Telecommunications and Media Forum, Bahrain 2022 – in person

Philip Marnick is the General Director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). He was appointed early January 2022 by the Members of the Board, to assume the position, paving the way for a more effective regulatory framework by continuing the evolution of the telecom sector liberalization.

Mr Marnick leads the TRA, including the development of consumer protection initiatives and resolving disputes. The TRA develops regulatory rules that promote competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities, as well as developing a more comprehensive and competitive framework that aligns with international best practices. Ensuring that Bahrain remains a center of innovation and that its telecommunications sector serves everyone while supporting Bahrain’s strategic objectives.

Before assuming his role at the TRA, Mr Marnick managed and directed at Ofcom in the UK, where he was the Group Director of Spectrum responsible for all aspects of UK national and international spectrum management – from strategy to delivery including awards, clearance and enforcement. Mr Marnick has worked in the telecommunications sector for over 30 years. He has served as a senior executive in technology, operations, and strategy. Mr Marnick has worked in both start-ups (from inception to sale) and major corporations, in firms such as UK Broadband, O2, Orange, BT, J-Phone in Japan (now Softbank Mobile), Extreme Mobile, and SpinVox (now Nuance).

From analogue to 5G, he has engaged across every mobile generation. Throughout his carrier he has been at the forefront of industry developments – in both fixed and mobile. He has collaborated on the first deployments of mobile networks utilizing new technologies and standards, this has also included innovative products such as the first camera phone and photo messaging service, as well as mobile internet and hosted voice services.

Abdullah Alkahtani has an extensive business strategy and Telecom management experience locally and internationally. He is now leading the Technology Regulatory for stc . Mr Alkahtani has worked for Communication & Information and Technology Commission (CITC) in different positions such as General Manager for Economics studies , Competition and Technology & Standardization. Furthermore, he worked for Ericsson KSA as Account Manager and Technical Sales for different accounts and domains.

Mr Alkahtani earned his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and his MBA from London Business School.

Mr Abdulrahman al Marzouqi is currently Director of Policies and Programs Department within the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). TRA is the government body overseeing the ICT and Telecommunication sector in the UAE. His main role is to oversee digital policies on national level as well as Internet policy issues within the UAE and manage initiatives and projects that develop the digital ecosystem. His role also involves managing national policies for Trust services, Domain Name and Internet Access. He also look after Information Security development and operations within the Digital Government covering TDRA, and Federal Government sector.

He was the key person in establishing the UAE Internet Exchange (UAE-IX) with collaboration of industry players; UAE-IX is currently the largest Internet Exchange in Arab World. He oversee the transformation of Domain Name industry in the UAE from monopoly to Registry Registrar model, revamp the policy and establish world-class registry which grow up domains 600%.

Mr al Marzouqi has also been involved in development of various ICT policy and regulations within the UAE including Internet, Public Wi-Fi initiatives and policy, Over the Top (OTTs) and Internet access management regulations.

Mr al Marzouqi has also contributed toward the establishment of the UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) in 2007, which currently provide various Nationwide IT security services from Incident response, to awareness and security advice.
Abdulrahman has extensive experience in Domain Name System (DNS), Internet governance issues and currently serves the representative of UAE to ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC). He is the key person looking after ICANN and Domain Name public policy issues in the UAE. Abdulrahman led the introduction and successful launch of one of the world’s first non-latin domain name top level domains on the Internet (also called IDNs) .امارات (dotemarat), the country national country code. He is also a member of League of Arab States committee for Internet Matters and Steering Committee for .arab TLD.

Mr al Marzouqi also has experience in Public Key Infrastructure regulations and policies. He currently manages licensing of Certificate Services Providers (CSPs) which supports the trust framework required for e-transactions and e-commerce.

Mr al Marzouqi has previously worked with a major regional telecom operator in the UAE. He worked within the Internet Service Provider (ISP) operations and technical side. He was responsible for securing the IT assets of the ISP and mitigate the network and systems against cyber threats and attacks. He was also responsible for technical operations of IT security systems including Anti-malware, authentications systems, and internet monitoring systems.

Mr al Marzouqi has  over 18 years’ experience in telecommunication, Cybersecurity, IT, networking and Internet industry. His  areas of expertise are: Internet policy, privacy and data protection, Telecom & competition regulations, IT and cybersecurity, cybercrime laws, Domain Name System (DNS), IP networks & IPv6, IT operations, Internet exchanges, Digital transformation, Internet governance, Cloud policy, e-commerce, Trust services (Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

Mr al Marzouqi has a Bachelor of Engineering (honors) in Computer Engineering (B.E.) from Khalifa University of Science and Technology, UAE. and a Masters (honors) in Engineering Management (M.E.M) from University of Wollongong Australia.

Mr Ahmed Jaber Aldoseri is an ICT expert with over 25 years of experience and a specialization in cyber security and telecommunications, supported by an academic background in law.

MrAldoseri has held several notable positions in the past including Acting Director General of Information Security and Radiocommunications at the Central Informatics Organization, Director of ICT and Cyber Safety at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Vice Chairman of Bahrain Internet Exchange, Independent Board Member of BNET, and Partner at Aldoseri Law among others. Prior to his current position, he provided advisory services to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Government on Cybersecurity matters and regulations.

Mr Aldosari is an international trainer and speaker who has also contributed to writing several of Bahrain’s digital laws and regulations. Mr Aldoseri has also received several awards for his cyber security work and has been published in several professional and academic journals.

He earned his BSc in Law with honors, which granted him dual specialization and allowed him to better champion all matters related to technology. Amongst his professional certifications are CISSP, CEH, ECSA, RHCE, and MCSE.

Ali Cheema is the Regional Lead for Government and Industry relations at Ericsson in the Middle East and North Africa. He is tasked with the coordination of ICT policy engagements and advocacy for spectrum harmonization across the region.

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

Dr Andrew Arowojolu is Zain Group’s Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO), appointed to this role in October 2016. In this capacity, Dr Arowojolu oversees Zain Group’s regulatory policy development and engagement with Zain’s operating companies, industry advocacy bodies, telecommunications, and financial services regulatory authorities within Zain footprint to support Zain Group’s implementation of its ‘4Sight’ corporate strategy. Critical focus areas include providing expert support to operating companies to help shape favorable regulatory frameworks and achieve beneficial outcomes on spectrum, licensing, infrastructure, industry taxation, competition, customer affairs and data protection, 5G, B2B, and digital services, including FinTech.

Dr Arowojolu is a versatile Telecoms, Media, and Technology executive with deep insight and operational experience in regulatory affairs policy development, strategic planning, and M&A across the ICT domain (over a 29-year career including 11+ years in professional consulting in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia) and mobile money and digital financial services (5+ years). Dr Arowojolu joined Zain in August 2003. Before being appointed as CRO, he undertook leading roles in Zain’s successful M&A transactions, IPOs, license bids, and digital venture capital investments in the Middle East and Africa region – all with a combined value of USD 26 billion over 13 years.

Dr Arowojolu holds a Doctorate (PhD) in Mobile Radio Communications (1994) and an M.Sc. (Distinction) in Microelectronics and Telecommunications (1991), both from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, and a B.Sc. (First Class) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Lagos (1988). He is currently pursuing an LLM (Master of Law) degree in TMT Law at the Queen Mary University of London Center for Commercial Law Studies. He is a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). He is a certified AML Fintech Compliance Associate and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E). Working closely with industry advocacy bodies, Dr Arowojolu is a member of the GSMA MENA Chief Policy & Regulatory Officers Group (CPROG), GSMA’s Spectrum Strategy Management Group (SSMG), and SAMENA Telecommunications Council’s Board of Directors.

Subsequent to the decision undertaken by the Council of Minister in November 2021, H.E Eng. Bassam Fadel Alsarhan was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of TRC.

Eng. Al-Sarhan has long experience in the Telecommunications and Information Technology field, which he held many prominent positions and memberships as a General Manager for many international telecommunications companies.

Throughout his professional career, Eng. AL- Sarhan assigned and entrusted for managing a number of important positions in telecommunication and information technology, he was the Chief of Projects and Technical Division for His Majesty’s Royal Communications in the period of 1987-1997, he was selected a member of the Jordan’s delegation and heading the communication services during the negotiations of the delegation through the peace process Negotiations in the Middle East , in addition he held many prominent memberships in the Board of Directors at international companies for Telecommunications and Business Developments.

Eng. Al-Sarhan holds a Master’s degree of Engineering Administration and management of information systems from George Washington University (Washington D.C), a Bachelor’s degree of Science (Electrical/ Telecommunications) from George Washington University (Washington D.C).

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.

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

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

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

Charles Gahungu is the General Manager in charge of ICT regulation in Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) which is a multi-sector regulator (ICT, Transport, Energy & Water and Sanitation). Charles Gahungu is responsible for the regulation of the ICT sector that includes Telecommunications, broadcasting, multimedia, E- commerce, postal and courier services, Spectrum and numbering resources and E waste management..  He has more than 12 years’ experience in day to day operations and management of Telecom operators network infrastructure and 3 years in ICT Regulation. As CCNP and CCIP certified.

Charles Gahungu has good technical skills in IP and rollout of fiber backbone and 4G LTE network. He has led the implementation of multimillions US Dollars critical ICT infrastructure related projects in both Government and private sector such as the Construction of Rwanda National Data Centre (Tier3), implementation of Rwanda Government cloud computing solution, roll out of 4G LTE network in Rwanda and played a major role in the implementation of Rwanda Fiber backbone.

Since the establishment of Korea Telecom Rwanda Networks (KTRN) Ltd, a jointly invested company by the Government of Rwanda and Korea Telecom in 2013, he has worked as Director of Fixed Network Department, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2015 and as Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) from January 2018.

Mr Gahungu holds a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology (CST) and a Bachelor degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology – Coimbatore under Bharathiar University (INDIA)

Bio coming soon ……

Bio coming soon ……

Dikmen Edgu is Partner and Head of MENA region at Axon Partners Group, an international firm founded in 2006 that provides investment and advisory services in the ICT and digital space in more than 70 countries across the world.

Mr Edgu is an international strategy consultant with strong expertise in emerging technology and innovation, and has worked with Regulators, Governments and Corporates alike across Europe and Asia. He has led multiple advisory projects in a wide range of policy and regulatory issues with National Cybersecurity Agencies on strategic projects, from the assessment of national ICT infrastructure to the creation of cybersecurity policies and regulations.

Mr Edgu holds a BA in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Duncan Howard, the Chief Executive Officer at Zain Bahrain, joined the company in February 2020. As CEO, Mr Howard is championing the digital first initiative initially launched in 2016. Mr Howard is passionate about Customer experience; and ensuring that Zain Bahrain is becoming increasingly resilient in the rapidly changing digital world.

With over 25 years’ experience in the telecoms industry, Mr Howard comes to Zain Bahrain from the Zain Group where, as Group Chief Commercial Officer, he was a key part of the Zain Group executive management team, focusing on commercial and operational performance across all markets. During his seven-year tenure at Zain Group, Mr Howard led the Brand refresh; formulated Group Commercial Strategies, including creating the Enterprise initiatives (B2B) which are rolled out across all operations.

Prior to joining Zain Group, Mr Howard worked in several senior telecom roles throughout his career, in the mobile, television, and fixed telecoms industry across the Middle East, Europe, and North America. His strong Commercial and Operational expertise have included key roles as Chief Commercial Officer for a European Quad-Play provider offering mobile, fixed, data, and both Broadcast and IPTV services in addition to holding positions such as Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Business Officer, and Director of Customer Care and Retail for Vodafone in Egypt.

Mr Howard holds an MBA degree from the Open University, UK, and attained a BA (Hons) System Analysis from The University of the West of England.

Bio coming soon …..

Mr Fahd Batayneh has been part of the ICANN world since the summer of 2008 where he was active in a number of ICANN working groups. In October 2013, he joined ICANN Org as part of the Global Stakeholder Engagement Team (GSE) supporting the Middle East. Today, he is deeply involved in a number of regional projects that promote ICANN’s work in the region.

Mr Batayneh holds a BSc in Computer Engineering with honors, and an MBA.

Fraser Graham is Director Public Policy for Ooredoo Group.

Mr Graham has more than 20 years of telecoms experience in public policy advocacy, international regulatory affairs, data privacy and regulatory modernization. This experience has been gained with mobile groups, operators, Deloitte Consulting and GSMA across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Based in the Middle East for the last decade Mr Graham has worked with Etisalat and GSMA across the region.

Gordon Moir was appointed a Partner with Wiggin LLP in November 2020.

Mr Moir is well known in the telecommunications space and is a global leader in the delivery of complex projects involving aligned legal, regulatory, public affairs and media strategies and the leading of multi-disciplinary teams. Mr Moir was Chair of the well-respected International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Task Force on Telecoms and ICT, driving their work on international market access, internet policies and dispute settlement and resolution models globally as well as internet policy.

Mr Moir was previously General Counsel and on the executive of BT Retail (1999-2009), as well as having responsibility for BT’s global antitrust and regulatory activity. During his ten years at BT, he secured access to markets and wholesale facilities across the world as well as dealing with a vast array of commercial, legal and regulatory matters. He was recognised by the Lawyer magazine as one of the UK’s top 100 lawyers for his work on telecommunications regulation and regulatory policy.

Post BT, Mr Moir was head of the London office of Webb Henderson (2011-2014), a boutique regulatory firm, before taking his team across to Shepherd and Wedderburn to continue that work in 2014 until 2020 after successfully building the practice.

Mr Moir has had a Placement with Judge Edward, European Court of Justice. He is also an Author of works on the Maastricht Treaty, and previously editor of Encyclopaedia of European Union Law, both Sweet and Maxwell

Mr Moir has an LLM from College of Europe, Belgium, cum laude, a Dip LP from University of Aberdeen and andLLB (Hons) from University of Aberdeen.

Hisham Abu Alfateh is the Head of Corporate Communications at National Bank of Bahrain, with a mandate to rebrand the 62 year old bank and position it in the media as the leading financial institution regionally.

Mr Alfateh enjoys a diversified experience.  His most recent were in telecommunications lifestyle management through his short tenure with Zain Bahrain as Director of Zain SIGNATURE, where he built an extensive VIP database and introduced the SIGNATURE Concierge, a value added lifestyle service dedicated to the elite.  He then went on to work as Group Commercial Officer for Peacock Concierge where he helped in expanding the company’s
customer portfolio and reach today it rests as the largest lifestyle provider in the region.

Mr Alfateh’s financial experience ranges from credit underwriting, investment banking, venture capital and private equity Most of that experience came from Venture Capital Bank where he worked as Head of Corporate Communications Investment Placement Manager He contributed to the team who managed to place the Bank as a regional pioneer in Islamic investment, in addition to attracting considerable investments from government bodies, private investment firms and high net worth individuals Hisham further stretched his financial knowledge by working at Bahrain Institute of Banking Finance as Head of Marketing where he was given a two year project to establish the Marketing function, employ the responsible calibre and increase the institute’s reach locally, regionally and internationally.

Mr Alfateh’s aviation experience was gained through Gulf Air when he worked as the Head of Corporate Communications CEO Office Manager.  Through diligent execution of a robust communication strategy and managing a strong team, Gulf Air’s reputation reached new heights allowing it to compete with regional giants.

Alongside his corporate life, which also includes advertising in Promoseven Group, Mr Alfateh is a well known Public Speaker, TV Presenter, Master of Ceremony and Moderator He has presented many shows on TV, mastered prestigious events and moderated several conferences, workshops and debate sessions in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, England, France, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.  Moreover, Mr Alfateh is part of the University of Bahrain’s College of Business Administration as he is an approved part time Lecturer for the Department of Management Marketing.

Mr Alfateh holds an MBA from University of Sunderland (United Kingdom), a Diploma in Airline Studies from IATA and a Diploma in Accounting from University of Bahrain.

As Head of Middle East, Hussein Abul-Enein analyses policy issues and trends across the digital ecosystem, with an emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa. His work has touched on bridging the digital divide, fostering innovation, disruptive technologies, and the establishment of successful public private partnerships in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Prior to joining Access Partnership, Mr Abul-Enein worked at various multilateral organisations including the International Telecommunications Union and the United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he was responsible for the ICT4SDGs initiative. He has provided advisory services for private-sector companies and think tanks on overcoming cyber security policy dilemmas.

He holds an MA in Security Studies from King’s College London and a BA in International Relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy.

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.

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

Kamal Zian is Chief Cyber Security officer, responsible for overall cyber security and data protection strategies and execution plans within the Gulf North rep office (Qatar/Kuwait/Bahrain).

Mr Zian previously served in Huawei as Director of Consulting , director of regulatory affairs, and head of core network solution department.

With more than 18 years’ experience in the Telecom and IT industries, he possesses broad experience in 5G, IoT, cloud and Big Data, having worked in a variety of senior capacities across Technical and business and consulting disciplines.

Kamel Tawil joined Equinix in September 2020 as Managing Director MENA (Middle East and North Africa). In this role he is responsible for developing our growth strategy in the MENA markets, working closely with our customers and partners to deliver world class digital infrastructure solutions and building a network dense ecosystem.

Prior to joining Equinix, Mr Tawil spent 18 years at Oracle in various leadership roles across ECEMEA (East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa) including his most recent role of Vice president for Business Applications where he led major digital transformation projects for some of Oracle’s largest customers. Prior to Oracle, Mr Tawil held leadership roles with EMC and NCR in the Middle East.

Mr Tawil is a native of Lebanon and currently residing in Dubai. He graduated from the Lebanese American University with a degree in Business Management and Computer Science. He also attended leadership courses at University of Michigan Ross Business School and at IESE university in Barcelona.

As the Country Director for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain at Yellow Door Energy, Khaled Chebaro helps commercial and industrial businesses reduce energy costs and switch to clean energy without any upfront investment through solar leases / power purchase agreements (PPAs). He is currently focusing on establishing Yellow Door Energy in both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and managing its full operations.

He has more than a decade of experience in successfully delivering customer-centric solutions in the UAE and the Middle East. As a commercially astute professional, Mr Chebaro combines both his engineering knowledge and his business acumen to bring forth the best solutions for his customers.

Prior to joining Yellow Door Energy, Mr Chebaro was a project manager at Adenium Energy Capital where he managed numerous solar PV projects in Jordan. Khaled also worked as a Senior Sales Engineer at ABB, where he negotiated and executed contracts with international and local contractors. He also held several technical and project management positions at Saudi Bin Laden Group and Siemens Canada.

Mr Chebaro holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Management from McMaster University in Canada.

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’.

Martin Roeske develops and leads on public policy campaigns across the full range of policy issues that impact Google and the web. Key issues include tech innovation, digital transformation, data governance and entrepreneurship.  Mr Roeske is passionate about maximising human potential through technology and has spent his career building and implementing tech solutions to address a wide range of social and economic development challenges, including
large scale education and skills programs.

Having lived in the Middle East for over 15 years, Mr Roeske has extensive experience in working with regional governments. Following a series of senior roles at Lucent Technologies, Avaya and Accenture in Egypt, the US and London, Mr Roeske joined Cisco’s public sector team in the UAE, where he was responsible for developing new business models for the Education and Health practices across Emerging Markets. He then became COO & Chief Program Officer at
Silatech, a non-profit social enterprise, where he incubated and managed a range of social innovation programs targeting youth employment. Prior to Google, he worked with Arab Financial Services in Bahrain where he was Group Head of Strategy & FinTech and worked on launching “cashless” services and introducing FinTech friendly regulation.

Mr Roeske graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies.

Mikkel Vinter joined Batelco as its Chief Executive Officer in May 2019.

With over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunication industry holding executive roles, he brings a proven track record with a wealth of knowledge and experience to Batelco. Mr Vinter has a broad international background with experience from telecom operators in the Middle East, Asia & Europe, including several Greenfield mobile start-up operations. Among his previous roles, he founded Virgin Mobile, Middle East & Africa in 2006 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2016.

Prior to setting up Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa, Mr Vinter served as Chief Commercial Officer for Nawras in Oman leading all the commercial activities from before the launch until Nawras was successfully established with a 20%-plus market share. His previous roles also include senior positions with TDC in Denmark and Singtel in Singapore.

Mr Vinter is a member of the Board of Directors of Umniah Mobile Company PLC, Sure Limited and Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun PLC) where he is also on the RNG (Remuneration, Nomination and Governance) Committee. He is also a member of the Al Waha Fund of Funds, Limited Partner Advisory Committee.

Mr Vinter holds a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School and has completed a Marketing and Management Programme with McGill University and INSEAD.

Dr Mohamed Al-Shaaban is the Director of the Press Office at the National Communication Centre.  His role revolves around overseeing the implementation of strategic communication initiatives across government including press conferences, briefings, and content creation.

Prior to that, he served as the Chief of Health Programs and Policies at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), where he was tasked with drafting national policies for the National Social Health Insurance Program and leading the communication plans for various national health projects.

Dr Al-Shaaban is an MD, he also holds an MS in Journalism from Columbia University, and an MS in Public Administration from Aix Marseille University, where his thesis revolved around the effects of public marketing on the acceptability of health reforms in Bahrain.

Narrimane Benakcha is the Head of Digital Policy, Middle East & Africa, at Amazon Web Services (AWS), a leading cloud service platform which offers on-demand IT services ranging from infrastructure to Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things. With expertise on policy issues including data protection and privacy standards, Ms Benakcha leads AWS’ engagements with policy makers, regulators, industry and academia to enable the adoption of emerging technologies. She started her career in the banking industry where she served as Standard Chartered Bank’s Director for Public Affairs in the Middle East and Africa. She also headed HSBC Bank’s compliance function in Morocco and helped set up the Bank’s financial intelligence department for the region.

Nezar Banabeela was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of stc Bahrain in June 2019, bringing with him over 15 years of professional experience in the ICT and logistics services sectors.

Eng.  Banabeela has been instrumental in driving digital transformation in line with the government of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030. Since his appointment, stc Bahrain has been at the forefront of evolving the telecommunications industry and empowering the digital economy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Through Eng. Banabeela’s leadership, stc Bahrain has invested in empowering the next wave of digital transformation through the launch of several initiatives that contribute to the growth of the technology ecosystem.

stc Bahrain embraced IoT and big data in Bahrain under the leadership of Eng. Banabeela, with the launch of a first-of-its-kind technology park in partnership with the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications. Additionally, stc Bahrain became the first telecommunications operator to launch an official Chainlink node to provide smart contracts with access to a secure source of real-world data and secure off-chain computations. Eng. Banabeela also played an important role in expanding stc Bahrain’s portfolio services into motor insurance and other disruptive sectors.

Under the leadership of Eng. Banabeela, stc Bahrain has been poised for growth and success as one of the key world-class digital enablers in the Kingdom. His role will further drive digital innovation, digital infrastructure and high-level connectivity services in Bahrain. Since his appointment, he has received several awards which include CEO of the Year award, Best Digital Transformation Award and Best Integrated Payment Solutions Provider Award.

Eng. Banabeela has served on the boards of numerous public and private sector organizations in several international and regional markets such as USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia. These include the International Committees for several International Projects

Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Shaikh Abdulla oversees Zain Bahrain’s strategic communications activities that includes its investor relations as well as its corporate sustainability (CS) & social responsibility (CSR) functions. He is also a successful telecoms entrepreneur having co-founded one of the Kingdom’s most successful start-ups, Lightspeed Communications, where he oversaw the launch of Bahrain’s first double-play Voice and Internet service in 2007.

He holds an Executive MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland and a BS in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA., Director of Communications and Investor Relations, Zain Bahrain

Shaima Alhamed is a results-oriented leader with extensive expertise in applying business transformation, restructuring and growth strategies. She has over seventeen years of experience in ICT and Media-Technologies Management.

Prior to her current role, Shaima held several notable positions including Executive Director and Board Member at Bahrain Internet Exchange, Director of Technology and Broadcasting, and Director of Technical Affairs at Ministry of Information Affairs.

Ms Alhamed holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde with a focus on strategy building and implementation, and a BSc. in Computer Science from the University of Bahrain. She also carries a Diploma in government leadership from the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA).

Sherif  Eldeeb is the National Security Officer for Microsoft’s Middle East Cluster, where he leads the strategy and engagement with the relevant national cybersecurity, CERT, critical infrastructure and Intelligence agencies, helping them keep their countries cybersafe.

Before Microsoft, he spent 15 years working for law enforcement, public safety and national cybersecurity agencies on SOC operations, Incident Response, Cyber Threat Intelligence and securing major sports events

Sultan S. Altukhaim has an extensive Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity management experience locally and internationally. He is now leading all regulatory affairs, besides internal, regarding Cybersecurity and Data Governance in the ICT and Telecom sector in Saudi Arabia.  Mr Altukhaim has worked for many pioneer organizations such as Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Boeing, Capital Market Authority (CMA), and Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB).

Mr Altukhaim earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Information Systems from King Saud University, and his second M.Sc. in Engineering Management from Florida Tech. He holds distinguished leadership certifications from Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and London Business School.

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.

Zeina Mokaddem has successfully championed and introduced a number of pioneering communication technologies globally and in the Middle East and North Africa in particular. Prior to Inmarsat, Ms Mokaddem worked as a consultant for a number of international communication players assisting them in opening new markets and shaping favourable regulatory frameworks in different jurisdictions.
Zeina currently leads the Market Access team at Inmarsat and chairs the ITU’s Network of Women NOW4WRC23 for the Arab region.

Ms Mokaddem has an MSc in Engineering Management from the American University.