Agenda

Dr Bilel Jamoussi, a distinguished engineer and diplomat, is the Deputy Director of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and Chief, Study Groups & Policy Department (SPD) in Geneva, Switzerland.

His primary mission is to establish the international standards essential for ensuring global telecommunications and ICT interoperability, promote universal, meaningful connectivity and champion sustainable digital transformation.

Key achievements under his tenure have been important new standards, ensuring increased industry engagement, bolstering cooperation with other standardization bodies, as well as leading in emerging tech discussions and building strategic partnerships.

Before 2010, he held executive roles, including Director of Standards for Nortel, and contributed to over 90 international standards bodies. With a PhD in Computer Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, he is an IEEE Senior Member and has served on the IEEESA Board of Governors. A key voice in the global ICT arena, he is a regular keynote speaker at events like the Global Cybersecurity Forum and is frequently interviewed by top media outlets.

Fluent in Arabic, French, and English, with knowledge in Spanish and German, Bilel's global perspective has been shaped by living and working in Tunisia, Canada, the USA, and Switzerland.

Fabienne Pierre is the coordinator of the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), an initiative that brings together UNEP, the OECD, UNIDO, the World Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute. GGKP is designed to empower all types of stakeholders with the most relevant knowledge to drive targeted action and achieve the greatest impact in the transition towards a greener economy.

Fabienne Pierre has more than 15 years of experience working for the United Nations Environment Programme, facilitating cooperation amongst key players – governments, private sector, civil society, academia and UN agencies – to catalyze the policy and market transformations required for a green and circular economy. This includes fostering inclusive governance, collaboration, knowledge sharing and capacity-building through global multistakeholder programmes and initiatives that promote the design and uptake of science-based sustainability policies, standards and practices in high-impact sectors and value chains.  She is a political scientist and linguist by training and holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences specialized in multilateral cooperation and communications for sustainable development.

International Consultant and Expert in Emerging Technologies
• Multilateral Organizations
• Private Companies

Former Minister of Technology and Telecommunications of Costa Rica
Professor at the Latin University of Costa Rica
Recognized Media Source and Opinion Columnist
International Speaker

Laura Cyron is an applied economist at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where she combines research, quantitative analysis and policy expertise to support countries in building inclusive and sustainable e-commerce and digital economies. She works on flagship publications and has represented UNCTAD in international fora such as the G20 and BRICS processes. Prior to her current role, she contributed to UNCTAD’s work on science, technology and innovation and supported the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development. She holds a PhD in Development Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and has published in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to multiple UN policy publications.

Jean Manuel Canet is a Senior Manager in charge of Climate and Biodiversity in the CSR Department of Orange Group. He has developed an expertise in the assessment of the environmental impact of ICT goods, services and organizations. He earlier led numerous projects to assess and reduce GHG emissions related to IT, for customers such as the European Parliament, France Télévisions or Zurich Financial Services. He serves as Vice-Chair of the ITU-T SG5 Working Party 3 on “Climate change, adaptation, mitigation and net-zero emissions” and Rapporteur of the “Assessing the impact of telecommunications/ICTs on climate change, biodiversity and the environment - including the influence on other sectors” question​. He served as a member of the Advisory Panel of the UNFCCC “Momentum for C​hange” initiative. Jean-Manuel gradua​ted from Télécom ParisTech and the MBA Programme of the “Collège des Ingénieurs”. He holds a certificate in carbon accountancy from the French National Agency for Energy and Environment and a certificate in carbon finance from Carbone 4 Academy.

Rosendo is a co-founder of Resilio, a spin-off from EPFL dedicated to developing tools that help assess and reduce the environmental impact of digital technologies. Resilio is building the largest environmental database for the ICT sector—db.resilio.tech—and creating a suite of Life Cycle Assessment software solutions. Since January 2025, the company has also been developing tools and datasets to assess the environmental emissions of large language models (LLMs) and other AI systems, aiming to provide transparent insights into the environmental footprint of artificial intelligence.

Rosie McDonald is a Climate Change Officer within the ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. She supports ITU's efforts in green digital transformation by providing research, tools and capacity building to address environmental challenges related to climate change and e-waste. Her work focuses on monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and climate commitments of the ICT industry, and e-waste data and statistics capacity building under the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP). Prior to ITU, she worked in the science and technical branch of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, and was also a modeller for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector of the UK national greenhouse gas inventory. Within a higher education setting, she has experience of working in STEM outreach and teaching environmental statistics and GIS. She holds a PhD in Environment Sciences from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and an MSc in Environmental Protection and Management from The University of Edinburgh (UK).

María Cristina Cárdenas Peralta is the Manager of Public Sector Partnerships for
Latin America and the Caribbean at Coursera, where she collaborates with
governments and organizations to drive digital skills development across the
region.

Before joining Coursera, she founded 3C Innovation for Human Development, a
consulting firm focused on integrating technology and fostering digital skills in Latin
America, with an emphasis on education and employment.
She has experience in the public sector, having served as General Coordinator of
@prende.mx, an initiative of Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education dedicated to
educational innovation through technology. She also contributed to the National
Digital Strategy at the Office of the President of Mexico, focusing on improving
education through digital tools. Internationally, she worked at the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C.

Cristina holds a degree in economics from ITAM and a master’s in economics from
the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. She is also actively involved in social
impact initiatives, serving as a founding member of the Advisory Council of
CONECTADAS, a steering committee member of MXDC.org, and collaborating with
Christel House International and Casa de María, a youth rehabilitation center.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mariacristinacardenasperalta

Carlos Ruiz-Garvia has been with the UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) for 14 years and currently leads the Adaptation Committee Unit in Bonn, Germany. He previously headed the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centres for Latin America and the Caribbean and managed the Global Innovation Hub, promoting low-carbon development, climate resilience, and collaborative climate strategies. Before joining UNFCCC, Carlos contributed to Fundación Chile, Repsol-Andina, FAO Bolivia, and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research in Mexico, and served as Director of Operations at Assurance Services International GmbH, Germany.

Carlos holds a Forestry Engineering degree from Universidad de Concepción, Chile, a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Forestry from the University of Göttingen, and certificates in Project Management and Economics from Harvard. His master's thesis earned the IUFRO Excellence Award in Forestry Sciences in Australia.

Jean Manuel Canet is a Senior Manager in charge of Climate and Biodiversity in the CSR Department of Orange Group. He has developed an expertise in the assessment of the environmental impact of ICT goods, services and organizations. He earlier led numerous projects to assess and reduce GHG emissions related to IT, for customers such as the European Parliament, France Télévisions or Zurich Financial Services. He serves as Vice-Chair of the ITU-T SG5 Working Party 3 on “Climate change, adaptation, mitigation and net-zero emissions” and Rapporteur of the “Assessing the impact of telecommunications/ICTs on climate change, biodiversity and the environment - including the influence on other sectors” question​. He served as a member of the Advisory Panel of the UNFCCC “Momentum for C​hange” initiative. Jean-Manuel gradua​ted from Télécom ParisTech and the MBA Programme of the “Collège des Ingénieurs”. He holds a certificate in carbon accountancy from the French National Agency for Energy and Environment and a certificate in carbon finance from Carbone 4 Academy.

Mr. Yamamoto has worked at NTT, Inc, where he has been involved in research and development in the field of communications quality and traffic, and network architecture, as well as in international standardization activities. Since 2015, he has served as the company's Primary U.S.A. Liaison, representing the company in various U.S.-based standardization organizations, such as TIA, ATIS, Broadband Forum, MEF, and IEEE, as well as OSS organizations such as the Linux Foundation, and contributing to the widespread dissemination of the company's R&D results around the world. He has also been active and contributed to the field of research funding, such as obtaining R&D funds in the quantum field from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In 2023, he was appointed Director, Head of the Standardization Office, which oversees entire NTT Group standardization planning and activities, and has been involved in the overall management of the group's international standardization activities. He has also served in various international standardization roles both in Japan and overseas, including Chair of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) WTSA WG1, member of the Japan Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) Electronics Technical Committee and Information Technology Technical Committee, member of the IEC High Level Correspondence Committee and Market Strategy Board (MSB) Correspondence Committee, Chair of the Telecommunications Committee (TTC) IOWN GF Technical Committee, and leader of the International Cooperation Advisory Group, etc.

Sara Ballan leads the Green Digital Business Line in the World Bank, Digital Transformation Vice Presidency.

She helps countries expand digital access through resource efficient digital investments, as well as effective use of digital technologies for green use cases. Sara is based in Washington DC after calling Kenya home for several years. Sara joined the Bank from an AI powered start up and has held innovation focused roles in the public and private sector.

Dr. Leonidas Anthopoulos is a Professor in e-business at the University of Thessaly, Greece. During his current mission and at his previous job positions (as an Expert Counselor at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a Special Advisor of the Mayor of Trikala, Greece and as an ICT project manager at the Information Society S.A. (Greece)) he planned and supervised several critical projects, worth mentioning the smart city of Trikala. 

He is the Director of the “Intelligent Production Systems and Smart Cities” Research Institute and the Director of the Postgraduate Program in Agile Management at the University of Thessaly, Greece.

He is a member of numerous committees, worth mentioning working for the ITU (Rapporteur of Q13 of the SG5), he is the head of the Smart and Sustainable cities’ working group for the Greek Standards, the Associate Editor of the IET Smart Cities journal etc.

He is the author and editor of several book collections, which can be located in Cities, Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Government Information Quarterly (ElSevier), ACM Computing Surveys monograph for Springer etc. His research interests concern, among others, smart city, e-Government, Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Management, etc.

Reyna Úbeda studied Industrial Engineering and she completed a Master on International Management from the University for Economics and Environment Nürtingen- Geislingen in 2014. She joined the ITU’s Standardization Bureau in 2015. She is the Engineer of ITU-T Study Group 5 on Environment, EMF, climate action and circular economy. Reyna speaks English, Spanish and German.

Yolanda Martínez is a digital transformation expert with over 20 years of experience leading digital transformation initiatives across the public and private sectors at the international, national, and local levels. She serves as Practice Manager for Digital Development in Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, leading a multidisciplinary team that collaborates with governments to advance their digital transformation agendas. In the public sector, Yolanda led Mexico’s National Digital Strategy, directed the Federal Digital Government Unit, and headed the Zapopan Digital City Program. In the private sector, she championed multiple digital transformation projects while at Deloitte Consulting. Internationally, Yolanda spearheaded the GovStack Initiative at ITU HQ in Switzerland and led the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) office in Chile. As a subject matter expert, Yolanda has partnered with various United Nations agencies and the OECD to peer review digital government strategies in over 50 countries. Recognized as a global authority in digital transformation, she was named a top 20 global digital government influencer by @political and was featured by WIRED as a “Pioneering LAC Woman in AI” in 2024. Yolanda holds a Ph.D. in Knowledge and Information Society from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University as a Fulbright Scholar.

Maria Teresa Pisani is Chief ad interim of the Trade Facilitation Section at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), where she leads the work on policies and standards for sustainable and digital trade facilitation, and is currently managing a global multi-stakeholder initiative on green and inclusive value chains in critical sectors for the circular transition. At UNECE since 2011, she has been focusing on trade and environmental governance. Before joining the UN, Maria Teresa has been with the European Commission, and the ILO, and has managed World Bank funded projects for institutional reforms in emerging economies around the world. 

Thomas Ebert has been working for the German Environment Agency since 2018 as Research and Policy Officer in product policy and circular economy. In September 2023 he joined DG CONNECT at the European Commission as a Seconded National Expert focusing on the sustainable and digital twin transition. 

Ms. Cenni is a programme officer of the Science and Technical Assistance Branch. She the focal point for technical assistance for the Basel Convention and is responsible for technical assistance on emergencies, in the Secretariat. She coordinates the Partnership for Action on Challenges relating to E-waste (PACEII) and she also serves as focal point for BRS activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ms. Cenni is one of the authors of the E-waste Challenge MOOC and in the past she coordinated the Probo Koala assistance programme in Africa, the E-waste Africa programme and the Mercury and Lead programmes of the Basel Convention, facilitating projects in cooperation with the Basel Regional Centres.

Prior to joining UNEP, Ms. Cenni was the environmental manager of a chemical company in the waste water treatment sector, where she was responsible for the environmental management system, according to the ISO 14000 standards. In UNEP she participated in the Palestinian-Israeli portfolio of activities of the Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch. Ms. Cenni, an Italian national, holds a Master's degree in environmental sciences and studied at Bologna University, in Italy and Lund University in Sweden, where she specialized in marine toxicology.

Eng. Hoda Shakra is the Manager of Industry and External Relations for the Digital Egypt Generations Initiative at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Egypt. In this capacity, she leads the development of strategic partnerships with national and international ICT companies, financial institutions, and global organizations to support the implementation of Egypt’s ICT Strategy 2030. 

In 2024, Eng. Shakra was appointed E-waste Expert at the Ministry of Environment for a GEF-funded project entitled “Improved Management of E-waste and Healthcare Waste for the Reduction of UPOPs Emissions”. In recognition of her expertise in sustainable digital development, she was nominated in 2025 by MCIT as Co-Rapporteur of ITU-T Question 7/5, addressing “E-waste, Circular Economy, and Sustainable Supply Chain Management.”

Eng. Shakra has over 15 years of experience in the fields of green ICT, environmental governance, and digital innovation. She previously served as Supervisor of the Green ICT Program at MCIT, where she worked in close coordination with the Ministry of Environment to promote the use of ICT in climate adaptation and mitigation, while advancing sustainable electronic waste management practices. She also worked with UNDP as Technical Officer for a major GEF-funded project focused on reducing unintentional POPs emissions from healthcare and electronic waste.

Throughout her career, Eng. Shakra has contributed to national strategies, policy frameworks, technical guidelines, and legislative instruments related to green ICT and E-waste. She has represented Egypt in numerous international forums and served as Associate Rapporteur for ITU-T Study Group 5 on “ICT and the Environment.”

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering (2004) and a Master’s degree in Technology Management (2016).

Laura Cyron is an applied economist at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where she combines research, quantitative analysis and policy expertise to support countries in building inclusive and sustainable e-commerce and digital economies. She works on flagship publications and has represented UNCTAD in international fora such as the G20 and BRICS processes. Prior to her current role, she contributed to UNCTAD’s work on science, technology and innovation and supported the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development. She holds a PhD in Development Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and has published in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to multiple UN policy publications.