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Programme Committee

Rosheen Awotar-Mauree Programme Officer, ITU Office for Europe, ITU Rosheen Awotar-Mauree works as Programme Officer for the Europe Office where she coordinates projects, events and other developmental actions. She has experience in managing IT Security initiatives and involved in the elaboration of national ICT strategies. She has over 12 years of experience in the field of IT Security and IT Project Management. She received her degree in Computer Science with honours in Information Systems, in 1994 and her MBA in 1996, both from Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.
Istvan Bozsoki Head, Spectrum Management and Broadcasting Division, BDT, ITU Istvan Bozsoki joined the ITU in 1997 to work at the Space Department of the Radiocommunication Bureau and he was dealing with coordination and notification of satellite systems. In 2007 he moved to the Telecommunication Development Bureau and is responsible for spectrum management and broadcasting issues. Since April 2013 he is Head of Spectrum Management and Broadcasting Division. After obtaining his degree in telecommunication engineering at the Technical University Budapest in 1980 he spent 17 years at the Hungarian Communication Authority and he was dealing with technical and regulatory aspects of the spectrum management. Among others, he was responsible for the development of a computerized spectrum management system and for cross-border frequency coordination. Later, he was appointed as director of international affairs. He has a master degree in radiocommunications and broadcasting.
Roberto Mitsuake Hirayama ITU-D SG1 Vice-Chair and Rapporteur of ITU-D Question 2/1 Roberto Mitsuake Hirayama, currently Regulation Specialist at Anatel (Brazilian Telecommunication Regulatory Agency), has lots of experience on the Telecom sector, having worked in telecom manufacturers, large and medium sized telecommunications operators and for 14 years at several departments of the Regulatory Agency (Anatel), especially on Planning and Regulation/Policy roles and in the discussions for the adoption of the Brazilian Digital Terrestrial Television System (SBTVD-T) and the discussion on the transition and analogue switch-off currently been performed in Brazil. In ITU, Roberto has been following ITU-T and ITU-D activities since 2008, both in the ITU-T in Study Groups 9 and 16, where he helped standardizing the IPTV/DTV middleware Ginga (H.761), alongside with R&D institutions of Brazil (PUC-Rio, UFJF, TQTVD and UFPB) and also in ITU-D in Study Group 1, where he is Vice-Chair for the Americas and Rapporteur of Question 2/1.
Satoshi Miyaji Chairman, ITU-T SG9, General Manager, KDDI Corporation, Japan Dr. Miyaji has a long history of participating in the ITU-T SG9 (“television and sound transmission, and integrated broadband cable") almost for twenty (20) years as an expert of broadcasting and telecommunications particularly for cable television networks and services. He served as Vice Chairman of SG9 and Chairman of WP1/9 for eight (8) years in 2009 – 2016. At the WTSA-16 (General Assembly of ITU-T), he has been appointed as Chairman of SG9 for the Study Period 2017 – 2020. In KDDI, he is now responsible for development and deployment of entertainment-related business and services such as video streaming, music distribution, e-books, live concert, and so on.
Stefano Polidori Advisor, TSB, ITU Stefano is Advisor at the International Telecommunication Union and responsible for the technical secretariat of ITU-T Study Group 9 "Broadband cable and TV”. He is also responsible for the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) activities, including the Symposium on the Future Networked Car at the Geneva Motor Show. Stefano is the ITU representative to the European Multi Stakeholder Platform on ICT Standardization at the European Commission. After few years in the private sector, joined the ITU in 2004 covering various positions including Coordinator for ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference and Advisor for Study Group 11 "Signalling, protocols and test specifications". Stefano holds a Master in Electronic Engineering from the University of Rome, Italy and a Master of Science in mobile communication from Aalborg University, Denmark
Jaroslaw Ponder Head of ITU Office for Europe Jaroslaw is Head of 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 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 2004 Mr. Ponder has been working for ITU. In 2004 he was consultant at the Market, Economics and Finance Unit (MEF/ITU). In year 2005 he moved to Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU/ITU). In year 2007 he moved to Project and Initiatives Department (PRI/ITU). In year 2008 upon his former duties he acted as Europe Officer (EUR/ITU) as well as as Project Manager for European Centres of Excellence Network (CoE-EUR). In August 2008 he was appointed as Coordinator for Europe. After successfull recreation of the coordination for the region in February 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) and its 10 year review, amongst the others successfully establishing WSIS Forum, WSIS Prizes, WSIS Stocktaking, and organizing WSIS+10 High Level Event (2014) that resulted in negotiated texts. In parallel, since October 2011 he has been working as Coordinator for Europe strengthening coordination and implementation mechanism. In July 2017 he became a Head of ITU Office for Europe, directing actions, projects, initiatives and experts groups targeting 43 countries.
Walid Sami Senior Project Manager, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Dr. Walid Sami is Senior Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Geneva, with responsibility for co-coordinating studies on frequency planning and spectrum sharing issues. He represents EBU in number of European and International Forums dealing with Spectrum Management. He is Vice Chair of ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting) and mostly active in Working Parties 6A (Terrestrial broadcasting delivery) and 1A (Spectrum engineering techniques). Prior to joining EBU, Dr. SAMI worked in spectrum management and frequency planning of Digital Broadcasting systems at Télédiffusion de France (TDF) and CSA (Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel) in France. Notable is his 7 years as head of Television Planning Department at the French Broadcasting Authority, where he was in charge of planning Digital Terrestrial Television in France. Dr. Sami received Electrical Engineering Degree from the Lebanese University in 1986 and a Doctorate in Physics from Supelec / Université de Paris Sud in 1991.
David Wood Consultant, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Technology and Innovation Dr David Wood has chaired standards groups in the ITU and DVB for many years. He led the work that resulting in the ITU specifications for digital television, high definition television, and ultra-high definition television. More recently he led the DVB work analysing Virtual Reality systems. He currently is a co-chair of the ITU IRG-AVA group which is examining the possibilities for common access systems for all media, broadcast, broadband, internet, and cable, and the ITU-R on audio renderers. He is Consultant, EBU Technology and Innovation.