 H.E. Peter Očko, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
Mr. Petr Očko, born on April 22. 1976, graduated from Information Management and European Integration at the University of Economics in Prague and from Ph.D. studies of Information Economics at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. He started in 1998 in a small company that would now be labelled as a successful technology start up – the Globe Internet. As an expert in the European economic integration, he has been working at the Ministry of Finance since 2001 on the EU Structural Funds, since 2004 he worked as an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance for the financial market, and in 2006 he was appointed by the Government as a National Coordinator for the introduction of the euro. Since August 2007, he worked in the private sphere as an EU project coordinator for Telefónica O2. In 2009, he returned to the state administration as Chief Executive Officer for EU Budget and EU Funds at the Ministry of Transport, and since August 2010 he served as Section Director for EU Funds, Research and Development at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where he was in charge for key programs to support industrial research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2012-2013 he was also in charge of the stabilization and development of the CzechInvest business and investment support agency as its entrusted CEO. Since 2015, he headed the Department of Financial Instruments and Project Management at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and prepared mainly the National Innovation Fund project or the transformation of the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank. In March 2016, he was appointed by the Government as chairman of the Czech Republic's Technology Agency and successfully helped to develop support for applied research in key areas of the Czech Republic, including industry 4.0 and other major trends.
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 Mr. Jaroslaw Ponder, Head, ITU Europe Office
Mr Ponder is Head of the ITU Office for Europe at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (Geneva, Switzerland). Within the last years Mr. Ponder has been carrying out numerous projects, activities and initiatives at national, regional and international levels. He has been taking lead role in many international conferences and summits dealing with fostering ICT innovation and development of ICT ecosystem, information society, and advancements of digital economy worldwide, while setting strategies and ensuring their timely implementation.
Along the professional career Mr. Ponder held official positions in the public sector and was a contributor to the legislative projects having impact on the public policy. Since 2014 Mr. Ponder has been working for ITU, in Market, Economics and Finance Unit (MEF/ITU), Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU/ITU), Project and Initiatives Department (PRI/ITU). From year 2008 upon his former duties he has acted as Europe Officer (EUR/ITU) as well as Project Manager for European Centres of Excellence Network (CoE-EUR). In August 2008 he was appointed as Coordinator for Europe. After successful recreation of the coordination for the region in 2009 he moved to the General Secretariat becoming Strategy and Policy Coordinator and one year later Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor with the objective to lead the ITU activities on World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS; United Nation Process on ICTs) and its 10 year review, amongst the others successfully establishing prime platforms, i.e. WSIS Forum, WSIS Prizes, WSIS Stocktaking, and organizing WSIS+10 High Level Event (2014) that resulted in negotiated texts. In parallel, since 2011 he has been working as Coordinator for Europe strengthening coordination and implementation mechanism. In 2017, he became the Head of ITU Office for Europe, directing actions, projects, initiatives, experts groups targeting 45 countries and representing ITU in Europe.
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 Ms. Ecmel Aysu Sürmen, Digital Inclusion Consultant, ITU Europe Office
Ecmel Aysu is a Digital Inclusion Consultant at ITU Europe Office and the focal point for the ITU Generation Connect Europe Youth Envoy. In addition, Ecmel serves as the general moderator and facilitator of the Accessible Europe 2022 event.
She is a Master’s graduate in IR and EU Studies with 2+ years of experience at various international organizations, including OECD and UNDP. She has extensive international experience, having studied in four different countries (Turkey, France, Netherlands, Italy) and is fluent in four languages (Turkish, French, English, and Italian).
In 2020, she obtained her master’s degree in International Relations (Specialization: EU Studies) from Leiden University, where she was awarded the merit-based Jean Monnet Scholarship granted by the European Union. She completed her undergraduate studies as the highest-ranking student of the International Relations department at Galatasaray University (in French). She has conducted extensive research throughout her academic and professional journey, and developed experience in digital inclusion at ITU, data-focused gender mainstreaming work at OECD, research-focused impact investing work at UNDP, as well as advocacy & youth work at organizations such as OECD Intern Circle Board (as Head of Advocacy), Lean in Network Randstad (as Partnerships Manager), and Institut du Genre en Géopolitique (as Research Manager).
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 Ms. Rosemary Kayess, Lawyer & Chairperson – United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Rosemary Kayess is an internationally recognised and well-respected human rights
lawyer in the area of disability. She is Chairperson of the United Nations Committee
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Rosemary teaches international human
rights law at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales. Rosemary was a
designated expert on the Australian Government delegation to the United Nations
negotiations for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and
facilitated the drafting of Article 24 on the Right to Education.
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 - Ms. Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator Digital Inclusion - ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Roxana WIDMER-ILIESCU is Senior Coordinator of Digital Inclusion at the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations specialised Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Ms Widmer has an educational background in Law and holds Master's Degrees in International Law and Strategic Management of Telecommunication and brings 6 years of work experience in International Relations within the Romanian Parliament and 25 years in the Development Sector of the ITU. In her capacity as Senior Coordinator for Digital Inclusion, she advises the ITU members on developing inclusive policies and on implementing strategies in ICT/digital accessibility to ensure all people's empowerment through the access to and use of ICTs, regardless of their age, gender, ability to use the technology or, location. She also leads the development of key ITU-D resources contributing to the overarching goal of Digital Inclusion in line with the global commitments and ITU members' and stakeholders' efforts in building a digitally inclusive world and ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age.
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 Ms. Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, Senior Expert (Disability and Inclusion) - European Commission
Inmaculada Placencia Porrero is a Senior Expert in Disability and Inclusion at Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. Her unit is responsible for the coordination of European policies for persons with disabilities. She works on European disability policy, and the EU implementation of the UNCRPD. Inmaculada holds a degree in Physics and Computer Science and worked in research and development before joining The European Commission in 1991. She has worked on research programmes addressing accessibility as well as assistive technologies and was Deputy Head of Unit for various disability-related units in the Commission. Her work in the "e-Inclusion" unit of the Directorate-General for Information Society and Media addressed accessibility policy. While at the Directorate-General for Justice she contributed to disability-related antidiscrimination legislation. She was responsible for the Task Force for the preparation of the European Accessibility Act and remains responsible since its adoption in 2015. Currently under the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, she coordinates the development and implementation of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030.
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 Mr. Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director & Head of Policy – European Disability Forum Alejandro leads and coordinates EDF’s advocacy and policy work at EU level, and supports the work of the European Parliament Disability Intergroup. Among other areas, Alejandro has developed policy positions and recommendations regarding political participation of persons with disabilities, accessible Information and Communication Technologies, Assistive Technologies and different standardisation activities. He previously worked as a communication officer within the parliament of the Valencia Region, as a journalist in digital media and a communication agency in Andorra, and in a public affairs company in Madrid. - MA Political and corporate communication – University of Navarra, Spain and George Washington University
- BA (Hons) Journalism – University of Valencia with a year at York University (Canada)
Alejandro is a member of the Spanish Blind Organisation (ONCE), for which he worked as a journalist and regional representative of young partially sighted people inside the organisation.
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 Ms. Amela Odobašić, Director of Broadcasting - Communications Regulatory Agency Bosnia and Herzegovina, Co-rapporteur for ITU-D Study Question 7/1 (Study Period 2022-2025)
Ms. Amela Odobašić is the Director of Broadcasting at the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amela acts as Designated Focal Point for relations with the International Telecommunications Union. In 2014, she was appointed Co-rapporteur for the Study Group 1 Question 7 “Access to telecommunications/ICT Services by persons with disabilities and other persons with specific needs,” and in 2018, its Rapporteur. Amela continues her work in the area of ICT accessibility as Co-Rapporteur of Question 7/1 “Telecommunication/ICT accessibility to enable inclusive communication, especially for persons with disabilities” for the period 2022-2025. Nationally and internationally she devises and implements advocacy campaigns and delivers training courses on ICT accessibility on behalf of ITU. She believes that by joining forces in creating an accessible ICT ecosystem, the stakeholders can ensure digital and social inclusion not only for persons with disabilities but for all citizens.
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 Ms. Kaoru Mizuno
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 Ms. Lidia Best, President - European Federation of Hard of Hearing People
Lidia Best (CPACC) is the President of the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People ( EFHOH) and accessibility expert (IAAP certification), action advocate for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. She brings unique knowledge as expert with lived experience, as a person who is hard of hearing and a cochlear implant user since 2009. Her work has specific focus on accessibility, policy development, innovation, and training for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Lidia's motto “What do you know, when you don't know" is the driving force behind her work, having observed how lack of knowledge holds everyone back regardless of having disability or not. She supports closing the knowledge gap with consulting, mentoring, training, and public speaking.
She is a member of delegation of G3ict to ITU and a vice-Chairman of ITU JCA-AHF ( International Telecommunication Union Joint Coordination Activities on Accessibility and Human Factors). She contributed to work on standards as a member of G3ict delegation to ITU in telecoms relay services , captioning and assistive listening devices , she is an editor of the ITU FSTP-RCSO “Overview of remote captioning services" and H.871“Safety requirements for wearable audio augmenting devices" the recommendation on personal sound amplifiers. Most recently, she was involved in the development of the WHO-ITU Global Standard on Accessibility of Telehealth.
Lidia is an advisor for the G3ict Inclusive Smart Cities think tank.
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 Ms. Susanna Laurin, CPACC, Representative to the EU - G3ict; Chief Research and Innovation Officer – Funka; Chair - ETSI/CEN/CENELEC Joint Working Group on eAccessibility
Susanna Laurin (CPACC) is the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Funka, a European based market leading consultancy focusing on accessibility. She has been a thought leader in the field of digitalisation, inclusion and e-government for more than 20 years and she is a frequent international lecturer and debater. Susanna is the Chair of the ETSI/CEN/CENELEC Joint Working Group on eAccessibility, responsible for the development and update of the EN301549, to reflect presumed conformance of the Web Accessibility Directive and the upcoming European Accessibility Act.
Susanna is leading strategic assignments and research projects on EU level, nationally and across the world. Current assignments for the European Commission include the formal review of the Web Accessibility Directive and a study on cognitive accessibility.
Susanna is a co-founder, Representative to the EU and also Past Honorary Chair of IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, as well as the Representative to the EU for the UN-initiative G3ict.
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 Ms. Chiara Giovannini, Senior Manager, Policy & Innovation (Accessibility) & Deputy Secretary General - European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation (ANEC)
Chiara Giovannini works for ANEC since 2002, first as Programme Manager and presently as Senior Manager, Policy & Innovation and Deputy Secretary General. Apart from deputising for the Secretary General, she leads ANEC’s works on Accessibility and Digital Society and is responsible for horizontal and strategic policy issues. Prior to working for ANEC, Ms. Giovannini worked at Swiss Consumers Organisation. She holds a Master degree in European Law.
Ms Giovannini represents ANEC at high-level events, committees and research Advisory Boards. For example, she was a member of the European Commission High Level Group on Artificial Intelligence and Ethics.
ANEC is the European consumer voice in standardisation. ANEC defends the European consumer interest in the creation of technical standards and European laws and public policies making use of standards.
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 Ms. Gamze Sofuoğlu, Master Lead Brand Manager – Turkcell Gamze Sofuoğlu has been working at Turkcell, the leader digital operator headquartered in Turkey, since 2014. She is the product manager of mobile applications and accessibility solutions for disabled individuals. The products she leads has a wide international recognition and a great number of awards from prestigious platforms such as GSMA, Meffys and MIT Technology Review. She graduated from the Department of Psychology in Boğaziçi University and made her master’s degree on Cognitive Psychology at the same university. Her thesis was an investigation on the effect of disability perception on the temporal distribution in lifespan, content and recollective experiences in personally significant autobiographical memories. Between 2014 and 2016; she prepared and hosted a radio show on sensation and perception of blindness and disability issues at one of the most popular radio stations of Turkey. Her radio show won the best new radio show award in 2014 in Turkey. Gamze is writing articles on disability issues, mentoring blind children to support them to be more autonomous and confident in their lives, and providing consultancy for the projects on accessibility and disability.
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 Ms/Mx.. Ivana Recmanová, Disability activist - A-komunita
Ivana Recmanová (she / they) is a freelance writer, translator, proofreader, and advisor for communication with LGBT+ and neurodivergent people. Native of Kladno, Czech Republic, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Language and Culture (majoring in Spanish and spending a year abroad at the University of Granada) from University College London as well as a Master’s degree in General Linguistics and Communication Theory from Palacký University in Olomouc. Between 2018 and 2020, she was a member of the Advisory Board for Monitoring People with Disabilities’ Rights under the Office of the Public Defendant in the Czech Republic. Her portfolio includes working with several international as well as domestic organisations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, such as: a panel discussion at the Feminist Conference in Brno, Czech Republic (2021), interviews with prominent non-binary people for the Transparent blog (Czech organisation for advancement of intersex, non-binary, and transgender people), translations from English and Spanish to Czech for Perpetuum (Czech magazine dedicated to trends in education), and coauthorship of Můj první atlas zvířat a rostlin (2021), an interactive encyclopedia for schoolchildren. She resides in Kladno, Czech Republic.
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 Dr. Miro Griffiths, Scholar in Disability Studies – University of Leeds
Miro Griffiths is a scholar in the field of Disability Studies, based in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, at the University of Leeds. His research primarily explores young disabled people’s experiences of resistance practices, social movement participation and disability politics. Miro lectures in disability theory, research methods, and social policy analysis. Alongside scholarly activity, Miro is an adviser on disability policy to the UK Government, European Commission, and several disabled people’s organisations across the globe.
Previously, Miro was a confidential and strategic advisor across the UK Government during two administrations. He was also a member of the Disability Advisory Committee at the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission. Miro was part of the UK Delegation at the signing ceremony for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Miro is a disabled activist and is committed to the emancipation of disabled people.
For further information, please visit: https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/sociology/staff/1040/miro-griffiths
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Mr./Mx.  Timothy Rowies, Rapporteur on Mainstreaming Disability Issues (CoE) & Former President (EUDY) - Council of EuropeAdvisory Council on Youth & European Union of the Deaf Youth
Timothy Rowies (Belgium) is a dedicated human rights activist and Member of the Council of Europe Advisory Council on Youth. As one of four Rapporteurs of the Council of Europe Joint Council, Timothy updates the 46 member states on the importance of accessibility and ensures thematic perspectives are taken into consideration in their work. Timothy was President of the European Union of the Deaf Youth (EUDY) and is the Founder of the European Deaf Students’ Union (EDSU). In 2017, Timothy was honoured as the Finalist Young European of the Year, awarded by the Schwarzkopf Foundation. Timothy previously majored in Human Rights Education at the Council of Europe, Education Design at the University of Toulouse III and French Sign Language at the University of Rouen Normandy. He contributed to several publications, including the European Youth Forum’s "Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines" together with its Expert Group on Membership, Diversity, and Inclusion and co-authoring the "Handbook for Deaf Students in Europe" with Sofiya Kalinova. Currently, Timothy is the Executive Coordinator at Empoway, an inclusive(r) education center that creates lifelong learning opportunities on different forms of diversity and inclusion. In Belgium, he is also a member of the National High Council for Persons with Disabilities (NHCPD) and a municipal councillor in Hoeilaart.
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