Agenda

Ambassador Ivars Pundurs is senior Latvian diplomat with extensive experienece in bilatreal and multilateral relations. He has held ambassadorial roles in Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and Cyprus, and was Latvia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe. In 2024, he was appointed as Latvia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva. His studied Law at the University of Latvia and security policy and arms control at the Institute of International Relations in Switzerland.

Viktors Makarovs is the first envoy on Digital Affairs to be appointed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. Before assuming his current post in October 2021, he focused on international outreach to counter disinformation, resilience building and media support. Viktors Makarovs holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen and acquired a background in the Latvian NGO think-tanking community before joining the Ministry in 2011.

Since January 2016, Peggy Hicks has served as director of the Thematic Engagement, Special 
Procedures and Right to Development Division at the UN's human rights office. From 2005 to 2015, 
she was global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, where she was responsible for 
coordinating Human Rights Watch's advocacy team and providing direction to its advocacy 
worldwide. Ms. Hicks previously served as director of the Office of Returns and Communities in the 
UN mission in Kosovo and as Deputy High Representative for Human Rights in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. She has also worked as the Director of Programs for the International Human Rights 
Law Group (now Global Rights), clinical professor of human rights and refugee law at the University 
of Minnesota Law School, and as an expert consultant for the UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights. Ms. Hicks is a graduate of Columbia Law School and the University of Michigan.

Žaneta Ozoliņa is a Senior Researcher at the University of Latvia. Her research interests include European integration, transatlantic security, strategic communication, and the role of technology and artificial intelligence in strengthening societal resilience. She is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and the editor of several books, including Launching a Comprehensive AI Framework and Far-Sighted Initiatives in Nguyen A. T. (ed.), Remaking the World: Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment. As a member of the European Commission’s expert group, she contributed to the report Ethical and Regulatory Challenges to Science and Research Policy at the Global Level. From 2004 to 2008, she served as Chairwoman of the Strategic Analysis Commission under the auspices of the President of Latvia. She was also a member of the European Research Area Board of the European Commission from 2008 to 2012. Professor Ozoliņa has been involved in numerous international projects commissioned by institutions such as the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. She is currently engaged in several AI-related initiatives, including Participative Assistive AI-powered Tools for Supporting Trustworthy Online Activity of Citizens and Debunking Disinformation (under Horizon Innovation Actions) and ARTSS: Perspective Technologies for Resilient and Secure Services. She is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Alphen Group, and serves as the representative of the Boston Global Forum in Latvia, contributing to the development of international regulations for artificial intelligence.

Septiaji “Zek” Eko Nugroho is an entrepreneur. He co-founded Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (MAFINDO) in 2016, a civil society organization that deals with mis/disinformation, with 1000 volunteers from 45 cities around Indonesia. Mafindo has also been working together with 24 reputed online media organizations to collaborate on fact-checking on Cekfakta.com. Septiaji is also a frequent speaker at seminars and mainstream media events, e.g. on TV and radio broadcasts. He graduated from Institute of Technology Bandung and obtained his master’s degree from Technical University of Munich.

Graham Brookie is the Atlantic Council’s vice president for technology programs and strategy, as well as the senior director of the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), based in Washington, DC. 

In his role as vice president, Brookie oversees the Atlantic Council Technology Programs (ACtech)—including DFRLab, the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and a newly formed Capacity Building Initiative. These programs work together to shape an era of increasing geopolitical competition and rapid technological change. The core of ACtech’s approach is technical research that can inform policy and build communities of action. Brookie also oversees the coordination of the Council’s broader technology-related work, investment in expanding expertise, and collaboration across the Council’s sixteen programs and centers. 

Brookie joined the Atlantic Council in 2017 and was named director of the DFRLab when it was launched as a center. The DFRLab has distinguished itself as a pioneer in open-source research, working at the intersection of governance, technology, security, and social media. Brookie grew the DFRLab from a start-up to a global leader with over three dozen staff across seventeen countries, a capacity-building practice that has connected and empowered over four thousand emerging experts in over 150 countries, and a policy practice named the Democracy + Tech Initiative, which has shaped how digital technologies are designed, funded, and governed launched in 2019.  

Prior to joining the DFRLab, Brookie served in various positions at the White House and National Security Council. His longest role in government was as the adviser to the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism (APHSCT), the US president’s top aide for cybersecurity, counterterrorism, intelligence, and homeland security issues. His most recent government role was as an adviser for strategic communications with a focus on digital strategy, audience engagement, and coordinating a cohesive record of former US President Barack Obama’s national security and foreign policy. He also worked in the East Asia, Middle East, and North Africa directorates at the National Security Council. 

Brookie graduated cum laude with degrees from American University in Washington, DC. He also completed the London School of Economics’ general course. He is a native of Durango, Colorado.