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.

 Philipp Schulte is a Senior Policy Officer in the Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, responsible for Multilateral Digital Policy and Internet Governance. He is also a Vice Chair of the OECD Digital Policy Committee.

 Paulina Ibarra is the Executive Director of the Multitudes Foundation in Chile and the first elected Chair of the Civil Society Pillar of the Community of Democracies. She has global experience in the areas of transparency, citizen participation and accountability and has worked in government, private sector and international organizations. In Washington, Paulina worked with the Open Government Partnership during the administration of President Obama and advised the World Bank on issues of education and digital activism. She was the first delegate of Citizen Participation for the Ministry General Secretariat of the Government of Chile and she contributed to the development of communication policies of the National Consumer Service. She is currently a member of four Advisory Councils of Ministries and Services, including the Council for Transparency.

Paulina holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in politics from Marymount University, and an master’s degree in Communication from Georgetown University (USA).

 Dr. ZHANG Xiao is the Vice President of China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the National Internet Registry in China that provides allocation and registration services of IP addresses and AS numbers, and as a non-profit institution contributes to the society and Chinese government by providing Internet-related information and researches. She is also the Executive Deputy Director of China IGF, keep connection with Chinese industries, and actively organize the China IGF community to participate in the NRIs global activities. 

She is passionate about Internet-related policy issues, bridging digital divide, gender equality, meaningful access and connectivity, artificial intelligence, etc. She has understanding in multistakeholder and multilateral governance, and skilled in policy making, good governance, international cooperation, and conducting research. She is a PhD in Management. 

Prior to CNNIC, she served in the State Informatization Advisory Committee, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Cyberspace Administration of China, concurrently the board member of Asia Pacific Top-level Domain Name Association (APTLD) and Executive Deputy Secretary-General of World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit. She had cooperated with World Bank, OECD, IGF, ICANN, APNIC, ITU, etc. She is the author of the book Digital Transformation and Digital Governance published in 2021.

 Sophia Tawonga Longwe is a project manager and policy professional specializing in digital governance, AI ethics, and multistakeholder policymaking. She works as Project Manager for Policy at Wikimedia Germany and contributed to the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport’s Task Force on Global AI Governance. Sophia holds a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School, where she focused on digital governance and a Bachelor of Science in Global Studies (cum laude) from Maastricht University. She has represented civil society at global forums including the UN Internet Governance Forum, ICANN, and UNESCO's Global Forum on the Ethics of AI.

Mr. Robert Lisinge is the Chief of the Energy, Infrastructure and Services Section of the Private Sector Development and Finance Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Division focuses on crowding-in private sector investment in African countries, particularly in the area of infrastructure. He holds a BSc degree in Civil Engineering and an MSc degree in Transportation Engineering. He also holds an MPhil and a degree of Doctor of Business Administration from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands. Prior to his current position, he was the Chief of the Operational Quality Section of the Strategic Planning and Operational Quality Division of ECA. He has over 15 years of experience in undertaking research and advising African countries and organizations on infrastructure policy as well as transport and trade facilitation issues. He delivers courses on transport infrastructure development at the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning in Dakar, Senegal.