Mongolia Forum – in person

Alasdair Grant has more than 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector, for most of this time holding “Head of Asia” positions in the public policy, corporate development, and regulatory functions of major global operators. In these roles he specialised in market entry and development through infrastructure investment and alliances. He has worked for the GSMA, Reliance, Verizon Enterprise, and Level 3/Lumen.

Mr Grant is an experienced reform advocate throughout Asia and has founded and led regional industry associations and delegations. He is the founding editor and co-author of Australian Telecommunications Regulation, currently in its 4th edition.

Mr Grant has degrees in Law and Australian Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia.

As a distinguished leader in the telecommunications and ICT sector, Mr Chinzorig Gonchig brings to his role a rich history of experience and a track record of innovative accomplishments.

Starting his professional journey in 1988, Mr Gonchig served as an engineer, officer, and later, as the Head of the Transport Management Department at the Ministry of Infrastructure. He furthered his leadership credentials as the Deputy Director of the “Mongol Post” company, a position in which he enhanced financial responsibility and discipline. Through his rigorous oversight of the company’s financial operations, Mr Gonchig significantly strengthened its operational efficiency and fiscal accountability.

In 2015, Mr Gonchig rose to the role of Deputy Director of “Mongolian Telecommunication” JSC. His strategic leadership in this role was instrumental in broadening internet accessibility across Mongolia. Mr Gonchig’s concerted efforts brought internet services to 239 schools, established WiFi connectivity in 52 rural settlements, and extended internet services to an additional 207 soums. This strategic development notably enhanced digital connectivity for a significant proportion of the population across 21 provinces. Among Mr Gonchig’s groundbreaking initiatives were the transitioning of users to Next Generation Network technology and the development of state information exchange systems. These contributions have been fundamental in bridging Mongolia’s digital divide, earning Mr Gonchig widespread recognition and acclaim.

In 2018, Mr Gonchig’s leadership ascended to a new level when he was appointed Chairman and CEO of the Communications Regulatory Commission. In this high-profile role, he oversaw the approval of landmark legislation including the draft Law on Communications, the Law on Radio Waves, the Law on Post, and the Law on Broadcasting, all endorsed by the State Great Hural (Parliament of Mongolia).

As Chairman, Mr Gonchig continues to exemplify commitment to the advancement of the telecommunications sector. His areas of focus include ensuring and protecting information technology and network security, fostering a new generation e-environment, encouraging market liberalization and competition, and creating a conducive environment for price and tariff regulation. This unwavering dedication, in combination with his impressive track record, underscores Mr Gonchig’s exceptional contributions to Mongolia’s telecommunications sector.

Mr Gonchig holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechatronics from the prestigious Mongolian University of Science and Technology-MUST (www.must.edu.mn). In 2019, MUST recognized his accomplishments by bestowing him with the title of Honorary Professor. Further validating his contributions, Mr Gonchig was honored with the “Honored Operator” award by the President of Mongolia in 2021, under Presidential Decree No.13, 2021.

Through his impactful contributions, innovative leadership, and unwavering dedication, Mr Gonchig continues to shape the future of Mongolia’s telecommunications landscape.

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.

Graça Enes has been the Director of CIJ (Centre for Legal Research of the University of Porto) since 2021. She was previously Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto (2013-2014) and Director of the Master’s Law Studies (2019-2020).

Professor Enes is the author of several publications in Portugal and abroad mainly on European and International Law. For some years she has been focusing her research on the digital challenges and on the European policies and legislative initiatives on the subject, especially regarding data governance and AI. In addition, her scientific and academic interests extend to the challenges of international governance.

She was awarded and coordinates the Jean Monnet Module DigEUCit “A Digital Europe for Citizens. Constitutional and Policymaking Challenges” (an Erasmus+ project, 01.09.2022 to 31.08.2025).

Professor Enes has a Bachelor and Master in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. She holds a PhD in Law (European Union Law) from the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, where she is a Professor with tenure of European Union Law and International Law.

Javier Huerta Bravo leads the digital economy regulatory intelligence service for Europe. Before joining Cullen International in 2014, Mr Huerta Bravo worked at the European Commission on copyright, e-commerce and other topics related to online services. He is a qualified lawyer.

Dr Wang Jiang-Jia earned a doctorate degree from National Taiwan University and became a professor at Chung-Cheng University, Jia-Yi County, where he taught law. On more than one occasion, he was also a visiting professor at Osaka University, Japan. His major areas of research have been criminal law, criminal and new technology, and speech on the internet. Prior to becoming a professor, he practiced as a lawyer for over ten years.

In 2022, Dr Wang was appointed as one of seven commissioners at the National Communications Commission (NCC), which is an independent organization overseeing communications regulation in Taiwan. During his time at NCC, Dr Wang has been involved in critical decision making pertinent to communications and media policies and regulations. In line with the key policy objectives and mission of NCC, Dr Wang is committed to enhancing the communications and media environment in Taiwan.

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’.

Dr Peter Lovelock is Principal, Fair Tech Institute, Access Partnership. Prior to its acquisition by Access Partnership, Peter Lovelock was the Director of TRPC, along with Professor John Ure.  Peter and John established the Telecommunications Research Project (TRP) at the University of Hong Kong in 1993 and the Telecoms Infotechnology Forum (TIF) in 1996. Peter subsequently established the TRPC offices in Beijing (1999) and Singapore (2006) and expanded the academic collaborations in both locations, initially with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and subsequently with Qinghua University and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Between 1999 and 2004, Peter built and ran China’s leading IT research consultancy, and prior to that he was a lead policy analyst at the UN in Geneva, where he was principal author on the World Telecommunications Development Report amongst others, including many of the ITU Secretary General’s speeches from this period.

He brings more than 25 years’ experience in telecoms, technology and media to these undertakings, including regulatory assessments, implementation and execution projects, and due diligence and market entry strategic guidance projects throughout Asia.

In recent years, Dr Lovelock has provided advice to governments and companies alike regionally on digital enablement and digital transformation, including to ASEAN on its ICT Masterplan, and to APEC on the Internet and Digital Economy principles and roadmap; as well as authoring reports on global data networks and bandwidth developments, cross border data flows and the economic impacts of data localisation, digital transactions, authentication and digital identity.

In the financial services and fintech spaces, Dr Lovelock has been involved in the establishment of new payments regulatory regimes in Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Zambia, focused on facilitating fast access channels and furthering financial inclusion He has advised and authored thought leadership on blockchains, digital and crypto currencies and national payment gateways and is currently working with multilateral donor agencies on the development of regulatory financial sandboxes in several jurisdictions and national eID schemes. Dr Lovelock is advising the Central Bank of Myanmar on their QR code standardisation and adoption, and is an expert on TV White Spaces and other non-traditional connectivity options for extending access.

Dr Lovelock is an advisor to PECC on digital and internet economy developments and sits on the board of the International Institute of Communications (IIC). TRPC provides Executive Director and Secretariat support to the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) and the Asia Pacific Spectrum Innovation Group (APSIG), among others.

Between 1999 and 2004 Dr Lovelock built and ran China’s leading IT research consultancy. Prior to that, Peter worked at the ITU in Geneva.

Philip Collerton is Chief Commercial Officer of Uptime Institute, where he is responsible for all commercial and service delivery activities globally. Mr Collerton has extensive experience in data center operations, data center training and staffing, data centers consolidation and establishing data center footprints in new markets and geographies.