Leaders TalkX - From Access to Impact: Leading ICT Infrastructure Development


WSIS

Session 464

Wednesday, 8 July 2026 14:00–14:30 (UTC+02:00) Physical (on-site) and Virtual (remote) participation Room C, Palexpo Real-time captioning Interpretation: EN/FR/AR/ZH/ES/RU Leaders TalkX
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Physical (on-site) and Virtual (remote) participation


Connectivity is the foundation upon which every other digital development rests, and yet for many people around the world, essential connectivity remains out of reach. Despite remarkable progress in the last two decades, stark divides remain between high-income and low-income countries, between urban and rural communities, between men and women, and between those with disabilities and those without. Internet use in high-income countries sits at 94 percent, compared to just 23 percent in low-income countries. Closing these divides requires far more than deploying infrastructure, it requires affordable access, locally relevant content, multilingual services, and the digital skills to make connectivity meaningful. To do so, members of this session from across sectors will confront questions around investment gaps, policy barriers, and governance challenges that stand between the unconnected and a truly inclusive information society.

Panellists
H.E. Dr. Takuo Imagawa
H.E. Dr. Takuo Imagawa Vice-Minister Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan Silver Partner

Dr. IMAGAWA Takuo joined Japan’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in 1990 and has since been engaged in various information and communications technology policies at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). As Vice-Minister, he has overseen international digital policies, including digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, information integrity, and emerging technologies such as AI. Prior to his current role, he served as Director-General of the Telecommunications Bureau. His career also includes roles as Director-General of the Secretariat, Director-General of the Postal Services Policy Planning Department, and Director-General of the Telecommunications Business Department.

 

Dr. IMAGAWA holds a B.A.S. and an M.A. in Systems Studies from the University of Tokyo, as well as an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. His academic experience provides a strong theoretical foundation for his policymaking efforts. From 2000 to 2003, he taught economics as an associate professor at Osaka University. He has also served as a visiting scholar at several universities, including the University of Tokyo and Waseda University, and as a research fellow at the Stanford Japan Center-Research. His research interests encompass information economics, industrial organization, and urban economics, and he is the author of numerous books and articles in these fields.


H.E. Ms. Tamar Ioseliani
H.E. Ms. Tamar Ioseliani Deputy Minister Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgia

Tamar Ioseliani brings 17 years of experience in public administration, with over 15 years dedicated to the transport industry. Since October 2025, she has served as the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. In 2025, she served as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the United Airports of Georgia. From 2023 to 2025, Tamar also led the Supervisory Board of the Anaklia Deep-Sea Port and currently chairs the Council for the Authorization of Higher Educational Institutions. Her career in the transport industry began in 2010 at the United Transport Administration of Georgia, where she worked across aviation, maritime, and road transport. In 2011, Tamar transitioned to the Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia, holding various leadership roles. From 2018 to 2023, she served as the Agency’s Head. Tamar has represented Georgia at key international maritime platforms, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as well as in various multilateral forums. She has led high-level delegations and been a key contact for global projects such as the IMO–Norway GreenVoyage2050 project and the Black and Caspian Sea Initiative. Additionally, Tamar has lectured on International Maritime Law at Batumi State Maritime Academy in 2017 and 2019. Tamar holds a Bachelor of Laws from Georgian American University and furthered her studies in the UK, earning a fellowship from the UN and the Nippon Foundation in 2015, which led her to the University of Southampton. She has interned at the IMO in London and the UN Headquarters in New York. Tamar is a graduate of the Ocean Governance Program at YEOSU Academy (South Korea) and the Advanced Maritime Leaders Programme in Singapore, jointly delivered by MPA Academy and Singapore Management University. Her academic credentials are complemented by studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she focused on Corporate Law, International Law, and Intellectual Property Law (2007-2009). A passionate advocate for women’s leadership and gender equality in the transport sector, Tamar founded the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) – Georgia in 2016, becoming its first president and currently serving as a member. From 2022-2023, she represented the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: “Life Below Water” as an ambassador in Georgia. Fluent in Georgian, English, and Russian, Tamar’s leadership and commitment continue to shape the future of the transport industry in Georgia and beyond.


H.E. Mr. Kirti Vardhan Singh
H.E. Mr. Kirti Vardhan Singh Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Government of India, India

H.E. Ms. Arielle Roth
H.E. Ms. Arielle Roth Minister National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United States of America

Arielle Roth was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information on July 30, 2025. In this role, she serves as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Executive Branch agency principally responsible for advising the President on communications, broadband, and internet policy.

Prior to joining NTIA, Roth spent nearly a decade shaping federal communications and broadband policy, holding senior roles on Capitol Hill and at the Federal Communications Commission. She most recently served as Policy Director for Telecommunications on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation under Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), and previously as Legislative Counsel to former Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO).

At the FCC, Roth served as Wireline Legal Advisor to former Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and as Legal Advisor to the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau. Earlier in her career, she was a Legal Fellow with the Hudson Institute’s Center for the Economics of the Internet.

Roth holds degrees from the University of Toronto and McGill University Faculty of Law. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Yaakov, and their six children.


Mr. Mesrop Mesropyan
Mr. Mesrop Mesropyan Chairman Public Services Regulatory Commission, Armenia

Work experience

1989-1990. Second-class locksmith of the central repair workshop of Hrazdan TPP.

1999-2001. Junior researcher of the Energy Department of the Armenian State University of Energy.

2000-2003. Engineer of the Energy Modes Planning Department of <<ArmEnergo>> CJSC.

2003-2007. State Director of the Energy Modes Planning Service of <<ArmEnergo>> CJSC.

2007-2013. Chief Specialist of the Equipment and Material and Technical Supply Department of the <<Hrazdan-5 Construction Directorate>> CJSC.

2014-2019. Head of Energy Construction Programs of <<Redinet>> CJSC.

2019-2020 Member of the RA PSRC.

2020-2021 Governor of Kotayk Region of the Republic of Armenia.

2021-2024 General Director of the <<Compute Center>> CJSC.

Since November 15, 2024, Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Armenia.


Mr. Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum
Mr. Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum Chairman Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Mauritius

Mr Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum is an Attorney at Law who has been practicing since 1987. He has served as Minister of Information and Communication Technology of the Republic of Mauritius between 2010 and 2014. 

Mr Chedumrum is now the Chairman of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, the regulatory authority of Mauritius for the ICT sector. 

He is also the Chairman of the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization and the Vice Chairman of the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa since April 2026.


Ms. Dorothy Stanley
Ms. Dorothy Stanley President Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Innovation Partner

Dorothy Stanley currently serves as IEEE Standards Association (SA) President. She has served on the IEEE SA Board of Governors and in numerous IEEE SA governance roles. She is past Chair of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group, having served as Chair and Vice Chair of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group from 2014-2024. She has been involved in wireless LAN product strategy and standards activities, leading and participating in IEEE 802.11, Wi-Fi Alliance, Wireless Broadband Alliance, and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards developments. Her work in standards and industry interoperability has supported Wi-Fi industry innovation to enable solutions that provide significant consumer and economic value in the global marketplace. 

Dorothy is a Fellow at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Prior to joining (now HPE) Aruba Networks in 2005, Dorothy was a Consulting Member of the Technical Staff at Agere Systems and a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies and AT&T Bell Laboratories. 

IEEE Standards Association Boards and Committees:

● Chair IEEE 802.11 Working Group 2018-2022

● Vice Chair IEEE 802.11 Working Group 2014-2018

● Chair IEEE 802.11 Task Groups, responsible for development of IEEE Std 802.11-2012, IEEE Std 802.11-2016 and IEEE Std 802.11-2020 

● Chair IEEE 802 Wireless Chairs Standing Committee 2019-Present

● Chair IEEE 802 IETF Standing Committee 2018-Present

● Co-Chair IAB-IEEE 802 Coordination Committee 2018-Present

● IEEE SA Board of Governors Member-at-Large 2023-2024

● Member IEEE Standards Association Standards Board 2018-2022

● Chair IEEE SA Standards Board New Standards Committee 2019-2022

● Member IEEE Standards Association Awards Committee 2023-Present

● Member IEEE SA Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award Committee Awards Committee 2022-Present

● Chair IEEE Computer Society Standards Committee Vitality Committee 2025

● Member IEEE SA Standards Board New Standards Committee 2016

● Member IEEE SA Standards Board Audit Committee 2018

● Member IEEE SA Standards Board Procedures Committee 2019-2022

● Member IEEE SA Standards Board Patent Committee 2018

●        Standards Association Representative to IEEE Women in Engineering 2017

 

IEEE Society Memberships:

● IEEE Computer Society

● IEEE Communications Society

● IEEE Women in Engineering

 

Awards 

● IEEE Std 802.11i-2004, IEEE Std 802.11-2007, IEEE Std 802.11r-2008 IEEE Standards Association Certificate of Appreciation

● IEEE Standards Association Contribution Awards: IEEE Std 802.11v-2011, 802.11-2012, 802.11-2016, 802.11ai-2016 802.11aq-2018, 802.11aj-2018, 802.11ak-2018, 802.11-2020, 802.11ay-2021, 802.11ba-2021, 802.11ax-2021, 802.11bd-2022, 802.11az-2022, 802.11bb-2023, 802.11bc-2023

● 5 Patents

● WECA (predecessor to Wi-Fi Alliance) Outstanding Member Support Award (2002)

● Wi-Fi Alliance Member Recognition Award, For Outstanding Contributions to the Wi-Fi Industry (2004)

●        2009 Wi-Fi Alliance Quality of Service Award

●        2012 Wireless Broadband Alliance Contribution Award 

●        Wi-Fi Alliance Member Recognition Awards:  Wi-Fi Certified WPA3™, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Enhanced Open™, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Location™, IEEE 802.11az Enhancements

●        India Centre for Development of Telematics 36th Foundation Day Speaker Award, 2019

●        IEEE Future Networks Workshop for Tactical and First Responder Networks Invited Talk award, October 2019

●        2022 IEEE Turkiye Executive Committee Award for efforts to promote IEEE Standards in Turkiye

 


Mr. Pierre Bonis
Mr. Pierre Bonis Chief Executive Officer Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération (AFNIC)

With a degree from the Sorbonne University in Philosophy and Literature, Pierre Bonis began his career at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Acting as an advisor on digital divide issues from 2002 to 2004, in 2005 he became Head of the NICT Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He first joined Afnic in January 2008 as Head of Products and Partnerships, within the Communication Department. In January 2009, he was appointed as an advisor to the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for the Development of the Digital Economy.  

He was responsible for innovation, content and international affairs. From November 2010 to February 2012, he continued to advise the Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing. Pierre Bonis joined Afnic for the second time in October 2012. He was appointed to the post of Deputy CEO. A specialist in international cooperation issues, he was also a member of the Board of Trustees of CENTR, the Council of European National Top-level Domain Registries, from 2016 to 2020. On the recommendation of Afnic’s Board of Trustees, Pierre was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the association on 1 September 2017. In 2018, he was co-chair of the organising committee of the World Forum on Internet Governance in Paris, organised under the aegis of the United Nations. Main recent publications: - February 2019: “Digital divides” article in the collective work “Digital challenges” coordinated by Dalila Rahmouni-Syed Gaffar, Bruyland editions - September 2020: Coordinator of the “Internet, borders and territories” issue of the “Digital Challenges” series of the “Annales des mines” review. - November 2020: Co editor with Godefroy Beauvallet of the “Digital infrastructures” article in the collective work “Digital technology, public action and democracy” published by the Rouen and Le Havre University Presses (PUHR).


Ms. Ndeye Fatou Ndiaye
Ms. Ndeye Fatou Ndiaye Coordinator Fonds Du Service Universel des Télécommunications, Senegal

Topics
5G Technology Artificial Intelligence Digital Divide Digital Transformation Emerging Technologies Infrastructure WSIS+20 Review
WSIS Action Lines
  • AL C2 logo C2. Information and communication infrastructure
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 1 logo Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
  • Goal 8 logo Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
  • Goal 9 logo Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
  • Goal 11 logo Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
GDC Objectives
  • Objective 1: Close all digital divides and accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals