Agenda

Dana is a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) expert focusing on public policy and technology. She supports various campaigns in the region, reporting on policy trends and regulatory roadblocks for disruptive technologies.

Dana previously worked at an international NGO, a risk consultancy, and in human rights and policy research institutes in Beirut, Geneva and London.

Dana holds an MSc in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with a focus on development, and a BA in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut, which included a year at Sciences Po Paris. She speaks Arabic and French.

Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is an officer of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers from the 1984 batch. He had superannuated as Chairman & CEO, Railway Board on 31st August 2023 after a career spanning about 37 years Indian Railway. He is a graduate in Civil Engineering from Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior, with gold medal and has master’s degree in engineering (Structures) from IIT Roorkee. He has worked in various positions in the Central, Northern, North Central, Western, and West Central Railway, as well as in the Railway Board.

Besides Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, some of the important positions held by Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti include Member Infrastructure, Railway Board, General Manager of Central Railway and Western Railway, Divisional Railway Manager, Lucknow, Northern Railway, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Northern Railway and Executive Director, Railway Board. Post his retirement, Ministry of Railway had appointed him to a One-Man Expert Committee for improvement in inspection and maintenance of track. In December 2023, Gati Shakti Vishvavidyalaya, Vadodara, a Central University appointed him as a Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Chair of the Board of Directors of Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), since December 2023

Associate Professor of Economics at the Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG), in the area of public economics and well-being, since January 2018.

Associate Editor of the Portuguese Economic Journal, since August 2021.

Coordinator of XLAB – Behavioural Research Lab, since May 2019.

Coordinator of the MSc in Economics, ISEG, since August 2020.

Member of the Fiscal Board, member of the Advisory Board and member of observatory and working groups, SEDES, since October 2020.

Vice-President, Data Science Portuguese Association, since October 2020.

Member of Fórum ASF for market conduct, since October 2020.

Columnist at Expresso Newspaper, since January 2015.

Mothibi Glenview Ramusi is the Chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. A qualified electronic systems engineer, and an information technology certified professional. Mothibi has over three decades of working experience in the ICT sector, ranging from telecommunications, satellite, lotteries and broadcasting. Mothibi has an extensive leadership portfolio, which extends to Executive positions in both public and private sectors. 

He has played a critical role in spearheading the role of ICT and satellite in community upliftment and development, especially in underserved and rural areas. Mothibi was part of the group of experts that developed the Telecommunications, broadcasting and satellite policy and regulatory framework in South Africa post 1994.  Mothibi’s professional expertise includes mergers of entities, development of strategic partnerships relating to enterprise development, ICT infrastructure and spectrum management.

Mothibi holds a Bachelor’s Degree (BEng) in Electronic Systems Engineering from the University of Essex, B-Tech Higher National Diploma in Electronic Systems Engineering from Anglia Higher Education Institute, now Ruskin University, Transnet Executive Development Programme from GIBS and International Executive Development Programme from Witwatersrand University.

Noémie Bürkl is Head of the Digital Technologies Unit at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Berlin since February 2023. Previously she served as the Deputy Head of Unit for Multilateral Policy/G7/G20, headed the German-Bilateral Cooperation at the German Embassy in Cairo, and worked as a Senior Policy Officer in various positions at the BMZ and at the Federal Foreign Office as well as a Technical Program Officer at the International Organization for Migration. She studied International and European Relations in France and Canada as well as International Economics and Politics in Prague.

Professor Salma Abbasi is the Founder, Chairperson and CEO of the eWorldwide Group which has been operating for 24 years. An international social enterprise, where she is actively engaged with governments, development agencies and the private sector to drive meaningful, inclusive digital transformation to enable the SDGs, and ethical artificial intelligent systems for humanity.

As the former Senior Vice President, Chief Quality Officer for Lucent Technologies, she has over 40 years' experience in the field of technology, innovation and people centric design. Leveraging this experience, she is now an advisory board member for several international organizations advocating and contributing for more inclusive policies, industry standards and guidelines for sustainable digital transformation, ethical AI for humanity and cyber-resilience.

Prof. Abbasi is empowering young people and fostering agency to lead the debate to address the emerging challenges, threats and risks from internet addiction, social media, toxic gaming and exploitation from unethical AI practices.
As a visiting lecturer at several Universities, Prof. Abbasi is focusing her energy to inspire, motive and enable start-ups, social entrepreneurs and SMEs across vital ecosystems, particularly engaging women and youth to build flourishing societies.

Timothy is a Partner based in Geneva who is responsible for Technology Consulting for International Development for Europe Middle East, India and Africa,  Tim has over 26 years of experience leading and modernizing corporate technology across the humanitarian, FMCG, aviation and banking sectors,

This experience includes ten years of consulting on global SAP implementations across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia. He has recently joined EY Geneva after four years as a Chief Information Office at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he drove the ICRC’s Digital Transformation and ran the global technology function, and Tim holds an MBA from INSEAD and was a Certified Practicing Accountant (Australia).

Mrs. Nora Cao has more than 16 years of experience and specializes in corporate public affairs communication, especially corporate trustworthy brand communication, and analysis and communication of international cyber security and digital access policies in the ICT field.

During her 12+ years at Huawei, Mrs. Nora Cao has held positions in Europe, Africa, and China. She has rich experience in public communication, international market access policy communication, and related public affairs. She excels in leading challenging international, regional or national access policies and communication strategies on corporate trustworthiness and technical trustworthiness issues.

In 2021, she began to serve as Vice President of Global Government Affairs of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., responsible for government policy communication on cyber security and privacy issues. Lead the company's risk analysis on digital trust and government policies and market access issues, develop external communication strategies, and carry out important projects. She is actively engaged in international access policy insights and cross-regional multi-party experience exchange. She is enthusiastic about participating in multi-stakeholder discussions organized by governments or industries on hot topics such as ICT industry and cyber security, privacy protection, and digital trust.

Mrs. Nora Cao has a great passion for trustworthy brand communication and has extensive industry experience. While working in Europe, she was responsible for the construction and operation of trusted labs between government and business. While working in Africa, she devoted herself to local ICT digital development issues, actively participated in the affairs of local government ICT advisory boards, and developed a digital skill transfer program that won a presidential award.

She holds a bachelor's degree in polymer materials and engineering.