IIC MENA Chapter Casablanca meeting: Digital Ecosystem: Evolving Policy and Regulation (in person)

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’.

Nesrine Roudane, an attorney originally from Casablanca, has had an impressive professional journey. Specializing in business law, arbitration, and commercial mediation, she honed her expertise through studies in Morocco, France, and the United States.

Ms Roudane’s career path led her to join well-known law firms, both nationally and internationally, where she refined her skills. After a successful period within these firms, she founded NERO Boutique Law Firm, initially focused on specific areas such as labour law, competition law, personal data protection, compliance, and artificial intelligence. Her firm evolved into Roudane & Partners Law Firm, a “full range law firm” offering a comprehensive range of legal services.

Ms Roudane excels in institutional and ad hoc arbitration as well as commercial mediation. She was a founding member of the Club des Avocats au Maroc.

Elected to the board of the Casablanca Bar Association, she held a notable position as the only woman on the board for the 2018-2020 mandate. She also chaired the legal and tax commission of the CFCIM. On an international scale, Ms Roudane chairs the Startup and Venture Capital Commission of the International Union of Lawyers. Her association with Al Tamimi & Company aims to expand their presence in Africa, providing top-tier legal services in the MENA region.

Ms Roudane’s ambition is fueled by a passion for continuous learning, personal development, and positive societal impact. She actively advocates for women’s, children’s, and family rights and has authored several legal articles. She also serves as a frequent legal analyst on various media platforms.

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.

David Yates leads the regional Digital & Data practice at Al Tamimi & Company.

Francesco Paolo Di Gregorio, Director Advocacy & Policy, in Ooredoo Qatar and Chairman of the IIC MENA Chapter Committee on Digital Economy and Regulatory Modernization, has over 20 years’ experience in the electronic communications’ sector. He has  a strong legal and regulatory background worldwide having worked in various positions for Telecom Italia (in Italy, in Belgium and in the Americas) for the Qatari Communications Regulatory Authority and for Ooredoo (in Qatar). Much of his work focuses on formulating policies and legislative agendas bringing together the interests of the private and public sectors, the business and the regulation, the future and the present to the benefit of the whole society.

Francesco Paolo Di Gregorio is a qualified Italian lawyer. He holds a master’s degree in law from LUISS University in Rome (Italy), a master in mobile communications from Federico II University in Naples (Italy) and an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from RSM – Erasmus University in Rotterdam (the Netherlands).

Bio coming soon …..

Bio coming soon ……

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.

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.

Latifa Tayah is Director of Studies and Development at the High Authority for Audio-visual Communication of Morocco.

Latifa is a graduate of the French Press Institute (DEA in multimedia media) and Sciences Po Paris (international relations).

Previously Latifa was an editor at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for audiovisual cooperation issues.

Latifa was responsible for programmes to support media pluralism and independence at the Panos Europe Institute in charge of Central Africa and Middle East and North Africa Programmes. She was head of the international solidarity department at Cimade (France).

Latifa is the author of a novel and short stories.​

Lotfi Elati leads connectivity and access policy at Meta for the MENA region. He works with regional policy makers and other stakeholders to develop an enabling regulatory and policy environment for connectivity including telecom infrastructure projects and spectrum access.

Lotfi has more than 20 years of experience in the telecom sector, combining technical and regulatory responsibilities with both terrestrial and satellite telecom providers in the region. Prior to joining Meta, Lotfi was Regional Director Regulatory and Market Access at the global satellite provider Inmarsat.

Lotfi holds a bachelor degree in signals and systems and a master degree in mathematical engineering from the Polytechnic school of Tunisia, as well as an MBA from the American University in Dubai.

Mehdi Alaoui is a Moroccan Tech Entrepreneur, Business Angel, and African Startups ecosystem builder with a mission to cultivate thriving startup ecosystems throughout Africa. With a background of connecting with global innovators he’s dedicated to empowering African entrepreneurs to succeed on a global scale.

Mohamed is the Head of Regulatory and Public Policy Department at Ooredoo Tunisia, a global telecom operator. He engages with stakeholders at both private and public sector in Tunisia on a wide spectrum of public policy topics in ICT industry, and he is leading on some major restructuring infrastructure carve-out projects.

Mohamed’s career experience spans +20 years, of which 19 years in ICT. Before joining Ooredoo Tunisia, he led the Public Policy stream at GSMA-the Global Mobile Telecommunication Organization- in the whole MENA region – 25 countries- representing the Mobile industry at regional events, promoting the mobile industry’s positive contributions to regional and national economic development at the highest levels and influencing the region’s major opinion leaders. During his 4 years at GSMA, Mohamed had shared stage and engaged with world class experts and seniors from global organizations and main players in ICT.

Mohamed’s previous career experience included working as head of advisory and strategic consulting in the telecommunications public policy within PwC across North and West Africa regions. He also served as Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs for Ooredoo Group in Qatar, for three years, providing support to Ooredoo Regulatory and Public Policy teams in 11 countries, following 11 years’ experience at Ooredoo Tunisia serving as Manager of Mobile Network Deployment and then as Head of Regulatory Affairs and Wholesale Business Department, in addition to an intra Group assignment in Central African Republic in 2009 as Head of Rollout at Telecel CAR.

Mohamed holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from Tunis School of Engineering (2001).

Nasser Kettani, a graduate of the University of Orsay, in Cognitive Science & AI, is a serial entrepreneur, international expert in digital technologies; He had the privilege of holding various positions of responsibility and has a solid experience in innovation, digital transformation, management and public policy development. ExO Coach, teacher, public policy expert with more than 35 years of experience in the Digital sector, including 13 years as GM and CTO Microsoft Middle East & Africa. Founder of Hidden Clouders and Kettani Digital Consulting. Nasser is rapporteur of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on emerging technologies and Cloud Computing. As an associative activist, member of several associations that lobby for socio-economic development, he has always been driven by the desire to contribute to the development of the industry and above all to promote positive change.

Bio coming soon ….