Speakers

​​​​​​​​​Jeton Shaqiri, Minister for information society and administration of the Republic of North Macedonia, since 31/08/2021. He has enrolled in Ph. D. studies at the Faculty of Economics under the University of Tirana and has 12 years’ experience in the academic world as a lecturer for a set of subjects in Economics. He has demonstrated his managerial skills while successfully managing IPE “Proakva” – Struga in the period June 2018 - December 2019 and PE “Vodovod i Kanalizacija”- Struga in the period January - August 2020. Since 31/08/2021, he is also managing successfully the Ministry for information society and administration, leading the reform of the state administration and the process of digitalization in the country.​

Iurie Turcanu is the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization within the Government of the Republic of Moldova, voted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on August 6, 2021. Previously, he held the position of Director of the Electronic Government Agency (EGA) and the Chief Digital Officer, Moldova's e-Government Centre. As the chief digital officer at Moldova's e-Government Centre, Iurie Turcanu has driven the implementation of an impressive national ICT strategy, including most notably an e-Transformation project which has steadily and successfully increased the impact of various public services. Iurie Turcanu has driven the Open Data Initiative, as well as schemes like M-Cloud, recognized as the "Best Cloud Project in Central & Eastern Europe" in 2012. The main projects c​onducted under his leadership are the government electronic payment service MPay, the government data exchange and interoperability platform MConnect and the development of an infrastructure for electronic signatures, including the mobile signature. In 2019, Iurie Turcanu was included in the top World's 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government (https://apolitical.co/lists/digital-government-world100/) 

Valeriya Ionan is Deputy Minister of Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, in charge of digital literacy national program, development and growth of SME, online safety for children and eurointegration. Valeriya and her team have launched several projects in Ukraine: "Diia.Digital Education" (a national o​nline platform for digital education and digital education hubs all over the country) and "Diia.Business" (a national online platform for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship support centers all over the country). Before working in the Ukrainian government, Valeriya had been an entrepreneur. Together with a partner she launched Quadrate 28 company which specialises on outsource teams for SME and  has 250+ clients worldwide. She also launched MC Today, a first online-magazine for entrepreneurs.

AnaMaria Meshkurti is the programme officer in the ITU Office for Europe, in charge of digital inclusion, skills, gender, youth, accessibility and innovation matters. Previously she conceptualized and managed the ITU Smart Incubator programme for emerging tech start-ups in developing countries as well as was in charge of ITU-T's non-statutory events including workshops, seminars and forums. She also led trainings for the Bridging the Standardization Gap programme, supporting ITU delegates in the standardization process. She is a communications professional with a strong background in public relation, tech start-ups, innovation and events management. Prior to joining ITU she worked for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as well as in various UK based NGOs. She holds diplomas in Business Administration (MBA), Marketing and Communications (MA) as well as International Relations and Global Governance (Bs).​

Priya Burci is the CEO of Powercoders International, an organization that offers intensive and full time coding courses to refugees, with the aim of professionally integrating them into the IT sector. Powercoders has run 13 programs and formed 200 refugees across Switzerland, Italy and Turkey with a 90% placement rate. In the past, she has worked at a tech start up, the UN and Flowminder, an organisation that uses ​​big data analysis to fulfil humanitarian goals. Before joining Powercoders, she founded her own NGO, Project Integration, which also taught refugees digital skills. She believes strongly in the power of digital technologies as a way of creating social impact and empowering vulnerable populations.​

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Sheraz Ahmed​, is experienced,​ with an insightful understanding of innovation, who has advised hundreds of startups on the implementation of modern practices to further their business objectives. He is a Global Shaper of the Geneva Hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum driving dialogue, action and change. ​Sheraz is the Managing Partner of STORM Partners, an all-in-one solution provider for the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in Europe - who bring together the brightest minds across numerous subject areas to provide a 360° service offering led by industry experts. He additionally drives growth, collaboration, and integrity across the global blockchain ecosystem through his role as Head of Business Development at the Crypto Valley Association. Sheraz truly believes that through digitalisation and increased interconnectivity, ​the world will become a brighter place and is delighted to be able to do his part in pushing it forward! Dual Bachelor of Business Administration Graduate of Lancaster University and Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICADE, Sheraz was born in England and has spent much of his life in Switzerland. He is a multicultural individual with a diverse background and heritage tracing back to India, Pakistan, and Kenya. 

Manuel da Costa Cabral is a Senior Consultant for International Connectivity and Submarine Cables in the General Direction of Information and Innovation of ANACOM. He was a Portuguese Representative to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and to the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). Manuel was the Chair of COM-ITU (Committee for ITU Policy) & CEPT Co-President. He was also a Policy Officer at the European Commission (DG Information Society and Media). Manuel holds a business degree from Católica-Lisbon Business School and a Post-Graduation in Communication and Multimedia Management. Specialties: Electronic communications, External affairs, European Institutions, Regulation, Economics

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Yusuf Kerem Çalıkoğlu. My name is Yusuf Kerem Çalıkoğlu. I'm a 20-year-old computer science student. I'm from the capital of Turkey, Ankara. Currently, I'm the Co-founder of a game development company based in Ankara. I'm also the president of a technology club at my university. In this club, we voluntarily gave courses to the university students on various tech subjects. Since I loved to work on spreading information about technology to people, I applied to become a European youth envoy in ITU. And right now I'm a Europe youth envoy in ITU (International Telecommunication Union). Recently I started to develop games. I always loved creating games from scratch and putting ideas into reality. My love for creating games goes way back to when I was 7. Back then I used to create card and board games for myself. After some time creating games with a team we decided to turn this into a business and founded "Pixelized". Our company got accepted to and graduated from Google's game development startup accelerator program. As a Co-founder of Pixelized, I'm currently working towards bringing hit games to the mobile game market with a global publisher partner. Our business realizes industry trends daily and applies those insights into the Hyper-Casual games that we are building.

Luke Cavanaugh is a recent graduate of the University of Cambridge, where alongside founding his own consulting firm he has taken executive positions at several think tanks. Most recently, he is the Co-Founder of STEAR, a think tank with 50 members across 33 countries working to strengthen ties between Europe and Asia. Within the ITU, Luke serves as a member of both the Generation Connect Europe Youth Group and the Global Visionaries Board, setting and delivering youth strategy at a regional and global level. Next year, Luke will be part of the 6^th cohort of the Schwarzman Scholars Programme, a global leadership course and Master's in Global Affairs based at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Outside of work, Luke is a keen sportsman (football, golf, and most recently squash), is learning both Mandarin and Russian, and is missing the opportunity to travel.

Sarah Delporte is in charge of the UN Affairs and UN Partnerships at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Office for Europe. Prior to joining the ITU, she had several experiences in the communication and marketing sectors. She holds a double master's degree in Public Policy and Human Development, specialized in social entrepreneurship and public policy, as well as a bachelor's degree in communication and marketing. She has also followed journalism training. Sarah is inspired by others and the elsewhere. She is passionate about applying innovative and integrative solutions to create a sustainable and inclusive future for all.

Anthony Giannoumis. Anthony's work focuses on technology policy and practice. He is an internationally recognized expert in universal design of information and communication technology (ICT). He leads several large-scale research and innovation projects based in over 27 countries. Anthony is an Associate Professor of Universal Design of ICT at the Department of Computer Science at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). He maintains several international appointments including at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability at Harvard Law School, the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, the Department of Science and Informatics at the University of Eduardo Mondlane, and the Department of Education at Roma Tre University. He works with the United Nations (UN) International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the Vice Rapporteur for the subcommittee on ICT Accessibility and Research Coalition lead for the EQUALS Global Network. He is founder and Chair of the Board for the Global Universal Design Commission Europe AS, and Ser Innovation AS. He is a member of the board for Mfano Design Lab, the Global Universal Design Commission, Inclusive-IT, and Humans for Humans. He has been a member of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion and was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship as part of the DREAM research network. Since 2014, Anthony has acted as a principal investigator for research and innovation projects with budgets totaling over 11 million EUR. He has authored over 47 peer-reviewed academic publications in leading international journals. Anthony has taught over 3,000 students. He has mentored over 23 startups, half of which have been led by women.​

Zubair Junjunia is an educational activist, social entrepreneur, and founder of ZNotes - an online learning platform he started at 16 and today, has reached over 3 million students globally. For his humanitarian efforts, Zubair was awarded the Diana Award. He is a One Young World & STEM UK ambassador and is on the advisory board of DEFI at Cambridge University. An SDG advocate, he has been published and spoken internationally including the 40th UN General Assembly, Nasdaq and interviewing the CEO of Verizon. Holding a Master's in Mathematics from UCL, Zubair is a marathon runner, triathlete and inline/figure skater  https://zubairjunjunia.com/  https://twitter.com/zjunjunia  https://instagram.com/zjunjunia  https://facebook.com/zjunjunia  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zjunjunia/

Debra Ruh is a Global Disability Inclusion Strategist, Market Influencer, internationally recognized keynote speaker, published author, branding expert, successful entrepreneur, and an exceptional mother. Debra is the host of a popular program: Human Potential at Work (Audience in 92 countries and 113 Regions). Proud to be the founder and CEO of Ruh Global IMPACT and the Co-founder and ChairWoman of Billion Strong. She is also an author of three books, Inclusion Branding (available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Voice via Audible), Tapping into Hidden Human Capital and Finding Your Voice Using Social Media. https://tiny.cc/DebraRuh or www.RuhGlobal.com. Debra had built a multi-million-dollar firm focused on ICT accessibility. Debra was convinced that "the real disability is being unable to see human potential" formed Ruh Global IMPACT. This think tank firm focuses on Global Disability Inclusion Strategies, Digital Marketing, and Branding among many other services. Billion-Strong.org is a global identity organization focused on disability identity and empowerment. Debra consults with Multi-National and National Corporations and the United Nations. Debra is now internationally renowned global keynote speakers and travels the world inspiring and advocating for governments and corporations to include people with disabilities. She was selected as a Global Goodwill Ambassador in 2018

Siew-Veena Sahi is a medical doctor turned entrepreneur. She is half Indian, Half Singaporean-Chinese, and has lived in Singapore, London & Geneva. Siew-Veena underwent her medical training in London before working in the NHS. Her research in Public Health led her to discover the lack of available rapid testing for accurate diagnosis of common sexually transmitted diseases, and is how Testmate Health was founded. 

Sarah Schwab is Founder & CEO at The Experience Accelerator, an education technology company that uses the latest cognitive research and digital technologies to help business leaders and working professionals learn new behaviours faster and more effectively.  Merging thoughtful content, deliberate practice and AI/VR technologies combined with a global network of virtual coaches, Sarah is passionate about delivering a radical new way of accelerating our performance at work. Thought partner to business leaders throughout EMEA, Sarah is effective in a wide range of senior leadership contexts - from C suite dialogues in Zurich, Scenario planning workshops in Frankfurt to Government Directors training in Dubai.  Sarah’s prior roles include Partner at Heidrick & Struggles’ (H&S) Leadership Development; Executive Director at Thunderbird School of Global Management where she led a significant expansion of Thunderbird’s operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Managing Director at the Corporate Executive Board, now Gartner, where she ran their EMEA Finance and Strategy Division including the CFO Thought Leaders network. She received a BSc (Hons) from Aston University, Birmingham, and an International MBA with distinction from Thunderbird School of Global Management. A British national, Sarah now shares her time between Switzerland and the GCC. 

Valentina Stadnic is currently a Digital Ecosystem Expert in the ITU Office for Europe. Previously, she was an ecosystem builder passionate about helping create synergistic impact, leading stakeholders in navigating IT competitiveness, and unlocking opportunities for the IT sector in Moldova. Her strong commitment to the sector is reflected in a decade of experience working for organizations in a variety of fields, ranging from leading a virtual IT Park to holding senior government roles. Her efforts are always directed towards developing new approaches that accelerate the transformation towards a digital economy, streamlining corporate innovation practices, boosting the industry's growth, supporting job-creation partnerships and sustainable investments.

Radu Tintescu is a creative entrepreneur determined to change online users' experiences. He is doing everything from leading the direction of the products to advising on the minor design component in any product that he is involved. He embraces the challenge of creating experiences that nobody had before and constantly working on ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. It is in his belief that we are not expressing ourselves on the internet at its actual capacity. He started as a designer and Co-Founder at Creative Tim in 2014, a platform offering tools to create web and mobile apps. In 2015 he moved to the service-providing industry, where he founded Webmarc, a technology company transforming ideas into end-to-end digital experiences and in which he is still working as a consultant. Since July 2020, he is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Flow OS, a brand new venture that launched its first mass-market SaaS named Session: A product that is redefining hybrid communication by bringing all collaboration tools in one single place. With its unique agenda designer, the product's goal is to offer flawlessly organized and always on-time online meetings.

Beatrice Scarioni is Head of Tech4Dev, Tech4Impact’s dedicated global South program housed at the Vice-Presidency for Innovation (VPI), EPFL where she is bridging the gap between technology, innovation and social impact. Previously she worked at the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, the United Nations, the International Federation of the Red Cross, as well as the House of Commons, UK Parliament. She has been advising and mentoring start-ups throughout Switzerland as a trainer for Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, whose role is to promote science-based innovation in the interests of industry and society in Switzerland, where she teaches impact measurement and impact analytics targeted to impact ventures. In this domain, Beatrice has been a Mentor for the IMPACT Accelerator, nominated as one of the 10 best accelerators worldwide where she is advising a start-up in Tanzania that provides low-cost weather stations to African farmers. Beatrice is a Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum and is a co-founder of Powering Education, a non-profit organization that leverages data and analytics to quantify the impacts of clean energy on rural and off-grid communities in Eastern Africa. Recently Beatrice has joined the Innovation Advisory Board for UNLEASH a global innovation lab, which gathers 1,000 talent annually to collaborate on solutions to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. . A London School of Economics Alumna she recently completed Executive Education in Social Impact Strategy at The University of Pennsylvania in 2018. 

David Maasz is a retired internet/digital serial entrepreneur, turned angel investor with a global health, food and tech portfolio.David has 25 years of experience building companies and management teams from scratch and taking them to international success, and 15 years as an investor in early stage ventures, helping them to enter global markets, raise capital and grow. As the founder of Entrepreneurship Foundation Hungary, David is the creative mind behind the Hungarian government's INPUT Program, which is recognized by the United Nations as a ‘Global Best Practice Program’ for fostering the innovation ecosystem.

Michael Fembek is the Director of the Zero Project. With a background in managing foundations, he outlines the strategic goals of the foundation, which is committed to a world without barriers for all. Being committed to disability inclusion, Michael became the Chair of the Thematic Group on Disabilities within the European Foundation Centre (EFC) in 2015. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Gewinn, an Austrian business magazine, Michael has been keen to pair his entrepreneurial ambitions with value and purpose. Consequently, in 2009 he initiated Sinnstifter, a project by Austrian philanthropists, and launched the annual Austrian CSR Guide on Corporate Social Responsibility. His work with foundations was further enriched when in 2014, he co-initiated the Verband für Gemeinnütziges Stiften, the Austrian philanthropic association, where he serves as Vice President. His efforts in the philanthropic space continue to be recognized. In 2016 he co-initiated the Haus der Philanthropie, a novel co-working space dedicated to NGO’s, as well as the Sinnbildungsstiftung, a foundation focusing on innovations in education, on which he currently serves as a Board Member. Michael Fembek holds a graduate degree in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Christopher Baker-Brian is a Co-founder of Bboxx and Managing Director of the Product Division. As the Product Division MD, Chris leads the development, from the London office, of a wide range of advanced rural electrification solutions, as well as a range of software products to support Bboxx’s growing global operations. He also oversees supply chain operations across Asia and Africa. Born in 1987 in the UK, Chris is an Imperial University Graduate. He obtained his Master of Engineering (MEng) in Electronic & Electrical Engineering with 1st class Honours in 2010. While studying at Imperial University London, Chris met our two other co-founders – Mansoor Hamayun and Laurent Van Houcke. Through their experiences travelling, they saw first-hand the challenges that communities and businesses face without access to energy supplies. In response, Chris, along with his two classmates founded a successful student charity, called e.quinox, which initially brought electricity to six villages in Rwanda and continues to operate today.  Following university, Chris worked at the Rolls-Royce Group, taking part of in the Engineering Professional Excellence Programme Graduate Scheme. His placements included Electrical Machine Design, Power Electronics/Heat Exchanger Packaging, Electrical/Control System Design for Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems, and a Field Service Officer with British Airways at Heathrow Airport. Over 10 years ago, Mansoor, Chris and Laurent founded Bboxx to create a sustainable, affordable, and commercial solution that would allow for unprecedented access to energy and transform the lives of millions. Chris specialises in rural electrification, product design, energy strategy, power systems, and electronics, as well as other areas of electrical engineering and software development. Chris is a British national residing in London.

Michel Arditti is a veteran international consultant with a proven track record in digital transformation, cyberdefense and cellular telecom applied in key sectors of defense, aviation, energy and finance. Arditti advises a diverse array of public and private sector institutions, governments, corporate groups, banks and law firms across Europe, the United States, the Middle-East, Asia and Africa, bringing a vital strategic edge to the complex challenges of today’s global economy. Arditti has a proven capability to harness the most accurate, pro-active, actionable solutions to advantage, with extensive expertise and academic leadership in advanced telecom technologies, competitive surveys and forensic auditing. Current projects span from software defined, flexible and scalable Distributed 5G Radio Access Network platforms to Secure and Optimized Blockchains, Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analysis applied to security and finance services. Arditti is also an expert in counter electronic warfare and advises the military and security services in this arena. He is based in Switzerland, lived in five countries, has experience in handling missions in 75 countries.

Gerassimos Spyridakis is a Managing Director at Bank Julius Baer in Switzerland. Prior to joining Julius Baer, he spent 19 years with Citigroup in NY, Brussels, London, Athens and Geneva. While at Julius Baer and Citi, Gerassimos held senior management positions including Global Head for Africa, Israel, Monaco, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey and currently as the Head of Key Client Group for Southern Europe and Israel. He holds a BSc in Business Administration from the American College of Greece and an MBA from Manchester Business School in the UK. He has also attended Executive Education courses at IMD in Lausanne, Insead in Paris, Singularity University in Silicon Valley, London Business School in the UK and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston.

Gerassimos is also the President of MITEF Greece (2020-2023) which is MIT’s acceleration program for startups. He has also served as a board member, senior advisor and investor in a number of startups in Artificial Intelligence companies and the health care space.

He currently serves at the European Executive Committee of YPO (Young President Organization) as well as on the London Mayfair and Swiss Alpine Chapters as an Executive Board member. He is part of Harvard Business School’s President Program and a member of Executive Coach International and WorldMinds. He is the Founder of the Global Charity Initiative “Photography Without Frontiers”. His photography has been exhibited in London, Milan and Athens to support children in need around the world.

Ms Milena Lipovina-Bozovic is the State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development. She graduated from the University of Montenegro Faculty of Economics in Podgorica. She obtained her master’s degree from the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics in 2008, and her doctoral degree from the University of Montenegro, Faculty of Economics in Podgorica. She received the Central Bank of Montenegro award for the best doctoral thesis defended in Montenegro in 2014. She has received several national awards in recognition of her academic achievement from the Faculty of Economics, Ministry of Education, the Capital City, Atlas Group etc. She specialization at several renowned faculties and institutions, in particular the following: Faculty of Economics in Udine, Ljubljana School of Economics and Business, Katz Business School – the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Greenwich in London, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). From 2005 to 2019, she worked as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Economics, Department of Quantitative Economics. Since February 2020, she has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Montenegro Faculty of Philosophy, Psychology Department. She has authored several papers and participated in many international conferences held in Montenegro and abroad. Between March and December 2020, she was hired by the UNDP as a Local Consultant for the Secretariat to the Innovation and Smart Specialization Council.

Mr Klaus Candussi is an Austrian social entrepreneur, university lecturer and former journalist. He is co-founder of atempo ltd. and co-developer of the capito brand for easy-to-understand information. He has master's degrees in musicology and social management.

Ms. Agi Veres is the Director of the UNDP Office in Geneva. Prior to this, Ms. Veres served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (2019-2021) providing leadership, oversight and advisory support to 18​ UNDP offices in the Europe and Central Asia region. Before her regional role, Ms. Veres was posted in the People’s Republic of China as UNDP Resident Representative (2018-2019) and County Director (2015-2018), where she led UNDP’s development programme, as well as UNDP’s engagement with the country on global development cooperation. She also served as Deputy Resident Representative (2011- 2015) in UNDP Lesotho, and was assigned to UNDP’s Regional Centre in Bratislava, Slovakia (2006-2011), first as Deputy Chief for Policy and Programme, and as Senior Programme Coordinator. Her UNDP career started in UNDP’s Headquarters in New York as Corporate Reporting and Business Analysis Team Leader (2005-2006), and ICT Communications Officer (2002-2005). Before joining UNDP, Ms. Veres worked in the private sector as a Management Consultant for Accenture (1997-2002) in New York and Hungary, in the field of organizational change management. Ms. Veres is a native of Hungary and has a degree of Master of Sciences in Business Administration from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (Corvinus University)