Sharing business perspectives on the road to the WSIS+20 review
International Chamber of Commerce
Session 209
The workshop aims to assess the private sector’s role in driving forward the WSIS Action Lines, based on the experience and best practices shared by participants. It will also discuss what policy and regulatory considerations should be in place to enable the continued progress and scaling up of these efforts in the lead up to, and beyond the 20-year review process. Discussants will share their views and perspectives on reaching the vision of a human-centric, and development-oriented information society, and how to address the potential obstacles that may hinder this achievement.
![Ms. Maria Fernanda Garza](/net4/wsis/forum/2024/Files/View/IMG/b407d03f7908ef118892005056a84dbd/2023_Maria_Fernanda_Garza_photo_1.jpg?maxwidth=250)
Maria Fernanda Garza is a Mexican businesswoman, CEO of Orestia, a manufacturing home improvement- water solutions company, with exports to USMCA region, Latin-America and Asia.
Her interest in improving the business environment, made her a prominent business leader at a young age. Board member of Mexico´s leading business organizations such as COPARMEX, CCE, ALIARSE, among others. For ten years, Mexico’s Employer Delegate to the International Labour Organization Conference, where she became appointed Employer’s Vice Chair at the ILO’s 98th Session.
Maria Fernanda Garza was Chair of ICC México from 2014 – 2020. Regional Coordinator for the Americas 2012-2020. Member of the Governing Body of the International Court of Arbitration.
She is currently, Chairwoman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Member of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Urbanization of the President of the UN General Assembly’s. Member of the International Advocacy Caucus of Indonesia B20, and She was appointed to serve on the United Nations Secretary-General’s inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel for two years since 2022.
![Mr. Miguel Calderón](/net4/wsis/forum/2024/Files/View/IMG/4ec107017908ef118892005056a84dbd/dplnews_miguelcalderontelefonica_mc160321.jpg?maxwidth=250)
Miguel Calderón is currently the Director of Public Policy Strategy at Telefónica Hispam Calderón joined Telefónica México in 2007 where he was VP of Public Regulatory Affairs, Strategic Planning, Quality Processes, and the Wholesale Market in Mexico Previously, Calderón worked as CTO and CMO at Avantel a former telecom operator Calderon also has experience in the financial sector in IT, communications engineering, strategic planning, and credit card operations in Citibanamex
Calderón is currently the President of the Digital Economy chapter at ICC Mexico In addition, he coordinates the Diploma program in Digital Economy in collaboration with Escuela Libre de Derecho Calderón has a BSc in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana and has Diplomas in Marketing, Regulation, and
Digital Economy He has also given telecommunications seminars at the Universidad Anáhuac Iberoamericana and Tecnológico de Monterrey In addition, Calderón writes technology articles for different magazines.
![Mr. Ashutosh Chadha](/net4/wsis/forum/2024/Files/View/IMG/48a6b1477a08ef118892005056a84dbd/Ashutosh_CELA.jpg?maxwidth=250)
Mr Ashutosh Chadha is currently Senior Director UN Affairs and International Organisations at Microsoft. In a career spanning over 32 years, Ashutosh has worked at Microsoft, Wipro Ltd, Intel India, Shell India Pvt
Ltd, NIIT and the National Dairy Development Board. A Management graduate from the institute of Rural
management of Anand Gujarat, Ashutosh has had extensive experience in Business Development, Channel
Management, Strategic Planning, Government Relations and Policy Advocacy as well as sales.
Ashutosh is a regular speaker at National and International fora on topics ranging from Corporate Affairs, Public
Policy, Education, CSR, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He has spoken at events hosted by WB, WTO, UNICEF,
UNESCO as well as National and International Academic Institutions.
Ashutosh is passionate about advocating the use of technology for socio economic development and improving
lives through education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Involved in mentoring startups, coaching students and executives –Ashutosh is also a certified Level 2 NS-NLP
Executive and Corporate Coach.
![Ms. Melike Yetken Krilla](/net4/wsis/forum/2024/Files/View/IMG/2c68835e2114ef11968800155d80912d/krilla.jpg?maxwidth=250)
Melike Yetken Krilla is the Head of International Organizations at Google where she leads tech policy and creates innovative partnerships with the organizations like the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum.
Prior to working with Google, she spent 15 years at the U.S. Department of State and the White House. Most recently she was Senior Advisor for Corporate Responsibility and U.S. National Contact Point on Responsible Business Conduct at the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, she led a team that worked with governments, non-governmental organizations, and businesses to advise on how to conduct business responsibly in operations abroad. Previously, Melike was Director for African Affairs on the National Security Council at The White House where she created the first-ever head of state summit between the U.S. and Africa, including the first U.S.-Africa Business Forum. Bringing together one fourth of the world’s leaders and leading CEOs to Washington for a three day summit to discuss increased trade and investment in Africa. Prior to this position, Melike led the Business and Human Rights team and served as lead U.S. negotiator at both the UN General Assembly in New York and the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Melike graduated with honors from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs where she focused on public policy and international affairs. The World Economic Forum named her a “Young Global Leader”and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously she served on the Advisory Board of the University of Oklahoma College of Law’s Center for International Business and Human Rights, the first center of its kind at a law school. She also served on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Government Advisory Board. She’s a member of the Board of the International Student House and lives in Mclean, VA with her husband and four children.
![Ms. Timea Suto](/net4/wsis/forum/2024/Files/View/IMG/def308877908ef118892005056a84dbd/2023_Timea_Suto_photo.jpg?maxwidth=250)
In her role at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Timea Suto works with global business experts to bring private sector views into activities and decisions of ICC’s Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) initiative. Among her different responsibilities, she leads policy input and project work on digital policy and Internet governance issues, having served as a business representative on the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation (2016-2018), and the Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group (2018-2020).
ICC is the largest, most representative global business organization and only private sector body to have official Observer status to the United Nations General Assembly. During the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), ICC convened and facilitated business input and through ICC BASIS, it has continued to bring input and support engagement from business into the post-WSIS activities, whether at the UN and its various agencies or via multistakeholder activities. BASIS facilitates business participation and input into these activities while also bringing in views from the wider membership of ICC companies and associations.
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C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
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C2. Information and communication infrastructure
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C3. Access to information and knowledge
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C4. Capacity building
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C6. Enabling environment
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
The session will shed light on the business perspectives and ongoing efforts to achieve the WSIS vision and Action Lines, as well as the challenges that could hinder progress. In particular, the session will take stock of what has been achieved and what remains to be tackled from the WSIS vision, in particular with regards to remaining challenges in connecting the unconnected and emerging challenges such as the governance of data and AI.
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Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
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Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
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Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
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Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
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Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
ICTs and digital technologies are one of the key means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The private sector, as developers, deployers and users of ICTs and digital technologies, has a key role to play in accelerating the attainment of targets across all 17 SDGs. The session will provide tangible examples of best practices and lessons learnt from business to achieve a human-centric and inclusive information society tied with socioeconomic development through digital technologies.
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