purpose Digital Computing and Microprocessor Research Laboratories. At University of Windsor, he had set up and led the High Performance and Grid Computing Research Group. HPGC had three Centres. These were the Centre for Studies in Security and Privacy, Centre for Health Information Systems and Centre for Studies in Social Networks. 

He has also held membership of renowned institutions such as IEEE, IETE, CSI and ISTE. He was Chairman of IEEE India Council for two years. He was the founder Chairman of IEEE Gujarat Section, the IEEE Computer Society Chapter and the IEEE Joint Chapter of Industry Applications. 

At University of Windsor, Professor Aggarwal was recognized as both a passionate teacher and researcher in his field. He earned numerous awards, including several teaching and research awards from his Faculty. He was also honoured with the OPUS Faculty Award 2005, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Contributions to University Teaching 2006 and the OCUFA Teaching Award 2007, which recognized him as one of the outstanding university teachers in Ontario, Canada. At Windsor, he founded Softech Alliance and chaired it till September 2009 so that University researchers and the ICT industry and businesses could work together with the government to help generate new jobs in the knowledge sector. 

 He has been honored with a number of Awards including the Governor’s Award, IEEE Millennium Medal and Fellowships of IETE and he has served on the Senates of  M.S. University, Gujarat  University and University of Windsor. He has been on the Boards of Universities and Advisor to two universities for making them world-class institutions. 

Professor Aggarwal has been contributing to both the professional as well as the local community organizations since he believes that a University is a public institution with a responsibility to the community. 

Anthony’s work focuses on technology policy and practice. He is an internationally recognized expert in universal design of information and communication technology (ICT). He leads several large-scale research and innovation projects based in over 27 countries.

Anthony is an Associate Professor of Universal Design of ICT at the Department of Computer Science at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). He maintains several international appointments including at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability at Harvard Law School, the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, the Department of Science and Informatics at the University of Eduardo Mondlane, and the Department of Education at Roma Tre University.

He works with the United Nations (UN) International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the Vice Rapporteur for the subcommittee on ICT Accessibility and Research Coalition lead for the EQUALS Global Network. He is founder and Chair of the Board for the Global Universal Design Commission Europe AS, and Ser Innovation AS. He is a member of the board for Mfano Design Lab, the Global Universal Design Commission, Inclusive-IT, and Humans for Humans. He has been a member of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion and was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship as part of the DREAM research network.

Since 2014, Anthony has acted as a principal investigator for research and innovation projects with budgets totaling over 11 million EUR. He has authored over 47 peer-reviewed academic publications in leading international journals. Anthony has taught over 3,000 students. He has mentored over 23 startups, half of which have been led by women.

Caroline Stratton is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at Florida State University. Her research addresses how organizations may effectively design and implement technology interventions for social good. Her recent and ongoing work in ICT4D examines government, non-profit, and social entrepreneurial efforts in Latin America, particularly in the education sector. She holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and is a former nuclear engineer. 

Ayanna is an Assistant Professor, PhD Fellow, Aerospace Engineer, Technology Policy Specialist, Gender Advocate and International Development Professional. She has run a consultancy practice for over 17 years specializing in a) the intersection of International Development, Gender, ICT and STEM policy b) the use of ICTs and Technology Policy as enablers of access to basic human rights, socio-economic empowerment and poverty eradication, c) gender equity in STEM and d) the role Space Technology can play in realizing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and bridging the digital divide. She is also a Health and Wellness Consultant, Motivational Speaker and determined Athlete.

Ms. Samuels holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology comprising two M.Sc. degrees in Technology Policy and Aerospace Engineering respectively, and a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering with Information Technology. In 2005, Ayanna broke ground by being the first black woman since 1972 to earn an M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. Ayanna has pursued further education in ICT and Technology Policy for Development, Gender and Human Development from august institutions such as the UN, since graduating from MIT. 

Continuously weaving a wide professional footprint, Ayanna has worked with governments, academia and industry-leading private sector entities in the Caribbean, the USA, Africa and Europe. Ayanna has coordinated research, taught and/or managed projects for several distinguished institutions including Oslo Metropolitan University, the Association for Affordable Internet, MIT’s Space Enabled Research Group, the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Inter American Development Bank, the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organisations (CANTO), CARICOM, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, the Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization, the International Institute for Communications and Development, the German International Development Corporation and the St. Lucia Coalition of Services Industries. She has also worked with private sector companies such as mSurvey in Kenya and Citibank and also with the Government of Jamaica. Ayanna was also stationed at the ITU’s Geneva, Switzerland office in 2004 and 2010. Her body of work has resulted in ICT4D related knowledge products and the establishment and execution of tangible capacity building programmes.    

Dr. Akber Gardezi is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at COMSATS University, Islamabad (CUI), a ranking university. He obtained his PhD and Master’s Degrees from University of Sussex, UK.

At CUI apart from being an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, he also holds the additional charge of managing the Inter Islamic Network on Information Technology (INIT) which is an official network of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) responsible for ICT dissemination , popularization , and capacity building across the 57 member states.

Dr. Gardezi is an associated fellow of the UNESCO Chair in ICTs for Development and over the years have contributed to numerous initiatives of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Dr. Gardezi is also closely involved with projects relating towards ICTs for Development hence utilizing his network of peers in terms of launching advocacy and awareness initiatives for the marginalized communities including Persons with Disability, Rural Communities and Persecuted Minorities. Dr. Gardezi is an ardent advocate of the philosophy that technologies can be a vehicle of change and betterment for the most marginalized globally.

Paul Spiesberger graduated as a computer scientist with a focus on media informatics from the Vienna University of Technology. He works with INSO as a researcher and lecturer in the field of mobile technologies and ICT4D. Nowadays, he is employed as a senior software developer for mobile technologies at RISE. In the past he won several national and international awards for his work at Os – a collective to tackle social issues with ICTs. Since 2014 Paul is the chair of ICT4D.at and in 2021 he joined the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D as an affiliated member.