Agenda

Maria is the Digital Affairs Policy & Research Officer at IFLA, where she leads on work at the intersection of digital inclusion, freedom of access to information and internet governance. Her current role focuses on leveraging the knowledge and expertise of the global library infrastructure to meet digital inclusion goals. She also coordinates partnerships and joint initiatives with Internet fora to facilitate a bridge between their work and the work of libraries. Before working at IFLA, she worked in the public, international and non profit sectors in projects related to peacebuilding and innovation.

Maria holds a Master's of science in Public Policy & Human Development from the United Nations University (MERIT) and Maastricht University and is passionate about information literacy, peace and education, in particular to themes and initiatives that cater to underserved and vulnerable communities. 

Kevin Hernandez is a digital inclusion expert at the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the United Nations specialized agency focused on the postal sector. His work focuses on helping countries use existing post office networks to drive inclusive and sustainable digital transformations at the national level. He manages the Connect.Post project, which aims to connect every post office in the world to the internet and leverage them to provide inclusive e-commerce, e-government, and digital financial services through a one-stop shop model. He also researches how postal services are already contributing to digital inclusion efforts and provides technical assistance to governments and postal operators seeking to expand their role in this area. Prior to joining the UPU, Kevin was a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex for eight years, where he led projects on digital inclusion, digital governance, the future of work, and the development impacts of emerging technologies.

Dr Gift Kallisto Machengete is the Director General of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ),having been appointed to the position in December 2016. He is a member of the ITU Digital Innovation Board, and currently serves on the Boards of several institutions in Zimbabwe.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe, a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) from Southern Cross University, Australia, and a Doctorate in Business Administration also from Southern Cross University, for which he graduated with a distinction, and was awarded the University Plaque for outstanding achievement.

He has over forty-four (44) years of working experience, having worked as an Economic Counsellor at the Zimbabwe Embassy in China, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Ambassador to Malaysia and Director of Administration in the Office of the President and Cabinet, before joining the POTRAZ in 2016.

He is a former part-time lecturer for the Master of Business Leadership and Master of Security and Intelligence Degree programmes at Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE). This included working as a Research thesis Moderator. He currently serves on the Boards of several institutions in Zimbabwe.

Nancy Kwangwa is a Deputy Librarian at Women's University in Africa and Executive Director at ZITEC (Zimbabwe Information and Technology Empowerment Centre).

She is passionate about social justice issues that empower communities and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation, strategic partnership building and resource mobilisation. She has over 10 years working experience in the academic environment and the non-profit sector. She uses the experience in the design of information and digital literacy programmes. She holds a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in Library and Information Science both attained from the National University of Science and Technology. Nancy has acquired professional qualifications on community leadership, humanitarian project development and project monitoring and evaluation.  She is the Community Solutions Program Fellowship alumna, a leadership development programme offered by the U.S Department of State. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral Studies in knowledge management at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Irene Kaggwa is the Programme Manager at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for Giga, a joint ITU-UNICEF initiative that seeks to connect all schools to the Internet by 2030.  

Prior to that, she worked in different roles within Uganda Communications Commission - the regulator in the communications sector in Uganda, for a period of more than 23 years. Her experience spans policy development, research, strategy, communications regulation, radio spectrum management, cyber security and implementation of the various aspects of fostering ICT and ICT enabled socio-economic development. 

A registered engineer, Irene holds a Master of Science in Communications Systems and Signal Processing from the University of Bristol and a Master of Science in Economic Management and Policy (Business Economic Pathway) from the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom. She did a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering at Makerere University in Uganda.

Since January 2025, Guilherme Canela is the Director of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP) at UNESCO headquarters, in Paris.
He has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Brasília (UNB) and a Master’s Degree on Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP).