Regional Regulators’ Forum Asia 2019

Andrea Gita Millwood Hargrave is an independent consultant in the field of regulation across the communications ecosystem, with particular emphasis on emerging trends in technologies and consumer behaviour.

An Associate of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, University of Oxford, and a Member of the Working Group on Information Access (part of UNESCO’s IFAP Programme), Andrea stepped down as the IIC’s Director General in 2020, having run its regulatory programme for over twenty years. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Andrea served as a regulator for content delivery organisations in the UK for many years and has published widely on communications policy in an international context, having acted as an Expert for both the European Union and the Council of Europe.

Botlenyana Mokhele has a wealth of experience in broadcasting media policy and regulation from a career spanning over two decades. Prior to being appointed to the Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), she was a Principal Consultant at Pygma Consulting based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before becoming a consultant, Ms Mokhele served in a number of senior positions at the Department of Communications (DoC), including that of the Chief Director 2010 Broadcasting, responsible for implementation of the South African Government’s ICT Guarantees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Prior to this she served as Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of Broadcasters and Manager at Broadcasting Policy Research and Development at ICASA. During her tenure in both positions, Ms Mokhele contributed towards broadcasting policy and ICT legislative processes in South Africa, and served on the country’s Digital Migration Working Group.

Ms Mokhele has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of the Witwatersrand. She has Honours in counselling psychology from the University of South Africa (UNISA), a Postgraduate Diploma in information policy from UNISA, a Postgraduate Diploma in telecommunication studies from the Cable and Wireless College and an Advanced Project Management Diploma from Damelin College.

Ms Mokhele passed away in September 2020.

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.

Cordel Green is Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission, which regulates radio, television and cable in Jamaica, and he is helping to lead Jamaica’s Digital Television Transition process.

Mr Green has been appointed to the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO and represents Jamaica on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Council for the Information For All Programme (IFAP). He is also Vice-Chair of the International Bureau for IFAP and Chairman of the IFAP Working Group on Information Accessibility. His other affiliations include being a Vice-Chair (Caribbean), International Centre for Information Ethics (ICIE); Member of the Law Committee for the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Consideration in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems; Member of the IEEE Working Group on Trustworthiness in News; Member of the IEEE Working Group on Recommended Practice for Organizational Governance of AI; Advisory Board member of the Society for Scientific Advancement (SOSA); and honorary member of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (Washington DC).

Mr Green holds Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) and Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) degrees from the University of the West Indies, a Master of Laws Degree with distinction, from the University of Sheffield in England, a Master of Business Administration degree from the Mona School of Business, and is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Programme and a Chevening Scholar.

With more than 20 years’ experience in telecommunication industry, H.E. Moa Chakrya has worked in various facets of telecommunications including the technical, policy and regulatory aspects.

During his tenure in telecommunication from 1994, he endeavored and led through several positions in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications at Office level, Department level and Directorate-General level, where he was recognised as a co-founder to bring the first internet connectivity to Cambodia and an important role-playing contributor for telecommunication sector reform and liberalization in Cambodia. With his joint effort, it was later seen the establishment of Telecom Cambodia as a state enterprise and the development of its fixed services to compete in the market.

Internationally, H.E. Moa Chakrya was invited to speak and moderate in various global and regional conferences and workshops. He was also given the chairmanship role of the ASEAN Telecommunications Regulators Council’s (ATRC) in 2010.

H.E. Moa Chakrya graduated from the university in Germany with the Diploma Engineer, Master Degree in Telecommunication.

Jeremy Godfrey is the Executive Chairperson of Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator and development agency. He took up this leadership role in March 2023, following the establishment of An Coimisiún under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022. Under Jeremy’s leadership, Coimisiún na Meán has grown to over 300 staff members and taken on and operationalised new responsibilities in areas such as online safety, video-on-demand regulation and media development and funding. Jeremy has played a critical role in shaping the growing organisation and its work.

Jeremy has held a series of influential positions in the public and private sectors, with over 30 years of regulatory, governmental, and industry experience in the communications, technology, and online sectors across Ireland, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.

Before joining Coimisiún na Meán, Jeremy served as Chairperson of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) from, where he led the organisation during a period of expanding enforcement powers under new competition and consumer rights legislation.

Prior to this, he spent eight years as a Commissioner and Chairperson of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), during which he also held roles as Chair and Vice‑Chair of BEREC, the EU body coordinating telecoms regulation.

Jeremy has been involved in regulatory developments such as the EU’s Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the Open Internet Regulation. As Hong Kong Government CIO, he had responsibility for the e-government programme and cloud computing strategy, as well as for Internet governance, digital inclusion and promoting online safety. As a consultant, he advised clients about online business strategies and on regulatory issues in the communications, energy, transportation and financial services sectors. While in the telecommunications industry he was involved in the launch of the world’s first commercial online video-on-demand service as well as in many regulatory issues.

Jeremy started his career as a civil servant in the UK government. He holds an MA from Cambridge University, where he studied mathematics. He has also completed further executive education, including programmes at Bond University and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Mr João Miguel Coelho was appointed Vice-chairman of ANACOM (Portuguese NRA for communications) in February 2018. He was previously Head of the Parliamentary Budget Office at Assembleia da República (the National Parliament) and Economist at the Portuguese Central Bank. Between 2005 and 2017 he was also regularly involved as an expert in different OECD, ECB and Eurostat working groups. He is currently an alternate member of ANACOM for the BEREC Board of Regulators.

Mr Coelho holds an undergraduate degree and a Master’s degree in economics.

Li-Na Koh oversees the planning group for IMDA to formulate strategies for Singapore in the digital economy, supported by research. She is also responsible for corporate development functions at IMDA for it to function effectively as a digital-first organisation, and the Digital Readiness Cluster developing and implementing programmes for all segments of Singapore’s society to be ready to realise the possibilities of Singapore’s digital future.

Prior to the IMDA, Ms Koh was the Assistant CEO of the Early Childhood Development Agency where she oversaw policy, regulatory and developmental efforts for the preschool sector, and ECDA’s corporate functions.

Ms Koh was previously the Director of Infocomm Policy at the Info-communications Development Authority (IDA), and Director of Policy and Commission Member at the Personal Data Protection Commission. She was responsible for regulatory, competition and consumer protection frameworks for the telecommunications sector, and designing spectrum auctions. She also led the team that developed Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act. Before the IDA, Ms Koh served in various capacities at the Ministry of Information and the Arts, DSO National Laboratories, and the Defence Science and Technology Agency.

Ms Koh holds a Master in Business Administration (Distinction) from INSEAD and a Master in Engineering (Distinction) from Cambridge University.

Maria Rachel J. Arenas is the incumbent Chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) (January 2017 – Present) under the Duterte administration.

Her work experience includes being a director for special projects for Father Pio Lend a Hand Foundation in Makati City.  She was a research and training assistant at the Congressional Research and Training Service and a radio and television producer for public affairs at ACE TV Concepts and has also served as a contributing writer at Money Asia and as a consultant, in PAGCOR.

Chairperson Arenas was the first woman representative, in the history of the province of Pangasinan thus far, specifically in the province’s third district.  Hence, she was hailed as one of the Most Outstanding Congresswoman of 2007 by the Congress Magazine, Trade Express Asia.

Right now, she also dons the hat of being one of the members of the Board of Governors of the Philippine Red Cross.

When it comes to helping the less fortunate, MTRCB Chairperson Maria Rachel Arenas is in every inch as tireless and dedicated as her mother, the famous social worker, and philanthropist, now the Representative of the Third District of Pangasinan, Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas.

Chairperson Arenas is the 15th and seventh woman chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) which is composed of 30 board members and a vice chairperson and is mandated to regulate and classify motion pictures, television programs, and publicity materials among others.

Chairperson Arenas has a degree in AB Political Science from the De La Salle University. She took up further studies at the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 2003, and at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, USA, in 2004.

Nur Sulyna Abdullah is the Chief Officer of Corporate Strategy for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). She joined MCMC in 2000 and since 2001, has been responsible for the International portfolio, which she established.

Ms Abdullah has held various positions on the international front representing Malaysia. On the APEC front, she was the Chair of the APEC Ad Hoc Steering Group on the Internet Economy from 2015 – 2017, chairing the APEC TEL Working Group immediately before that. She also Chaired the APT Preparatory Group for the ITU Plenipotentiary 2018 (PP-18) and went on to chair the Working Group of the Plenary at the ITU PP-18 itself. She is currently the Honorary Advisor to the ASEAN ICT Centre.

Ms Abdullah holds an LLB (Hons.) from the University of London and is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Malaysian Bar.

As Head of International Internet Policy at the UK Communications Regulator Ofcom, Oli Bird is responsible for Ofcom’s international engagement on internet regulation issues.

He has chaired pan-European work in the EU regulatory networks, covering spectrum regulation (RSPG’s spectrum strategy for IoT); broadcasting (ERGA’s Opinion on the revisions to the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive); and online (ERGA’s approach to self- and co-regulation and principles for the successful co-regulation of Video-Sharing Platforms).

Mr Bird represented CEPT at the ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 in the discussions on AI and OTT and has recently been elected Vice Chair of the CEPT Com-ITU committee.

He has been at Ofcom since 2007 and previous UK-focused roles included directing Ofcom projects in broadcasting policy. He has also worked at the UK communications ministry (DCMS), and in the private sector.

Mr Bird holds degrees from Oxford, LSE and USC.

Ms Phavanhna Douangboupha, Deputy Director General of Department of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) of Lao PDR, oversees the International Cooperation Divisions. Before joining the Department of Planning and Cooperation, she was in several departments within the Ministry including the Lao National Internet Center where she worked with the LaoCERT (Lao Computer Emergency Response Team) and the e-Government Center.

She first joined the public sector in 2005 in the IT deprtment of the National Authority of Science and Technology (now known as the Ministry of Science and Technology). She alsoMs Douangboupha has worked in the IT Industryindustry in the US, and Australia, as well. Currently, she has been working in MPT of Lao. PDR.

Ms Douangboupha holds Master’s degree in Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), New York, USA. She also has a the Global Leadership Certificate from the Leadership Institute of RIT and a Bachelor degree in Engineering (Computer) from the University of Newcastle, Australia.

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.

Dr R S Sharma was appointed Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on 10 of August 2015. Prior to joining TRAI he was Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Electronics and Information Technology. He has also worked as Chief Secretary to the State Government of Jharkhand (India). His other assignments include Director General & Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) where he was responsible for the overall implementation of the project to provide Unique Identification (christened as “Äadhaar”) for all residents.

Before his posting at UIDAI, Dr Sharma worked with the Government of Jharkhand as Principal Secretary of the Departments of Science and Technology, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Information Technology (IT), Rural Development and Human Resources Development. As Principal Secretary of the IT Department, Dr Sharma was responsible for formulation of State policies in the IT and e-Governance areas and oversaw the implementation of various e-Governance Projects in all the Departments of the State Government. Mr Sharma’s contributions to IT and e-Governance have been widely recognised both within and outside India and he has been responsible for implementing a number of Projects relating to ICT Infrastructure, Process Re-engineering and Service Delivery with Public Private Partnership (PPP) models.

Dr Sharma holds a Masters degree in Mathematics from IIT, Kanpur (India), a Masters in Computer Science from the University of California (USA) and a PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

Dr Stephen Gale was appointed as the Telecommunications Commissioner in July 2012, and his term was renewed for a further three years in June 2017. Prior to July 2012 he was an Associate Commissioner for two years.

Dr Gale has specialised for some years in infrastructure economics (energy, telecommunications and transport) and competition proceedings at the economic consulting firm, Castalia Advisor. Before this he was at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research and also in an economic advisory firm.

Dr Gale holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Dr Wei-Chung Teng is a Commissioner in the National Communications Commission (NCC), Taiwan. Prior to taking up this role he was Vice Chairman, Consumers’ Foundation, Chinese Taipei (2017/1-2018/7) and is also a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (2018/8-).

In addition he has served as Director, Consumer Reports of Taiwan (2012/11-2014/10), and as Director and Secretary General, Taiwan Alumni Association of the University of Tokyo (2017/3-). He began his career as a Researcher in the Graduate School of Information Science & Technology, University of Tokyo, (2002/3).

His principal research areas have been in Network Communication Protocols, Information Security, Network Security, and Virtual Reality.

Dr Teng holds a BSc and MS in Computer Science & Information Engineering from the National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan, and a DEng, University of Tokyo,

YBrs. Encik Al-Ishsal Ishak was appointed as the Chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) effective from 1 October 2018 for a period of two (2) years.  His term ended on 9 June 2020.

He began his career with entrepreneurial endeavours in the digital space from 1994 to 2008. As one of the first internet start-ups in Malaysia, Mr Al-Ishsal Ishak was involved with the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) launch in August 1996. Today, every Malaysian carries a piece of the pioneering MSC initiative with them in the form of the MyKad, and the MSC logo at its centre.

He went onto become the Chief Digital Officer of McCann Worldgroup, Chief Executive Officer of Baraka Telecom, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Products at Malaysia Airlines Berhad, Group Head Ancillary Income of AirAsia and held various senior positions in the Tune Group thereafter.

In recent years, he was the Managing Director, South East Asia of ECO Capacity Exchange Ltd (London) as well as trainer and consultant for Airbus Group, before joining Pos Malaysia Berhad as Group Chief Executive Officer in February 2018.

Mr Al-Ishsal Ishak was on the Board of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDeC) and a former member of the National Information Technology Council (NITC).

Mr Al-Ishsal Ishak holds a Bachelor of Management (Honours) degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia and was a Japan Airlines Scholar at Sophia University, Tokyo.