Agenda

Dr. 'Bosun Tijani is the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He is the co-founder and former CEO of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), the leading pan-African technology and innovation center with presence in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Namibia. Under his leadership, CcHUB became a vital catalyst for the African tech ecosystem, promoting collaboration, knowledge sharing and the development of groundbreaking solutions to local and global challenges.

Prior to CcHUB, he led the networking and coordination of innovation agencies across Europe as European Innovation Manager at PERA, and also previously worked at the International Trade Centre, in Geneva Switzerland.

Dr. Tijani holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Jos, a Masters degree in Information Systems and Management from Warwick University and a Doctorate degree in Innovation and Economic Development from the University of Leicester. He is also an adjunct professor at the Wits School of Governance, South Africa, a Desmond Tutu Fellow and fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law at the prestigious Stanford University.

Thomas Coughlin, 2024 IEEE President

Tom Coughlin, President, Coughlin Associates is a digital storage analyst and business/ technology consultant.  He has over 40 years in the data storage industry with engineering and senior management positions.  Coughlin Associates consults, publishes books and market and technology reports and puts on digital storage-oriented events.  He is a regular contributor for forbes.com and M&E organization websites.  He is an IEEE Fellow, 2024 IEEE President, Past-President IEEE-USA, Past Director IEEE Region 6 and Past Chair Santa Clara Valley IEEE Section, and is also active with SNIA and SMPTE. For more information on Tom Coughlin go to www.tomcoughlin.com.

Maria Fernanda Garza is a Mexican businesswoman, CEO of Orestia, a manufacturing home improvement- water solutions company, with exports to USMCA region, Latin-America and Asia. Her interest in improving the business environment, made her a prominent business leader at a young age. Board member of Mexico´s leading business organizations such as COPARMEX, CCE, ALIARSE, among others.

For ten years, she was Mexico’s Employer Delegate to the International Labour Organization Conference, where she became appointed Employer’s Vice Chair at the ILO’s 98th Session. Maria Fernanda Garza was Chair of ICC México from 2014 – 2020; Regional Coordinator for the Americas 2012-2020, and a member of the Governing Body of the International Court of Arbitration.

She is currently Chairwoman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a Member of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Urbanization of the President of the UN General Assembly’s, and a Member of the International Advocacy Caucus of Indonesia B20. She was appointed to serve on the United Nations Secretary-General’s inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel for two years since 2022.

Anriette Esterhuysen served as the chairperson of the Multistakeholder Advisory Committee of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF)from 2019 to 2021. 
She was executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) from 2000 to 2017 and continues to work with APC as Senior Advisor on Internet Governance. 
She convenes the annual African School on Internet Governance, an APC collaboration with Research ICT Africa at the University of Cape Town, and the African Union Commission. She serves on the governing bodies of the IGF Support Association, Connect Humanity, the Digital Empowerment Foundation, and the South African Tertiary Education Network (TENET). 
Anriette was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a Global Connecter in 2013 for her work in extending internet connectivity in Africa and received the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award in 2015 for her work on defending and promoting human rights online.