List of Speakers: A, B, C

(To update your biography, please contact us at edevelopment@worldbank.org)

A,B,C    D,E,F   G,H,I   J,K,L   M,N,O   P,Q,R,S   T,U,V   W,X,Y,Z

Abbasov, Ali - Minister of ICT, Azerbaijan

Prof. Dr. Ali M. Abbasov is the Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He was appointed to this position by the President on February 20, 2004. Prof. Dr. Abbasov supports designing and implementation of structural reforms, liberalization, speeding up of privatization process of JVs and state-owned production entities, establishment of independent telecom regulatory authority. He is also a strong supporter of democratization of society with ICT tools, as an initiator of being one of sponsors of WSIS Tunis Phase to establish Information Society in Azerbaijan as well in the region, achieving transparent systems with E-Governance projects, using ICT as a driving force of economy, as well government administration to improve G2C, G2B, B2B relations, creation of good conditions for implementation of ICT in education,  supporting distance learning in Azerbaijan, especially in the regions, creation of legal, administrative and economical bases for good investment climate in the ICT sector of Azerbaijan economy. He is adherent to the idea that Azerbaijan can and must  a “hub” of the region on ICT and to this end Azerbaijan should create good conditions for Free Economic Zones, as well as techno-polis, and Free E-Content Zones to make more possibilities of accessing to information resources. Prof. Dr. Ali M. Abbasov obtained his Degree “Doctor of Science” in 1993 and received the scientific title of professor in the field of informatics in 1996. He is an author of more than 120 scientific-technical publications (mainly published in foreign countries), as well as 6 monographs, and has participated at many international conferences, symposiums and forums. He speaks English and Russian, and is married and has two children.

Alavi, Hamid R. - Senior Private Sector Development Spec., MNSIF, World Bank

Hamid Alavi is currently the Regional Trade and Transport Facilitation Coordinator for the MENA Region.  In addition to several years of policy advice to client governments, he has substantial operational experience in MENA and other regions, related to private sector development, competitiveness and export development.  Some recent work that he has managed include Tunisia export development projects 1 and 2, trade logistics assessments in Syria and Yemen, Trade facilitation work in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan, as well as ICT strategy for Tunisia.

Andersen, Kim Viborg - Professor at the Department of Informatics, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Dr. Andersen is vice-chair of the IFIP WG 8.4 on interdisciplinary e-business and in various editorial boards. Also, he has served as study director for the M.Sc. e-commerce degree at the IT University in Denmark. He teaches graduate courses on IT and organizations. Business process reengineering and digital transformation of government is the key teaching areas. In his role as researcher in organizational and policy aspects of IT, Professor Andersen has managed and been involved in several national and international projects, primarily in the US and Asia. In Asia, he has conducted scoping and implementation of projects in China, Pakistan, Vietnam , Laos, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka . His book publications include “Public Sector Process Rebuilding” (2004), “EDI and Data Networking in the Public Sector” (1998) and “Information systems in the public service” (1995).

Annenberg, Daniel - former Superintendent, Poupatempo Program, Brazil

Daniel was the Superintendent from 1999 to 2006, and an Advisor for the Program since 1996. From 1993-1994, he worked as Coordinator for the Studies and Research Board of the National School of Public Administration, in Brasilia, and as Advisor for the Federal Administration Department. From 1990-1992 , Mr. Annenberg was an Advisor for the Administration Department and for the Special Department for Administrative Reform for the city of São Paulo.

Auffret, Jean-Pierre - Director of the Technology Management Program, George Mason University

Prior to joining George Mason, Dr. Auffret had over fifteen years experience in the global telecommunications industry, most recently as a director with MCI and its joint venture with British Telecom, Concert. Dr. Auffret has a B.S. degree from Duke University, an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Physics from American University.

Aziz, Kareem - ICT Policy Specialist, CITST, GICT, World Bank

Kareem Abdel Aziz is an ICT Policy Specialist with the Global Information and Communications Department. His responsibilities include strategy formulation for the department’s two units representing the IFC and World Bank. He is also GICT’s anchor Regional Coordinator for the World Bank’s South Asia Region, where he is responsible for coordinating the department’s overall work-program for the region and related business development activities. In his previous role at the World Bank, Kareem was responsible for the development of the South Asia Region ICT Strategy for the World Bank (eSAR). The strategy included a three year program to develop the Bank’s ICT business in South Asia.  Prior to joining the World Bank, Kareem was a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Accenture. Kareem has an MBA from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree, with honors, from Rutgers University.

Bassat, José-Manuel - Senior Communication Officer, EXTCD, World Bank

José-Manuel Bassat is Senior Communication Officer at the Development Communication Division of the World Bank's External Affairs office (EXTCD). He advises clients in Latin America, the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa on how to develop communication programs to build consensus around and get support for institutional and economic reforms. Mr. Bassat has extensive experience in the area of communications for legal and judicial reform, designing civic education programs to foster the rule of law. He works with the judiciaries of Russia, Georgia and Peru, among others, to help bridge the gap between them and the citizens they serve. He holds a bachelor's degree in Russian Studies from the University of London and a master's degree in International Relations and Economics from SAIS-Johns Hopkins University. A native of Spain, he is fluent in Spanish, Catalan, English, French, Italian, and Russian.

Bharwaj, Rajan - Senior Information Officer, World Bank

Rajan has been involved in software development for 17 years and has worked in a diverse set of projects - from network software management, airline software to portals and internet platforms. His current responsibilities include managing technology aspects of World Bank's internet and portal platform, enterprise content management and web content management. He is also active in advising internal and external clients on IT strategy and enterprise architecture.

Bhatia, Deepak - Manager, ISG e-Government Practice, the World Bank

Deepak is the Manager of the e-Government Practice, ISG at the World Bank. He has broad knowledge of the intricacy of IT and a deep understanding of the complexity of strategy development for process and IT integration. Deepak's expertise guides E-Government Practice in providing tactical, operational, and facilitation services to the Bank's operational teams. Under his leadership the e-Gove team assists with the identification, assessment, and re-engineering of IT components in operational projects and oversees the Informatics components of Bank loans in several countries. Having joined the World Bank in 1984, Deepak brings 20 years of knowledge and experience in providing support to Bank's operations involving IT components. His experience includes: manager for the Operations and Resource Management systems for systems renewal; manager for the Information and Document Management team in ISG; and project manager for the sector-theme reclassification project. Deepak holds Masters degrees in Computer Applications (M. Eng) and in Business Administration (M.B.A)

Bhatnagar , Subhash - adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA)

Subhash Bhatnagar is an adjunct professor with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and works nearly half time as a consultant advisor on e-Government with the World Bank in Washington DC. He has been responsible for mainstreaming E-Government applications in the activities of the Bank during the last five years. As a tenured professor at IIMA from 1975 to 2003, he held various positions: CMC Chair Professorship in Information Technology; member of the board of governors and Dean. He also coordinated two of IIMA’s externally funded research centers: Telecom Policy Study Centre and the Center of Electronic Governance. He has taught in the US, Kenya and Tanzania. His current interests are in E-Government and ICT for rural development. He has advised World Bank client countries on E-government strategies. He has published over a hundred articles and 8 books including a book on E-Government: from vision to implementation published by SAGE, in 2004. He has been a consultant to UNDP, GTZ, UNESCO, IFAD for work related to ICT use in development. He is a member of the Apex Advisory Committee on e-Government chaired by the Minister of ICT, Government of India. He has been a keynote speaker in dozens of conferences around the world on e-Government. He delivered the Pinkerton Memorial Lecture instituted by the IEE UK in June 2005 in London. He founded a Working Group in International Federation of Information Processing called Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries which he chaired from 1989-95. He was the chief editor of the international Journal on IT and Development published by IOS Press and is on the editorial boards of six other international journals. He is a recipient of IFIP Silver Core, and the Fellowship of the Computer Society of India.

Brodman, Janice - Director of Center for Innovative Technologies, EDC, Inc.

In this capacity, Janice has managed complex, innovative projects that support capacity-building among public and private sector organizations in the US and developing countries. Her particular area of focus is the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve organizational performance. She has conducted numerous assignments in technology cooperation for a wide range of development agencies, including various United Nations agencies, multilateral banks, USAID, other international organizations, and country ministries. Dr. Brodman also served as Professional Associate for a major U.S. management consulting firm to develop ICT strategies methodologies for Fortune 500 corporations. She is the author of a number of seminal works on the factors contributing to successful use of new technologies in developing countries. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Borras, John - Associate, Gov3 Limited

John Borras has spent the majority of his career working on the development of ICT systems, policies, strategies and procedures for central and local government in the United Kingdom. He has an extensive knowledge of a wide range of issues relating to e-government and e-voting both at the business, information and technical levels. His main areas of expertise are at the strategy and policy levels and he is regarded by colleagues as one of the UK’s foremost experts on e-government and e-voting standards. Most recently he was the Chief Executive of the Local e-Government Standards Body (LeGSB), and was responsible for the development of policies and procedures relating to the approval and setting of standards that will support local government meet their e-service delivery targets. Prior to that he worked in the Office of e-Envoy (and subsequently the Cabinet Office’s e-Government Unit) where he was the Director of Technology, responsible for the UK’s e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) and other e-government and e-voting technical policies and standards. Before joining the OeE he spent over 30 years in the Inland Revenue, the majority of his time being spent on data and information management and IS/ICT Strategy. He has represented the UK government on various international working groups, developing e-government and e-voting strategies, data interchange procedures and standards, and enterprise architectures. He is a past Director of OASIS, the international e-business consortium, and has until recently chaired two OASIS Technical Committees, one on e-government standards and another on e-voting standards.

Boswell, Nancy Zucker - President & CEO, Transparency International, USA

Nancy heads the U.S. chapter of the global non-profit organization dedicated to combating corruption. She works with government officials, multilateral institutions, and the private sector to promote the international agenda.  She is also a member of the Transparency International board of directors. Ms. Boswell has practiced international law at Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C., focusing on extraterritorial jurisdiction, export controls, and customs and trade disputes. Previously, she was responsible for congressional liaison at the American Association of University Women and international financial matters at Citibank. Among her affiliations are the USAID Advisory Committee for Voluntary Foreign Aid, the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and the US Trade Representative’s Trade & Environmental Policy Advisory Committee.   Her board service includes PACT, which focuses on civil society, and the International Senior Lawyers Project, which provides pro bono legal advice to NGOs around the world.   Ms. Boswell is a member of the Conference Board Working Group on Global Business Ethics Principles and the Carnegie Endowment study group on Managing Global Issues.  Ms. Boswell is a summa cum laude graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law.

Braga, Carlos - Senior Adviser, PRMVP. World Bank

Carlos Alberto Primo Braga, a Brazilian national, is currently Senior Adviser, Global Partnerships, PRMV, The World Bank. Until recently he was based in Geneva, where he was responsible for covering international trade issues of relevance to developing countries vis-à-vis European-based institutions, including the OECD, the European Commission, UNCTAD and the WTO.  He acts also as a Senior Adviser of the Vice-President and Chief Information Officer of the World Bank. Before assuming this position on September 1, 2003, Dr. Braga was the Senior Manager of the Informatics Program at the Information Solutions Group of the World Bank.  He was also the director of the Development Gateway initiative -- a web-based initiative for sharing information on development-related topics.   Previously, Dr. Braga was the Manager of  infoDev (the Information for Development Program), 1997-2001, a multi-donor grant facility administered by the Global Information and Communication Technologies Department, The World Bank.  In that capacity, he was responsible for a portfolio of more than 200 innovative projects funded by infoDev grants worldwide.  He was also in charge of the Bank's Y2K outreach activities in the period 1998-2000.

Dr. Braga joined the World Bank Group in 1991, as an economist in the International Trade Division of the Bank's International Economics Department.  Over the 1991-94 period, he was responsible for research and projects focusing on trade in services, intellectual property rights, regional integration agreements, and trade and the environment.  He was the main author of a Board paper on regionalism and, together with UNCTAD staff, prepared Liberalizing International Trade in Services: A Handbook (1994).  In 1995, he moved to the Industry & Energy Department as a Senior Economist. Prior to joining the Bank, Dr. Braga served as a consultant to the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990.  He was a Fulbright Scholar (1988/89) at the Paul Nitze School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University and taught there as a visiting professor over the 1988-98 period.  He was an assistant professor at the Faculdade de Economia e Administracao (University of Sao Paulo) and Senior Researcher at the Fundacao Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas, both in Brazil, in the 1980s.  He has also been a lecturer on the economics of intellectual property rights at the World Trade Institute, University of Berne, Switzerland. Dr. Braga received a degree in Mechanical Engineering (1976) from the Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica (Brazil), and an MSc (1980) in Economics from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  He holds a PhD (1984) in Economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Bruce, Colin - Country Director - Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia, World Bank

Colin Bruce, a Guyanese national, joined the World Bank in August 1988 through its Young Professionals program. Since then, he has held regional and corporate assignments such as a country economist for India and Kenya, and an adviser in the Office of the Managing Director, Operations. While working as Country Economist for Kenya in the late 80s, Mr. Bruce was involved in reforms in the trade, finance, agriculture and public sectors. His most recent assignment was as Senior Manager in the World Bank’s Operational Policy and Country Services division. While in this position, Mr. Bruce served as co-chair within the global working group on aid effectiveness and donor practices set up by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The group’s mandate was to encourage more effective use of development assistance by developing countries and more efficient and supportive donor practices. He also chaired the global steering group that was responsible for the recently concluded ministerial forum on aid effectiveness held in Paris in March 2005. Mr. Bruce’s priorities will include building on the working relationship with the Government and parliament, and working with development partners to improve donor collaboration. He also plans to expand the current dialogue on reforms with civil society to include faith-based groups, the private sector and trade unions. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Bruce was an economist with the Caribbean Development Bank.

Burk, Richard - Chief Architect, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), USA
 
In his role as Chief Architect, Office of E-Government and Information Technology, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Mr. Burk is responsible for the Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office (FEA PMO). Prior to OMB, he was the Chief Architect for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was responsible for the development and delivery of HUD's Enterprise Architect Practice, Data Management Practice and Strategic Planning Process. Mr. Burk's 30-year career at HUD Headquarters spanned the research, demonstration and management of most federal activities in the fields of community development and housing rehabilitation.

Chandrashekhar, R. - Additional Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, India.

R. Chandrashekhar joined the Government of India is 1975 as a member of the Indian Administrative Service, the country’s premier civil service. Ever since, he has held a wide variety of key assignments, both in the Government of India and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. He established the first Department of Information Technology in the country and was Secretary of the department from June, 1997 to December, 1999. From July, 1996 as CMD of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and from June, 1997 as CMD, APIIC and concurrently Secretary, Department of Information Technology and Communications, he masterminded the conceptualization, planning and implementation of various key initiatives in the state in the field of Information Technology. The comprehensive program drawn up covered, inter alia, creation of requisite infrastructure (HITEC City, etc.), strategic human resources development initiatives (Indian Institute of Information Technology, etc.) and evolving a comprehensive policy framework for adoption of IT in governance. The framework that was evolved was widely regarded as path breaking and catapulted the State to the forefront of IT development in the country. It became a role model for most other states, which sent several teams to study the experience of AP and emulated the ideas and concepts pioneered in the State. The unique program that was evolved powered the IT revolution in the State, attracted global attention and was widely covered in the national and international media.
Mr. Chandrashekhar has a deep understanding of the issues and problems related to IT implementations in Government and experience in finding innovative solutions to such problems in field conditions. He has abundant experience in dealing with the working alongside highly reputed international consultants on major IT projects. He has been associated with a wide variety of organizations like UNESCAP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and events relating to all aspects of IT as a key resource person, speaker and consultant. He has wide and varied experience in international business negotiations. He received a M.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Chipchase, Jan - Principal Researcher, Nokia Design

Jan is one of a team of researchers and anthropologists working at Nokia. Based within the design organization at Nokia, his job is to study people around the world -- how they behave, communicate and interact with each other and the things around them. He shares his observations and insights with Nokia designers, who often accompany him on field trips, helping them to create new ideas for how mobile devices will look, work and will be used in the future. Most of his time is spent in the field conducting research projects. This takes him out onto the streets, into people’s homes and public spaces to observe, document and analyze the rich tapestry of everyday life. Recent projects include visiting Uganda to look at shared phone use, several trips to India to look at how design can make mobile devices more accessible to people with low or non-existent levels of literacy, and a study in South Korea looking at how early adopters were reacting to the then recently launched mobile TV. Jan has a Masters in User Interface Design, and a degree in Development Economics. He is based in Nokia’s Insight and Innovation Studio in Tokyo, his home since 2000. He has had three patents -- with a further 25 pending -- on topics that range from interaction methods, ubiquitously connected societies and seamless communication

Cho, Chung Mun - Director, KADO, Korea

Dr. Cho is Director of the Division of International Cooperation & Planning of the Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, in charge of international cooperation for helping promote informatization of developing nations and the KOIL (Korea IT learning program) which offers training opportunities to government officials and other experts. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Sociology and prior to taking his current position, has taught social science related subjects in University, has been a Senior Researcher in the Department of IT Policy Development at the National Computerization Agency from 1999 to 2002, and also has worked as a consultant with ESCAP and World Bank in the field of ICT development of developing nations. His major research work includes "Current State of the Digital Divide and Policies for Closing the Digital Divide(2000)", "Study on the Use of Online Information among the Information Poor and the Ways to Promote their Use of Online Information(2000)", "Study on the Ways to Promote the Participation of Private Sector in Closing the Digital Divide(2001)", "Survey on the Informatization of the elderly, people with disabilities, and low income people of lower than 50(2002)", "E-Learning, Is it tool for social inclusion (2004)", amongst others.

Ciafardini, Andrew D. - Government-to-Citizen e-Government Portfolio Manager, Office of Management and Budget, USA

Andrew D. Ciafardini directs strategies for improving the public’s access to Federal government information and benefits utilizing the latest available technology. Helping agencies improve their program service delivery while also saving taxpayer dollars is part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), with many of the initiatives coordinated by OMB’s Office of E-Gov and Information Technology. Andrew works with agencies to make government more efficient and effective by providing government benefits and resources online. In addition, he coordinates activities related to the SmartBUY initiative, which leverages the federal government’s buying power to ensure best prices and federal cost savings. Previously Andrew served as Assistant Chief of Protocol for Visits at the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity he oversaw the operations of the Visits Division including the coordination of public relations and media affairs. Leading the staff of the division, he managed the visits of high-level foreign dignitaries to the United States for meetings with the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. Preceding his appointment at the State Department, Andrew served at The White House as Deputy Director of Scheduling for Research and was responsible for the development of an innovative electronic Presidential scheduling system. Andrew is a native of Cincinnati and is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax,Va. where he earned a bachelor’s of science in management.

Cole, Piper - former Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs, Sun Microsystems

Until recently, Piper Cole was Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs of Sun Microsystems, Inc., and is responsible to Sun's Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors for the development and execution of Sun's global public policy agenda and leads Sun's Global Public Policy & Government Affairs Department. Ms. Cole is on the Executive Committee of the Board of ITI (Information Technology Industry Council), on the Board of SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association), and BIPAC (Business and Industry Political Action Committee), and was formerly on the boards of AEA (American Electronics Industry) and the Public Affairs Council. She was chair the Public Policy Expert Group of the Liberty Alliance and co-chair the Public Policy Council of TechNet. Ms. Cole represented Sun on the Computer Systems Policy Project (now known as the Technology CEO Council), an organization comprised of the CEOs of the largest U.S. computer systems and networking companies, and, in that capacity, led the team that negotiated the computer industry's Model Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Department of Energy, chaired the CSPP Trade Committee, chaired the Technology Controls Working Group which was a lead group in negotiating the recent changes to the export controls on encryption technology. Prior to this position at Sun, Ms. Cole was chief legal counsel for Sun's World Wide Operations, responsible for negotiating multi-million dollar contracts for the company in the areas of inventory procurement, technology development, and licensing. She also established and monitored Sun's confidentiality agreement policies. Prior to joining Sun, Ms. Cole was corporate counsel for ComputerLand Corporation and MicroAge Computer Stores, Inc., and prior to that she was in private practice with a San Francisco law firm.

Ms. Cole received a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a B.A. in Political Science from United States International University. Ms. Cole is on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Peninsula Jewish Community Center, was the first woman president of Lawyer Friends of Wine, and is a co-founder and Commandeur of the Sous-Commanderie de Silicon Valley of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.

Crescia, Elena - Director of International Relations of FF Pesquisa & Consultoria/e-stratégia pública, Brazil

Elena Crescia is the Director of International Relations of FF Pesquisa & Consultoria / e-stratégia pública, a consulting firm based in Brazil focused in e-government. She has 10+ years experience working as a consultant for local and federal governments and NGOs in South America and for international organizations in New York, Paris and Geneva. Elena has a Master of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (NY, USA), and a DESS on Project Evaluation from the Institute of Economic and Social Development of Sorbonne University (Paris, France).