Agenda

Tomas Lamanauskas is Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, elected at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference of 2022, and taking up duties as of January 2023. 

His 25 years of experience spans across sectors of telecoms and digital policy, regulation and strategy, stemming from executive level positions in agencies, companies, and organizations across Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific region. 

As Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, Tomas focuses on the financial sustainability and operational excellence of the organization. He also works to raise the digital industry's ambition in fighting the climate crisis through the Green Digital Action initiative and promotes investments into the digital infrastructure as well as digital resilience through the Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative and other efforts. Additionally, Tomas contributes to the global efforts to harness the opportunities and mitigate challenges of new technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence, including through his role as a co-chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on AI. He is also playing a key role in ensuring ITU's support to other UN-wide development and governance efforts, including through the World Summit of the Information Society process and membership at the Operational Steering Committee of the UN Joint SDG Fund. 

Tomas holds Master's Degrees in Public Administration (Harvard), Leadership and Strategy (London Business School), Telecommunications Regulation and Policy (The University of the West Indies) and Law (Vilnius University).

Antonio García Zaballos is the Director of Digital Sector Office at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Before joining the ADB, he was a Lead Specialist in Telecommunications for the Institutions for Development and also led the broadband initiative at the Inter-American Development Bank. Antonio has extensive experience in the telecom sector, having held various positions of responsibility. At Deloitte Spain, he led the regulation and strategy practice for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to that, he was the Chief Economist at Telefónica's Cabinet for Economic Studies of Regulation in Spain. Before joining Telefónica, Antonio served as Deputy Director of Economic Analysis and Markets at the Spanish Telecom Regulator (CMT).Throughout his career, Antonio has provided advisory services to regulators, telecom operators, and governments in countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Ecuador, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Poland, and the Czech Republic, among others.Antonio also serves as a member and expert on several committees, including the World Economic Forum and the International Telecommunication Union. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University Carlos III of Madrid and has been an associate professor of applied finance for telecommunications at the Instituto de Empresa Business School, as well as a professor of economic regulation at American University and Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous publications on economic and regulatory aspects of the telecommunications sector.

Zhiping Chen (Summer) has extensive experience in the telecoms industry for over two decades. She has been engaged in R&D, operation and branding for many years, gaining profound and unique insights into business areas such as industry trend, business model innovation, management of branding and PR strategies in the international telecommunications field.

Summer joined ZTE in 1999. She currently serves as the Chief International Ecosystem Representative, and plays a pivotal role in enhancing ZTE’s global presence and driving its commitment to sustainable business practices. Before that, she successively assumed management positions in charge of wireless system R&D, global marketing and branding.

Building on her expertise and leadership, Summer has developed close ties with global organizations such as the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), contributing to key initiatives that advance digital transformation and sustainable development. She has delivered speeches at high-profile events, including the UN Summit of the Future, AI for Good Summit, Partner2Connect (P2C) gathering and CDP Global Disclosure Dialogue, emphasizing ZTE’s dedication to bridging the digital divide, harnessing AI for industry innovation, and promoting a green and sustainable future.

As the Vice Chair of the International of Affairs Committee (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) at China Public Relations Association, Summer was recognized as the Annual China Brand Globalization Communication Influence Leader by PR Newswire and the ESG Observation Alliance Recommender by China Time, and she also received the “Technical Person of the Year” Award from the China Association of Communication Enterprises (CACE), was among the members of the “Top 10 Leaders in 5G” by Communications World.

Summer holds a master degree in engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
 

Christopher Sharrock is the Vice President of United Nations and International Organizations at Microsoft, based in Paris. Launched in 2020, the team has continued to demonstrate not only the value of multistakeholderism but how it can be harnessed to advance solutions to global challenges. Mr. Sharrock is committed to strengthening partnerships across key organizations and advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals as we work to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Previously, he led work to establish a Data Science strategy at HM Treasury in the United Kingdom and spent 5 years as the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative, and Dean of the Ambassadors, at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and International Energy Agency in Paris. Prior senior roles include Deputy Director of Debt and Reserves Management at HM Treasury, and Chief Economist at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Mr. Sharrock has worked across domestic, financial, European Union and International policy, including in the Private Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Before joining the UK Civil Service, he taught in schools in the United Kingdom. In August 2022, Mr. Sharrock joined United States Council for International Business’s Board of Directors.

Nan Li Collins has over 25 years of experience leading international investment, sustainable finance, and enterprise development in the UN and the private sector across Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.
She currently leads the United Nations’ global agenda on investment and enterprise— providing strategic analysis, policy guidance, investment facilitation and capacity building to governments in over 100 countries. She is the Chief Editor of the World Investment Report, the UN’s flagship publication on global investment trends and policy. She chairs the the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones and heads the World Investment Forum. She represents the UN on the IFRS Advisory Council and chairs the Board of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative to align capital markets with
sustainability, resilience, and inclusive growth objectives. She leads the UN
intergovernmental Working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting, positioning corporate governance, sustainability, and capital market reform at the core of global development agenda.

Previously, Nan served as Global Director for Sustainable Investments and Innovation at UNOPS, where she led infrastructure investments in developing economies, working closely with development finance institutions and private investors. Earlier, at UNDP, she
led global initiatives on innovative finance and South-South investment cooperation,
helping establish UNDP as a system-wide pioneer in sustainable and blended finance.

Before joining the United Nations, she spent a decade in senior roles in multinational corporations in China and the United States, focusing on investment strategy, market entry, mergers and acquisitions, and sustainability integration.

She holds an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and has completed executive leadership and finance programs at IESE Business School and Tsinghua University.

Alex has over 30 years professional experience in a series of leadership roles that has consistently focused on building partnerships to address the world's biggest development challenges. Alex currently serves in the Office of the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for digital technologies, where he is responsible for developing and managing key engagements between the ITU and its partners. He also oversees and coordinates several ITU wide initiatives including Giga (the ITU/UNICEF joint initiative to connect every school to the internet) and Partner2Connect, and ITU’s work in digital infrastructure investment and digital public infrastructure. 

Prior to joining the ITU, Alex worked in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. From 2018-2019, he served as President of CG/LA Infrastructure, a US based company that promotes and develops infrastructure projects around the world. From 2000 to 2018, Alex was a member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, an international organization for public private cooperation with a mission to improve the state of the world, where he held several leadership roles including the development and rollout of the Forum’s Global System Initiatives; heading the ICT, Media & Entertainment, Basics, and Infrastructure industry teams and related projects (including the Global Education Initiative); and heading the Center for Global Industries Geneva. From 1988-2000, Alex worked in a variety of professional roles at Accenture as a Strategy Consultant, General Motors as a Quality Control Engineer, and the US National Parks Service. 

He is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.