Agenda

Borhene Chakroun is an engineer and has a PhD in Education Sciences from Bourgogne University in France. Borhene worked, during the 1990s, as trainer, chief trainer, project manager. He has also worked as short-term consultant for the EU, World Bank and other international organisations before coming to the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2001. At the ETF, Borhene worked as Senior Human Capital Development specialist. He is now Director of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems Division at UNESCO-HQ. Borhene conducted a range of policy reviews and skills systems diagnosis in different contexts. He has authored and co-authored various articles and books in the field of skills development and lifelong learning. Much of his most recent work focuses on global trends in reforming education and training systems and global agenda for skills development in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. He is also the coordinator of the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Dr. Rumman Chowdhury’s passion lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and humanity. She is a pioneer in the field of applied algorithmic ethics, creating cutting-edge socio-technical solutions for ethical, explainable and transparent AI.

She is currently the Director of META (ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability) team at Twitter, leading a team of applied researchers and engineers to identify and mitigate algorithmic harms on the platform. Previously, she was CEO and founder of Parity, an enterprise algorithmic audit platform company. She formerly served as Global Lead for Responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence. In her work as Accenture’s Responsible AI lead, she led the design of the Fairness Tool, a first-in-industry algorithmic tool to identify and mitigate bias in AI systems. Dr. Chowdhury co-authored a Harvard Business Review piece on it’s influences and impact.

Dr. Chowdhury is dedicated to cultivating and growing the next wave of technology-forward companies enabling the responsible use of emerging technologies. She is a General Partner (and founder) of the Parity Responsible Innovation venture capital fund. She also serves as a mentor for the Creative Destruction Lab and as a board member of Startups and Society.

Dr. Chowdhury is deeply engaged in AI global policy, serving as a board member of the UK Center for Data Ethics and Innovation, and on UNESCO’s Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. She has helped shape policy – as advisor to the UK House of Lords Parliamentary group on AI, in her testimony to the FTC, New York City Algorithmic Commission, the UN, OECD, Partnership on AI, and other global AI and ethics organizations.

Dr. Chowdhury holds two undergraduate degrees from MIT, a master’s degree in Quantitative Methods of the Social Sciences from Columbia University, and a doctorate in political science from the University of California, San Diego. 

Sonia Livingstone DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a full professor in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published 20 books on media audiences, including “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives.” She has advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU and UNICEF and others on children’s internet safety and rights in the digital environment. She directs the Digital Futures Commission (with the 5Rights Foundation) and Global Kids Online (with UNICEF).