EuroDIG 2024 › EuroDIG

Agnė Vaiciukevičiūtė

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania

Biography
Date of birth 1989 June 17

Education

2014-2019	Vilnius Tech Faculty of Business Management, Doctor of Social Sciences (Economics)
2017-2018	UNSW Business School, Sydney, Australia (part-time doctoral studies)
2012-2014	Vilnius Tech Faculty of Business Management, Master’s degree in International Business

Work experience

From 2021 January 4	Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania
2016-2020	Vilnius Tech Faculty of Business Management, Vice-Dean for Strategic Partnership
2020	Vilnius Tech Faculty of Business Management, Associate Professor of the Department of Financial Engineering

Alex Epshteyn

Head International WRC Spectrum Strategy for Amazon’s Project Kuiper

Alex Epshteyn, Head, International WRC Spectrum Strategy is the lead for WRC and ITU-R matters for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low latency, high quality broadband connectivity worldwide. In this role, he leads a team with responsibility for defining the strategy, developing technical studies, and developing contributions related to WRC Agenda Items and ITU activities for ITU working parties and regional groups.

Prior to this role, Alex Epshteyn was a satellite systems spectrum management engineer at the Boeing Company. He was the subject matter expert for all satellite telecommunications regulatory issues for the Boeing Company and in this role is responsible for overseeing and assisting Boeing commercial satellite projects on issues related to the filing and management of satellite orbits and satellite spectrum. In previous positions, Mr. Epshteyn was a senior engineer supporting NASA regulatory efforts.

Andrius Šemeškevičius

Head of Technology at Telia Lietuva

Andrius Šemeškevičius is the Head of Technology at Telia Lietuva since August 2014. With a wealth of experience, he previously served as an independent Board Member at AB Litgrid, Chair of Supervisory Council at Telia Latvija SIA, Head of Technology at Omnitel UAB and Teo AB, and IT Director at RIMI Baltic Group. Andrius is renowned for his leadership and expertise in the technology sector. He also contributes as a Supervisory Council Member at Tet (ex Lattelecom, Latvia) since April 2024.

From Lithuania, Andrius Šemeškevičius holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering Informatics from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.

Aušrinė Armonaitė

Minister of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania

Aušrinė Armonaitė is Minister of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania since December 2020. She is also the founder and the chair of the liberal political party “Laisvės partija”, which is a part of the current coalition government in Lithuania. Ms Armonaitė started her political career as a member of Vilnius City Council in 2015. She has been member of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) since 2016. The Minister has a solid background in economic policy, as she used to be a Rapporteur for the Sub-Committee on Transition and Development of the NATO PA Economics and Security Committee.

Aušrinė Armonaitė holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Vilnius University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Vilnius University.

Bernadette Lewis

Secretary General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

Ms. Bernadette Lewis was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation in August 2020. This is a historic appointment as she is the first female Secretary-general in the 120-year history of the CTO. This is indeed a major accomplishment that should encourage women everywhere to strive for the mastery of whatever profession they may choose and especially in science and technology.

Breaking the glass ceiling is not new to Ms. Lewis; she was also the first female Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and she is credited for making the CTU the foremost information and communication technology (ICT) inter-governmental institution in the Caribbean.

A national of Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Lewis brings to the CTO a wealth of experience in public and private sectors and is knowledgeable in national and regional ICT issues. The 4th Industrial Revolution, the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated financial contagion, is changing the world irrevocably, ushering us into an environment of unprecedented uncertainty. For the CTO, surviving, indeed thriving in this environment will necessitate innovative leadership, a deep understanding of ICT and faith and courage to deviate from the beaten paths of 20th Century thinking to build a 21st century organisation that is relevant and serves its members with integrity and excellence. Ms. Lewis brings these qualities to the CTO.

Carol Roach

IGF MAG Chair (2024), ICT strategist and e-Government expert for the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Over the last 30+ years, Carol has been a key player as an ICT strategist and an e-Government expert for the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. She has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of services through strategy development and implementation, change management, process redesign, and the procurement and deployment of solutions.

Carol has actively extended her expertise by working with regional and international organizations such as Red GEALC (Network of e-Government Experts in Latin America and the Caribbean), Organization of American States (OAS), CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market), Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and various United Nations organizations.

She is the current 2024 IGF MAG Chair. She is an advocate for the Small Island Developing States, ensuring at every opportunity that their voices are not left out. She is also a proponent for People, Prosperity, and Planet through responsible and sustainable use of internet and digital technologies.

Cecil Ameil

Director Regulatory Affairs, SES Legal

Cécil Ameil is Director for Regulatory Affairs, responsible for market access, policy and spectrum advocacy in Europe, Africa and Middle East for the satellite communications leader SES.

As a representative of SES, in charge of ensuring the effective regulatory compliance of SES video and data operations in the EMEA region, Cécil has long been a key interlocutor of government officials and regulators to contribute to the evolution of legislations and spectrum policies applicable to satellite communications, in a context of outstanding business developments for the satellite sector in 5G, Cloud and Mobile (aeronautical and maritime) platforms connectivity.

Cécil Ameil is also the chairman of the regulatory working group in GSOA (Global Satellite Operators Association). In this capacity, he represents the interests of the sector in Europe, Africa and Middle East towards national regulators and regional bodies including the EU, the CEPT, the African Telecom Union (ATU) and the ITU. This includes the coordination of the satellite sector’s efforts to defend access to, and usage of, essential radio spectrum at regional and ITU levels for the preparation of World Radiocommunications Conferences.

Looking back at 30 years of experience in dealing with regulatory affairs, Cécil Ameil is specialised in digital regulations for media and telecommunications. He is a French national and lives in Belgium.

Dalius Budvytis

Senior Managing Director in FTI Capital Advisors

Dalius Budvytis is a Senior Managing Director in FTI Capital Advisors, an investment bank with significant business in advising operators and investors in TMT and digital infrastructure. Throughout his career, Dalius has advised on M&A, capital transactions and strategies across the telecom value chain, including network operators, infrastructure suppliers and equipment vendors. Some of Dalius’ clients have been leading global operators, including lately focus on the Middle East and Central Asia, the names such as e& Group (Middle East), MTN Group (Africa), Axiata Group (Asia), Telenor Asia, Telstra (Australia) and some global Sovereign Wealth Funds and Private Equity investors.

Dalius Kazlauskas

CTO of Vilnius City, Smart City and Digitization Expert

Dalius Kazlauskas is the Chief Technology Officer of Vilnius City, recognized for demonstrating that public sector teams can operate with the efficiency of startups. He currently leads efforts in addressing artificial intelligence challenges, utilizing data for decision-making, and unifying municipal enterprises to achieve tangible results. A pioneer of open data in Lithuania, Dalius is dedicated to showcasing its practical benefits. He is also actively involved in volunteering and mentoring within GovTech and transparency organizations, and with teams guiding innovation direction for the city, promoting and encouraging experience sharing in the public sector.

David Goldman

Vice President, Satellite Policy, SpaceX

David Goldman is the Vice President of Satellite Policy for SpaceX. Prior to joining SpaceX in 2018, he was the Chief Counsel for the Communication and Technology Subcommittee since January 2015. Before that, he served as the Senior Legal Advisor for FCC then-Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. He was the Commissioner’s chief advisor on wireless, international, and public safety issues, along with responsibility for other issues of policy, strategy, public relations, and office operations.

David joined Commissioner Rosenworcel’s office from the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where he served on detail as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

Prior to serving on Capitol Hill, David served in a number of positions at the FCC, including in the office of Chairman Genachowski and as a Policy Advisor to the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. He joined the agency as an Honors Attorney, serving as Attorney Advisor in the Spectrum Competition and Policy Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Before this, he served as Staff Law Clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. He also worked as an associate at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York.

David received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.

Diana Seredokaitė

Director of Digital Agenda Department in the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania

Diana boasts over 20 years of managerial experience, demonstrating a proven track record in project leadership, IT governance and management. Her proficiency extends to ICT governance, project management, public services digitalization, business change management, and IS implementation. Notably, Diana has successfully overseen projects across diverse regions, including the Baltic States, Uzbekistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.

Dovilė Gaužauskienė

Innovation Expert at GovTech Lab Lithuania

Dovilė Gaižauskienė is a participatory design expert, recognized for extensive knowledge on co-creation processes. Dovilė focuses her efforts on co-creation of more human centric solutions in the public sector, bringing empathy to policy making and implementation. Dovilė is a co-founder of Performative Design association and member of Lithuanian Design Council. Dovilė worked as a strategic designer at Policy Lab at Government strategic analysis center STRATA, and currently, she’s a part of GovTech Lab Lithuania, working with implementation of Public Challenge series, GovTech Innovation Academy and Sandbox for public sector testing AI solutions.

Edita Gimžauskienė

Vice-Rector of Strategic Partnerships at Kaunas University of Technology

Prof. Dr. Edita Gimžauskienė is Vice-Rector of Strategic Partnerships at Kaunas University of Technology since 2023. Dean of School of Economics and Business of Kaunas University of Technology (2014–2023) Professor of Accounting and researcher of Digitalization research group at Kaunas University of Technology. In 2004 gained a Ph.D. degree in Social Sciences (Management and Administration). In 2014 participated in Stanford Technology Ventures Faculty Fellows Program, occupation skilled covered – Entrepreneurship education for engineers. The scientific interests of Edita Gimžauskienė are related to management accounting, performance measurement and assessment.

Gitanas Nausėda

The President of the Republic of Lithuania (Video message)

Ingrida Šimonytė

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania (Video message)

Irena Guidikova

Head of Democratic Institutions and Freedoms Department, Council of Europe

A graduate of Political Science and Political Philosophy from the Universities of Sofia (BG) and York (UK), Irena Guidikova has been working at the Council of Europe since 1994. She has worked in fields such as youth research, culture policy, democratic innovation anti-discrimination and migrant inclusion, children’s rights and sport Values. She is currently Head of Democratic Institutions and Freedoms Department.

Jacek Oko

President of the Office of Electronic Communications in Poland

Dr Eng. Jacek Oko is Scientist and manager with many years of experience. Associated with the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology and the Wroclaw Centre for Networking and Supercomputing. Author of many scientific publications.

His professional interests focus on technical, economic and legal aspects of telecommunications services and data communication networks, as well as on the development of the Internet, the convergence of telecommunications, information technology and media, and the problems of the information society.

Jūratė Šovienė

Chair of the Council of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Lithuania

She has 20-year experience in competition policy, regulation and strategy including leading positions at the Lithuanian Competition Council. She also served as Chief Legal Adviser to the President of Lithuania holding position of the Head of Legal Affairs Group at the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. Ms J. Šovienė has more than 10-year experience as the Senior Expert/Project Manager in a number of EU projects in the field of competition law.

Ms. J. Šovienė has experience in Academia too as the former Member of Economics Study Program Committee at Kaunas University of Technology, research fellow and the lecturer of administrative law. In 2016, Ms J. Šovienė was awarded a prize by Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for a co-authored monography “The Impact of Cartels on National Economy and Competitiveness”. She was also recognized as one of the 40 Notable Women Competition Professionals in Enforcement in Europe, the Americas, Africa (by W@Competition, 2019) and was awarded the State Award the Medal of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas for the significant contribution to the protection of fair competition by the President of Lithuania (2018). After taking position of the Chair of the Council of Lithuanian regulator, Ms. J. Šovienė participated as the speaker at many national and international conferences, joined the BEREC Board of Regulators.

Ms. J. Šovienė has Master’s degrees in Business Management and Law.

Laurent Jaffart

Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications (D/CSC) and Head of ECSAT in Harwell, UK, European Space Agency

Laurent Jaffart is the European Space Agency’s Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications and Head of ECSAT in Harwell, United Kingdom, since 15 May 2024.

In this role, Mr Jaffart leads the ESA satellite telecommunication programme, including the implementation of the full portfolio of the ARTES 4.0 programme activities, Moonlight, Civil Security from Space and the ESA contributions to the EU Secure Connectivity Programme, IRIS2, in collaboration with the European Commission.

Under the ARTES 4.0 programme, Mr Jaffart is responsible for deploying the strategic programme lines related to 5G/6G non-terrestrial network integration, secure communications, and quantum/optical technologies all the while developing pioneering and competitive technologies and partnership projects with European and Canadian industry.

From France, Mr Jaffart has over 20 years of experience in the European space sector, most notably in several senior leadership roles at Airbus Defence and Space, where he most recently was the Vice-President and Head of Strategy for Corporate and New Business Development in Space Systems.

European Space Agency is working to converge satellite and terrestrial capabilities, supporting European connectivity for citizens and enhancing industrial competitiveness. Space is enabling the efficient use of spectrum, more secure governmental connectivity, development of quantum networking opportunities and the eventual realisation of interplanetary connectivity.

Karolis Žemaitis

Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania

Lise Fuhr

Director General, European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO)

Lise is Director General of ETNO, the Association representing Europe’s leading telecom operators, which she joined in 2016.

Since August 2022, Lise has been a member of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum Leadership Panel, serving a two-year term upon being nominated. She is also a Board member of European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO).

For 6 years, up until 2022, Lise was the Chairwoman of the Boards of Public Interest Registry (.org domain name registry) and the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), formerly IANA, and affiliate of ICANN.

Prior to joining ETNO, Lise was Chief Operating Officer of DK Hostmaster and DIFO, the company managing .dk domain names. From September 2014 to October 2016, Lise also chaired the Cross Community Working Group for the IANA Stewardship Transition, building on her strong network within the internet community. Lise has 20+ years of experience in the internet and telecoms industries. She is a lifelong member of ATV – the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences – an independent think tank.

Marija Pejčinović Burić

Secretary General of the Council of Europe

The Secretary General has the overall responsibility for the strategic management of the Organisation. Ms Pejčinović Burić was elected in June 2019.

Biography of Marija Pejčinović Burić

Born: 1963
Nationality: Croatian
Languages: French, English, Spanish – active knowledge; German – passive knowledge

Education

1993 – 1994 College of Europe, Bruges (Belgium) and Warsaw (Poland), Post-graduate study – Master in European Studies
1980 – 1985 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia Bachelor of Science Degree

Work Experience

June 2017 – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
May – November 2018 Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
November 2016 – June 2017 State Secretary, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

Mirjam Kühne

RIPE Chair

Mirjam Kühne has served as the Chair of the RIPE Community since 2020. Mirjam has been a member of the RIPE community for over twenty years and has served as Senior Community Builder at the RIPE NCC for the past decade. She has a deep knowledge of the Internet community and collaborates regularly with stakeholders from various sectors including technical, security, academic and government. This included establishing and maintaining relationships with regional and local operator communities. Mirjam also created and curated RIPE Labs, a collaborative platform that supports innovative ideas and tools for the community.

Prior to this role, Mirjam worked at the Internet Society as Senior Program Manager where she developed and organised technical workshops primarily in developing countries. During those years, Mirjam intensified her involvement with the IETF where she served as the Chair of the IETF Education Team for over ten years. She is currently a member of the IETF LLC Board of Directors.

Mirjam obtained a Masters of Computer Science at the Technical University Berlin, Germany.

Natalia Vicente

Vice President Public Affairs, Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA)

Natalia Vicente is Vice President of Public Affairs at GSOA, Global Satellite Operators Association, where she works closely with the Director General and the CEOs of GSOA Member companies to drive forward high-level advocacy for the satellite communications sector. Specifically, Natalia focusses on the Development Agenda working with international organisations to ensure nation states understand the value of leveraging available satellite communications services to bridge digital, education and health divides in their countries.

Natalia is a Co-Chair of the EQUALS Access Coalition and served as a Board Member of the European Internet Forum for two mandates. Natalia has over a decade of experience in the digital sector, focusing on public policy, government relations and building international partnerships.

Natalia is a qualified lawyer with an LLM from the University Autonoma of Madrid and holds a Master of Business Administration specialised in Marketing. She is a Spanish national, lives in Brussels and speaks 4 languages.

Pearse O’Donohue

Director for Future Networks policy and research within the European Commission

Pearse O’Donohue is the Director for Future Networks policy and research within the European Commission. As well as communications networks and computing technologies, his brief covers next generation Internet technologies and standards and Internet governance. In this capacity, for the last seven years Pearse has represented the European Commission in the IGF and at ICANN, at many gatherings of the multistakeholder community and contributing to the implementation of the Tunis Agenda from the EU perspective. Most recently, he represented the European Commission at NetMundial. Pearse is Chair of the EU High-Level Internet Governance Group. He previously served as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the then Vice-President of the Commission, Neelie Kroes, during which time he steered the first European Commission policy Communication on Internet Governance.

Sandra Hoferichter

Secretary General
Germany, Leipzig

Shortbio

She became involved in Internet governance processes in 2006 by managing projects – such as the European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG) – for Medienstadt Leipzig e. V., a German not for profit organization which she is chairing since 2020.
In 2010 Sandra was elected as one out of three European representatives to ICANN’s At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), where she served until November 2016 and later on represented the ALAC at ICANN’s Nominating Committee (NomCom) from 2016 – 2018.
In 2017 she was appointed to EURid’s Strategic Committee, served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of EURid – the registry for the .eu domain starting in May 2018, and was elected as the Chair of the Board of Directors of EURid in May 2020.
Sandra’s contributions, both to the ICANN community and the efforts within the IGF fora, are dedicated to facilitate a collaboration ground for different stakeholder groups and to develop participation processes that are public, inclusive and transparent.
Sandra holds a degree in Architecture from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) and worked as a single entrepreneur architect from 1997 – 2011. How she moved from Architecture to Internet Governance you can find out at hoferichter.eu

Thomas Schneider

Ambassador, Switzerland; President, EuroDIG Support Association

Ambassador Thomas Schneider is leading the Swiss delegation in various fora in the field of digital and internet governance, including AI.

In the past 20 years, he has been chairing several international committees and co-initiated several dialogue fora on national and international levels. He is currently the chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee on AI (CAI), mandated to negotiate a binding convention on AI.

He has been a co-initiator of EuroDIG and is the president of its Support Association, since 2012. He is a bureau member of the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (he was its chair in 2018-19 and vice-chair in 2020-21). He chaired several CDMSI expert groups. He has also been a member of the bureau of the CoE’s Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence in 2019-2021. From 2014-2017, he was the chair of ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee and in this role negotiated the compromise among governments and with the other stakeholders regarding the “IANA Stewardship transition”, the biggest reform in the ICANN system. He was a vice-chair of the OECD’s Committee for Digital Economy Policy (2020-2022). He was responsible for the organization of the 12th UN IGF in Geneva in 2017 co-chair of the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group in 2017. He participated in the meetings of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, as personal advisor of Swiss president Doris Leuthard (2018-2019). He has also been a co-initiator of the Swiss Internet Governance Forum, since 2013. Since 2003, he has been coordinating the Swiss activities with regard to the follow-up of the UN World Summit on the Information Society.

Tomas Lamanauskas

Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Tomas Lamanauskas took office as Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 1 January 2023.

In this key elected role, he assists the ITU Secretary-General with managing the organization, addressing the needs of ITU’s unique, global public-private membership, and pursuing key strategic objectives to promote inclusive digital transformation in line with sustainable development.

Mr Lamanauskas aims to forge impact-driven partnerships to advance global connectivity, help the information and communication technology industry cut emissions and address the climate crisis, and implement results-oriented management, with maximum transparency and accountability, to ready ITU for a dynamic future. As Deputy Secretary-General, he fosters close collaboration across varied radiocommunication, standardization, and development activities, reinforcing the collective role of ITU’s five elected officials as a single, highly effective team.