The following people participated in the the Chatham House roundtable on May 11, 2017. Names are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Organization names are listed for affiliation purposes.
| Name | Country | Short Bio |
| Rinalia Abdul Rahim | Malaysia | Rinalia Abdul Rahim is Managing Director of Compass Rose Sdn Bhd, a consulting company specializing in collaboration and the multistakeholder approach in enhancing performance, learning and impact. She has 19-years of experience in ICT policy and international development where she focused on digital inclusion and issues related to access, empowerment and governance. From 2001-2008 she led the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) as its Executive Director and successfully positioned it as the leading global multistakeholder network in the field of ICT for Development. She is a member of the Internet Society and a member of the Board of Directors at ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). |
| Virgilio Almeida | Brazil | Virgilio Almeida served as the National Secretary for Information Technology Policies of the Brazilian government from 2011 to 2015. During this period, he chaired the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br). He was also chairman of NETmundial, the Global Multi-stakeholder Conference on the Future of Internet Governance. Virgilio is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He is also a professor of Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. |
| Jari Arkko | Finland | Jari Arkko is a Senior Expert with Ericsson Research. He has also served as the Chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet technology standards development organisation, from 2013 to 2017. He has published 45 technical specifications (RFCs) at the IETF. He is a frequent speaker in numerous Internet technology and policy conferences, and has worked both on technology and Internet governance topics. Jari received his Licentiate’s degree from Helsinki University of Technology in 1996. As a developer, he has worked on routers, testing tools, AAA systems, AI, and cellular networks. His interests include Internet architecture, the Internet of Things, privacy, and cutting through technology hype. He likes to personally build and and use the technology that he works with. Today he works on Internet evolution and 5G. |
| James Arroyo | United Kingdom | James Arroyo is the director of the renowned Ditchley Foundation, founded by Sir David Wills in 1958. Until 2016, James was director for data at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, charged with adapting the organisation to the digital age. He ran a transformation programme stretching from law and policy around data; through organisational design and culture; to the delivery of a technology programme covering big data storage, analysis and visualisation. From 2012 to 2014 he was director for Europe and Latin America in the FCO. From 2011 to 2012 he was deputy director for cyber. In his earlier career he worked for extended periods in France, Jordan, Egypt, Jerusalem and Iraq. His intellectual interests include the impact of technology on society, business and government and the dynamics of insurgencies and terrorism. He is currently writing on how technology is transforming modern statecraft. James studied English Literature at Jesus College, Cambridge University, earning a double first. |
| Hichem Besbes | Tunisia | Hichem Besbes is the Head of the Telecommunication National Regulatory Authority of TUNISIA (INTT) since April 2014. He holds a HDR“Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches” in Telecommunications and a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He has an experience as senior engineer and Member of technical staff in USA working on broadband transmission. In September 2003, he regained Sup’Com in Tunisia, where he was a Professor in Telecommunication and director of the research Lab COSIM. From January to May 2011, he was a Fulbright Visiting scholar at Colorado State University. He has more than 100 publications in international scientific journals and conferences dealing with signal processing and wireless communication. |
| Kathryn C. Brown | United States | Kathryn C. Brown joined the Internet Society as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2014. A veteran of Internet policy development and initiatives that have aided in the Internet’s global expansion, Ms. Brown leads the Internet Society in its mission to keep the Internet open, thriving and benefitting all people throughout the world. Ms. Brown’s career spans the public and private sector, including serving in the United States National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and leading policy and global corporate social responsibility initiatives for telecom provider Verizon. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Marist College. Ms. Brown has served on the advisory boards of the Public Interest Registry (.ORG), the mPowering Development Initiative of the ITU, and the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab. |
| Hannah Bryce | United Kingdom | Hannah Bryce joined the International Security Department (ISD) at Chatham House in September 2013. In her role as assistant head of ISD Hannah manages the delivery of the projects within the department and specifically leads a project that considers how states can engage with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Hannah is also co-editor for the Journal of Cyber Policy and worked on the secretariat of the Global Commission of Internet Governance (GCIG). Prior to this appointment Hannah spent several years working overseas in the humanitarian sector, with a particular focus on humanitarian mine action. Hannah managed demining programmes in Sudan, South Sudan and Vietnam, including manual demining teams, explosive ordnance disposal teams, and mine risk education teams. Her research areas of interest include human security (particularly related to explosive weapons), Sudan and South Sudan politics and current affairs, the role of women in the military, and the impact and effectiveness of the humanitarian sector, particularly the UN. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the London School of Economics and a Master of Studies in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. |
| Dr. Peter F. Cowhey | United States | Dr. Peter F. Cowhey is the Interim Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Cowhey also holds the Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy and has served as dean of the School of Global Policy and Strategy since 2002. He is a leading expert on the future of communications and information policy markets and policy and is the former chief of the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). His new book with Jonathan Aronson Digital DNA: Disruption and the Challenges for Global Governance will be published this summer by Oxford University Press. |
| Dr. Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond | United Kingdom | Dr. Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond is an engineer who has been involved with Internet entrepreneurship and governance for more than 25 years, after having had his first taste of the Internet in 1988. He was the Chair of the ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee from 2010 to 2014, channelling end user issues into ICANN. He is presently both Chair of the ICANN European At-Large Organisation and the UK Chapter of the Internet Society. He is also a Board member of EURODIG, the European Dialogue in Internet Governance – aka the European Internet Governance Forum. His topics of interest include all matters relating to the multistakeholder model, especially at ICANN, as well as IPv6, the Internet of Things and blockchain technologies. His passion is to keep the Internet firmly user centric. |
| Hans Peter Dittler | Germany | Hans Peter Dittler is the CEO of BRAINTEC Netzwerk-Consulting, a German company focused on Internet, network and security centered consultancy. He is active in the standardization of networking protocols, starting in the 80s at the IEEE and since the 90s in the IETF Hans Peter is a founding member of the German chapter of the Internet Society and currently chair of the board of ISOC.DE Since summer of 2014 he is serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society. |
| Raúl Echeberría | Uruguay | Raúl Echeberría joined Internet Society in 2014 as Vice President of Global Engagement after completing his 6 years term on Internet Society’s Board of Trustees. Raúl was one of the founders of LACNIC (the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean) where he played a key role in bringing together several organizations to support this endeavor. He served first as Chairman of the Board and after that as the CEO of LACNIC between 2002 and 2014. He was one of the members of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) created in 2004 by the United Nations Secretary General and played a relevant role in the negotiations that took place in relation to this issue at the 2005 Summit in Tunis. In 2006 he was again distinguished by the United Nations Secretary General, being chosen to be a part of the Internet Governance Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group, group in which he served until 2014. Raúl is well recognized for his participation in the Internet Community and also for her work on promoting the development of Internet both regionally and globally. Raúl is located in Uruguay. |
| Maria Farrell | United Kingdom | Maria Farrell is a writer and consultant on Internet policy and governance. Her previous roles include deputy head of corporate affairs and policy officer at ICANN, and Internet policy expert at the International Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry and The Law Society of England and Wales. Until 2010, Maria led communications and a government advisory project at infoDev, the World Bank/IFC program for technology and innovation for development. She currently teaches on Oxford University’s doctoral programme in cyber security, is a Board Director of the Open Rights Group and writes for The Guardian and Slate. Blog: www.crookedtimber.org. Twitter: @mariafarrell |
| Nigel Hickson | Switzerland | Nigel Hickson is Vice President of International Governmental Orginisations (IGO) Engagement at ICANN. Nigel works out of the Geneva office as part of the Government Engagement Team. He is responsible for global engagement with the UN, IGOs (such as ITU, UNESCO, WIPO, OECD and WTO) and other International orginisations. Nigel joined ICANN in 2012 and worked until 2014 as the VP for Europe. He joined ICANN from the UK government; where he had served in a number of capacities for just fewer than 30 years. Latterly he had been responsible for a team dealing with international ICT issues; including Internet Governance. |
| Erik Huizer | Netherlands | Erik Huizer is CTO at SURFnet, the Dutch national academic and research network. He is also a member of the board for GÉANT, Europe’s leading collaboration on e-infrastructure and services for research and education. For over 30 years he has been involved in education and research networking, Internet standardization and Internet governance. For his contributions to the Internet he has been inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2015 he was honored with the title of Dutch ICT personality of the year. Until 2015 he served as part-time professor Internet Applications at University of Utrecht. He remains a research associate at this university. He has been teaching at various developing countries workshops on Internet policy and technology. He is a TEDx speaker. |
| Dr. Dennis M. Jennings | United Kingdom | Dr. Dennis M. Jennings is an Irish physicist, IT Director, Pioneer in the Internet Society’s (ISOC) Internet Hall of Fame, and an early stage investor. In 1985–1986, he was responsible for the decisions that shaped the development of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), the network that became the US National Research and Education Network, and that evolved into the Internet. Dr. Jennings was the director of Computing Services at University College Dublin; the first Program Director for Networking at the US National Science Foundation; interim President of the Consortium for Scientific Computing at the John von Neumann Supercomputer Centre in Princeton; Vice Chairman of the Board of ICANN, Chairman of the Oversight Board of the Irish Centre for High-End Computing; and Founder of 4th Level Ventures, a small venture capital company. Dr Jennings is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Royal Irish Academy of Music; a member of the Irish Government’s Open Data Governance Board; Co-Chair of the Irish GDPR Coalition; and non-executive chairman or board member of a small number of technology companies. Dr Jennings is a supporter of Digital Rights Ireland and is interested in privacy and data protection and the evolution of law and regulation in an Internet based global society. He worries about the insanity of the headlong rush to implement the (so called) Internet of Things. |
| Olaf Kolkman | Netherlands | As Chief Internet Technology Officer, Mr. Kolkman is in charge of the Internet Society’s Strategic Technical activities, particularly as they pertain to issues and opportunities for enhancing the Internet’s evolution. Olaf has been actively involved with Internet technologies since his astronomy studies during the early nineties. Internet became his professional focus in 1996 when he joined the RIPE NCC to develop the first version of what has become a worldwide test-network. In 2007 he became the managing director of NLnet Labs. Under his responsibility NLnet Labs produced open-source products, performed research on technical issues with global impact, and contributed actively to the regional and global collaborative standard and governance bodies (e.g. ICANN, RIPE, IETF), and ‘pushed the needle’ on the development and deployment of DNSSEC. Kolkman describes himself as an Internet generalist and evangineer, somebody with deep knowledge on some of the Internet’s technical aspects who particularly enjoys bridging the technology-society-policy gaps. |
| Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis | Switzerland | Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis is the Director, Policy Development at the Internet Society.Konstantinos provides analysis and strategic advice in support of the Internet Society’s policy, advocacy and mission.Konstantinos has extensive experience in Internet policy and governance arrangements. He leads policy development and coordination on issues relating to the digital economy, including access and competition, intellectual property, technology trade, and Internet governance. |
| Dr Patricia M Lewis | United Kingdom | Dr Patricia M Lewis is the Research Director, International Security at Chatham House. Her former posts include Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence at the Center for Non-proliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Director of UNIDIR; and Director of VERTIC in London. Dr Lewis served on the 2004-6 WMD Commission chaired by Dr Hans Blix; the 2010-2011 Advisory Panel on Future Priorities of the OPCW chaired by Ambassador Rolf Ekeus; and was an adviser to the 2008-10 International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) chaired by Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi. She holds a BSc (Hons) in physics from Manchester University and a PhD in nuclear physics from the Birmingham University. She is a dual national of the UK and Ireland. Dr Lewis is the recipient of the American Physical Society’s 2009 Joseph A Burton Forum Award recognizing ‘outstanding contributions to the public understanding or resolution of issues involving the interface of physics and society’. |
| Rebecca MacKinnon | United States | Rebecca MacKinnon directs the Ranking Digital Rights project at New America (rankingdigitalrights.org), evaluating internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies on their respect for users’ free expression and privacy. MacKinnon is author of “Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle For Internet Freedom,” co-founder of the citizen media network Global Voices, a founding board member of the Global Network Initiative and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, MacKinnon was CNN’s Bureau Chief and correspondent in China and Japan between 1998-2004. She has taught at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and held fellowships at Harvard’s Shorenstein and Berkman Centers, the Open Society Foundations, and Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy. She received her AB magna cum laude from Harvard University and was a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan, and currently lives in Washington DC. |
| Eiji Makiguchi | Japan | CURRENT POST: Director-General of the Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan EDUCATION: The University of Tokyo (BA), Yale University (MA) WORK EXPERIENCE: April 1986: Joined Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (former MPT); 2006: National Strategy office of Information and Communications Technology, Cabinet Secretariat; 2008: Director, International economy division, Global ICT Strategy Bureau; 2010: Director, Fixed and Satellite Radio Communications Division, Radio department, Telecommunication Bureau; 2012: Director, International policy division, Global ICT Strategy Bureau; 2014: Counselor, ICT Strategy policy division; 2016: Director General, Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Bureau |
| Preetam Maloor | Switzerland | Preetam Maloor is a Strategy and Policy Advisor in the ITU General Secretariat and an expert on international Internet-related public policy matters. Since 2008, he has been a key member of the ITU Secretariat at several major conferences including the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), 2010 and 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary conferences and the 2009 and 2013 World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forums (WTPF). He also serves as the Secretary of the ITU Council Working Group on international Internet-related public policy issues. Prior to joining ITU, Preetam spent nearly 10 years in the private sector, working primarily at research organizations such as Intelligent Automation Inc, a Rockville, Maryland-based research think-tank focusing on Artificial Intelligence-based applications, and at AT&T Research Labs, Florham Park, New Jersey. He holds Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Texas A&M University, College Station, and in Engineering and Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Mumbai. |
| Desiree Miloshevic | United Kingdom | Desiree Miloshevic is Senior Advisor, Public Policy and International at Afilias PLC, world’s second largest Internet domain registry. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society and on UK Chapter Lead Team. Her decade-plus of close and productive interactions with regulators, intergovernmental leaders, academics, artists, and community activists throughout the world provide her with a unique set of resources with which to engage the often complex, cross-sectoral challenges of Internet technical coordination and governance. |
| Unoma Ndili Okorafor | Nigeria | Unoma is the founder of WAAW Foundation, she is responsible for strategic and executive management, Finance, Human resources, and public relations of the foundation. She maintains an open communication to the organization’s board of directors, oversees various organizational projects and programs. She obtained her M.Sc. degree from Rice University, and Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in Texas, both in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is a graduate of INSEAD’s Social Entrepreneurship program and attended Stanford BSE Program in Social Entrepreneurship. She is a recipient of 2016 GEM-Tech award, 2013 Anita-borg social impact award, 2010 Crans-Montana Future Leader Award. |
| Nii Quaynor | Ghana | Nii is a computer science professor at university of cape coast in ghana and the chairman of west and Central African research and education network (Wacren). Nii is a technologist that pioneered Internet in West Africa with NCS, a commercial ISP, and catalyzed expansion of Internet in Africa. Nii has been active in global policy forums promoting African interests, served Government of Ghana in different capacities, is a member of the Electronic Communications Tribunal and of the Interbank Payment and Settlement System of Ghana Nii, was instrumental in founding a several of the regional internet technical institutions for the internet and is currently promoting adoption of blockchain technologies in Africa at Ghana Dot Com. |
| Srinivasan Ramani | India | Srinivasan Ramani has served as the founding director of the National Centre for Software Technology. He played a key role in creating India’s academic network, ERNET, which brought the Internet to India. He was inducted by the Internet Society into their Hall of Fame in 2014. He has also served as the first director of Hewlett Packard Research Labs, India. |
| Dr. S. Ismail Shah | Pakistan | With an extensive background in technology implementation, ICT policy-making and regulations, Dr. S. Ismail Shah is serving as the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) since 2013 and has led some of the most high-profile undertakings in Pakistan’s telecommunications industry. He actively participates in the various international events including the Internet Governance Forum. He is a vocal supporter for the rights of accessibility to the Internet for all, specially Persons with Disabilities and Women. He has been an active member of the board of directors of the Universal Services Fund Company (USF), National ICT R&D Fund Company, Frequency Allocation Board, the largest Landline company in the country the “Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited” and its subsidiary offering cellular mobile services known as Ufone and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. |
| Matthew Shears | United Kingdom | Matthew Shears is Internet and telecommunications policy consultant. Matthew currently works with Global Partners Digital as their Lead Strategist and with the Internet Society. For four years he led the Global Internet Policy and Human Rights Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). He has been involved in Internet policy since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005. Matthew was a member of the UN Secretary General’s Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group on Internet Governance, co-Chairs a Freedom Online Coalition working group on human rights and cybersecurity, and over the past 3 years has worked on the IANA transition and enhancing ICANN’s accountability. |
| Sally Shipman Wentworth | United States | Sally Shipman Wentworth joined the Internet Society (ISOC) in May 2009 and is currently the Vice President of Global Policy Development where she leads the organization’s public policy activities, guiding the development of public policies that support the global, open Internet. Sally also leads ISOC’s policy engagement in a range of international organizations including the United Nations, the Internet Governance Forum and the International Telecommunications Union. Prior to joining the Internet Society, Sally Shipman Wentworth was the Assistant Director for Telecommunications and Information Policy in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House from 2007-2009. She was responsible for government-wide coordination and implementation of policies related to Internet governance; cybersecurity; telecommunications policy; and other information technology policies. From 1999 – 2007, Sally was the principal policy advisor on Internet policy issues at the U.S. Department of State. Sally holds an M.A. in International Political Economy from the Claremont Graduate University (Claremont, California) and a B.A. in Political Science from Westmont College (Santa Barbara, California). |
| Lawrence E. Strickling | United States | Lawrence E. Strickling served as Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 2009 to 2017. In this role, Strickling served as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Executive Branch agency principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policy. Perhaps NTIA’s most notable accomplishment during Strickling’s tenure was to encourage and embrace the international community’s strengthening of its oversight of ICANN and the Internet Domain Name System leading to the end of the contract between NTIA and ICANN in the fall of 2016. |
| Jonathan Taplin | United States | Jonathan Taplin is an author and Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. Taplin’s new book is “Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Have Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy.” Taplin began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese’s first feature film, Mean Streets. He was a Professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism from 2003-2016. He is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. |
| Emily Taylor | United Kingdom | Emily Taylor is an associate fellow of Chatham House and is editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy. She is CEO of Oxford Information Labs. Emily’s research publications include The Internet in the Gulf (Chatham House); ‘ICANN: Bridging the Trust Gap’ and ‘Privatisation of Human Rights’ for the Global Commission; annual World Report on Internationalised Domain Names (lead author); and reports for the UK regulator, Ofcom, and a review of ICANN’s policy development process. She chaired the independent WHOIS Review Team for ICANN, and served on the Internet Governance Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group, and as part of the Global Commission on Internet Governance Research Network. From 2000-09, she was at Nominet as director of legal and policy. She has written for the Guardian, Ars Technica, and the New Statesman, and has appeared on the BBC Now Show. |
| Niels ten Oever | Netherlands | Niels ten Oever is Head of Digital at ARTICLE 19 and has designed and implemented freedom of expression projects in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Northern Africa, Brazil and Afghanistan and worked on global Internet governance issues in ICANN, IETF, IEEE and ITU. Niels is a free and open source software enthusiast who has trained journalists, activists and human rights defenders in reporting, activist engagement strategies in Internet governance fora, digital security, and media production. Niels holds a cum laude research MA in philosophy from the University of Amsterdam where he currently is a PhD candidate in the topic of Data Activism. |
| Edward Vaizey | United Kingdom | Edward Vaizey is the Member of Parliament for Wantage. He served as the UK Government Culture and Digital Minister from 2010-16, and is the longest-serving Minister in that role. He was appointed a privy councillor in 2016. In his role as digital minister, Ed was responsible for the roll out of the successful rural broadband programme, the introduction of 4G, and tax credits for film, television, animation and video games, which have helped make the creative industries the fastest growing part of the UK economy. In addition, he played a key role in putting coding in the national curriculum for schools, and in attracting inward investment to the UK tech economy. Ed currently serves as a trustee of two national charities, the National Youth Theatre and BritDoc. He is a member of the House of Commons Speaker’s Advisory Panel on the Arts and a Patron of Kids in Museums. Ed is also an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the Radio Academy. Ed is leading two enquiries: Creative Fuse, a three-year research project looking at the technology sector in the North-East of England, and the Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership Culture group, looking at promoting culture in Oxfordshire. |
