Agenda

Desiree Miloshevic Evans is an Internet governance and public policy expert with more than 25 years of international experience advancing multistakeholder cooperation, digital policy, and Internet governance. Active in the Internet community since 1993 and a participant in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process since its inception, she is passionate about using technology to empower people and connect diverse communities. Throughout her career, she has brought together governments, regulators, the technical community, the private sector, civil society, academia, and intergovernmental organisations to foster collaboration, facilitate multistakeholder dialogue, and build consensus on Internet governance and technical coordination, particularly in South Eastern Europe. She has held leadership and advisory roles across the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the Internet Society, ICANN, and the RIPE community, and currently co-chairs the RIPE Cooperation Working Group.

Paul Gaskell previously served in the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, where he specialised in EU policy, and international security and data issues. This included postings in Vietnam and Kuwait.  

Subsequently, in the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, he led data adequacy discussions with the European Commission during EU exit negotiations and later worked on tackling online harms and the Online Safety Act. 

In the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, he is now leading UK policy on global internet governance, digital technical standards and digital trade. He has been UK Head of Delegation previously to bodies such as the UN International Telecommunication Union, the Internet Governance Forum, and ICANN.  

Matthew’s career spans working globally for multinationals, Internet organizations and civil society in information technology and Internet policy.  He has worked for, among others, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Teledesic, the Internet Society, CDT and ICANN, where he was a Board member from 2017 to 2023.   He is a Director of the Internet Society UK.

Markus Kummer is an Internet governance and policy expert. Currently, he is Board Member of DiploFoundation and Senior Advisor to the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP). He is also Chairman Emeritus of the IGFSA Executive Committee.  Previously, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN) and the Internet Society’s Senior Vice President. He also worked for the United Nations, where he headed the Secretariat supporting the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).   Markus served as a career diplomat in several functions in the Swiss Foreign Ministry between 1979 and 2004. 

He is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Valeria Betancourt leads APC's global governance engagement and has led APC's policy work since 2010. She is a longtime activist in the fields of human rights and the internet, digital technologies for development, digital inclusion and internet governance in the context of the global South. In 2013 and 2015, Valeria was awarded a LACNIC Outstanding Achievement Award and a FRIDA Programme Recognition for contributing to the development of internet policies. Her background is in sociology and political science. She has served as member of the Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group. She holds a Master's degree in cultural studies and communication. She lives in Spain.

Dr Jimson Olufuye has more than 30 years of experience in the national, regional,
and global digital ecosystem. He is the Chair/Principal Consultant at
Kontemporary® Konsulting Ltd. Founder/1st Chair of the concerned private
sector-led and over 40-nation strong Africa ICT Alliance – AfICTA. He is currently
the Chair of the Advisory Council of AfICTA. He distinguished himself as one of
the five (5) business representatives in the CSTD Working Groups on
Improvements to the IGF (2011-2012), and on Enhanced Cooperation on public
policy matters pertaining to the Internet (2013-2014, 2016-2018). He was also a
leading voice as a member of the UNSG's IGF MAG (2012-2013) and 2025. He
served in the IGF Expert Group Meeting, 2026. He also served as a Board
member of the Informal Multi-Stakeholder Sounding Board (IMSB) of the UN GA
on WSIS+20 Review.
He was a member of the Netmundial Steering Committee 2014/24 and the leader of
AfICTA delegation to the UN Summit of the Future 2024 contributing critical African
private sector perspectives to the Global Digital Compact. He also facilitated the
Nigerian side event and the Multistakeholder delegation (the 1st African multistakeholder
delegation) to the UN GA WSIS+20 High-Level Meeting, 15-17 December 2025.

Charles Noir leads CIRA’s international and domestic policy and advocacy. He is also responsible for Net Good, a collection of programs focused on closing digital divides and addressing Canada’s most pressing internet challenges. Before joining CIRA, Charles spent more than 15 years with the Government of Canada, where he worked on internet, telecommunications, and technology policy and led international negotiations. He holds a PhD in Management (Information Systems) from the University of Cambridge, an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA in Communication from Simon Fraser University.

Areas of expertise:
Policy, government affairs, internet governance 

Dr. Chin is a specialist in AI and data governance, with extensive experience in digital and AI policy, ethics, and regulation at national and international levels. She is Project Lead at the United Nations University Macau, and Associate Professor at Beijing Normal University. Dr. Chin serves on ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42, CEN/CLC/JTC 21, BSI/ART/1, the ODET’s AI Governance for Humanity Lab’s Working Group on AI governance interoperability etc. Her recent research projects cover AI safety, AI in education, Interoperability of AI governance, and data governance. She has co-edited the textbook, Ethics and Social Governance of Artificial Intelligence(2026);  led UNU Macau’s policy report Interoperability in AI Safety Governance: Ethics, Regulations, and Standards (2025); co-author of the Narratives of Digital Ethics(2024). 

Dr. Olivier M.J. Crépin‑Leblond is a long‑standing Internet governance leader and Chair of the UK Chapter of the Internet Society, with a career spanning technical, policy and capacity‑building roles since the early days of global connectivity. A founder of Global Information Highway Ltd and an early contributor to Internet deployment in developing countries, he has held senior positions within ICANN’s At‑Large community, including four terms as ALAC Chair and later Chair of EURALO. Since 2018 he has served as Co‑Chair of the At‑Large Consolidated Policy Working Group, a central body coordinating end‑user input into ICANN policy, and he is also active in the Dynamic Coalition on Core Internet Values, promoting the foundational principles that underpin the open Internet. A regular participant in the Internet Governance Forum since 2010, a founder board member of EuroDIG, and a contributor to World Economic Forum initiatives, he combines technical credentials (IET Member, IEEE Senior Member, long‑time NSRC affiliate) with deep multistakeholder policy experience.