ITU's 160 anniversary

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Biographies

​​​​​​​​​​​Alkadi Zeid Alkadi
TRC, Jordan​

Mr. Zeid Alkadi is the head of quality control to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) in Jordan, generally managing the radio and technical complaints operation in cooperation with mobile operators. Mr. Zeid Also headed the technical studies section in TRC Jordan, which included proposing technical requirements, guidelines and instructions, research and benchmark. He also established CBA for regulated services via benchmarking and statistical data analysis. Mr. Zeid developed strategies for NGN project in cooperation with EU twining program and managed public consultations related to policies and regulations. Zeid is currently an active admin member of ITU SG12 for the period 2017-2020, his interests in QoS/QoE modeling was translated into best award operator via implementing statistical modeling and benchmark projects. Other than QoE KPI investigations, his interests cover crowdsourcing, OTT and IoT fields. Mr. Zeid Alkadi holds 16 years of experience and currently holds M.S in Communication Engineering and M.S. in System Engineering and Engineering Management from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
​​Baah Kwame Baah-Acheamfuor
NCA, Ghana​

Kwame is the current Chairman of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Study Group responsible for Performance, Quality of Service and Quality of Experience in his second term of office. He was the Chairman of the Committee for Work programme and Organisation of the ITU Telecom Standardization sector at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly in 2016. He has been involved in the development and approvals of over fifty global telecommunications standards. He has represented Ghana at ITU Council, Conferences, Assemblies and has also been an invited speaker at several ITU Workshops.
Kwame Baah-Acheamfuor is an experienced telecommunication engineer for 17 ​years and has been involved in multi discipline communication services licensing, telecommunication networks planning, operations and maintenance. He joined the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana in 2006 and has been responsible for technical regulations planning, monitoring and compliance.
Kwame Baah-Acheamfuor holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Project Management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Majors in Telecommunications and Electronics) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
​​Balcerzak Joanna Balcerzak
Orange Labs, France​

Joanna Balcerzak works in the Quality Operations Performance department of Orange Labs in France, as an E2E architect in QoS domain and project manager in interoperability domain. She is Orange delegate in ETSI TC INT and is also contributing to NGMN via the 5GTTI (5G Trial & Testing Initiative). Previously, she used to attend ITU –T SG12 on behalf of Telekomunikacja Polska (now Orange Poland). Joanna authored several papers in QoS and QoE domains.​ She gave speeches in different conferences on QoS related topics.
​​Berger Jens Berger
Rohde & Schwarz, Germany​

Jens Berger started his carrier at the Research Institute of Deutsche Telekom. Later, Jens received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in the area of network- and system-theory from the Technical University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany, in 1998. Since 2003, he has been with SwissQual AG, Switzerland, and now integral part of Rohde & Schwarz, heading the Applied Research department as member of the senior management team.
His work contributed to several ITU-T standards, as P.563 and P.863, both for voice quality prediction. In 2011, ITU-T standardized J.341, for objective HDTV quality prediction, and in 2014 J.343.1 for no-reference video quality prediction, both submitted by SwissQual / Rohde & Schwarz. For the past sixteen years, Jens is leading the working group "Perceptual-based objective methods for voice, audio and visual quality measurements in telecommunication services" as Rapporteur in ITU-T Study Group ​12. He is further active in ETSI and other international standardization bodies.
Cavalcante ​Dr. Renato Luis Garrido Cavalcante
Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute & Technical University Berlin, Germany

Dr. Renato Luis Garrido Cavalcante received the electronics engineering degree from the Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica (ITA), Brazil, in 2002, and the M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Communications and Integrated Systems from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. From April 2003 to April 2008, he was a recipient of the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship. He is currently a Research Fellow with the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin, Germany, and a lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin. Previously, he held appointments as a Research Fellow with the University of Southampton, Southampton, U.K., and as a Research Associate with the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K. Dr. Cavalcante received the Excellent Paper Award from the IEICE in 2006 and the IEEE Signal Processing Society (Japan Chapter) Student Paper Award in 2008. He also co-authored a study that received a best student paper award at the 13th IEEE International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC) in 2012. His current interests re in signal processing for distributed systems, multiagent systems, convex analysis, machine learning, and wireless communications.
Coverdale Paul Coverdale

After almost 30 years with Nortel Networks, where he held a number of engineering and management positions related to the specification, design, verification and standardisation of wireline and wireless products, Paul Coverdale took early retirement in 2004 and since then has acted as a consultant in the area of QoS/QoE and performance of telecommunications networks. Paul has been active for many years in both national and international Standards Forums dealing with multimedia quality and performance, including ITU-T, TIA, ETSI and IEEE, holding several leadership positions. He is a member of the IET, IEEE, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario, Canada. He has authored and co-authored several papers and holds ten patents
Foo Henry Foo
Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore

Mr Henry Foo is currently the Senior Assistant Director in Policy, Regulation & Competition Development Group in the Infocomm Media Development Authority (“IMDA”). Currently, he oversees the regulatory technology team that is responsible for assessing and developing regulations for technologies. Previously, he is responsible for spectrum planning and programmes where he is responsible for the strategic reviews of wireless demands as well as the formulation of spectrum policies and frameworks to ready Singapore for emerging wireless technologies. He is also leading the Singapore preparation for the international meeting such as the WRCs (“World Radiocommunication Conferences”) of the ITU. Prior to joining the IMDA in 2007, Henry was an engineer at Philips and Panasonic for more than 5 years, as an engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electronic and Electrical) and an MBA.
Forbes Ray Forbes
Chairman, ETSI ISG ENI (Experiential Networked Intelligence), Huawei Tec​​hnologies, China

Educated at Loughborough University of Technology between 1977 and 1984, Dr Ray Forbes joined Plessey Telecommunications where he worked on Software Engineering and Analysis. Since 1990 he has worked on network development in the area of Intelligent Networks and the standardisation thereof. He has chaired the NGN Protocols in ETSI including the IMS adaptation to fixed networks and the Common IMS programme. He was elected as ETSI TC M2M Protocols WG Chairman. Also, he has been actively involved in the ITU-T Smart Focus Group. He was appointed as chairman of the M2M Protocols activity in oneM2M the global Standards Partnership Project. Also, he was appointed as Leader of the M2M Service Enablement & Utilities Standardization in LM Ericsson. Currently, he is working for Huawei Technologies to lead and chair the ETSI ISG ENI (Experiential Networked intelligence).
Furer Christoph Furer
Swisscom SA, Switzerland

Christoph graduated at the Ingenieurschule Biel in Electrotechnics in 1989. He worked for 5 years for Ascom in the payphone division developing telephony hardware. Since 1994 he works for Swisscom in the network development department, starting with telephony terminal testing (transmission parameters including the acoustic interface), then shifting towards end-to-end Quality of Service for speech and other voice​band services. He is an active member of ITU-T SG12 and ETSI STQ. In 2003 he finished postgraduate studies in telecommunications at the Eduswiss engineering school.
Geib Rüdiger Geib
Deutsche Telekom, Germany

Rüdiger Geib works with Deutsche Telekom's IP backbone engineering department, where he's in charge of the QoS architecture. He suppo​rts the engineering department of Deutsche Telekom on e2e QoS issues, including preparation for and analysis of public QoS measurement surveys. Rüdiger authored some RFCs on IP QoS and IP performance measurement, and he co-authored and contributed to more related standards within IETF and ITU-T SG12.​
Rachel Rachel Huang
Huawei Technologies, China

Rachel Huang received her BSc in computer science and technology from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2005). After graduation, she worked 5 years for ZTE as a senior software engineer, and then joined Huawei Technologies in 2010. Her work mainly focuses on the research and standardization of video transport technologies, as well as video QoE. Currently, she is a vice-chair of ITU-T Study Group 12, Co-rapporteur of Study Group 12's Question 13 on QoS, QoE and performance requirements and assessment methods for multimedia, and the Co-chair of IETF Audio/Video Transport Core Maintenance working group.
Jamoussi Bilel Jamoussi
ITU

Tunisian born, Dr. Bilel Jamoussi is Chief of the Study Groups Department of ITU Standardization Bureau in Geneva Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been leading the bureau’s standards making activities into a new era characterized by rapid convergence and the need for increased collaboration with vertical sectors and partnership between developed and developing countries.
Prior to 2010, Jamoussi worked for a Telecommunication equipment and solutions provider for 15 years in Canada and then in the United States where he held several leadership positions and was granted 22 US patents in diverse areas including packet, optical, wireless, and quality of service.
He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English and speaks some Spanish and German.​​
Mehta Udai S Mehta
CUTS International, India​

Udai S Mehta is Deputy Executive Director with CUTS International. Mehta joined CUTS in 2005 as an Asst. Policy Analyst in CUTS London Resource Centre, UK. After having worked for nearly a year, he moved back to India and was placed in the CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (CUTS CCIER). Mehta did his Masters in International Economic Laws from The University of Warwick, UK. Since January 2015, he was promoted as a Deputy Executive Director, CUTS and is now considered a Senior Staff member of the organisation, not only responsible for programmes, but also in shaping the strategic development of the organization for the future. Further, he was also given the additional responsibility of being the ‘South Asia Desk Officer’ of CUTS. Mehta’s current areas of interests include regulatory reforms, competition policy and consumer protection, future of jobs, green growth, etc.
Morton Al Morton
AT&T Labs, United States

Al Morton is a Lead Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Labs, Middletown, New Jersey. He has been a chairman and recognized contributor in US and International network performance standards committees for more than 25 years. He authored or co-authored more than 31 IETF RFCs, and is a committer on several Linux Foundation projects. He has worked at Bell Labs, the U.S. Army Satellite Communications Agency, and Computer Sciences Corporation. Al spends his spare time making and enjoying music with friends and family on the New Jersey Shore and Chicago, Illinois.
Prado Tiago Sousa Prado
ANATEL, Brazil

Tiago is a Communication Networks Engineer with a Master degree in Business Administration and a Master degree in Public Policy and Economic Development. He has 10 years of experience in the public and private sector on the ICT industry in a national and international level, having worked at IT deparment of Banco do Brasil, the biggest retail bank in Brazil, and being currently at Anatel, the Brazilian telecommunication's national regulatory authority. He has focused his career in providing value-added solutions to governments and companies worldwide based on efficiency, reliability and economic rationality principles, especially by elaborating public policy and regulatory solutions and by actively speaking and contributing in the ITU and CITEL conferences throughout the years. He is currently Vice-chairman of the ITU-T Study Group 12 and QSDG, and also co-rapporteur of Q12/12.​
Robitza Werner Robitza
Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany

Werner Robitza is a PhD student at the Ilmenau University of Technology in Germany. From 2014–2018, he was researcher at the Telekom Innovation Laboratories of Deutsche Telekom AG and TU Berlin. He received his diploma degree in computer science from the University of Vienna. His research interests are Quality of Experience for multimedia applications and user behavior aspects for Web TV services.​
Salah Aymen Salah
INTT, Tunisia

Eng. Aymen Salah is a data analyst. He joined the Tunisian Telecommunications authority (INTT, Instance Nationale des Télécommunications de Tunisie) in 2007, where he was in charge of the audit of QoS of mobile networks. He currently holds the position of Head of mobile networks department. He is a vice-chairman of ITU-T SG12 and vice-chairman of the ITU-T SG12 Regional Group for the Africa Region.​
Scaramuzzi Elena Scaramuzzi
Cullen International, Belgium

With over 25 years of experience in the ICT sector, Elena Scaramuzzi currently leads Cullen International’s regulatory research activities in the Americas for the Telecommunications, Media and the Digital Economy sectors. Prior to joining Cullen International in 2009, Elena worked as a regulatory advisor at Telecom Italia, supporting activities in Europe and Latin America. From 2000 to 2002 she worked as an ICT Specialist at the World Bank’s infoDev programme in Washington DC. Elena holds a Degree in Political Science from LUISS University, Rome.
Umutoni Yvonne Umutoni
RURA, Rwanda

Yvonne Umutoni holds a Master's Degree in Communications Networks and Software from University of Surrey, Guildford, UK and a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology, Kigali. She joined Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) in August 2007, where she developed the "national numbering plan" for Rwanda and enforced its implementation in the Rwandan Telecom market. In 2010, she was involved in the development of the interconnection costing model for monitoring and enforcement of interconnection rate for telecom industry in Rwanda. Since 2011, she is actively involved in performing audits (drive testing, hot spots measurements), benchmarks and data analysis of quality of service (QoS) of cellular mobile networks and Internet for telecom operators and ISPs in Rwanda. Yvonne Umutoni is chairing the ITU-T Quality of Service Development Group (QSDG) since 2012. She is ​a Vice-Chairperson of ITU-T Study Group 12 on Performance, QoS and QoE, and Rapporteur of Question 12/12 on "Operational aspects of telecommunication network service quality" since 2017. At regional level, Umutoni is a Vice-Chairperson of the EACO WG3 on ICT Applications, Consumer Protection Issues and Cyber Security. From 2013 to 2017, she chaired EACO WG9 on Quality of Service and Consumer Affairs.
Villa Tania Villa
IFT, Mexico

Tania Villa works at the regulator agency in Mexico, the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT), since 2014. At the IFT, she acts as the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Physical Layer Analysis Director of the Regulatory Policy Unit and leads the Wireless Networks Laboratory of the IFT. She is in charge of proposing quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) regulation for the different telecommunications and broadcasting services in Mexico. She has acted as an advisor for the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Mexico (SCT), the Worldwide Bank, academic institutions and other regulators in Latin America. She has been involved with ITU proceedings since 2016 and today acts as an editor for a new work item created during the last Study Group 12 meeting of the ITU-T sector towards defining a framework for QoS regulation including measurement and sampling methodologies. She holds a PhD in Electronics and Communications from Télécom Paristech in collaboration with Deutsche Telecom Laboratories. During her PhD, she worked for different FP7 projects funded by the European Union, industry and French institutions. She obtained a master’s degree in Wireless Systems by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden and a Telematics Engineer degree from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). She has been an active researcher since 2007, published several peer-reviewed papers and worked as a research fellow at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Prior to her studies in Europe, she worked for a cellular operator in Mexico where she participated in projects related to network planning, capacity dimensioning and equipment provisioning. Her areas of interest includes wireless systems, design, modeling and performance evaluation of cellular networks.
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