Online Annual LatAm/Caribbean Telecommunications & Media Forum

Adriana Labardini Inzunza is currently an independent public interest lawyer and consumer rights expert, she has always acted afar from political, partisan and corporate interests and has fought to deter anticompetitive practices and eliminate barriers to competition. She has promoted initiatives to bridge the digital divide, promote rural and indigenous connectivity and media, at the same time as she has insisted to embed innovation in the agency, build consumer empowerment tools, work permanently towards gender equality and effective implementation and enforcement of regulation.

Ms Labardini served as Secretary of the Board of COFETEL, the former, telecommunications agency (1999-2003); practiced law in a major law firm, specialising in the areas of corporate, administrative and telecommunications law (1986- 1998). Upon her return to Mexico after completing the H. Humphrey Fellowship in North Carolina, UNC and Duke (2003-2004), she co-founded Alconsumidor, a nonprofit watchdog, pioneer in advocating for consumer rights and consumer class actions, a project that ended in a constitutional and legal reform.

Ms Labardini is a Fulbright scholar and a Hubert Humphrey and Ashoka Fellow. She is a professor at the Escuela Libre de Derecho LLM program in Mexico City and has lectured at CIDE, UNAM, ITAM, ITESM, UP as visiting professor.

She obtained her law degree cum laude from Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City in 1987 and her Masters degree (LLM) from Columbia University in New York, on a Fulbright scholar in 1991. For four and a half years she has served as Commissioner at the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT), the Mexican independent regulatory body and competition authority for telecommunications and broadcasting industries. She also chaired the IFT for an interim term in the fall of 2017. Her tenure ended on February 28th, 2018.

In such capacity she has successfully led efforts to create a research center within IFT, strengthen regional and international relations among regulators, such as FCC, CRTC, and through Regulatel, BEREC and IIC; she has fought for pluralism in media, truly independent public media as well as initiatives for inclusion & accessibility and innovating the regulator. During the first two years of her tenure, she was the Commissioner in charge of transparency and access to public information at IFT and a member of the Ethics Committee.

Prior to joining Searchlight in 2021, Ajit Pai was the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), which he led from 2017 until 2021. He first joined the FCC as a Commissioner in 2012. During Mr Pai’s tenure as Chairman, he implemented major initiatives to help close the digital divide; advance US leadership in 5G, Open Radio Access Networks, Wi-Fi 6, and other wireless technologies; promote innovation; protect consumers, public safety, and national security; and make the agency itself more open, transparent, and data-driven.

Earlier in his career, he served in various positions of increasing responsibility at the FCC, the US Department of Justice, and the US Senate. Before becoming a Commissioner, he worked as a Partner at the law firm of Jenner & Block and served as in-house counsel at Verizon.

Mr Pai graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1994 and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1997.

Bio coming soon …….

Andrea Gita Millwood Hargrave is an independent consultant in the field of regulation across the communications ecosystem, with particular emphasis on emerging trends in technologies and consumer behaviour.

An Associate of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, University of Oxford, and a Member of the Working Group on Information Access (part of UNESCO’s IFAP Programme), Andrea stepped down as the IIC’s Director General in 2020, having run its regulatory programme for over twenty years. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Andrea served as a regulator for content delivery organisations in the UK for many years and has published widely on communications policy in an international context, having acted as an Expert for both the European Union and the Council of Europe.

André Gomes works at Cullen International leading the digital economy service in the Americas. He has extensive experience in telecoms, media and digital economy regulation, including in Brazil, Korea and the US. Prior to his collaboration with Cullen, Mr Gomes coordinated policies to increase broadband coverage at the Ministry of Communications in Brazil.

Mr Gomes is a lawyer and holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University College London.

Professor Antonio García Zaballos is Lead Specialist on telecommunications in Institutions for Development and also leader of the broadband initiative. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector where he has worked for various companies.

Additionally, Professor García Zaballos is member of the steering committee at the IEEE on connectivity and the Internet for All Initiative at the World Economic Forum. He has an extensive experience in the telecom sector where has been working in different positions of responsibility.

At Deloitte Spain he led the practice of regulation and strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, and previously he was the Head of the Cabinet for Economic Studies of Regulation in Telefónica of Spain, and also was Deputy Director of Economic Analysis and Markets at the Spanish Telecom Regulator (CMT). Professor García Zaballos has provided advisory services to Regulators, Telecom Operators and Governments in countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Ecuador, Argentina, Dominican Rep., Paraguay, Polonia, and the Czech Rep.

Professor García Zaballos holds a PhD in Economics from the University Carlos III of Madrid and is an associated professor of applied finance to Telecommunications at the Instituto de Empresa Business School. He is author of several publications on economic and regulatory aspects of telecommunications.

Bill Brierly joined Liberty Latin America in January 2018 as our Head of Compliance and Ethics. In this role, Mr Brierly specialises in counseling the Board of Directors and executive leaders on ethical business practices and in designing and operating an effective culture of compliance for all of our over 10,000 employees operating in over 40 countries.

Before joining Liberty Latin America, Mr Brierly was the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for CH2M, a global engineering and project management firm with over 25,000 employees located in over 90 countries. During each year of his tenure at CH2M, the Ethisphere Institute selected CH2M as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies®.

Prior to his role at CH2M, Mr Brierly served as the Head of Legal Affairs and Secretary for TeleTech Holdings, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed (TTEC) business process services company, where he led the Legal and Compliance Departments for TeleTech’s 40,000 employees operating in 18 countries.

Mr Brierly has also worked as an in-house lawyer for Nextel Communications focusing on cell tower development and commercial litigation. Bill also served as an associate attorney at Davis, Graham and Stubbs, LLP where his practice focused on antitrust and commercial litigation, and Otten Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti, PC where his practice focused on commercial and land use litigation.

In 2015 and 2017, Ethisphere Magazine named Mr Brierly one of the Attorneys Who Matter in Ethics.

Mr Brierly has a law degree from the University Of Denver Sturm College Of Law (Order of St. Ives) and a bachelor’s degree in economics from The Colorado College.

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.

Christian O’ Flaherty is Regional Vice-President for Latin America and The Caribbean at the Internet Society. He works with governments, policy makers, civil society, academia, companies, technical communities and other stakeholders in Latin America and The Caribbean, for an open, globally connected, secure and trustworthy Internet for everyone.

Assistant Vice-President of External Affairs and Sustainability at AT&T Mexico. In this position, Mr Rios is responsible for building long-term relationships with relevant economic and political stakeholders; as well as with social organisations in order to advocate for social, environmental, regulatory and policy affairs before government authorities, regulatory institutions and other stakeholders.

Before joining AT&T, Mr Rios built a solid career within the Mexican telecommunications regulator (IFT) where he performed as Head of the President’s Advisors team.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Americas University in Puebla. Mr Rios has collaborated on the development of several regulatory and policy studies and has participated on different international forums related to public policy and digital economy.

Bio coming soon …….

Doreen Bogdan-Martin was elected Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau on the 1st of November 2018. She took office on the 1st of January 2019.

A strategic leader with high-level experience in international and inter-governmental relations, she has a history of success in policy and strategy development, analysis and execution.

Ms Bogdan-Martin serves as Coordinator of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and, from 2008-2018, led the Strategic Planning & Membership Department of ITU. She also served as Coordinator of United Nations affairs for the organization, putting ITU at the centre of digital aspects of sustainable development.

Ms Bogdan-Martin previously headed the Regulatory and Market Environment Division of the Telecommunication Development Bureau and was responsible for the programmes on Regulatory Reform and Economics and Finance.

Among her other achievements, Ms Bogdan-Martin was one of the principal architects of the annual Global Symposium for Regulators, directed ITU’s first global youth summit #BYND2015, and is currently driving ITU latest high-profile initiative – EQUALS, the Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age.

Prior to joining ITU, Ms Bogdan-Martin was a Telecommunications Policy Specialist in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), US Department of Commerce.

With a Master’s degree in International Communications Policy from the American University in Washington, DC, Ms Bogdan-Martin completed post-graduate certification in Strategies for Leadership at the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also certified in Accountability and Ethics by the United Nations Leaders Programme.

Additionally, Ms Bogdan-Martin is an affiliate of the Harvard University Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, currently serves as the Co-Chair of the United Nations Strategic Planning Group, Chair of the Academic Council for the Swiss Network for International Studies, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the UN Staff College.

Erick Juerta is an Expert of the International Telecommunication Union for connectivity issues related to remote areas and indigenous peoples and he has served as Co-Rapporteur on Development of Information Technology and Communication in remote areas and groups with unattended needs, and Head of the Study Group on Indigenous Populations, the Permanent Consultative Committee 1 of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission of the OAS, as well as advisor to the Directorate General of Telecommunications Policy on development issues in preparation of the World Telecommunication Development Conference and the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU.  Mr Huerta is currently a member of the advisory council of IFETEL, the Mexican telecommunications regulator.

Mr Huerta holds a law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico, with postgraduate courses at the Free School of Law; a Master’s in Social Administration with a concentration in Community Development from the University of Queensland, Australia and PhD in Rural Development from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico.

Ernesto Orozco has previously served as an advisor at the National Television Commission (CNTV) and a member of the Board of the National Television Authority (ANTV), as well as a professional at the National Broadcasting Network –Inravisión.

Mr Orozco is an electrical engineer graduated from the Universidad del Norte of Barranquilla, Specialist in Engineering Management Systems from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana University, Specialist in Regulation and Management of Telecommunications and New Technologies from the Univeridad Externado de Colombia and Master in Business Administration (MBA) from INALDE Business School of the Universidad de la Sabana.

Bio coming soon …….

Federico Cunha Ferré is the responsible of Security and Device Management solutions domain for Nokia in Latin America. He has supported network security strategy and advised convergent, fixed and mobile service providers across Latin America and Caribbean countries.

An expert with +20 years working in Telecommunications industry, Mr Cunha Ferré is developing commercial and technical strategies around 5G security in the Latin American CSPs.

Mr Cunha Ferré has an electronic engineer degree by Universidad de Buenos Aires, post-graduate studies in cybersecurity strategy and cybercrime intelligence by Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino.  He also has an MBA at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.

Hannia Vega is the Commissioner of the Council of the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SUTEL) in Costa Rica. During her presidency thus far, she has promoted issues such as the first regulatory agenda in the country, open sessions of the SUTEL Council with the participation of users and operators in several communities of the national territory and follow-up of issues related to competing markets, indicators of the telecommunications industry and measurements of the quality of services, inside the INTERACTIVE SUTEL platform.

She has been in several public positions, including the first Vice Ministry of Telecommunications of Costa Rica (2008-2012) and the Vice Ministry of National Planning and Economical Policy (2006-2008). She has also been a parliamentary adviser in the periods from 1994 to 2006 and 2012 to 2016, where she developed the “Open Parliament” project.

To her name, she has a number of achievements including the development of the First National Telecommunications Plan of Costa Rica (2009-2014) with a fulfillment of 90% of its goals; the design and implementation of a “Digital Divide Index” (IBD), which links the dimensions of access, use, quality and appropriation of telecommunications as well as defining the National Broadband Strategy. She also represents her country at a number of inter-institutional and international commissions.

She studied political science and has a Public Administration Master from the University of Costa Rica. She has been professor at the University of Costa Rica in the Schools of Public Administration and Political Science (1997-2003), as well as academic researcher of the Organization for American States (OAS) from 2000 to 2003.

Bio coming soon ……..

Ivana Kriznic is Verizon’s head of public policy for Canada, Latin America and Emerging Markets. She started her legal career in private practice at the law firm of Morrison and Foerster and worked thereafter in different legal, regulatory, compliance, privacy, government affairs, and policy positions for AT&T, BT and Orange.

Ms Kriznic has been recently appointed Co-Secretary of the Hispanic National Bar Association Corporate Counsel Division. She is also part of Verizon PPLS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council, co-leading the International Committee and of SOMOS (Verizon Latinx employee resource group) acting as one of the Communications Coordinator.

Ms Kriznic received her LL.M. from Columbia University School of Law and her legal degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina. She also holds a master degree in Telecommunications Management, a bachelor degree in International Affairs and she has been certified as an information privacy professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Jacqueline Lopes is currently the Director of Institutional Relations LATAM South at Ericsson as well as a member of the Executive Committee at the company. She has 15+ years of experience in the industry and management consulting (BCG), mostly focused on Negotiations, Business Development, Corporate Affairs, Strategy, Digital Transformation and International Relations.

Ms Lopes is a Board member of TELEBRASIL; Director at ABINEE and FIESP; Co-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Digital Economy Commission and Swedcham.

She is also author of a book about international negotiations.

In 2023, Ms Lopes was awarded in France as a Rising Talent, a global initiative organized by Russel & Reynolds, Lazard and INSEAD.
She has an MBA degree from INSEAD (France/Singapore) with a Merit Scholarship from Orange.  Ms Lopes also concluded an executive course at Harvard Kennedy School (USA).  She holds a master`s degree (summa cum laude) and a bachelor’s degree at Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

Jason Mars is a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan where he directs Clarity Lab, one of the best places in the world to be trained in topics spanning artificial intelligence, large scale computing, and programming languages.  Mr Mars also founded a number of companies including Clinc, a record breaking cutting-edge A.I. company based in Ann Arbor Michigan where he lead the development of the world’s most advanced conversational AI. He is the bestselling author of “Breaking Bots: Inventing A New Voice In The AI Revolution” where he expresses controversial insights on the surprising progress in AI and what the future holds while deconstructing the DNA that underlies true AI innovation and disruption. The book also serves to inspire aspiring leaders to build something that can change the world and tells Jason’s personal story of comeuppance.

Mr Mars has devoted his career to solving difficult real-world problems, building some of the worlds most sophisticated scalable systems for A.I., computer vision, and natural language processing.”

Bio coming soon

José Alberto Galarza Villaseñor is a Senator for the State of Jalisco.

He holds a Bachelor’s and a Masters degree in Law for the University of Guadalajara, where he was the president of the largest student federation en Latin America. He also obtained an MA in Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex in UK and founded the Citizen Mobility and Transportation Observatory of the state of Jalisco.

Jose Juan Haro Siejas is Chief Wholesale and Public Affairs Officer at Telefónica Hispam, the unit of the Telefónica Group in charge of business operations in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.  Mr Haro currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Telefónica Central America Investments (TCI), Chair of the GSMA Latin America Policy Group, Vice President of the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET) and Board member of Internet para Todos, a company jointly incorporated by Telefonica, Facebook, CAF and IDB Invest to bridge the digital divide en Latin America.

Mr Haro joined Telefónica’s Peruvian subsidiary in 2003, where he held various responsibilities in legal and business areas, most notably those related with Strategy and Wholesale operations. In 2009 he was promoted to Vice President of Strategy and Regulation. Since 2011, he has been in charge of corporate responsibilities at Telefonica headquarters in Madrid.

Mr Haro obtained his Law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and his LLM (Master of Laws) degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

Julissa Cruz Abreu is the Executive Director of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL), since August 19, 2020, appointed by its Board of Directors.

Ms Cruz is a telecommunications expert with more than 20 years at the service of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL), the telecommunications regulatory body in the Dominican Republic, where she has held, among other positions such as Director of International Relations, Compliance Commissioner and Head of the Regulation Department, where she was an active part in the initiatives and preparation of the current regulatory framework and led, from that position, the implementation of the mobile number portability project in 2009.

Currently, under the direction of the Board of Directors, she is leading the technical team of the regulatory body that is executing several transformation projects in the telecommunications sector, such as the National Broadband Plan for the Dominican Republic, the Radioelectric Spectrum Tender for the deployment of fifth generation networks, the implementation of Digital Terrestrial Television and the drafting of the new Information and Communication Technology Law of the Dominican Republic.

Ms Cruz worked in the operator regulation area of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) of Spain and has participated as a speaker at international conferences on Mobile Number Portability, Spectrum Management, Telecommunications Price Regulation, Gender Equality and ICT Inclusion. She has advised Central American regulators in their Mobile Number Portability implementation processes, participating, as an instructor and speaker in multiple seminars, workshops and telecommunications regulation courses.

Ms Cruz has a degree in Accounting from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo, a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance from the same university, and also specializes in Economics of Regulation at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, Regulation of Public Services at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina and Price Regulation in the Telecommunications Industry at the CEDET Foundation, Madrid, Spain.

Lester Garcia, Head of Connectivity and Access Policy, LATAM, Meta has more than 20 years of experience in the ICTs Regulation and Policy in Latin America.  Mr Garcia is also a Public Policy consultant and researcher.

Mr Garcia previously held the position of Chief of Regulatory Policy at COFETEL (the Mexican Telecom Regulator), where he was in charge of the coordination of regulatory decisions design for the Mexican telecom market. He was also the Government Relations Manager for Axtel from 1998 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2002, Corporate Affairs manager for Philip Morris Mexico.

Mr Garcia has been a lecturer and Professor in Economics and Public for different schools and universities in Mexico, and a regular speaker and panelist in National and International Events and Fora on Telecommunications and ICT Markets and Regulatory Issues. He currently holds the position of Head of the Masters in Economics and Public Policy at the Graduate School of Public Policy and Public Administration (EGAP) of ITESM, Monterrey.

Mr Garcia holds a PhD in Public Policy (Universidad Anahuac 2003-2008), a Masters in Public Policy (University of Chicago 1994-1996) and a BA degree in Economics (ITESM).

Bio coming soon ………

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’.

Marcelo Bechara is Director of Institutional Relations and Regulation, Grupo Globo. He is also a member of the Superior Council of ABERT – Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters for the biennium (2020-2022), a Member of the National Cinema Council since 2018 and Vice-President of IAB Brazil.

Mr Bechara previously held the positions of Legal Advisor of the Ministry of Communication (2005 to 2010) and General Attorney of Anatel (2010 to 2011).  He was Commissioner of Anatel (2011 to 2015) and left the agency as Vice-Chairman in 2015.  Mr Bechara has been a Member of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br (2006 and 2015), having participated in formulating the Brazilian Civil Framework of the Internet. He was on the Board of Directors of Núcleo de Informação .br and Author of the book Radiodifusão e TV Digital no Direito Brasileiro (Broadcasting and Digital TV in Brazilian Law).

Mr Bechara graduated from the Brazilian Superior School of War – ESG in 2012. He is a member of the Superior Council of ABERT – Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters for the biennium (2020-2022), a Member of the National Cinema Council since 2018 and is also Vice-President of IAB Brazil.

Mr Bechara graduated in Law from Belo Horizonte in 2001. He has an MBA in Economy and Business Law from FGV, and in 2003 he specialised in Digital Law.  Certified by Harvard Law School, Georgetown University, and the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO.

Bio coming soon ……

Dr Martha Suárez is President of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance and has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. In her current role at the DSA she advocates for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient and effective spectrum utilization, which is essential to addressing key worldwide social and economic challenges.

Dr Suárez was General Director of the National Spectrum Agency in Colombia, for over 3 years, having originally joined the ANE in 2013. Before that, she was awarded with a Marie Curie Fellowship and worked at the Instytut Technologii Elektronowej ITE in Poland for the Partnership for Cognitive Radio Par4CR European Project.

Dr Suárez is an Electronics Engineer, with a Masters degree in high frequency communication systems and is Doctor in Electronics from the University Paris-Est.

Prior to his present position, Martín Olmos has worked as a researcher and consultant on data science and public policy for several public and private organisations and development agencies, and as a public official both for the Federal Government of Argentina and the Government of Buenos Aires.

Mr Olmos has a degree in Political Science from the Universidad Católica Argentina and a Master in Public Policy from George Washington University.

Mauricio Ramos was appointed CEO of Millicom in April 2015. He was most recently President of Liberty Global’s Latin American Division from 2006 until February 2015.

Over the past fourteen years Mauricio held a number of leadership roles at Liberty Global, including positions as Chairman and CEO of VTR in Chile, CFO of Liberty’s Latin American Division and President of Liberty Puerto Rico. Throughout this period he successfully developed both mobile and broadband businesses in Latin America, delivering solid operational improvement and outstanding financial results. Mauricio is also Chairman of TEPAL, the Latin American Association of Cable Broadband Operators.

Previously Mr Ramos was a Partner and Vice President at Investment Banking Services Ltd. (IBS), and Assistant Director of the Deutsche Morgan Grenfell office in Bogotá, Colombia. Prior to this, he worked for the Office of the President of Colombia and taught economics at Universidad de los Andes and Universidad Externado in Bogotá. He also served as the Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Chile from 2007 to 2011.

Mr Ramos received a degree in Economics, a degree in Law and a postgraduate degree in Financial Law from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá.

Mercedes Aramendía is the president of the Uruguayan Regulatory Unit of Communication Services (URSEC).

Ms Aramendía has extensive experience in the telecommunications sector. Prior to her current position, she worked as an independent consultant, collaborating with various telecommunications, technology and entrepreneurship organizations. Likewise, among other positions, she served as Head of Institutional Relations and Regulation at Telefónica Móviles de Uruguay, as well as a lawyer for the Uruguayan Chamber of Telecommunications and KPMG-Uruguay.

Since 2017 Ms Aramendía is a Professor at the University of Montevideo, where she also directs the Postgraduate Course on Digital Transformation and Law.

In 2019, she was recognized by Ursec as one of the outstanding Uruguayan women in regulation and / or Communications. Likewise, in 2021 she was recognized by DPL News as one of the 25 women leaders who will define the digital course.

Ms Aramendía has the following qualifications: Phd in Legal Sciences from the University of Granada, Spain, LLM in Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship from Cornell University, United States, MBA from the EAE Business School and Masters in Administration, Management and Business Organisation from the Camilo José Cela University, Spain. She also has a degree in Law, Master’s Degree in Access to the Legal Profession from the Antonio de Nebrija University, Spain, Master in Economic Administrative Law from the University of Montevideo, Uruguay and graduated as a Lawyer from the University of Montevideo, Uruguay.

Pablo Romanis is Cybersecurity Consulting Director at The Right Bit and leads special projects at the BA-CSIRT Cybersecurity Center. He has also been the Cybersecurity Manager of the Youth Olympic Games – Buenos Aires 2018.

In the academic field, Mr Romanos is the Director of the Diploma in Cybersecurity Strategy and Intelligence in Cybercrime at UNSTA, a postgraduate professor of the Master of Cyber Defense at the UNDEF Army University, and Master’s degrees at UADE.

Mr Romanos participates as a member of IRAM and ISO International committees. He has also been part of the Board of Directors of Cloud Security Alliance Argentina; member of ISSA Argentina and has been the organizer of numerous editions of the OWASP Latam Tour.

In the field of university research, Mr Romanos leads IoT, Robotics and Cybersecurity projects. He is the founder of CROZONO, a tool for conducting digital forensic investigations from drones and robots.

Mr Romanos is an Engineer graduated from the Merchant Marine University, and postgraduate from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain) in “Security, Networks, Applications and Services.” He has an MBA from the Inter-American Open University and has completed the Executive Program “Cybersecurity Leadership and Strategy” awarded by the OAS and Florida International University (USA).

Paola Bonilla is an economist from the University of Ibagué and Master in economics from the Rosario University. With more than 11 years of experience in the ICT sector, she has served as advisor and coordinator of Market Regulation in the CRC, advisor to the Sub-Directorate of Telecommunications and Sub-Director of Digital Prospecting of the Directorate of Digital Development in the National Planning Department (DNP), where until now she served as Director of Digital Development.

Ms Bonilla has participated in initiatives related to public policy guidelines on technological convergence, financing of the ICT sector and the digital economy. In addition, she led and coordinated policies and projects in the sector, developed and guided studies and research to promote the digital development of the country.

Bio coming soon ……

Bio coming soon …..

Bio coming soon …….

Bio coming soon …..

Bio coming soon ………..

Samuel Tew is Senior Manager 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 50 countries across the world.

Mr Tew is a strategy consultant with strong expertise in emerging technology and innovation, currently with a focus in cybersecurity, and has worked with Start-ups, Governments and Corporates alike across Europe, Asia and Australasia. He has led advisory projects with a wide range of regulatory authorities and multilateral institutions including the European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) and also regularly works with National Cybersecurity Agencies on strategic projects, from the assessment of national ICT infrastructure to the creation of regulatory policies.

Holding both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Mr Tew’s expertise lie in business strategy and technology policy.

An expert in the confluence of development and communications policy, Sonia Jorge has over 25 years of diverse international experience in a career spanning both the private and not-for-profit sectors. As a policy advisor, Ms Jorge has worked in numerous digital policy and development projects in over 40 countries and with international organisations, such as the World Bank, UNDP, UN Women, and for private sector companies, from mobile operators to industry associations.

Ms Jorge’s work has included ICT policy and regulatory advice and analysis, strategic industry planning, national ICT/broadband policy development, and the creation of new policy and regulatory frameworks to address issues around competition, cost-based pricing, spectrum management, infrastructure development and universal access strategy. Ms Jorge is an avid advocate for gender equality in development, and has worked extensively to promote gender analysis and awareness in the ICT planning and policy process, as well as an understanding of the importance of digital inclusion for development.

As a thought leader and expert, Ms Jorge was recognised by apolitico as as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government in 2019, and is a frequent speaker at international, regional and national events, including at the World Economic Forum, Stockholm Internet Forum, Transform Africa, Mobile World Congress, Internet Governance Forums, several ITU and EU-Commission events, among others. She also serves/ed as a member and expert in a number of Committees, including the ITU-UN Women EQUALS Partnership, The World Economic Forum’s EDISON Network, the Broadband Commission Working Group on the Gender Digital Divide, and the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force.  Ms Jorge is an independent Board Director with KaiOS Technologies and an affiliate at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

Sóstenes Diaz González was ratified as a Commissioner of the IFT for a period of 9 years by a qualified majority in the Senate on 25 April 2018..

He has more than 16 years’ experience in telecommunications regulation.

Commissioner Diaz has been responsible for several regulatory projects at the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), such as the design and implementation of the current cost models for interconnection services; the current cost methodology of interconnection; as well as the definition of interconnection points of the Preponderant Economic Agent (PEA) in the telecommunications sector in Mexico; the revision of the Framework Agreements of Interconnection and of the Reference Offers of the Wholesale Services of Dedicated Links; of Mobile Virtual Operators; and of the wholesale service of the Visitor User; as well as the determination of asymmetric interconnection rates for the services provided by the Preponderant Economic Agent.

In addition, Commissioner Diaz has worked within the Academy having been the subject of the subjects of “Microeconomics I” and “Microeconomics II” in the Unique Program of Specialisations of the Postgraduate of the Faculty of Economics in the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Commissioner Diaz graduated as an Economist from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and has a Masters in the same area by Colegio de México.

Victoria Beckman is the Leader for the Americas of the Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) at Microsoft. DCU is responsible for implementing strategies to disrupt cybercrime by dismantling criminal infrastructure through civil actions; collaborate with organisations and governments to strengthen cybersecurity and support victim remediation; design education campaigns and advance policies and legislation to deter and decrease cybercrime.

Ms Beckman spent several years as a public defender in Arizona first assigned to capital habeas appeals and later trying major felony cases. Prior to practicing law, she was an industrial engineer in the technology and automotive sectors and a competitive figure skater.

Ms Beckman is a Board Member, IAPP Diversity in Privacy, Board Member, United Cybersecurity Alliance Board of Directors, Board of Trustees Member, Community Refugee and Immigration Services and a Member, Ohio Access to Justice Foundation

Ms Beckman’s honours and distinctions include: Cybersecurity and Privacy Legal Professional of the Year Award, Cybersecurity Woman of the Year, 2020; Women Welding the Way 2020 Honoree,Women for Economic Leadership and Development, 2019; Selected to the Ohio Rising Star list by Super Lawyers,® 2018; 40 Under 40 Award, Columbus Business First, 2017; Top Lawyers Under 40 Award, Hispanic National Bar Association, 2017; Selected to the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Latina Commission Leadership Academy, 2016; 40 Under 40 Award, Phoenix Business Journal, 2011; Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys in Arizona, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education, 2010; Outstanding Young Lawyer, State Bar of Arizona, 2009; New Attorney of the Year, Volunteer Lawyers Program of Maricopa County, 2009.

Ms Beckman is a Certified Privacy Manager (CIPM) and Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).  She graduated from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, J.D., 2007 and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, B.S. Industrial Engineering, 2000.

Vitor Menzes is the current Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Communications.  He previously held the positions of Secretary of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications and Regulatory Specialist of the National Telecommunications Agency – Anatel (approved in a public competition of tests and titles in 2007), in which he held the positions of Advisor to the Presidency and Superintendent of Grant and Installment Resources.

Mr Menezes is a lawyer and Post-Graduate in Advanced Regulation of Public Telecommunications Services (INATEL / ITU) and in Administrative Law and Public Management (UNIEURO).

Bio coming soon …..

Bio coming soon ……..

Álvaro Neira is Principal Consultant 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 50 countries across the world.

Mr Neira is an international strategy consultant with broad experience in the ICT sector, advising at Board and C-level mainly in Europe, Latin America and Middle East. He has provided advice to a wide range of regulatory authorities and multilateral institutions, including the European Commission (EC), World Bank (WB), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), International Finance Corporation (IFC) or Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). Álvaro’s areas of expertise include regulatory strategy, business planning, and public policy development.

Mr Neira holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Ángel Melguizo is a senior economist and independent consultant based in Colombia, specialized in public policies, economic growth and digital regulation.

Currently, Mr Melguizo is a regional advisor for UNESCO on artificial intelligence and ethics in Latin America, principal economist at Telecom Advisory Services, and board member of asw_Replica, a big data and analytics start-up.

Mr Melguizo has nearly 25 years of experience at both private and public sector. He was Vice-president for External and Regulatory Affairs at AT&T VRIO Latin America, responsible for the company positioning on digital regulatory topics, with focus on Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Caribe. During that period, he was elected president of the telecommunications association ASIET and co-chair of the OECD EMnet Digital Transformation working group. Previously, he was Head for Latin America at the OECD Development Centre coordination the flagship Latin American Economic Outlook, Lead Specialist at the InterAmerican Development Bank, and Principal Economist at BBVA Research, specializing on new technologies, economic growth, and fiscal policy. He also served as Senior Advisor at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister.

On policy making, Mr Melguizo has participated in several reforms across Latin Americas on telecommunications and digital policy, taxes, skills and social policies.

Mr Melguizo is an expert of the Lancet Commission on COVID-19 on the Regional Task Force for Latin America, full member of the US National Business Economic Issues Council (NBEIC), and Board member of Universidad del Rosario, Bogota (Colombia).

Mr Melguizo received his PhD and BA in economics from the Universidad Complutense, Madrid (Spain). He has published articles in academic journals including Journal of Cyber Policy, Journal of Economic Studies, Journal of Finance Economics and Pensions, and SERIEs – Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, and is a regular contributor to lead media platforms as CNN Latin America, Forbes and El Pais.