TMF Doha 2017

His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Mannai was appointed Minister of Communications and Information Technology in October 2021.

His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology has held several positions related to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

His Excellency has served as the President of Communication Regulatory Authority after being the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar National Broadband Network Company (QNBN), as well as having served in senior positions in the telecommunications company Ooredoo Qatar, formerly known as Qtel.

His Excellency currently holds several other positions, including Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Qatar Free Zones Authority, Member of the Board of Trustees of Qatar University, Member of the Board of Directors of the Qatari Satellite Company Es’hailSat, and a Member of the Board of Directors of Al Jazeera Media Network.

His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the American University in Cairo.

His Excellency also holds professional certificates in management and leadership from several institutions, including the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), INSEAD Business School, and the Carnegie Bosch Institute

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon

Agustín Díaz-Pinés is a telecommunication expert at DG Competition, European Commission, dealing with mergers in the telecommunications, IT and media sectors. He previously worked as an economist/policy analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, Paris, 2009-2015) in the Digital Economy Division, including projects on international mobile roaming, convergence and various country studies (Mexico, Colombia). He started his career at the Spanish government (State Secretariat for Telecommunications and the Information Society), involved in national and European ICT policy. Mr. Díaz-Pinés holds a Masters in Telecommunications Engineering from the Madrid University of Technology and a PhD in Management/Economic Sciences from École Polytechnique/Paris-Saclay in Paris (France).

Alexandre Serot leads the regulatory function of Vodafone Qatar. Before joining Vodafone Qatar in 2016, Alexandre was the head of public policy and regulatory affairs for Fixed Services at the Vodafone Group where he was responsible for developing the Group’s position and regulatory strategy in relation to fixed services (NGA, etc) and National Broadband Plans as well as providing support to operating companies across Vodafone. Before joining Vodafone in 2013, Mr Serot spent over ten years working for regulators and the World Bank in various parts of the world.

An economist by training and profession, Mr Serot has a PhD in Public Policy from the European University Institute of Florence.

Ali Cheema is Head of Government and Policy Advocacy, Ericsson in the Middle East & North Africa. He is tasked with the coordination of ICT policy engagements and advocacy for spectrum harmonization across the region.

With over a decade of experience working with radio access networks across Middle East and Africa, Mr Cheema brings to the table not only technical expertise, but also a deep understanding of the regional context. This is coupled with a strong belief that mobile broadband can play a catalytic role for socio-economic progress in developing economies.

Ammar Hamadien is the Senior Advisor at the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) on policy, international relations and strategic engagement. He joined the DCO with 25 years of experience in leadership roles in government, multilateral organizations, and multinational telecom companies. He previously led several techno-commercial initiatives such as digital financial services, IoT, and cloud connectivity. His track record spans three continents, where he played a pivotal role in shaping progressive technology policies and advocating for digital and financial inclusion in developing countries.

Mr Hamadien holds an LLM in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Law from Queen Mary, an MBA in Telecommunications Management from Imperial College London Business School, and a BSc (Hons) in Management Information Systems from California State Univerity. He is an alumnus of several executive education programs at Cambridge University, Oxford University, London School of Economics and Political Science, Diplo Foundation, and Wharton Business School. He is a Fellow in Privacy and a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Amr Eid is the Chief Executive Officer of GBI, with over 23 years of experience in the technology and telecommunications industries, having worked at leadership positions for numerous global multinational companies. He enjoys a solid industry track record of achievements in building new companies, divisions and subsidiaries, creating innovative go to market strategies, driving corporate transformation and establishing sustainable industry synergies.

Mr Eid has won many recognitions and awards regionally and internationally over the span of his career.

Mr Eid holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer and Telecommunications Engineering in addition to Post Graduate studies in Operations and Finance.

Andrew White joined Zain Saudi Arabia in January 2013 and has over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, starting his career with RACAL Electronics plc (the parent company of Vodafone) in 1989.

As Chief Strategy Officer, Mr White has been the architect of Zain Saudi Arabia’s turnaround strategy that over the past 4 years has resulted in 10% revenue growth, 54% growth in gross profits, a 94% reduction in operating losses and a recent extension of Zain’s license by 15 years, which in turn reduced the Company’s amortisation charge by $115 million per year.

Mr White was awarded an MBA with distinction from the London Business School in 1996 and Master of Electronic Engineering from the University of Surrey in 1990. He was elected a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) London in 2012, and is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (2014).

Ashraf Ali Ismael has been working in the field of information technology for 25 years. He started his career as a computer professional working with major hi-tech players as well as startups in Silicon Valley, USA. Before moving back to the MENA region he was head of technical training for SGI, the computer producer, and a lecturer at San Jose State University. In addition to his industry involvement, Mr Ismael continues to lecture in the field of knowledge management, information security governance, and e-crime.

In his current capacity, Mr Ismael has managed the development and implementation of Qatar’s national information security policies, standards, guidelines and procedures to ensure ongoing maintenance of information security. He has also participated in drafting and reviewing the following a variety of laws, policies and guidelines in the state of Qatar including e-commerce law, e-crime law and personal data privacy law.

Mr Ismael earned a Business Degree in IT Management in 1986 (Egypt), an MBA in Technology Management in 1999 (USA), and Law Degree in 2008 (Egypt). Ashraf is also a Doctoral Researcher at RGU, UK.

Aziz Mohamed was appointed as Director of Government Affairs and Policy in May 2016. He is responsible for government affairs activities for Cisco in the Middle East region and for developing and advancing Cisco’s technology and communications policy agenda with respect to broadband, Internet governance, IP enabled services, trade, energy and technology policy issues.

Mr Mohamed has over 20 years of experience in the ICT industry, in-depth experience in government relations, policy issues and communications.

Mr Aziz earned his bachelor’s degree in Ccommunications from University of Cairo.

Dr Bharat Vagadia is a Global Tech and Digital Economy professional with over 25 years of experience. He joined Ooredoo Group in 2017 with oversight across the ten operations across MENA and South Asia. As the head of regulatory affairs at Ooredoo Group, he oversees the group regulatory function, developing strategy, ensuring compliance, driving advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. Previously he was a board director at Ooredoo Myanmar, one of the fastest growing operators in the region. Prior to joining the group, he was with Ooredoo Qatar.

He brings with him over twenty-five years’ experience in TMT policy, regulation and strategy and a wealth of experience as a management consultant, having advised over fifty clients in over twenty-five countries, including governments, regulatory authorities, multinationals, high growth start-ups, as well as investment funds. He has been instrumental in sector liberalization, creation of licensing frameworks and the broader development of regulatory environments that foster competition and long-term consumer welfare.

Dr Vagadia currently chairs the GSMA’s MENA Policy Group and was chair of the AsiaPac Policy Group and sits on the Global Chief Regulatory Officers Group.

He is the author of four books: (i) Digital Disruption, (ii) Enterprise Governance, (iii) Strategic Outsourcing, and (vi) Outsourcing Law.

He holds a PhD, MBA, LLM, B-Eng, DipM, CIPP/E and AIGP.

He is a mentor and executive coach to the next generation of leaders and is currently a HEC Paris MBA Capstone Adviser.

Dr Brahim Ghribi has more than 25 years of international work experience and broad multi-disciplinary competencies combining engineering and state of the art technological research, managerial, and business driven responsibilities in North America, Europe, and Africa-Middle-East. He has spent the past 8 years developing and implementing regional government affairs, policy and regulatory strategies in the Africa Middle-East for Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia.

Prior to his government relations and policy affairs roles, he held various international roles including regional director of strategic marketing, global head of Broadband wireless Integration practice, senior technology architect, and lead expert in the ITU 3GPP standardization working groups, were he contributed to shape some of the key telecommunications standards.

A computer scientist by training with a Bachelor and a Master’s degrees from Ottawa University in Canada, Dr Brahim Ghribi is also the holder of a Doctorate Degree of Business Administration from the Paris School of Business.

Chris Chapman was appointed President of the International Institute of Communications on 1 April 2016. He is also a member of the IIC Advisory Council and Former Chair of the IIC Nominations Committee.

Mr Chapman previously held the position of Chairman and CEO of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). He was appointed in February 2006 and was re-appointed for a 2nd five year term in October 2010 until April 2016. He was appointed an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in September 2007.

Mr Chapman is a seasoned executive with experience in the media, broadcasting and film, internet, telecommunications, sports rights and infrastructure development worlds.

Before joining ACMA, Mr Chapman held a number of senior management positions with the Seven Network, Stadium Australia Management, Optus and Babcock & Brown. He has also been the Chairman of Film Australia and Sports Vision Australia, and a previous member of the National Film and Sound Archives’ Advisory Council.

Mr Chapman has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and has completed the Harvard Business School AMP program.

Francesco Liberatore advises clients on all aspects of the application of communications and competition law.

On the behavioural side, Mr Liberatore’s practice includes bringing and defending all types of regulatory and competition disputes before Ofcom, the Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, as well as managing internal investigations, dawn raids, and counselling on compliance issues and various commercial agreements. On the transactional side, Mr Liberatore handles UK and EU merger control due diligence and filings, as well as coordinating multijurisdictional merger control strategies. He also advises private equity investors, banks, and other financial investors on arbitrage opportunities.

Mr Liberatore’s litigation experience includes representing clients in matters before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the High Court of Justice and the European Courts.

He has authored several legal publications, including the UK Chapter of the International Telecommunications Law handbook (Juris Publishing).

Mr Liberatore has been listed as a leading practitioner in Chambers UK, Chambers Global, The Legal 500 UK and Who’s Who Legal. He is a guest lecturer at King’s College London and a member of Justice.

Howaida Nadim is an experienced executive, digital strategist and policy developer with a proven track record of helping government and private entities build their corporate strategies, brand, develop their human capital, raise their visibility and develop strategic plans to achieve their mission.

Ms Nadim has a deep understanding of all aspects of related to Qatari culture, markets, policies, strategies and media. A skilled communicator with expertise in digital solutions, marketing, strategic communications planning, crisis communications, and public education campaigns.

A trusted advisor to senior leadership in areas related to education reform, ICT and regulation with focus on policy development, strategic planning, performance management, digital transformation, and stakeholders communications.

Ms Nadim holds a BS Computer Science from Western International University and post-graduate diplomas in Data Processing Management and public policy.

Ikram Jebabli was appointed Director of the Fixed Access Direction in the Tunisian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (INT) in 2007. She is responsible for diverse projects including Broadband market analysis, wholesale offers regulation, optical fiber, infrastructure sharing, MVNOs and Internet quality of service.

Mrs Jebabli, a Statistical Engineer, graduated from the Higher School of Statistics and Information Analysis. She also holds a Research Masters degree from the National Engineering School of Tunis in information processing and complexity of living organisms and a PhD in Management at Auvergne University of Clermont-Ferrand, France (2012).

James Bellis, a Director in the Telecommunications Practice of Frontier Economics, has over 16 years’ experience advising world leading operators, regulators and policy makers across the globe. Much of his work focuses on market liberalisation, competition assessments, retail and wholesale pricing, cost accounting, spectrum pricing and policy, universal service and policies to promote high speed broadband services.

Mr Bellis leads much of Frontier’s telecommunications work outside Europe, focusing on Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean and he has managed a number of complex assignments working with other experts and client teams.

Johann Adjovi is a Partner at Analysys Mason, and has been based in Middle East since 2012. He has over 15 years’ experience in telecoms, and has led a wide range of consulting engagements, advising C-level executives on their corporate strategy and operational implementation, supporting regulators and governments on national regulatory policy and advising on many of the major M&A transactions across the region. Mr Adjovi is also an expert in broadband and 5G, having led many assignments in these areas across the Middle East and North Africa region as well as in Europe.

Kelly Tymburski is head of Dentons’ Middle East Telecoms, Media & Technology (TMT) group and is based in the Dubai office. She has significant expertise and experience advising on both TMT projects/ commercial and regulatory matters, having been based in the Middle East since 2007.

Ms Tymburski regularly advises private sector clients (including major financial institutions, insurance companies, universities and health sector organisations) on privacy and data protection inquiries for the UAE and wider Middle East region, covering both federal / national and free zone legal regimes. Her advice covers all aspects of data collection, handling and disclosure (for example, compliance considerations when implementing new information management solutions, consent mechanisms and offshore data transfers). She has also advised government and regulatory authorities on the development of data protection regimes and policies in the Middle East, which has included the preparation of draft national legislation governing privacy and data protection for the State of Qatar.

Mr Keng Thai Leong, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, has more than 36 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. He was previously Director-General of Telecommunications & Post at the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), which became part of the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore on 1st October 2016.

In his previous position, Mr Leong played a key role in significant milestones of the industry, including the full liberalisation of the sector, the introduction of a competition regulatory framework, and the deployment of the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network.

Mr Leong concurrently holds the appointment of the Chairman of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), the statutory body set up to administer the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). In addition, he is a Commissioner to the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and Senior Advisor, International Strategy Unit at the Ministry of Communications & Information.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of Singapore and obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, USA. He also attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.

Marc Furrer is Senior Partner and co-owner of Monti Stampa Furrer Partners, Zurich who are Consultants in Strategy and Policy, working mainly in theTechnology and Telecomsectors.

Mr Furrer was President of the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) from 2005 until end of 2016. In 2015 he was Vice-President IRG/BEREC (Independent Regulators Group, the body of European telecom regulators.

Between 2008 and 2012 he was also head of the Postal Regulation Authority (PostReg). During this period he was head of the Swiss delegation to the 2012 Universal Postal Congress in Doha with the title of State Secretary.

In 2008 he was elected president of the Swiss National Ice Hockey League. Since autumn 2012 he is President of the board of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation.

Mr Furrer has been a lecturer on communication law and communication market at the University of St. Gallen since 2006. In 2007 he was president of FRATEL (the telecom regulation network of French-speaking countries) and in 2003 and 2005 he led the Swiss Delegation to the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva and Tunis. He negotiated the action plan amongst all countries.

Mark Williams is a Practice Manager in the Digital Development Global Practice of the World Bank. His responsibilities include Global Knowledge and Expertise and the East Asia and Pacific Region. He is an economist with over 20 years of experience in the economics, regulation, and strategy of the digital sector, covering a range of specialist areas including strategy, policy, regulation, cybersecurity, financial analysis corporate restructuring, and litigation.

In addition to the World Bank, Mr Williams has worked in some of the world’s leading economic consulting firms – NERA, Frontier Economics, Deloitte, and Berkeley Research Group (BRG).

Nezih Dincbudak is Vice President Regulatory Affairs for Orange Middle East & Africa. Within his position, he leads and implements Orange regulatory and strategic positions in MEA operations, assists Group operational companies with national authorities (Governments, Regulatory & Competition Authorities), provides regulatory strategy, support and assistance to Orange countries in the footprint and to Group international development activities.

Mr Dincbudak has worked with the Orange Group for over 20 years and has held positions as Director Regulatory Affairs, Orange Europe, Director Strategy and Convergence Europe, Deputy Director UMTS Program at Orange France and Director of Carrier Relations for various fixed & mobile subsidiaries.

Bio coming soon…

Dr Rainer Schnepfleitner currently heads the Office for Communications in Liechtenstein, where he is responsible for the regulatory frameworks of Electronic Communications, Audio-Visual Media, Signature and Trust Services and Post.

Dr Schnepfleitner started his career in telecommunications with the Austrian Regulatory Authority. Later he gained expertise in European antitrust and state aid provisions while working with the European Commission in DG Competition. In 2003 he moved to Swisscom, where he was responsible for fixed and mobile regulatory accounting, before continuing his career as project and product manager where he introduced various mobile navigation solutions. From 2008 to 2018 Dr Schnepfleitner worked for the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) in Doha, Qatar, where he was responsible for the regulatory frameworks of Telecommunications, IT, Access to Digital Media and Post.

Dr Schnepfleitner received a Master of Business Administration and a PhD in Economics from Vienna Economic University. He also holds a post graduate degree in European Competition Law from King’s College in London.

Ramez Dandan leads Microsoft’s Digital Transformation enablement efforts with key customers in the Gulf by helping them translate and bridge how cloud technology, policy and business model opportunities can empower every person and every organisation in the region to achieve more. With more then 28 years of experience in IT, telecoms and biotech across MEA, prior to his current role, Mr Dandan led Microsoft’s regional Open Source Software initiative and prior to that served as Microsoft Kuwait’s General Manager.

Before joining Microsoft, Mr Dandan was the MEA Marketing Director at LifeScan (Johnson & Johnson) and before that had worked with Ericsson in Saudi Arabia and with Sun Microsystems ME.

Mr Dandan holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, USA.

Reema Traynor is the Director, Legal and Regulatory Affairs (and the Companies Registrar) in the Media Zone Authority free zone in Abu Dhabi (twofour54). She specialises in the regulatory and content related aspects of media and corporate regulation at the Media Zone Authority. She provides support and advice throughout the organisation on a range of legal and regulatory matters including negotiating with a variety of government stakeholders in order to best serve the needs and priorities of the free zone community. Due to her extensive legal and practical experience in media, she helps to inform media regulatory policy in the region.

Ms Traynor is a media lawyer with over 20 years experience, in the fields of media litigation and pre and post-publication content advice for print, broadcast and digital publishers. Prior to her current role in the UAE, she worked at Channel 4 Television in the UK for 10 years advising on legal and compliance matters across all genres. Early in her career, Ms Traynor was a litigator in the UK where she was involved in high profile defamation cases.

Ms Traynor graduated from San Diego University with Bachelors in Political Science and Film and later undertook her postgraduate studies at City University London. She qualified as a lawyer in the United Kingdom in 1995. She has been working in Abu Dhabi for over seven years now and is fully conversant with the legal and regulatory landscape of the region.

Bio coming soon

Robert Pepper is Senior Fellow, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership. He was previously Head, Global Connectivity Policy and Planning, Meta until August 2024.  He helped lead Meta’s connectivity and technology policy activities focusing on new technology development, deployment and adoption. Dr Pepper previously was Cisco’s Vice President for Global Technology Policy for more than a decade working with governments across the world helping them develop their digital strategies and address areas such as ICT and development, broadband plans, IP enabled services, wireless and spectrum policy, the Internet of Things, security, privacy and internet governance.

As Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development at the FCC for 16 years beginning in 1989, Dr Pepper led teams designing and implementing the first US spectrum auctions, developing policies promoting the development of the internet, implementing telecommunications legislation, and planning for the transition to digital television.

Before joining the FCC, he was Director of the Annenberg Washington Program in Communications Policy. His government service also included Acting Associate Administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and initiating a programme on Computers, Communications and Information Policy at the National Science Foundation.

His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University. He chairs the US Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy and has served on the board of the US Telecommunications Training Institute, the US Department of Commerce’s Spectrum Management Advisory Committee and the UK’s OFCOM Spectrum Advisory Board.

Dr Pepper received his BA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Robert Pepper is also an Advisory Council member at the International Institute of Communications.

Simon Milner was appointed Facebook’s Vice President, Public Policy for APAC in March 2018 and is based in Singapore. He was previously the company’s policy director for UK, Middle East and Africa based in London. He joined Facebook in January 2012 to be Director of Policy for UK and Ireland, taking on the broader region in early 2015. Previously he was BT’s Director for Group Industry Policy having joined the company as Head of External Relations for the Equality of Access Office in 2005. Before BT he worked for the BBC (1997-2005) including holding the position of Secretary (2000-2004), responsible for the Corporation’s governance and accountability.

He has a PhD in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics.

Stephen Collins is Director of Public Policy EMEA at Snap Inc. He has previously worked in a variety of policy and regulatory roles at Veon, Microsoft, Skype and Yahoo! Still earlier, Dr Collins enjoyed spells in government, academia and the not-for-profit sector.

Travis LeBlanc is a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in Washington, D.C. and Palo Alto, California. He is a leading authority on consumer protection, cybersecurity, privacy, telecommunications, and the regulation of emerging and disruptive technologies.

Until January 2017, he was the former Chief of the Bureau of Enforcement at the Federal Communications Commission where he led the Commission’s largest organizational unit, including its 24 field offices around the country. At the FCC, he spearheaded hundreds of enforcement actions involving consumer protection, competition, compliance, and fraud, waste, and abuse.

Prior to joining the FCC, Mr LeBlanc served as Special Assistant Attorney General of California and a senior advisor to Attorney General Kamala D Harris. In this capacity, he oversaw the California Department of Justice’s operations and activities involving complex litigation, legislation, and policy matters such as technology regulation, telecommunications, high-tech crime, cybersecurity, privacy, intellectual property, antitrust, and health care. He established California’s first high-tech crime and privacy enforcement units. He also secured agreements with leading technology companies to protect consumer privacy, promote online safety, and respect intellectual property rights.

Mr LeBlanc previously served in the Obama Administration as an attorney in the US Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the President, Attorney General, and general counsels of executive branch agencies on the constitutionality and legality of the programmes and activities of the United States government. He has worked as an attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC and Keker & Van Nest LLP in San Francisco. From 2012-2014, Mr LeBlanc was an Appellate Lawyer Representative to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and in 2012, he was selected as Columbia Law School’s Visitor from Government Practice. He clerked for the Hon Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He has an AB from Princeton University, an MPA from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a JD from Yale Law School, and an LLM. in International Law from the University of Cambridge. He is an Affiliated Scholar at the University of California Hastings College of the Law and a member of the American Law Institute.