Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum 2022 (Online)

Aamir Riaz is a Programme officer in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is currently a part of its Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Currently he is regional thematic lead on Digital Network Infrastructure and Emergency Telecom areas and geographically serves as the focal point for ITU membership from North-East Asia.

Mr Riaz has been working on development of ICTs in the region through country specific actions, sub-regional and regional activities across the region. He has implemented several initiatives and programmes in partnership and collaboration with international/regional organizations like ADB, APT, PITA etc.; Administrations including, Korea, Australia, China, Japan etc. and industry including Kacific, Forum Global, Telenor, Huawei etc.

His recent work has been in the areas of ICT market regulations, policies and wireless innovation strategies with emphasis on issues related to RF Spectrum.

Prior to joining ITU in 2013, Mr Riaz had been working in CRC Qatar from 2010 to 2013 as National Spectrum Manager where he implemented several management and planning initiatives. From 2007 until 2010 he performed his duties as Assistant Director in Strategy and Development department of the Pakistan Telecomm Authority.

Mr Riaz is an Electrical Engineer from National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Pakistan and possesses advanced degree in Radio-communication from École Supérieure d’Électricité (SUPÉLEC) France.

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.

Dr Bharat Vagadia joined Ooredoo Group in 2017 as senior director regulatory affairs with oversight across the ten operations across MENA and South Asia. 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 wealth of experience as a management consultant, having advised over fifty clients in over twenty-five countries, across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, including governments, regulatory authorities, multinationals, high growth start-ups, as well as investment funds. He has during his career, helped with sector liberalization, creation of licensing frameworks and the broader development of regulatory environments that foster competition and long-term consumer welfare.

Dr Vagadia is the author of four books, the latest being Digital Disruption.

Dr Vagadia holds a PhD, MBA, LLM, B-Eng, DipM. He sits on the board of Ooredoo Myanmar, is chair of GSMA AsiaPac policy group and member of the MENA policy group.

Cathy Rainsford is the General Manager of the Content and Consumer Division at the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Ms Rainsford has held this role since March 2020 where she has responsibility for areas such as broadcasting, news and media, interactive gambling, unsolicited communications and telecommunications consumer protections. In this role, Ms Rainsford led the work to oversight the development of a voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation by digital platforms which was launched in February, as well as the follow up report to Government on the adequacy of the Code and the state of disinformation in Australia.

Immediately prior to joining the ACMA, Ms Rainsford led the Spectrum and Security Branch in the Department of Communications and the Arts. In that role, Ms Rainsford was Australia’s Head of Delegation to the 2019 treaty level World Radiocommunications Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Prior to that, Ms Rainsford held a number of senior leadership positions across that Department and the Federal Attorney-General’s Department in areas such as media and classification policy, native title and family law policy and programs. Ms Rainsford is a strong advocate for building diverse and inclusive workplaces and is a co-chair of the ACMA’s Culture and Values Network.

Ms Rainsford holds a Honours Degree in Law and a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) from the University of Adelaide and has qualifications in project management.

As AVIA’s Chief Policy Officer, Celeste Campbell-Pitt represents the combined positions of our members and engages in constructive dialogue with governments so they may better understand the curated video industry and foster an environment of support for the growth of the industry. In consultation with and on behalf of AVIA member companies, Ms Campbell-Pitt will also develop and execute policy initiatives relevant to the video industry. Ms Campbell-Pitt comes with over twenty years of business and legal experience in the media and entertainment industry across both Europe and Asia.

Chee Kheong Foong is Group Chief Regulatory Officer, Group Corporate Office, Axiata Group Berhad. Axiata is one of the largest Asian telecommunications companies, operating in ten countries and servicing approximately 290 million subscribers.

Mr Foong has over 17 years’ experience in the field of mobile and fixed telecommunications, internet broadband, broadcasting and multimedia, primarily in regulatory strategy and policy development. Prior to this current position, he was in regulatory management roles in Digi Telecommunications, Celcom Axiata, U Mobile and the Multimedia Development Corporation.

Mr Foong holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom, and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde.

Professor Chen-Ling Hung is Director of the Graduate Institute of Journalism, National Taiwan University (NTU). She is also Director of the Multimedia Center at NTU.

Between 2016 and 2020, Professor Hung served as the Commissioner of the National Communications Commission, the media regulator in Taiwan. During her term, she worked on regulation regarding media content and structure and helped to improve enforcement of truth verification of broadcasting news.

Professor Hung works with media reform organisations and sits on the board of directors of the Taiwan Media Watch Foundation. She was the Convenor of the Campaign for Media Reform and is now a member of the council in this organization.

Chris Chapman was appointed President of the International Institute of Communications on 1 April 2016. He is also 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.

Darren Ong manages the public policy efforts for Amazon’s consumer offerings (e.g. e-commerce, video streaming, devices) in various APAC countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia. Prior to Amazon, he helped develop Netflix’s APAC policy strategy and presence as a member of their pioneer regional team. He started his career in Singapore’s Ministry of Education as a policy analyst focusing on educational technology issues before moving to the Ministry of Trade and Industry where he managed Singapore’s bilateral trade relations with several countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Derek Wilding is based in the Faculty of Law at University of Technology Sydney where he is the Co-Director of the Centre for Media Transition.

Dr Wilding has worked in statutory and industry-based regulatory positions, specialising in media and communications regulation. He was Executive Director of the Australian Press Council, manager of media ownership and control at the Australian Communications and Media Authority and Director of the Communications Law Centre at University of New South Wales. He has also worked for the Office of Film and Literature Classification and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Dr Wilding is currently a chief investigator on a three-year research project examining media pluralism and online news (funded by the Australian Research Council) and a two-year research project on consumer and public participation in industry rule-making in the communications sector. The Centre for Media Transition is conducting externally-funded research into the impact of digital platforms on news and journalistic content and the state of trust in news media.

Dr Wilding is Chair of IIC Programme and Market Insight Committee.

Esther Peh is responsible for strategy and execution of media and emerging policy issues across the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Singapore, she engages across a spectrum of internal and external stakeholders on theatrical, production, online curated content, privacy, crossborder data flows, content protection and digital services tax matters.

Ms Peh previously worked at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore. She negotiated several regional and bilateral free trade agreements, advanced Singapore’s foreign economic policy at international organizations, and was a former diplomat with the Permanent Mission of Singapore to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and chair of the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.

Ms Peh graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Grant Forsyth is a Partner at Plum, having spent over 20 years leading corporate in-house teams addressing telecommunications policy and regulatory challenges. Prior to joining Plum he focused on strategy, policy and regulation of communications and the Internet as part of the Strategic Planning Group in Sky UK.

In his early years, Mr Forsyth provided key input to the development of the first-ever regulatory regime for New Zealand, and subsequently led several precedent-setting disputes that exercised that regime. With a proven understanding of the legal, economic and policy principles underlying regulation, along with strong commercial experience, he was invited to join BT Global Services in London and rose to lead their regulatory team responsible for securing economic access in over 170 countries.

In his current role Mr Forsyth has led projects across the world on: functional separation, market reviews, universal broadband connectivity, universal service, and the competition assessment of the convergence of content and access arising from a proposed merger. Several of these projects were conducted in small economies or “micro-states” which present their own special challenges.

Guillaume Mascot is Senior Manager Global Regulatory Policy, Shure France.

He was in previously in charge of Government Relations for Nokia in APJ (Asia-Pacific, Japan) & India. He oversaw all aspects of current and future policy and regulation in the Asia-Pacific region. In this role, he was working with institutions and other relevant stakeholders to create a favourable political and regulatory environment to foster public and private investment in the digital and broadband industries with a focus on innovation for sustainable growth, competitiveness, and quality of life in a connected environment.

Previously, Mr Mascot also led Alcatel-Lucent’s EU representation in Brussels, managed European Affairs and engaged with the European institutions. He was a board member of the EIF (European Internet Foundation) – a European think tank supporting European political leadership for the development of European multilateral public policies responsive to the political, economic and social challenges of the worldwide digital revolution – and was also an associate member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT).

Mr Mascot holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science with a major on Public Administration and Public Policy from the University of Lille.

Hagen Rooke has extensive experience advising on financial regulatory matters. His practice covers a broad range of areas, including financial services licensing and approvals, conduct of business and regulatory change projects. His clients include banks, payment services firms, digital asset exchanges and dealers, capital markets intermediaries, funds and fund managers, exchanges, proprietary trading houses and commodity groups.

With extensive experience of engaging with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and other regulators, and of practising in Asia and Europe, Mr Rooke provides strategically valuable advice and has a unique understanding of the international issues and synergies that are relevant to clients.

Leading a practice in Singapore that has a particular focus on FinTech, payment services and digital assets, Mr Rooke has a wealth of experience in matters relating to digital asset exchanges, dealers and custodians, e-money issuance, money transfer and remittance services, merchant acquisition and payment systems. He is a sought-after adviser, speaker and writer on matters relating to distributed ledger technology, blockchain platforms, tokenisation and DeFi (decentralised finance).

Chambers Fintech describes Mr Rooke as ‘an experienced financial regulatory lawyer developing an increasingly high-profile reputation in Singapore’s FinTech market, with cryptocurrencies and digital assets forming a key focus’. Clients have also commented that “His advice has always been practical, sharp, commercial and technically sound. His knowledge of our space is second to none and he is deeply involved in current digital asset-related regulatory discussions and developments, which allows us to stay up to speed with the fast-changing legal and regulatory landscape”.

Dr Hao Xu is currently the head of Qualcomm Research China. Since 2003, Dr Xu has been working at Qualcomm R&D, where his main research focus is on wireless communications system design. He has led various research, prototyping, and 3GPP standardization topics from 3G to 5G wireless technologies. He has also led research in Internet of Things, robotics and artificial intelligence.

From 2000 to 2003, he worked at Bell Lab’s Wireless Communication Research Lab, where the first MIMO system (BLAST) was invented. His research led to one of the first outdoor MIMO channel capacity evaluations. In 2003, he received the Bell-Labs President Gold Metal Award.

Dr Xu received his BS and MS from Moscow Power Engineering Institute and Technical University, Russia, in 1994 and 1996, respectively. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech in 2000. During his PhD research, he pioneered the millimeter-wave propagation research at 38 GHz and 60 GHz with Dr T Rappaport. In 1999, he received the IEEE Communications Society Steve Rice Award with Dr G Durgin and Dr T Rappaport. He has numerous journal publications and patents, and served a few years as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

Harin Grewal manages a cluster of divisions in IMDA that cover the technical aspects of telecommunications and broadcast regulation. This includes spectrum management, border coordination, , numbering, regulatory price reviews and telecommunication standards.

As Executive Director of SGNIC, Mr Grewal also leads the Singapore NIC which is responsible for the management and promotion of .sg domain names, as well as internet domain and numbering related policies. SGNIC also carries out radio interference investigations and Quality of Service measurements on behalf of IMDA.

Prior to this, Mr Grewal headed the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (“Next Gen NBN”) programme office. The Next Gen NBN is a globally unique nationwide fibre network, and its open-access model has been designed through a combination of structural and operational separation requirements set out by IMDA.

Mr Grewal is concurrently the Co-Chairman of Working Party 2, of Study Group 20 (Smart sustainable cities and the Internet of Things (IoT)) of the Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Håkon Bruaset Kjøl (Haakon Bruaset Kjoel) is a senior corporate and public affairs leader and has held senior global and regional leadership roles in the telecommunications sector across Europe and Asia.

As Telenor Asia’s Head of Investment Management, he is responsible for Telenor’s activities in Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan including its ownership in the new CelcomDigi Berhad, Malaysia’s leading telecommunications company and in True Corporation, Thailand’s leading telecom-tech company.

Mr Bruaset Kjøl joined Telenor Group in 1995 and has gained extensive international experience through his involvement in Telenor’s international activities in Europe and for the last 24 years in Asia

Jared Dougherty leads External and Regulatory Affairs for the AT&T businesses across the Asia Pacific region. His team advocates for the communications and media businesses – and for interests of the cross-sectoral enterprise clients who depend on the secure global network of AT&T – to advance the positive role of technology in life, work, and entertainment.

Mr Dougherty is actively engaged in global and regional policy developments across industries, including broadcast and streaming video, 5G, digital trade and data movement, content protection, privacy, IoT, and AI governance. In previous roles, Jared has lead regional and global functions in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including International Carrier Relations, Marketing and Alliance
Development, Sales, Finance, and Global Program Management.

Based in Singapore, Mr Dougher volunteers supporting English education and community engagement of migrant workers and is co-chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Technology Media and Telecom Committee. Jared also serves on the Policy Council of the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) and as a member of the Asia Council of the Motion Picture Association, and co-chairs the Broadband India Forum AI and IoT committee.

Dr Jasmine Begum is based in Kuala Lumpur and oversees corporate affairs, government relations and policy engagement for Microsoft businesses in South East Asia and the emerging markets.

Dr Begum joined Microsoft with over 25 years of award-winning experience that uniquely straddles both legal/policy engagement and communications, that included leadership and stints at at Dell Malaysia, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Executive Office of the Secretary-General in New York as well as having been a corporate litigator.

Dr Begum was recently appointed to the Internet Governancr Forum Multistakeholder Advisroy Group.

Dr Begum completed a double degree in Law at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur.  She then pursued post-graduate studies in both Law and Communications in the UK and earned her PhD in business and human rights.  Dr Begum has also been admitted to practice in State of Washington.

Dr Jean Pierre Scerri is a UK qualified lawyer originating from Malta. He has more than 20 years’ experience in technology, media, IT and telecoms sector having worked in private practice and in-house in cable, PSTN and mobile as well as for the regulator across a number of jurisdictions including the UK, Central Europe and the Middle East. He has been working in the region for more than 8 years at TRA Bahrain where he has been responsible for a number of strategically important initiatives including the legal separation of the incumbent, the National Broadband Network project, review of the Licensing Regime and the rewrite of the Telecommunications Law.

Jean-Jacques Sahel was appointed Asia-Pacific Information Policy Lead at Google in November 2019, overseeing Google’s public policy approach in the region for issues including misinformation, online safety and intermediary liability.

He has been involved in international government and regulatory affairs for over 15 years in both the private and government sectors. Before joining Google, Mr Sahel was Managing Director of ICANN’s Brussels office and led the organisation’s corporate strategy and operations across the European region. He also led ICANN’s strategic plan for outreach, support and engagement with governments, private sector, and user groups throughout Europe, and worldwide for civil society.

Previously, Mr Sahel headed government and regulatory affairs for Skype, then digital policy at Microsoft for Europe, Middle-East & Africa regions. He had started his career in the City of London, before spending several years in the UK Government, leading in particular its international telecommunications policy.

Ex officio, Mr Sahel chaired the UK Chapter of the International Institute of Communications (IIC) from 2009-2019.  He currently serves on the IIC’s Board and is Chair of the IIC Strategy Committee. He was a member of OSAB, the Advisory Board of UK communications regulator Ofcom for 2 terms until 2016. He has authored articles and research in both mainstream media and academic publications particularly on Internet policy and governance.

Jeff Paine is a Singapore-based professional with over 28 years of experience at leading multinational corporations, including Visa, Microsoft, Reuters and the Royal Bank of Canada. Jeff has lived in Singapore for more than 25 years and has spent over 15 years in regional-based roles covering Asia. In 2014, he established PS-engage, a government relations consulting firm. Assisting clients with regulatory and policy work, PS-engage collaborates with top IT, e-commerce, finance, and payments companies to deliver constructive government interactions.

Mr Paine is also the Managing Director of the Asia Internet Coalition, a leading industry body that advocates for effective regulatory changes for the internet economy. Mr Paine was a Co-Chair of the Financial Services Committee for six years and is currently a Co-Chair of the Small and Medium Enterprises Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Mr Paine is also a member of the Tax Feedback Panel at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and recently has been appointed to the Board of Directors at Celata Tech: a company that develops geographical intelligence platforms and solutions.

Junseok Hwang is Professor of Information Science and Technology at Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program(TEMEP), and Director of Global R&DB Center, International Technology Professional Program (ITPP), and Transdisciplinary Graduate Program in Smart City Global Convergence (SCGC) in Seoul National University.

Prior to this Dr Hwang was an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University (2000-2003).

Professor Hwang received his PhD in Information Science and Telecommunications from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000, a Master’s degree in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado in 1996.

Kenn Yee is Policy Analyst Asia, Access Partnership and specialises in the APAC region, focusing on 5G, digital policy, cybersecurity, Internet governance, networking, and cross-border data flows. He also understands the technical aspects of technologies, which he uses to augment his understanding of digital policies.

Prior to joining Access Partnership, Mr Yee worked as a junior analyst in a think-tank and as an analyst in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Mr Yee holds a BA in Public Policy and Global Affairs from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

As part of Microsoft’s Digital Safety Office, Liz Thomas leads on Public Policy and Partnerships, focused on empowering every person to have a safe and trusted digital experience across Microsoft’s products and services.

In her role, Ms Thomas coordinates global engagement on digital safety issues and supports work to address illegal and harmful content online, including child sexual exploitation and abusive imagery, as well as terrorist and violent extremist content. She works with policymakers, companies, and organizations to hear multistakeholder perspectives on digital safety and drive digital safety initiatives.

Before joining Microsoft in April 2020, Ms Thomas held policy and legal roles in the New Zealand government, including at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Ms Thomas graduated from the University of Otago with Bachelors degrees in Arts and Law and has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Australian National University.

Lynn Robinson became Director General of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), in March 2020.

Lynn is an experienced senior director and trustee / non exec-director, having held key senior leadership positions in the technology, built environment, regulation, accreditation and dental industries. She has extensive experience of professional membership bodies working within the full spectrum including, Regulatory bodies, Industry associations and Chambers of Commerce. Lynn is a well-known and established ambassador in these areas having led on many strategic programmes to aid engagement, growth, retention, change management, stakeholder and political engagement.

An experienced Trustee / Non-Executive Director as Vice Chair at Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, a unique heritage site in the heart of Bristol (UK), Lynn is also a Trustee / Non-Executive Director at The Bristol and Bath (UK), Parks Foundation.

Reflecting on becoming Director General at the IIC at the outbreak of a pandemic, Lynn said, ‘these last two years have been like no other we have known, with many challenges coming our way. In 2020 we successfully pivoted the organisation through a digital transformation programme to maintain a full schedule of events and by increasing the outputs delivered. Transforming the programme enabled us to continue to deliver the professional service and increase our engagement with IIC members and stakeholder community to remain connected to them through such a difficult time.

As we move through 2022, I am delighted to return to a combined in-person and online programme and to continue to evolve the IIC in to the next phase, with the vision and strategic focus to deliver our objectives and to build on our growth, engagement and retention’.

Mr Nattapon Nattasomboon is the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Thailand. Prior to serving in the Ministry of Economy and Society, he held many senior leadership roles in the Ministry of Industry including Deputy Permanent Secretary, Head of Industrial Promotion and Entrepreneurship Group; Chief Inspector General; Director General, Department of Industrial Works; Director General, Head Office of Industrial Economics, and Secretary General of the Industrial Standards Institute.

Mr Nattasomboon gained his PhD in Industrial Engineering from Oregon State University, USA. He also has a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Dr. Pascal Dutru has worked with ictQATAR, since 2012, and with the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), the independent authority in charge of ICT and postal services in Qatar, where he has held various senior managerial positions ranging from strategy, policy, planning and legal. In that capacity, he has ensured that the mandate of the regulator enables an over-arching regulatory approach, comprising new digital services (convergence, IoT, OTT, data transfer, smart cities, etc.). Amongst a wide span of achievements, he has developed specific regulatory frameworks for competition, access, and reviewed a host of regulatory policies and instruments related to CRA mandate. His actions support Qatar transforming into a connected nation, with very high speed broadband available everywhere and significant ongoing digital transformation projects.

Dr Dutru brings with him over 30 years of experience in the communications industry, with an in-depth understanding of markets at all stages of competition and the deployment of proactive strategies tailored to foster growth. Indeed, Pascal works closely with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Formerly, he was General Counsel of Clear Channel (France), a worldwide external communication group, and of Alten SA, a listed IT services company. Prior to that, he was Deputy General Counsel in charge of the regulatory and competition division of Bouygues Telecom. As part of his duties, he helped the company branch into new markets, oversaw strategic contract negotiations with French and Foreign service providers, handled complex litigations and was deeply involved in the regulatory field in France and in Europe. His earlier professional experience includes working as an attorney at law with Thieffry & Associes, and Bigle, Carbonnier, Lamaze & Rasle, amongst other distinguished organizations.

Dr Dutru is an Attorney at Law (Paris) with a PhD in Law and an LLM in European Law from the College of Europe (Bruges). He also graduated from ESSEC in Finance and Control. Pascal often conducts lectures in telecom law and electronic commerce, regularly speaks at high profile international conferences and is an officer of the international Bar association (IBA).

Priya Mahajan is the Head of Asia Pacific Public Policy & Regulatory Counsel where she is responsible for strategic-level regulatory and policy advice regarding Verizon’s operations in Asia Pacific. Ms Mahajan previously served as Chief Counsel for Verizon-India where she led legal, regulatory & policy matters pertaining to India operations.

Her expertise includes consulting and advising on a range of telecom, media and technology matters. In her policy role, she works closely with the stakeholder’s policy makers, regulators and trade associations to build, support and promote the company’s policy position on ICT issues. She has successfully led policy efforts related to regulatory simplification, market access, digital trade, anti-trust, data protection & Cyber Security policy across the region.

Ms Mahajan holds honorary position at Executive Body of the Asia Pacific Carriers Coalition (APCC), an industry advocacy body representing the interest of global carriers, closely working with the policy makers in the Asia Pacific Region. She is a founding member of the Society of Women Lawyers (SoWL), a mentoring and professional platform for women lawyers in India.

Ms Mahajan is a qualified attorney, an Associate member of Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She has also attended the Accelerated Management Programme (AMP) at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

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.

Ms Silfianingrum is Coordinator of Radio Service Department, Directorate General of Posts and Informatics Operations, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Republic of Indonesia.

Ms Silfianingrum previously held the position of Director for Radio Services, MCI, Directorate of Broadcasting, from November 2018 – August 2020 and Head for Private and Foreign TV Section, MCI, Sub-Directorate of TV Services, Directorate of Broadcasting from March 2013 – November 2018.

Ms Silfianingrum graduated with a Masters in Media & Public Relations, Newcastle University, UK

Samson Leo is currently the Chief Legal Officer of Fazz Financial Group and Xfers, which are both high-growth “Fintech 250” companies. Since his time as co-founder and Chief Legal Officer in Xfers, he has grown Xfers from a 3-person start-up to a regional company with more than 200 people across Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Philippines. Today, he heads the Fazz Financial Group’s legal team of 12 legal counsels in Singapore & Indonesia, and oversees the FFG Compliance committee consisting of senior compliance professionals and their team.

Mr Leo’s external partners and stakeholders welcome his “collaborative mindset” and his ability to “construct workable solutions in challenging situations” and “successfully [lead] complex contract negotiations that involve the management and alignment of interests from multiple stakeholders”. Mr Leo has shown his “tenacity in dealing with legal, regulatory and financial-related challenges” and a “remarkable ability to manage legal and regulatory risks”.

Scott Beaumont has been with Google for over 12 years. Prior to taking up his current role in 2019, he was the President of Google Greater China and Korea. He was formerly the Managing Director of Partnerships in Northern and Central Europe.

Mr Beaumont joined Google from his own mobile software start-up, Refresh Mobile, which he founded in 2004. The start-up’s primary product was Mobizines, an award-winning downloadable app in the days before iPhone and Android made apps mainstream. It was good fun, but the timing was – unfortunately and ultimately – a little off!

Before that, Mr Beaumont  was Executive Vice President of Business Development for T-Mobile International, where he helped establish the T-Mobile Venture Fund and managed T-Mobile’s key international strategic relationships.

Mr Beaumont spent the early years of his career as an Equity Analyst for Telecoms at HSBC James Capel, at a time that saw the advent of both the internet and mass-scale cellular technology. He remembers life before the internet and the mobile phone ….. unlike most of his current colleagues!

As a partner in international law firm Bird & Bird’s Competition & Commercial and Space & Satellite Groups in Sydney, Thomas Jones specialises in cross-jurisdictional regulatory issues in technology and communications.

Mr Jones is a telecommunications and regulatory lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience advising some of the largest communications and technology clients in the Asia Pacific, and globally.

He is Co-Head of the firm’s global Satellites and Space Activities Group and a member of the global Tech and Comms Steering Group. At Bird & Bird, he is at the forefront of developments in 5G, emerging technologies, virtual networks, integrated communications and LEO satellites. His communications and technology clients include some of the largest carriers, service providers and equipment suppliers in the Asia Pacific region and span fixed, mobile and satellite (geostationary and low earth orbit) networks.

Mr Jonesis also an experienced competition partner with particular expertise in infrastructure access, merger control and general competition law issues. He is the founder and conductor of the Sydney Lawyers Orchestra.

Thomas Volmer is the head of global content delivery policy at Netflix, the world’s leading streaming entertainment service.

Thomas is an expert on the development of hyper scalable internet infrastructure, at the intersection of technology investments, engineering and public policy. He works to promote policies that enable the development of a global, unconstrained, open internet.

Prior to joining Netflix, Thomas worked for over a decade in the internet industry; most recently at Google on content delivery network and data center footprint expansion and at Orange in various business and regulatory affairs management positions.

Thomas holds a MSc (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) degree in Telecom Engineering from Telecom Paristech in Paris.

Torsha Sarkar is currently associated with the Centre for Internet and Society, India, where she specialises in issues of intermediary liability, free speech, algorithmic content moderation and platform transparency.

Ms Sarkar is a lawyer-by-training and a researcher of internet regulation and law, holding a B.B.A LLB degree from National Law University, Odisha.

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,

Yoonee Jeong is the Senior Digital Tech Specialist, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department (CCSD) at ADB.

Ms Jeong is a public policy professional in digital technologies with over twenty years of international experience. Before joining ADB, Ms Jeong was the Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs with the Telenor Group, a global mobile operator, and led the advisory and stakeholder engagement on policy and regulatory issues related to telecommunications, emerging digital technologies, and data governance in Asia.

Previously, Ms Jeong led several research and policy analysis projects on the digital economy, digital infrastructure, e-commerce, cloud computing, and data privacy and cybersecurity for both the public and private sector clients as a senior consultant to the World Bank and as the Director of Research and Consulting with TRPC, an advisory firm. She also spearheaded capacity-building initiatives to foster the digital transformation of government services and women-led businesses with the United Nations ESCAP/APCICT and APWINC, an international NGO.

Ms Jeong obtained her Master’s degree in International Development Policy from Duke University as a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Scholar and her bachelor’s from the Ateneo de Manila University of the Philippines.