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.

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 better take advantage of 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 socio-economic impacts of emerging technologies.

Ahmed Said is the Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) on Economic and statistical affairs (2022-present). He is carrying out all the economic, international indices and digital financial inclusion related issues in the ICT sector. Mr. Said is also supervising the Department of Econometrics and Indicators at MCIT.

Mr. Said is also Sector Head of International Policies and Affairs at the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA). He joined NTRA in 2007 as Economic Affairs director and gained extensive experience in the field of telecommunication regulations, mobile financial services, cost modelling, as well as regulatory economics and Market analysis.  

Throughout his career at NTRA, he has been involved in the development of major regulatory frameworks in the Egyptian telecom market including Access framework, International Gateway framework, Egypt national broadband plan and the 4G license framework. 

At the international level, Mr. Said is the Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 3 (SG3), responsible for standardizing tariff, economic, and policy aspects of the telecommunications and ICT sector within the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Prior to his election as Chairman, he served as Vice-Chairman of ITU-T SG3, where he led several key initiatives related to OTT services, mobile financial services, and international telecommunication policy issues. 

He also currently serves as Chairman of the ITU-T SG3 Regional Group for the Arab Region (SG3RG-ARB), leading and coordinating the participation of Arab Member States in SG3 activities and fostering regional contributions to international standardization work. Before that, he chaired the Mobile Financial Services Rapporteur Group within ITU-T SG3 and played a leading role in the development of related international standards

Mr. Said also serves as Chairman of the Arab League Working Group on ICT Indicators, leading regional efforts to monitor, harmonize, and enhance telecommunications and ICT indicators across Arab countries, supporting evidence-based policymaking and digital development initiatives throughout the region.

Mr. Said has represented the Egyptian administration in several venues including the WTO, UNCTAD, ITU, OECD and League of Arab states. 

Mr. Said received his Master of Science in Business Information Technology from University of Middlesex in London (2001) and he got his Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting, from Cairo University (1999).  

The confirmed speaker’s name, title and biography will be added shortly.

Stephen is Director, External Affairs at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, where he works alongside colleagues to ensure that the unique potential of libraries to support inclusion, growth and the fulfilment of rights is realised fully. IFLA does this through highlighting the experience, values and needs of libraries with partners, and exploring together how best to mobilise our institutions and professionals.

Stephen has worked with IFLA for 10 years, previously holding roles at the British Embassy in Paris and the UK Delegation to the OECD.