Agenda

Deniz Susar is a Senior Governance and Public Administration Officer in the Digital Government Branch of the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). His work focuses on digital government and the preparation of UN DESA’s biennial flagship publication, the United Nations E-Government Survey. In his current role, he also supports the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

His main areas of research and professional expertise include e-government, open government, citizen engagement, internet governance, artificial intelligence and other frontier technologies, and open government data.

Deniz holds a Master’s degree in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University in New York, United States, and a degree in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Türkiye.

 Janis joins ICANN after a long and distinguished career in the Latvian diplomatic service that spanned three decades. Among his notable achievements, Janis served as Latvian Permanent Representative to the United Nations at Geneva, Permanent Representative of Latvia to the Council of Europe, and Latvian Ambassador to France, Andorra, Monaco, and UNESCO. Janis also served as the Assistant Director General of Communication and Information of UNESCO and was founding Director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Strategic Communications. He also was appointed Ambassador at Large on the UN Global Agenda with responsibilities in cybersecurity and climate diplomacy in the Latvian Foreign Ministry.

Janis is a longstanding participant in the Internet governance community, and in ICANN specifically. He served as Vice President of the Preparatory Committee of the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and was President of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase of WSIS in 2005. He also chaired the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee and served as GAC as liaison to the ICANN Board of Directors from 2007 to 2010. In 2014, the UN Secretary General appointed Janis Chair of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum for two-year term. He also facilitated Phase 2 of the Expedited Policy Development Process for the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data.

In addition, Janis has chaired the WIPO General Assembly, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the 2018 meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the Arms Trade Treaty 2019 Meeting of the States Parties, and the 2020 Group of Government Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. 

He holds an engineering degree from the Riga Technical University and attended an Executive Education Program for Eastern European diplomats at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.

 González Sanz’s work at UNCTAD centers on green technological transitions, digital economy integration, and capacity-building for developing countries. He has been instrumental in shaping UNCTAD’s policy frameworks for:
Green technological revolution: Promoting early adoption of renewable energy technologies, greening of global value chains, and diversification into more complex and greener sectors UNCTAD+1.
Digital economy and AI: Bridging the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and labor markets, with a focus on global equity and policy gaps UN Geneva.
Knowledge development: Enhancing technological readiness through ICT, skills, R&D, industrial capacity, and financial support ITD - International Institute for Trade and Development.
Key Contributions
Green Frontier Technologies: Highlighting market opportunities in green technologies and advocating for developing countries to catch up with developed economies in knowledge creation and deployment ITD - International Institute for Trade and Development.
Twin Transition: Aligning digital and green strategies to upgrade global value chains, build digital infrastructure, and foster international partnerships ITD - International Institute for Trade and Development.
Policy Recommendations: Emphasizing that timing is critical for developing countries to benefit from technological change, warning that delays risk being left behind as seen in past industrial transitions UNCTAD.
Role in UNCTAD
As head of the Technology, Innovation and Knowledge Development Branch, González Sanz coordinates UNCTAD’s science, technology, and innovation agenda, ensuring it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and promotes South-South cooperation. His leadership has been featured in high-level UN forums, including the WSIS Forum and the Ai for Good Summit, where he has addressed digital economy and AI policy issues UN Geneva+1.
In summary, Angel González Sanz is a senior UNCTAD official whose expertise spans technology policy, green innovation, and digital transformation, with a strong focus on enabling developing countries to participate equitably in global technological and economic shifts.

 Ms. Anriette Esterhuysen is currently the Chair of the Multistakeholder Advisory Committee of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. She was the executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) - the largest ICT-focused civil society network in the world - from 2000 to 2017. She continues to work with APC as a consultant and convenes the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), a joint initiative of APC, the African Union Commission and Research ICT Africa. She was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a Global Connecter in 2013. Ms. Esterhuysen currently serves as a Commissioner on the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace and as a member of the board of directors of the .ZA (South Africa) domain name authority, ZADNA.

 Jennifer Chung is the Vice President, Policy for DotAsia Organisation. She is a member of the UN IGF Expert Group (2022) convened to discuss and provide recommendations on strengthening and improving the IGF as a space for ‎global multistakeholder discussion on Internet policy issues. She is an appointed member on the United Nations Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group (2025, and previously from 2018-2020) which advises the UN Secretary General on the annual global UN IGF agenda. Ms. Chung heads the Secretariat for IGFSA which provides support to the global UN IGF, IGF Secretariat, and grants seed funding to National, Regional and Youth Initiatives. She is a part of the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum organizing team and works closely with APAC regional partners and communities towards strengthening and amplifying Asia Pacific views and contributions on Internet governance. She is committed to youth capacity building in Internet governance and has designed, supported, and have been invited as guest lecturer at various regional Schools of Internet Governance including APSIG, APIGA, and SSIG (GRULAC).

 I am Director of Policy Development and Research at the Internet Society, where I focus on issues related to Internet governance. In this role, I contribute to the organization’s global policy development, research, and its partnerships with international and regional organizations, engaging with global policy makers and non-governmental stakeholders on key Internet issues.
 
I hold a PhD in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, as well as Bachelor Degrees in Political Science and Economics from Lund University.

 Howie Wachtel is a senior director and head of Microsoft’s UN and International Organizations policy team. Previously, he served as a senior director and head of global sanctions policy and strategy at PayPal and spent over a decade in roles across the U.S. government, including the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Mission to the UN. He began his career as a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and has taught on the UN, sanctions, international law, and counterterrorism at the University of Virginia, Duke, and NYU. He is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, serves on the board of the Global Center on Cooperative Security, and has worked for the UN as a legal adviser on the Black Sea Grain Initiative.