Leaders TalkX: Towards a safer connected world: collaborative strategies to strengthen digital trust and cyber resilience


WSIS

Session 421

Wednesday, 9 July 2025 11:30–12:00 (UTC+02:00) Physical (on-site) and Virtual (remote) participation Plenary Room C, Palexpo Real-time captioning Interpretation: EN/FR/AR/ZH/ES/RU Leaders TalkX 1 Document

This Leaders TalkX investigates strengthening confidence and security in the Information Society. It advocates for governmental cooperation, both within the United Nations and across other platforms, to enhance user trust and safeguard data integrity. The discussion emphasizes preventive measures against cyber-crime and misuse of ICTs through legislation, mutual assistance efforts, and user education. It also highlights the importance of addressing spam, promoting online privacy awareness, and fostering secure online transactions through international collaboration and sharing of best practices.

More information available related to Action Lines, WSIS 2003: https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html

Panellists
Prof. Lucien CASTEX
Prof. Lucien CASTEX Advisor to the CEO, Internet Governance and Society AFNIC High-Level Track Facilitator Moderator

Lucien Castex is Advisor to the CEO of Afnic in charge of Internet, Governance and society.

Its main missions are to address forward- looking issues relating to the evolution of the Internet and the interactions between the Internet and society, and to represent Afnic in France and abroad, particularly in the area of public policies related to development of the Internet and digital technologies.

As such, he is co-chair of the organizing committee of the French Internet governance Forum (FGI France) and participate in the organization of the global IGF. Since 2020, he has been co-chair of the Research Group on Internet Governance and Regulation, GDR, CIS, CNRS, and since 2022, the organization’s focal point on Internet and WSIS related issues (ITU Council and ITU Council Working Groups) and within dedicated French interministerial working groups.

He is also an Associate Researcher at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 and has been appointed to the French national institution for human rights, CNCDH (French PM’ decree 2019, 2022).


H.E. Mr. Fahmi Fadzil
H.E. Mr. Fahmi Fadzil Minister Ministry of Communications, Malaysia

Fahmi Fadzil is a Malaysian leader of the new generation who is currently the Minister of Communications. Upon assuming his new role in the Ministry, he faced challenges such as addressing internet coverage issues in rural areas and overseeing the implementation of the 5G network in Malaysia. Additionally, he played a key role in the transition from a Single Wholesale Network to a Dual Network approach for the 5G rollout.

In addition to telecommunications, the Ministry is responsible for postal services, broadcasting, media, and the creative industry. As Communications Minister, Fahmi's work also focuses on improving media ethics, protecting press freedom, and addressing the welfare of media practitioners, reflecting his strong commitment to the media industry.

In February 2025, the Malaysian Media Council Bill, championed by Fahmi, was approved by the lower house of Parliament, marking a significant milestone in the country's media governance.

Fahmi played a pivotal role in the installation of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim as the 17th King ofMalaysia. In his capacity as Chairman of the Special Committee for the King's Installation Events, Fahmi was instrumental in organising and overseeing the ceremonies associated with the King's ascension. In March 2025, he was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Panglima Mahkota Wilayah (Commander of The Order of The Territorial Crown), which carries the title "Datuk." Fahmi also serves as the government spokesperson.


H.E. Mr. Christos Dermentzopoulos
H.E. Mr. Christos Dermentzopoulos Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Greece

 He graduated from the Orestiada High School and was admitted to the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
He holds a postgraduate degree in International Law (AUTh) and an MBA (Hult International Business School), with academic and professional experience in London, Boston, Shanghai, Athens, and Thessaloniki.
He was first elected as a Member of Parliament with New Democracy in 2019.
During his parliamentary career, he assumed key institutional responsibilities, serving with consistency and dedication.
He has served as:
·       Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs
·       Secretary of the Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs
·       Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the South-East European Cooperation Process (PA SEECP)
·       Active participant in the Special Standing Committee on Armament Programs and Contracts
·       Member of the Special Permanent Committee on Parliamentary Ethics
·       Member of the Special Permanent Committee on Road Safety
He also represented Greece at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), strengthening parliamentary dialogue at the international level.


Mr. Anil Kumar Lahoti
Mr. Anil Kumar Lahoti Chairman Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, India

Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is an Chimate CoRala Sei on eus 2025 he 198 act, chats pour ed as Indian Railway. He is a graduate in Civil Engineering from Madhav Institute of Technology and Besides Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, some of the important positions held by Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti include Member Infrastructure, Railway Board, General Manager of Central Railway and Western Railway, Divisional Railway Manager, Lucknow, Northern Railway, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Northern Railway and Executive Director, Railway Board.

Post his retirement, Ministry of Railway had appointed him to a One-Man Expert Committee for improvement in inspection and maintenance of track. In December 2023, Gati Shakti Vishvavidyalaya, Vadodara, a Central University appointed him as a Distinguished Visiting His expertise includes railway operations, track maintenance, project execution and station redevelopment. During his illustrious career, Shri Lahoti initiated several reforms in execution of infrastructure projects and took several initiatives to modernize and mechanize track maintenance on Indian Railways. During his stints as CRB & CEO, GM and DRM, he brought about significant improvement in freight transport performance and took several customer friendly initiatives to improve the quality of service and ease the customer interface. He has also extensively contributed to planning and structuring of station redevelopment projects in various positions served by him.

Shri Lahoti has travelled to various countries in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia in connection with official assignments. He has undertaken executive training programmes at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, SDA Bocconi Business School, Milan, Italy and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.


Ms. Jūratė Šovienė
Ms. Jūratė Šovienė Chair of the Board Communications Regulatory Authority, Lithuania

She has 20-year experience in competition policy, regulation and strategy including leading positions at the Lithuanian Competition Council.  She also served as Chief Legal Adviser to the President of Lithuania holding position of the Head of Legal Affairs Group at the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. Ms J. Šovienė has more than 10-year experience as the Senior Expert/Project Manager in a number of EU projects in the field of competition law.  
Ms. J. Šovienė has experience in Academia too as the former Member of Economics Study Program Committee at Kaunas University of Technology, research fellow and the lecturer of administrative law. In 2016, Ms J. Šovienė was awarded a prize by Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for a co-authored monography “The Impact of Cartels on National Economy and Competitiveness”. She was also recognized as one of the 40 Notable Women Competition Professionals in Enforcement in Europe, the Americas, Africa (by W@Competition, 2019) and was awarded the State Award the Medal of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas for the significant contribution to the protection of fair competition by the President of Lithuania (2018). After taking position of the Chair of the Council of Lithuanian regulator, Ms. J. Šovienė participated as the speaker at many national and international conferences, joined the BEREC Board of Regulators. 
Ms. J. Šovienė has Master’s degrees in Business Management and Law. 


Mr. Trairat Viriyasirikul
Mr. Trairat Viriyasirikul Deputy Secretary General Acting Secretary General Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (Office of the NBTC), Thailand

Ms. Sally Wentworth
Ms. Sally Wentworth President and CEO Internet Society Contributing Partner

Sally Wentworth is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Society and Internet Society Foundation, leading both organizations in building and protecting an Internet for everyone. Passionate about the Internet as a resource for social and economic development, and with her people-first approach, she engages with the community on critical issues affecting the Internet and showcases the life-changing impact the organizations' work has on people across the world.

Since joining the Internet Society in 2009, Sally has focused on building coalitions among developed and developing countries and Internet stakeholders and leading the Internet Society's work in the development, engagement, and promotion of global public policies that support and enable a globally connected Internet.

Sally came to the Internet Society from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she served as Assistant Director for Telecommunications and Information Policy from 2007-2009. There, she represented and advised senior officials and built multi-agency consensus around complex technical and regulatory Internet policies. She had responsibility for the government-wide coordination and implementation of policies related to Internet governance, cybersecurity, telecommunications policy, intellectual property and patent reform, privacy, and other information technology policies.

From 1999-2007, Sally served as the Economic Bureau Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State. As a policy advisor on Internet policy issues, she organized international public diplomacy campaigns and advised senior diplomats on complex negotiations on technology issues. She represented the U.S. on a wide range of foreign policy and technology issues in dozens of international negotiations, including for the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Sally joined the State Department in 1999 as a Presidential Management Fellow.


Ms. Lennig Pedron
Ms. Lennig Pedron CEO, Independent Board Member Trust Valley / EPFL Innovation Park

 As an entrepreneur, Lennig set up her first company at the age of 25. Lennig Pedron has expertise in cybersecurity and emerging technologies applied to the digital trust economy. She works for the EPFL Innovation Park Foundation and is Executive Director of Switzerland's Trust Valley initiative, the Lake Geneva cluster of excellence in digital trust and cybersecurity. She is co-founder and president of the NGO iCON, based in Geneva, EPFL Innovation Park, Rennes, Brussels, London and Montreal, representing an international community of +100 experts in digital trust, hacking4good, cybersecurity and emerging technologies, which provides outreach to citizens to raise awareness and sensitize civil society to digital literacy (+3,500 people trained). Lennig represents iCON at the Council of Europe. She was a data protection expert for the Swiss Confederation. She provides advice and training to a wide range of audiences, including police, prosecutors, banks and the younger generation. An international speaker, she gave the opening address at the European Commission's General Assembly (CEN CENELEC). For the past 4 years, she has been a judge for the GCSP 9/12 geopolitics challenge. Lennig is co-author of the book “Les fondamentaux de la gestion de crise cyber”, released in bookshops in June 2022, and wrote the chapter on “crisis communication”. This French-language book, the first of its kind, was co-authored by a dozen international experts from Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Canada and Quebec. Lennig Pedron was awarded the title of “European Woman in Cybersecurity” in 2023 in the Executive Leader category by the Cercle des Femmes en Cybersécurité (CEFCYS).


H.E. Mr. Matías González
H.E. Mr. Matías González Secretario General Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública/ Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, Spain Remote Panellist

Topics
Digital Divide Digital Economy Digital Transformation WSIS+20 Review
WSIS Action Lines
  • AL C5 logo C5. Building confidence and security in use of ICTs
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 1 logo Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
  • Goal 4 logo Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
  • Goal 5 logo Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
  • Goal 7 logo Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
  • Goal 8 logo Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
  • Goal 9 logo Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
  • Goal 11 logo Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
  • Goal 17 logo Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development