Agenda

Anriette Esterhuysen was the executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), an international network of organizations working with Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to support social justice and development from 2000 to 2017. Anriette has served on the African Technical Advisory Committee of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa's African Information Society Initiative and was a member of the United Nations ICT Task Force from 2002 to 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Working Group on Financing Mechanisms, and the Commission for Science and Technology for Development Working Groups on Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Improvements (2011-12) and Enhanced Cooperation (2018). She was a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum from 2012-14 and was appointed by the UN Secretary General as the chair of this group for 2019-21. She was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a global connecter in 2013. Anriette has published extensively on ICTs for development and social justice and served as a Commissioner on the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. She convenes the African School on Internet Governance  - with APC, Research ICT Africa and the African Union -- and serves as a member of the Aspen Institute Global Cybersecurity Group and is member of the board of directors of the South African Tertiary Education Network, TENET. She sits on the advisory boards of the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the Cyberpeace Institute.
 

Vanessa Matz, Minister for Modernization of Public Administration, in charge of Public Enterprises, State Property Management, Digitization and Science Policy
 
Vanessa Matz was born in Liège on August 12, 1973.
 
A lawyer by training, she began her career as a legal advisor to the Belgian Senate and local authorities, before moving on to political advisory roles at federal and regional level.
 
Elected to the Senate in 2008, she has been a member of the Federal Parliament since 2014, where she has been actively involved in the Justice, Interior and Public Affairs Committees.
 
Since February 2025, she has been Belgian Federal Minister responsible for the Civil Service, Public Enterprises, Digitization, Management of State Domains and Federal Scientific Institutions.

Abdulbaset Albaour is a senior digital transformation leader with over a decade of experience advancing digital governance in Libya. As Chairman of GATI and the National Committee for Digital Transformation, he has played a central role in shaping the country’s digital future by formulating national strategies, promoting inter-agency collaboration, and aligning local efforts with global digital governance standards.

In addition to his leadership in government, Mr. Albaour has served as a member of the General Assembly of the Libya Holding Company for Telecommunications, Post, and Information Technology, and as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Information Technology, Misrata University.

His contributions have significantly strengthened Libya’s performance in international benchmarks such as the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI). He is also a committed member Libyan Cybersecurity Foundation and the Libyan Telemedicine Association.

In recognition of his leadership and impact, Mr. Albaour was nominated for the 2025 UN–Portugal Digital Fellowship, a testament to his dedication to digital innovation, public sector modernization, and inclusive, citizen-centered e-governance in Libya.

On 18 September 2020, appointed by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland as President of the Office of Electronic Communications. For many years, he combined didactic work with managerial positions at the IT Department of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and the Wrocław Centre for Networking and Supercomputing. 
His professional interests focus on technical, business and legal aspects of telecommunications services and ICT networks, Internet development, convergence of telecommunications, IT and media, as well as on information society problems. 
In 1998-2002 he worked at Telefonia Lokalna S.A. in Wrocław, e.g. as Director of the Data Transmission Network Department. In 2004-2005, he was a member of the management board of TK 3 sp. z o. o., in 2005-2008 a member of the management board and Director of the Technology Department at Tele Video Media sp. z o. o. (later transformed into Avista Media sp. z o. o.), in 2008 -2009 Director of the Department of Technology at Telefonia DIALOG SA. 
Associate professor at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. From 2009 Director of the IT Department of the University, from 2010 Director of the Wrocław Center for Networking and Supercomputing, from 2018 Director of the IT Department, Deputy Chancellor for IT of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. 
In his career, he led, among others, the projects on "Cybersecurity for the economy of the future", "Specialized Polish Scientific Infrastructure for Research Laboratories (SPIN-LAB)" and "Cloud Computing - new technologies in the didactic offer of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology". 

Professor Salma Abbasi is the Founder, Chairperson and CEO of the eWorldwide Group. An international social
enterprise, actively engaged with governments, development agencies, private sector and academia driving meaningful,
inclusive digital transformation leveraging innovative technologies and ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) for sustainable future for humanity.
Leveraging her global experience as the former Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Lucent Technologies,
with over 40 years' experience in the fields of technology, innovation, supply chain management and people-centric
design, she is an advisory board member for several international organizations advocating for operational excellence,
sustainability and technology for humanity.
Professor Abbasi was commissioned by UNECA in 2019 to develop the strategic roadmap and partnership framework to
establish the 1st African AI Research Centre of Excellence. Subsequently developing a series of multi-level AI courses for
stakeholders. In parallel, she is a visiting lecturer at 5 universities around the world and participates in high-level dialogues
internationally to raise the importance for deeper and broader understanding of the evolving risks from AI, particularly the
unknown consequences from rapid adoption without having the necessary policies, frameworks, safety guardrails and regulations, and skills in place. She advocates for greater international collaboration, cooperation, and partnerships with ‘equity and trust’.