International Regulators’ Forum 2021

Adolfo Cuevas Teja is the acting Chairman of the IFT since March 2020. He was ratified by the Mexican Senate as Commissioner of the IFT, on September 10, 2013, for a nine-year term, until February 2022.

He joined the public service in 1985 and worked in the office of the UNAM’s General Attorney and he was Legal Counsel at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) between 1998 and 2002.

In the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, Mr Cuevas Teja previously held positions as Legal Assistant Director at the Mexican Radio Institute, Legal Counsel at General Directorate of Radio, TV and Cinematography of the Ministry of Government as Advisor at the Mexican Senate. Before joining the IFT, Mr Cuevas Teja worked in the extinct Federal Telecommunications Commission from 2006, where he was appointed Area Director and then General Director of Resolutions and Agreements Projects “D”.

Mr Cuevas Teja has a Bachelor’s degree in Law, a Specialisation degree in Constitutional and Administrative Law, and a Master’s degree in Law from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.

Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli is a Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences and a graduate of the University of Fribourg. She has been a ComCom member since 2012 and ComCom President from 2021.

After a few years of research in the field of information technology, Dr Corboud Fumagalli’s career has been focusing on innovation and business development in telecoms, cybersecurity and high-tech, alternating from public to private sectors.

In 1996 she joined the PTT in the management team of Radiocom (radio, TV, mobile) in charge of New Business Development and the international market. After having collaborated in the preparation of the Swisscom IPO in the multimedia domain, Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli held various positions ultimately becoming Director of Product Marketing in Radio Broadcasting Services. Late 2000, Dr Corboud Fumagalli joined the Kudelski Group as Member of the Corporate Executive Board in charge of Business Development. From 2008 to 2016, Dr Corboud Fumagalli served as Vice President for Innovation and Technology Transfer at EPF Lausanne.

Currently, Dr Corboud Fumagalli is a non-executive director of Swiss Life Group, CSD Holding Ltd and a member of the Scientific Technical Committee of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). “

Ms Aileen Chia is currently the Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms and Post) of the IMDA, a statutory board in the Singapore government which regulates the infocomm, media and postal sectors, and comprises the Personal Data Protection Commission. She has served as a Board member of the Singapore Network Information Centre (a subsidiary of IMDA) since 2009 and has been its Chairman since 2020.

Ms Chia seeks to create a competitive, internationally-connected and trusted environment to enable the development of the infocomm, media and postal sectors in Singapore through the formulation and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks, and development strategies for these sectors.

Ms Chia holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics (Honours) and a Masters of Public Policy from the National University of Singapore.

Andrea Sanders-Winter has been heading the subdepartment “Internet, Digitisation – especially in SMEs, Market Analysis” of the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (Bundesnetzagentur) since August 2020.

Ms Sanders-Winter was previously responsible for the international coordination in telecommunications and railways where she was head of unit since 2010. In this function, she managed the activities of the Federal Network Agency in BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications).

From 2005 until 2010 Ms Sanders-Winter was responsible for the European ICT Policy in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. From 1993 to 2005 she worked for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in various units including “European Coordination”, “Twinning Programs” and “Posting of workers”. In 1997/1998 she joined the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the EU in Brussels and in 1996/1997 she worked for the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group on labour and social affairs.

Ms Sanders-Winter holds a degree in law from the Westfälischen-Wilhelms-University in Münster, where she also completed her legal traineeship, including periods abroad and traineeships in Seville and Madrid.

Dr Annegret Groebel is Director International Relations/Postal Regulation at the German mul-tisector economic regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), regulating the following network industries: electricity, gas, telecommunications, postal markets and railways.

Dr Groebel is also President of the Council of European Energy Regu-lators (CEER), a non-profit association representing 39 independent energy regulators.

Dr Groebel has worked for BNetzA since 1998. She has been CEER President since January 2019 and was a Vice-President of CEER as of 2012. She was appointed Vice-Chair of the International Confed-eration of Energy Regulators (ICER) in June 2020 which was con-firmed for a second term in August 2023. She has also chaired the CEER Market Integrity and Transparency (MIT) Working Group since 2013. She is a member of the Board of Regulators of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). She has excellent knowledge of the European regulatory framework for electronic communications as well as the regulatory framework for the internal energy market and is actively involved in the work of the Body of Eu-ropean Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). Since 2020 she has been Chair of the BEREC Office Advisory Group (BAG) and has been Co-Chair of the Remedies WG for many years. She is actively involved in the work of the European Regulators Group for Postal Services (ERGP) and IRG Rail. She is also a member of the OECD’s Network of Economic Regulators (NER) and its Bureau, a working group of the OECD looking at cross-sectoral governance issues of economic regulators. She has experience in advising public authorities on regulatory reform and sector specific regulation in nu-merous projects.

Apart from her professional duties, she has also been lecturing for a considerable time on various subjects in the fields of economics, fi-nance, social policy, trade policy and European Integration, as well as on the regulatory framework in the German and European tele-communications and energy markets at a variety of universities and vocational training academies in Germany, the FSR in Italy, and Switzerland. Dr Groebel is the author of various publications in the field of telecommunications and energy regulation.

Dr Groebel has a doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Mannheim, a M.A. (Master of European Administrative Management) from FH Bund (Bruehl) and a Diploma in Economics from the Univer-sity of Heidelberg.

Annemarie Sipkes has been director for Telecoms, Postal and Transport at the ACM, the Dutch authority for markets and consumers, since 2018. This year, she is the BEREC Vice Chair. Before working as a telecoms regulator, she held different posts in the Dutch government, working from an economic perspective on strategic issues in the field of Education, Culture & Science and in Social Affairs & labour market policies. After completing her MSC in economics and an MA in General Arts in Maastricht, she started her career at the Dutch Central bank and also spent several years in consulting at KPMG.

Professor Anthony Clayton is Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission Jamaica and has over thirty years of international experience in policy development in national security and policing, energy security, environment and resources; futures studies and scenario planning.

Professor Anthony Clayton is also the Alcan Professor of Caribbean Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies, Visiting Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Surrey, and Affiliated Scholar at the Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University.

He is a former Visiting Professor at the Institute for Studies of Science, Technology and Innovation at the University of Edinburgh, Adjunct Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Technology, and International Associate in the School of Management at the University of St Andrews. He is a Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences, and holds the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander.

Augusto Fragoso has collaborated, nationally and internationally, in several companies and major projects, having in recent years developed his action in the regulatory context, at Anacom – Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (Portuguese NRA). He continues to learn and add to the growing experience of more than 30 years in management, consultancy, research and teaching in the context of innovation, information systems and digital transformation. Mr Fragoso aims to continuously share knowledge and deliver systems based on an innovation approach, bringing true value to the person, the organization and society.

Mr Fragoso holds a degree in Computer Sciences and Management, with a postgraduate degree in Strategic Management of Information Systems, Leadership and Digital Transformation.

Bio coming soon ………………

Chaucer Leung was appointed Director-General of Communications of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in July 2019.

As the Director-General of Communications, Mr Leung heads the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), the executive arm of the Communications Authority (CA), and is the ex-officio member of the CA.

The CA is an independent unified regulator for both telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in Hong Kong.

Mr Leung provides support to the CA in the exercise of the CA’s statutory functions under the relevant Ordinances. These mainly cover licensing matters for both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, management of radio spectrum and enforcement of the provisions safeguarding market competition and fair trade practices, as well as giving advice to the Government with regard to telecommunications and broadcasting matters.

Mr Leung is also appointed as the Director of Films, Newspapers and Articles Administration and is responsible in that capacity for enforcing the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (COIAO) and overseeing the work pursuant to COIAO, as well as acting as the Film Censorship Authority and the registrar of newspapers.

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.

Dan Sjöblom is the Director General of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and was appointed by the Swedish Government on 1 February 2017.

He served as Chairperson of BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication) in 2020, having served as a vice-chair in 2019.

Prior to taking up his position, Mr Sjöblom was the Director General for the Swedish Competition Authority for eight years, between 2009 and 2017.

He is also board member of the Swedish Broadband Council.

Mr Sjöblom has served as a civil servant at the European Commission between 1996 and 2009. He holds a Master of Laws from Stockholm University.

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.

Elisa Giomi is an Associate Professor at Roma Tre University, Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, where she teaches Sociology of Media and Communication, Television Narrative, and Advertising. Prof. Giomi also teaches at the MA course in Cultural Leadership Research, a double postgraduate degree programme (University of Groningen and Roma Tre University) and coordinates the Media and Communication module of the MA in Gender and Political Studies.

Prof. Giomi is the author of more than 60 publications for major italian and international publishers and peer-reviewed journals.  Her latest publication is “Male and Female Violence in Popular Media” (Bloomsbury 2022) and “The Media today. Technologies, markets, socio-cultural issues and regulatory responses” (forthcoming).

Prof. Giomi has coordinated national and international scientific projects aimed at studying the media and identifying good practices in the sector, on behalf of various bodies and institutions including: European Parliament, EJC-European Journalism Center, EIGE-European Institute for Gender Equality. She has coordinated television content analysis projects on behalf of italian broadcasters, including monitoring the representation of women in public programming.

Prof. Giomi has collaborated with the “Commission of enquiry on feminicide, as well as on all forms of gender-based violence” of Italian Parliament; she is a member of the board of the “Gender Studies” section of the AIS-Italian Association of Sociology and of the magazine “AG.About Gender-International Journal of Gender Studies”.

By decree of the President of the Republic, Prof. Giomi was appointed on 15 September 2020 as a member of the Board of AGCOM- Authority for Communications Guarantees.

Frédéric Bokobza has been Deputy Director General at the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel since July 2016.

Previously, Mr Bokobza has held various managing positions in the fields of media, telecommunications and culture within the French Government’s administration: (2014 to 2016) he was in charge of public policies in the fields of electronic communications and postal services at the Ministry of Economy and Industry;  (2010 to 2014) Head of the division for the development of cultural economy at the Ministry of Culture and Communication;  (2006 to 2009) he was in charge of European and International affairs, Digitization and Media Economics at the Directorate for Media Development (Prime Minister’s Office) and  (2003 to 2006) he was in charge of European and International affairs at the Directorate for Media Development.

Mr Bokobza has also been a senior consultant at the Boston Consulting Group’s Paris Office (2002-2003), after being in charge of several IT projects at the Ministry of Interior (1996-2001).

Mr Bokobza holds degrees from École polytechnique and Télécom Paris, two French engineering schools.

As Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Ian Scott supervises and directs the work and staff of the Commission. He also chairs Commission meetings and participates in public hearings and consultations.

Mr Scott has over 25 years of policy and regulatory experience in broadcasting and telecommunications both in the public and private sectors.

After working at the Competition Bureau, he joined the CRTC from 1990 to 1994, where he collaborated on the development of a framework for long-distance telephone service competition in Canada. Between 2007 and 2008, as part of the Executive Interchange Program, he was Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman at the CRTC.

Before rejoining the CRTC in 2017, Mr Scott held various executive positions in the communications industry, including at Telesat Canada, Telus and Call-Net Enterprises, one of the first companies to offer competition in the Canadian long-distance market. He also provided leadership on broadcasting policy and regulatory issues as an executive at the Canadian Cable Television Association.

Mr Scott has served on various boards, including Women in Communications and Technology and Ski Quebec Alpin.

Mr Scott has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, McGill University

His Term ends January 4, 2023

Latifa Akharbach was appointed President of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) on December 3, 2018.

Ms Akharbach formerly held numerous decision-making positions in Moroccan diplomacy : Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Tunisia and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Ms Akharbach has also served as Director of the Moroccan National Radio and Director of the High Institute of Information and Communication where she had previously been Professor and researcher for more than twenty years.

She is an experienced international consultant in the field of journalism, communication and journalists training. She has published several articles, studies and books on media, communication and women’s rights.

Ms Akharbach has a PhD in Information Sciences and Communication.

Lucilla Sioli is the Director for “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Industry” within Directorate-General CONNECT at the European Commission. She is responsible for the coordination of the European digitisation of industry strategy and for policy development in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). The directorate also supports R&D&I in key digital industrial technologies including microelectronics, photonics, robotics and AI.  Ms Siolo has been a civil servant with the European Commission since 1997.

Ms Sioli holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southampton (UK) and from the Catholic University of Milan (Italy).

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.

Mitsuhiro Hishida is a senior government official of Japan with more than 25 years professional career in ICT policy. He was appointed to the Deputy Director-General for Global Digital Policy in Global Strategy Bureau of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in July 2021.

Prior to the current position, he had worked in several senior positions, including Deputy Director-General for International Economic Affairs and Director for Multilateral Economic Affairs Office, MIC. He had contributed to the bilateral relations with the US, EU and other European countries, as well as negotiations including OECD, APEC, WTO and TPP as a telecommunication negotiator.

Mr Hishida graduated from Tokyo University with Bachler of Law (B.A.) degree in 1994.

Dr Natee Sukonrat is Vice-Chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand and also Chairman of the National Broadcasting Commission, whose main responsibilities are licensing, promoting and regulating the broadcasting sector (radio and television) in Thailand.

Dr Sukonrat has worked in the broadcasting and telecommunications sector for more than 20 years with regulatory concerns for broadcasting. His first objective is to license all unlicensed broadcasting in Thailand. He has held senior posts with several organizations during his career, including Qualcomm Inc., Directorate of Joint Communications Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, CAT Telecom Public Company Limited in Thailand, and TOT Public Company Limited in Thailand.

Dr Sukonrat has a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Electrical Engineering (Gold Medal), Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Thailand, and PhD in Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.

Nerida O’Loughlin was appointed Chair and Agency Head of the ACMA from 14 October 2017 for five years.

Prior to joining ACMA, Ms O’Loughlin was Deputy Secretary in the Department of Communications and the Arts providing policy advice across telecommunications, broadcasting, online content and the arts. Ms O’Loughlin has also been responsible for major projects in the communications portfolio, including leading the Digital Television Switchover Program. Ms O’Loughlin served as interim CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency from 2016 to 2017. Over her career, Ms O’Loughlin has also held senior positions in the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments, predominantly across the technology and cultural sectors.

On 6 April 2019, Ms O’Loughlin was appointed as an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. On 10 June 2019 Ms O’Loughlin was awarded a Public Service Medal in the Queen’s Birthday honours for ‘outstanding public service through contributions to a more digital Australia and government’.

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).

Robert Mourik  is Chairperson, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

Mr Mourik has almost thirty years’ experience in the telecoms sector, as an industry executive and as Government official.

Prior to joining ComReg, he worked for Cubic Telecom, a new entrant in the automotive IoT space, where he was responsible for all wholesale activities. Robert spent almost 10 years in Telefonica as the European Regulatory Strategy Director at their corporate HQ in Madrid and as Strategy Director in Ireland.

He also worked for Vodafone Group, as its head of the Brussels Office and in the regulatory department in Newbury, UK.

In 1991, Mr Mourik began his career in the Dutch Department for Transport and Telecommunication and from 1994 until 1999 he served, as Telecom Attache at the Netherlands’ Permanent Representation in Brussels. He was a Member and Chair of the Council Telecoms Working Group in 1998 when the first telecom regulatory package was adopted.

Mr Mourik studied Economics and Public Policy at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and the University of Hull (UK).

Sanjeev Kumar Sharma is a senior officer with Government of India, with over twenty-six years of experience in telecom sector.  Mr Sharma is currently Advisor, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Government of India and looks after issues related to Network, Spectrum, Licensing, Broadband Policy Analysis, Administration and International Relations.

Mr Sharma’s experience ranges widely from telecom regulation, telecom operations, development of the Cellular Mobile networks from scratch, organisation restructuring, licensing and telecom policy formulation.

Mr Sharma, an Engineer, has a post-graduation from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore in association with Syracuse University, USA.  He also has a degree in Law.

Bio cominf soon …..

Siobhan Walsh is a Director in the Content Policy Team. She joined the team four years ago and oversees the regulation of the BBC and PSB sector.

Previously she worked in the Competition Group in Ofcom, working on broadcasting, telecoms and postal regulation. Prior to Ofcom Ms Walsh was an economist in the Government Economic Service and started out working as an economist in a research team at the University of Westminster, focussing on education and labour market issues.

Thomas Sullivan is Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) International Bureau. The International Bureau represents the FCC in international conferences and meetings and also oversees the licensing and policy activities for international telecommunications services and satellite services.

From March 2010 to January 2017, Mr Sullivan served as the Chief of Staff for the International Bureau, where he coordinated International activities within the FCC and advanced the FCC’s international representation within the U.S. Government and at international events. Mr Sullivan has served in a variety of positions within the International Bureau and the FCC’s Office of Managing Director.

Mr Sullivan joined the FCC in 1991 after receiving his Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan.

Professor Umar Garba Danbatta is Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Agency charged with the responsibility of regulating telecommunications in Nigeria. He was the Vice President of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), International Centre for Advance Communications Studies, established in 2004 by the NCCto build capacity for the Nigerian/Africa telecom industry in information and communications technology. While at DBI he developed expertise in the following major areas of ICT: implementation, policy and regulation.

Professor Danbatta served as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology of Bayero University Kano for 28 years, where he taught courses in telecommunications engineering and electronics and held academic positions of Dean of the Faculty and Head of Department at different times. He was also a member of over 60 University committees and task forces, including numerous stints as Chairman. In administrative and other responsibilities outside the university, he has served on over 20 committees, prominent among which was his Chairmanship of the Implementation Committee on Kano State University of Science & Technology, after which he became its pioneer Deputy and Acting Vice-Chancellor when it took off in 2001.

Professor Danbatta has to his credit more than 50 articles in journals, conference proceedings and technical reports. He is also the author of a book entitled ‘Elements of Static Engineering Electromagnetics’. A recipient of 18 distinguished awards and certificates of honour, Professor Danbatta has served two terms as a Member of Council of the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and is also a COREN Registered Engineer and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. (NSE).

Prof Danbatta obtained his BEng, MSc degrees from the technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) UK respectively.

Dr Wilhelm Eschweiler, one of the two Vice Presidents of the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), is responsible for telecommunications and rail.

He was Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) in 2016.

Prior to his current position, he worked in several senior positions in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy. He was Head of Unit for the European ICT Policy from 2007 until April 2014 and Head of Unit for International Telecoms and Postal Services Policy from 2002 until 2006. Prior to that, he worked as an advisor for regulatory policy from 1998 until 2002.

After graduating from the University of Bonn with a degree in Law (Second State Examination) he started his career at the Federal Ministry of Post and Telecommunications from 1992 until 1994 including a mandatory secondment to the Directorate-General Information Society and Media of the European Commission in Brussels. From 1995 until 1997 he worked in the Office of the Minister Dr. Wolfgang Bötsch.

Dr. Eschweiler holds a degree in Law from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn and spent two terms at the University of Lausanne.

Dr Yeali S. Sun is a Commissioner and was nominated for a seat on the National Communications Commission by Premier Ching-te Lai of Executive Yuan and was confirmed by the Legislative Yuan on July 25, 2018. She was sworn into office on August 6, 2018.

Previously from 1988 to 1993, Dr Sun was with Bell Communications Research Inc. (Bellcore; now Telcordia), where she was involved in the area of planning and architecture design of information networking, broadband networks, and network & system management. In August 1993, she jointed National Taiwan University as a professor. Dr Sun was chairperson of the Department of Information Management from 2005-2007 and a visiting scholar of CyLab, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA from 2007-2008. She was the director of the Information Networking Group in the Computer Center of National Taiwan University and founded Taiwan Academia networks (TANet) Northern Regional Security Operations Center (SOC). In 1996-2002, Dr Sun served in the TANet Technical Committee, Steering Committee of the National Broadband Experimental Network (NBEN) and Internet2, and IP Committee of TWNIC. She also served in many government science and technology project review committees. She was an adjunct research fellow of the Office of Science and Technology and a member of the Science & Technology Program Executive Review Board, Executive Yuan from 2017-2018.

Dr Sun’s research interests are in the area of cybersecurity, communication networks, mobile Internet, and quality of service (QoS).

Dr Sun received her B.S. degree in Computer Science from National Taiwan University in 1982, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, both in Computer Science, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1984 and 1988, respectively.