Agenda

Hon. Eng. Kundo Andrea Mathew is the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology of Tanzania.

H.E. Maria-Manuela Catrina serves in the Romanian National Cyber Security Directorate as Deputy Director, Undersecretary of State. The National Cyber Security Directorate is the competent authority at the national level for the national civilian cyberspace, including the management of risks and cyber incidents. 

Ms. Maria Manuela Catrina has a background in mathematics and computer science, as well as extensive expertise in international relations and security. In the early 2000s she joined the high levels of government as Advisor for the Romanian Prime Minister, the path she continues in various positions in the Romanian Parliament and Government.

Ms. Catrina who was nominated among top 50 Women of Influence in Cyber-security in Europe is also a member in the Women4cyber Council since 2021. She is passionate about digital transformation, cyber security and promoting women in technology.

Between 2017 and 2019 as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Communications and Information Society, Ms. Catrina contributed to the complex preparations for Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Her mandate includes broader aspects as well as more specialized areas of the Digital Agenda - such as cybersecurity, AI and robotics, also promoting women in tech. In addition to handling legislative files stemming from EU’s Digital Agenda within the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, she also coordinates a number of high-level national groups tasked with ensuring the security and resilience of Romania’s IT and telecommunications infrastructure. 

She actively participates in various high-level UN specialized agencies activities, sharing and promoting the vision Romania has on information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Ms. Catrina is also the Director of the Ovidiu Sincai European School, an NGO that delivers the key political Leadership Programme in Romania for the last 16 years.

Appointed by the Swedish Government, Dan Sjöblom is the Director-General of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) since February 1, 2017.  
He was the Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for 2020 and also vice Chair of The Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) in 2021. He was recently elected to become the Chair of The European Regulators Group for Postal Services (ERGP) in 2024.
Prior to taking up his position, Mr. Sjöblom was the Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority from 2009 to 2017. 
He is also board member of the Swedish Broadband Council.
 
Mr. Sjöblom performed various functions as a civil servant at the European Commission between 1996-2009. He holds a Master of Laws from Stockholm University.

Nele Leosk, PhD, serves as the Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, being responsible for the development and coordination of Estonia’s digital diplomacy.

Over the past twenty years, she has advised political and public sector leaders in digital governance and digital economy in more than forty countries in Central and Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Apart from government work, she has experienced the life of private sector, international and inter-governmental organisations such as the UNDP, OECD as well as academia.

As a promoter of an open and inclusive digital society, Nele is the member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Technology Policy, GovStack lead for Estonia, Chair of the Digital Cooperation and Diplomacy Network, and member of several networks on women in tech. 

Nele holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute (EUI), Italy. She is a former Fulbright-Schuman grantee at the National Centre for Digital Government at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and at the Governance Lab at New York University, USA.

Dr Hui Cao has broad experience in the telecommunications industry ranging from the operator to academic research and the vendor. He has a deep knowledge of market trends, industry challenges, network deployment and technical developments.

As Head of Strategy & Policy at Huawei’s EU Public Affairs and Communication Office based in Brussels, Dr Cao is responsible for regulatory issues on connectivity and innovative ICT technologies. Prior to this position, he was the Network CTO in Huawei Western Europe region with a focus on the latest technologies exploring cost-effective solutions and practices in building experience-oriented and future-proof broadband networks with Simplicity, Automation and Intelligence. He also worked with China Telecom on broadband network management and development.

Dr Cao obtained his doctoral degree in Electronic Engineering from Oxford Brookes University in the UK.

Eng. Marc Vetter is the Co-Founder, President of the Board and CEO of 4QT

While a practicing Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Dr. Pavan Duggal has made an immense impact with an international reputation as an Expert and Authority on Cyber Law, Cyber Security Law, Artificial Intelligence Law & E-commerce law.

Dr. Duggal has been acknowledged as one of the top 4 Cyber Lawyers around the world. WDD [World Domain Day] recognizes him as one of the top 10 Cyber Lawyers around the world.

Dr. Pavan Duggal, is the Founder & Chairman of International Commission on Cyber Security Law. He is also the President of Cyberlaws.Net and has been working in the pioneering area of Cyber Law, Cyber Security Law & Mobile Law.

Pavan is also heading the Artificial Intelligence Law Hub and Blockchain Law Epicentre. He is the Founder-cum-Honorary Chancellor of Cyberlaw University.

Dr. Pavan Duggal is the Chief Evangelist of Metaverse Law Nucleus, Conference Director of International Conference On Metaverse And Law – Opportunities & Challenges and is also the Conference Director of the International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, being world's only authoritative Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity. In addition, Dr. Duggal has also conducted various Round Tables on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity over the last couple of years. He has also organized various Thematic Workshops at the previously held ITU WSIS Forums. 

Ms. Plentz is the founder and editor-in-chief of The UN Brief. 
 
In 2017 she was appointed by the European Commission to the High-Level Group of Experts to review the impact of Horizon 2020 and make recommendations for Horizon Europe, the funding mechanism for research and innovation of the European Union. 
 
Previously she was appointed as Officer-in-Charge of UN Radio Portuguese Language Section where she maintained and developed direct engagement with other United Nations agencies for news coverage of the Millennium Development Goals and all other decisions impacting ICTs for Development, and the first WSIS Forum.
 
She also coordinated the development of strategies to promote and disseminate all news coverage relating to sustainable development in collaboration with the UN Radio leadership, the News and Media Division, and the Office of the Spokesperson of the Secretary General Kofi Annan and other relevant New York-based United Nations agencies 
 
Ms. Plentz promoted the work of UN agencies development work and provided news coverage of LDCs and SIDS representatives attending events at the UN in New York where she contributed to global communications strategies, including content production to highlight the work of the UN with LDCs and SIDS.