Agenda

Eng. Azza Al Ismaili has scientific knowledge and a wide range of professional experience in the fields of technology, oil and gas, project management and entrepreneurship. Throughout her career, she held several management positions, and established –as a business woman- several successful projects in education, oil and gas, training and consultancy. She gained a lot of knowledge and high professional experience in management techniques from her participation in several projects and leadership training programs in different countries including “Harvard Business” in the USA.
Currently Eng. Azza is holding the position of the Minister of Technology and Communications in Oman since her appointment in the 14th of October, 2019. In this position, she assumes the role of leading the ministry towards achieving and executing Oman’s goals and projects in the ICT field. She has also achieved great success in business and entrepreneurship, as she initiated two major projects. The first was to educate and train the youth of today by founding the MyEduZone Group which includes several schools and educational centers. The second achievement lies in establishing a company that focuses on training and consultancy. On a different venture associated to her career background, Eng. Azza founded three companies in oil field services, communications and services.
Eng. Azza received her Bachelor’s degree from Sultan Qaboos University and went on to complete her Master’s in Computer Engineering from the same university. Subsequently, she got an M.B.A. in Executive Business Management and Administration from Grand Canyon University in Arizona, USA. At the outset of her career in 1994, Eng. Azza joined Petroleum Development Oman (P.D.O.) as a System Integrator. She then went on to hold other positions like Project Manager and Business Improvement Engineer.

H.E Dr. Ishaq Sider holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Odissa Academy.  In Odissa, he finished the bachelor's and master's degrees starting from 1984.

Upon returning home, Dr. SIDER worked as an assistant professor at Polytechnic University until he became minister of Telecom and IT, March 2019. During his time at the university, he took the position of Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology from 2006 to 2008 and the dean of the College of Applied Professions from 2016 to 2019.

He was and still has an active role in the Palestinian Engineers Association, where he took over the presidency of the Hebron Branch Committee during two consecutive sessions from 2009 to 2015. He is a member of the Palestinian Engineers Union from 2017 to the present. 

Dr. SIDER is a member of the National Council and Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Mr. Iyad Al Khatib is currently holding the position of the minister of communication and technology in Syrian Arab Republic.

Before his position as the minister of communication and technology, He held several management positions, like the chief executive officer of Syrian Telecom, and the director of the technical administration.

Mr. Al Khatib has B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication Engineering, from Damascus University and MBA.  In E-Business Administration, from the Arab Academy for E-Business and Technology.

Pamela Gidi Masías is a Business Manager from the Catholic University of Chile and MBA of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the London Business School.

Previously to her duties as Vice Minister, she worked as Development and New Platforms Manager in the National Television of Chile.

Also, she worked for 8 years on DirecTV: first in Chile as Marketing, Products and Public Affairs Director.  After that she was promoted as Vice President of DirecTV Latin America in New York.

She has 25 years of solid experience in executive positions in multinational companies such as Unilever, HASBRO, Ford Motor Company, J.C. Penny Company and The Walt Disney Company.

Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation
 
Mr. Parshin supervises IT business support and development and international cooperation. He previously was in charge of the development of digital governmental public services. Prior to joining the Ministry of Digital Development, Mr. Parshin held senior positions at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Federal Service for Labour and Employment and other federal state organisations. He was awarded a Certificate of Honour of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Ricardo MENA has served in the United Nations system since 1993, occupying positions in the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Department of Management and with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

Since December 2019, Mr. Mena is serving as Director ad interim of the organization. Mr. Mena has ample experience in all the facets of disaster risk reduction and its links with sustainable development, climate change and humanitarian crisis. He
led 16 UN disaster relief missions, worked extensively in disaster preparedness and recovery, coordinated the implementation of national disaster mitigation projects in various countries and led the formulation of a preparatory assistance for the development of a disaster mitigation strategy for Latin America.

Mr. Mena holds a master’s degree in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom.

IEEE Canada Past President, 2020-2021, Director and Member, IEEE Canadian Foundation, IEEE VP MGA-Elect, Chair-Elect, IEEE MGA Board, 2020 Adjunct Professor, Western University, London, Canada, Managing Director, Carbovate Development Corp, Fellow, Engineering Institute of Canada. 

Member and Director, IEEE Canadian Foundation

Editorial Focus Advisor & Associate Editor, IEEE Canadian Review

President, LUIKEN International Inc.

Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Adarkwa is the Managing Director of 25th Century Technology Limited, an ICT and Telecoms services company. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Sabah Infosolutions Ghana Limited. He concluded in 2014, a career in the Ghana Civil Service, spanning 37-years in leadership and management positions, 12 years of which he served as the Chief Director (Permanent Secretary) for the Ministry of Communications.

Kwaku holds a PhD in IT and is educated in ICT Strategy formulation and e-Governance (Sweden/Turin). He earned an Executive Master in e-Governance (EPFL, Switzerland- 2008), an MSc HRM (Manchester- 2000) and holds a B.A (Hons) University of Ghana (1976). He is a Certified Public Private Partnership Specialist (2012)–Institute for Public-Private Partnership (IP3) Washington/University of Loughborough.

Kwaku was a Team Member of experts that formulated Ghana’s first ICT Policy, Strategies and Plan for Socio-Economic Development as well as the Telecom Policy of Ghana in 2003 and 2005 respectively. He supported the review of Ghana’s ICT policy in 2011-2012 and served as the lead researcher and author of Ghana’s ICT Infrastructure Development Strategy Plan (2012) as well as Ghana’s Broadband Policy and Strategy (2012)