Agenda

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).

Anthony Wong is the current President of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), a leading global organization in Information & Communications Technologies and Sciences, established under the auspices of UNESCO and headquartered in Austria. He began his term as IFIP President in September 2022, following a year as President-Elect, and is only the second Australian to hold this position in IFIP’s 60-year history.

Wong is an experienced ICT lawyer, technologist, and former CIO, with over thirty years of international experience in both the private and public sectors. He is the Managing Director of AGW Legal & Advisory, a multidisciplinary firm specializing in emergent technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, data governance, cybersecurity, privacy, and intellectual property protection. His expertise also covers digital transformation, cloud and blockchain technologies, and regulatory systems

Dr. Cable Green is the Director of Open Education at Creative Commons. He works with open education, science and research communities to leverage open licensing, content, practices and policies to expand equitable access and contributions to open education. Cable’s work is focused on identifying complex problems (e.g., UN SDGs) where open education is a critical part of the solution, and then opening that knowledge to help solve the problem. He is also a leading advocate for open licensing and procurement policies that ensure publicly funded education and research resources are freely and openly available to the public.

Cable has 25+ years of digital learning and open education experience and helped establish the: Open Course Library, Open Up Resources, CC Certificate, CC Open Education Platform, Institute for Open Leadership, UNESCO Recommendations on OER and Open Science, Open Climate Campaign, Open Climate Data Project, CC Consulting services, Digital Public Goods Standard, Open Preprints, and multiple other initiatives. Cable holds a PhD in education psychology from Ohio State University

Shafika Isaacs is Chief of Section for Technology and AI in Education at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. As an international specialist in digital learning, AI, and education, she has spent the past two and a half decades on building communities, coaching professionals, and leading global, regional and national digital learning initiatives. She also serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, has contributed to UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Teachers, advised UNICEF on AI and children, and led research on AI in African primary education systems with the LINK Centre at Wits University. She has supported national, local, and global organizations on digital learning policy and large-scale education programs. As the Founding Executive Director of SchoolNet Africa, she helped pioneer equitable, justice-driven integration of technology in African schools across 16 African countries. She has served on multiple governance boards, earned prestigious leadership awards, and published widely on digital education. Shafika holds a PhD in Education, an Executive MBA with distinction, and a Master’s degree in science and technology policy.

Zeynep Varoglu is the Senior Programme Specialist in the Universal Access to Information Section of the Communication and Information Sector at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. She is responsible for supporting the implementation of the UNESCO 2019 Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER), the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT CFT), and related initiatives in open, distance, flexible, and online education. Her portfolio also includes responsibility for open access to scholarly publications and open data initiatives. Ms Varoglu holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Toronto and a Master of Education (M.Ed)   from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (O.I.S.E.), University of Toronto.