Speakers

The Rt. Hon. Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg was appointed as the sixth Chief Minister of Sarawak on 13th January 2017. He is the youngest son of the first Governor of Sarawak, the late Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg bin Abang Sapiee

Born in Limbang on 4th August 1950, he obtained his Masters of Business Management from Brunnel University in the United Kingdom. He received his early education at Sekolah Rendah Merpati Jepang in Kuching and later at St. Joseph’s School, also in Kuching.

He entered politics in 1977 as Parti Pesaka Bumiputra (PBB) youth leader and was first elected to the State Legislative Assembly when he won the Satok seat in 1981. In 1982, he was appointed as the Chief Political Secretary to the Chief Minister. After the state elections in 1983, he was appointed to the post of Assistant Minister of Regional and Community Development.

After winning the Satok state seat again in 1987, he became Minister of Industrial Development and a member of the State Cabinet. In 2000, he was appointed as the Minister of Tourism before being given the portfolio of the Minister of Housing in 2004 and the Minister of Housing and Urbanisation in 2009.

After retaining the Satok state seat in the 2011 state elections, he became the Minister of Housing and Minister of Tourism. Then in 2016, he was a Deputy Chief Minister and held portfolios of the Minister of Housing and Urbanisation as well as Minister of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

He has been Member of Dewan Undangan Negeri for Satok for nine consecutive terms: 1981, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. He was awarded the State Award of Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Datuk Patinggi Bintang Kenyalang (D.P) which carries the title of ‘Datuk Patinggi’ on  9^th September 2017, Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Kenyalang Sarawak (D.A) which carries the title ‘Datuk Amar’ in 2008, Johan Bintang Sarawak (JBS) in 1985, Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak (PNBS) in 1990, Pingat Perkhidmatan Bakti (PPB Perak) in 1988 and Pingat Jubli Emas (Gold) in 2013.

He assumed the posts of President of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak, Chairman of Barisan Nasional Sarawak and Chairman of Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (MKKN) after being appointed as Chief Minister on 13th January 2017.

He is also the Chairman of Yayasan Sarawak, Chairman of Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), Chairman of the State Planning Authority (SPA), Chairman of Sarawak Higher Education Fund (SHEF), Chairman of Sarawak State Mineral Authority (SSMA), Chairman of the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB), Chairman of Sarawak Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) and Chairman of Sarawak Mosques Trust Board.

Since 2009, he’s been the President of Saberkas.

Tun Musa Hitam, who is currently Chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation was Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister until 1986. In the course of his service in the Malaysian government, he held various positions including Minister of Home Affairs, Education, Primary Industries and Trade and Industries and Chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA). Among his major official activities were as Leader of Malaysian Investment Missions to Europe, USA and Japan and representing Malaysia at UN UNESCO and ECOSOC related negotiating and regular conferences.

Since Tun Musa’s retirement from politics in 1987, he held Chairmanships of 3 Public Listed Companies and various business related institutions both at domestic and international levels. He was Chairman of the Malaysia – China Business Council, Co-Chair of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the Asean – China, 15 year economic cooperation program and Chairman of the EPG to draft the Asean Charter. Currently, Tun Musa is Chairman of the Sime Darby Foundation, Chairman of the International Advisory Panel of CIMB Bank, Chairman of the International Selection Panel of the Royal Award on Islamic Finance and member of the Advisory Panel of the Iskandar Development Authority.

Tun Musa holds a BA from the University of Malaya and MA from the University of Sussex, and held a resident Fellowship at Harvard University. For his services to the nation, The Yang Di Pertuan Agong, King, of Malaysia conferred him the Malaysia’s highest award which carries the title “Tun”.

Steve Wozniak has helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products the Apple I and II as well as influenced the popular Macintosh. He was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985 which is the highest honour for American leading innovators. In 2000, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for single-handedly designing the first personal computer. He’s chief scientist at Primary Data and an author. His book iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon was published in September 2006 by Norton Publishing was a New York Times bestselling autobiography.  In 2014, he was awarded the Hoover Medal and was inducted into the Industry Week Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Alan Laubsch is a risk and ecosystems researcher as well as a founder of the Natural Capital Alliance (NCA). He currently runs the Natural Capital Markets group at Lykke. It provides instant liquidity for Natural Capital Coins without transaction fees. He started his career as a researcher with JPMorgan’s corporate risk management group in New York after receiving a degree in Industrial Engineering at Stanford University in 1993. He is one of 25 founding members of the RiskMetrics Group that’s now part of MSCI Inc., where he authored Risk Management: A Practical Guide in 1999. His most recent publication is Adaptive Risk Management: Powered by Network Science.

Andreas Hatzigeorgiou is not only the chief economist at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce but also research fellow at the Ratio Institute. He’s a member of the Carnegie New Leaders Program and a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Analytical Sociology at Linköping University. He served as advisor to Sweden’s minister for Trade and Nordic Cooperation and worked for the World Bank in Washington D.C. as well as Sweden’s National Board of Trade. He received his PhD in economics from Lund University, Sweden and a master’s degree as Fulbright Scholar from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His undergraduate studies were conducted at the University of Washington and at Stockholm University. He has published in various journals on globalisation, international economics and the internationalisation of businesses. He has been the recipient of several grants and scholarships and was awarded the Ohlin Prize in Economics.

Andreas Schleicher is the director for education and skills, and special advisor on education policy to the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As a key member of the OECD’s senior management team, he supports the Secretary-General’s strategy to produce analysis and policy advice that advances economic growth and social progress.

In addition to policy and country reviews, he oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD survey of adult skills (PIAAC), the OECD skills strategy, the OECD teaching and learning International survey (TALIS), as well as the development and analysis of benchmarks on the performance of education systems (INES).

Schleicher was director for analysis at the International Association for Educational Achievement (IEA). He’s a recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Theodor Heuss prize. He studied physics in Germany and received a degree in mathematics as well as statistics in Australia and holds an honorary professorship at the University of Heidelberg.

Anu Chadha is the founder and CEO of 3A Clothing Company producing fashion apparel and accessories. It’s a fashion export house with state of the art manufacturing facilities in Udyog Vihar, close to New Delhi’s international airport. As of 2016, 3A Clothing became a registered vendor to Walmart for fashion apparel and accessories from India. She won the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) Business Award 2016 from India but held in Brussels. She was also awarded the Entrepreneurship Icon award by the Women Economic Forum 2016 in New Delhi and was a featured panelist on business channels such as Bloomberg Television.

Armin is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, award-winning advertising professional and a co-founder of MyBazar social marketplace. Professionally he held positions as creative and design director for some of the leading marketing and branding firms. He designed and delivered global product launch campaigns for brands such as Adidas, Mercedes, H&M, BMW, Pepsi and others. Recently, Armin was recognised among 500 most influential figures in the global Islamic Economy. Armin has a master’s degree from the Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, Sweden.

Brian W. Tang is the founder of Asia Capital Markets Institute (ACMI), a platform for global thought leadership, industry-wide consensus-building and transformational technology. ACMI’s fintech focus includes Online Capital Marketplaces, RegTech and Artificial Intelligence. He worked as a corporate finance lawyer on some of the world’s largest financial services and technology fundraisings such as Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, law firms Sullivan & Cromwell in New York as well as Silicon Valley and Mallesons in Perth, Australia. He’s currently the founder of educational social enterprise Young Makers & ChangeMakers and also the co-chairman of Hong Kong’s fintech association, RegTech Committee. He has contributed chapters to The FinTech Book, Reconceptualising Global Finance and Its Regulation and the upcoming The RegTech Book on AI responsibility frameworks.

With more than two decades of business operational and management expertise under her belt, Camelia Tan Sri Ya’acob is a self-made successful serial-entrepreneur. She has a sharp eye to effectively turn-around business strategies and strengthen marketing plans by monetising various assets to increase company profitability.

 Today she is the owner and CEO of Rootwommers, a company specialising in 2 powerful modern income generators i.e. Word of mouth marketing and Connecting Networks for SME companies in Malaysia and Singapore.

 In the course of her present day business, she is involved in training SME startups or scaleups in business and modern marketing systems. Her simple, hands on practical marketing and connecting network techniques have been proven successful for many business owners. Entrepreneurs who follow her systems will experience high profitability in a short frame of time.

 Today, as a strong advocate in Connecting Networks, she and her team specialise in cross-connecting B2B and B2C markets from any network. Her training modules focus on building entrepreneurs to be effective connectors and marketers utilising coexisting networks from different business experiences and backgrounds.

Camille R. Escudero leads Information Management, Process & Compliance, and Sustainability for Elle Intimates, Inc. It’s a third-party manufacturer of intimate apparel with markets in North America and the Middle East. She leads the Business & Professional Women (BPW) Makati, an affiliate of the International Federation of Business & Professional Women aligned with the Women Empowerment Principles and has consultative status to the United Nations Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC).

Daniel Sieberg is the co-founder of the News Lab at Google and an official spokesperson for the company. The aim of the News Lab is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to build the future of media. Prior to joining Google in 2011, Sieberg covered science and technology for a variety of news outlets including CBS News, CNN, ABC News and BBC News. His first book, The Digital Diet, has been re-printed in several countries and is considered one of the first books to address the issue of managing technology in a healthy way. 

Sieberg’s stories have appeared before millions of viewers. He has also written for numerous publications including the Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, Salon, Washington Post, Huffington Post, CNN.com and the Discovery Channel’s site. He has hosted three shows in past including Tech This Out! for ABC News, Next@CNN for CNN and G Word for the Discovery Channel. He has also travelled to more than 62 countries and spoken at events in many of them.

He has interviewed the likes of Christiane Amanpour, Ted Koppel and Bill Gates.

Dato’ Seri Tengku Dr Zainal Adlin Bin Tengku Mahamood is the chairman and vice-president emeritus of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia of which he was chairman and trustee. He was trustee on the board of WWF International based in Switzerland. He was also chairman of the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Committee, Kota Kinabalu City Birds Sanctuary, a trustee of Sabah Parks and honorary advisor of Borneo Orchid Society.

Currently, he is chairman of the Danum Valley Conservation Area Management Committee and author of numerous books as well as publications on nature and adventures, due to his participation in many expeditions to known interiors of Sabah. He is the chairman of Sabah Tourism Board.

He was given many awards in recognition of his conservation efforts including: Tourism Malaysia presented him its highest award as the Minister of Tourism Special Award in 2004; Malaysia’s highest recognition for services to conservation, the Langkawi Award in 1999, by the Yang Dipertuan Agong, and; highest international award for services to conservation by WWF.

Dato’ Abdul Aziz is the principal consultant at CIVET Technologies Sdn Bhd and holds bachelor’s as well as master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University and West Virginia University in the United States of America, respectively. He was trained at the Netherlands International Institute for Management in Maastricht and the IBM Institute for Asia Pacific Region. Posts he held before included as the first director-general of the Department of Standards Malaysia, director of Certification and International Standardisation of SIRIM Bhd Malaysia and senior consultant for several establishments such as Trade Facilitation Programmes of the International Trade Centre Geneva and Copenhagen Development Corporation Denmark. He was appointed as a member of the advisory paneI to the Board of Johor Halal Park, Malaysia in 2017.

Dato’ Dr Norraesah Mohamad is the executive chairman of My E.G. Services Berhad, an IT service provider. She is also executive chairman of Embunaz Ventures Sdn Bhd, a family owned investment company involved in Education and Hospitality sector. She also sits on the board of five other listed companies in Malaysia.

Dato’ Dr Norraesah is a member of the Board of Trustees 
of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation, a member of its International Advisory Panel and head the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN).

She obtained a PhD (Economic Science) International Economics and International Finance from University of Paris I. Pantheon-Sorbonne, France in 1986. In 1982, she obtained her Masters in International Economics Relations from International Institute of Public Administration, France and Masters in International Economics and Finance from University of Paris I, Pantheon-Sorbonne, France. She obtained her first degree in Economics from University of Malaya and also earned a diploma in Commercial Policy from GATT Geneva.

She has over forty-one (41) years of working experience in the field of banking, investment consultancy and international trade and commerce. She worked with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) from 1972 to 1985, during which time she was in charge of trade policies and multilateral trade negotiations, trade fairs and missions. From 1986 to 1988, she was attached to the Ministry of Finance, responsible for national privatisation programmes and debt management. In 1988, she left the public sector to pursue her career in the corporate banking sectors.

Dato’ Mohd Izani Ghani is the executive director of investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) and oversees the Khazanah Turkey Regional Office in Istanbul.  When he was chief financial officer of Khazanah, the company issued many landmark sukuk transactions including exchangeable and social impact sukuk.

He’s a board member of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, Fajr Capital Ltd and other special purpose companies of Khazanah Nasional Bhd. He graduated from London School of Economics, University of London, obtained professional qualification from Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and was conferred fellowship in 2000.

Dato’ Richard Curtis joined Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) as its group managing director in 2006. He not only oversees its strategic investments, he also develops and implements its strategic plans for the benefit of the Group’s stakeholders. He was in legal practice as a solicitor in Norton Rose in London, Jardine Matheson & Co in Hong Kong and Jardine Offshore Group in postings to Singapore and Indonesia.

He started businesses in retail, consultancy as well as construction and was a chief executive officer of The Melium Group. He’s a director of Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and many CMS subsidiaries in cement, construction materials and trading, construction and road maintenance as well as property development. He’s also a trustee of Yayasan Raja Muda Selangor.

He holds a bachelor’s of law degree from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, and was admitted to practise as a solicitor in England, Wales and Hong Kong and is a Sloan Fellow of the London Business School.

Datu Ik Pahon Anak Joyik is the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Tourism, Sarawak and president of Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA). He is also a member of the ethnolinguistic Bidayuh community and held numerous other posts in his career in the civil service as administrative officer, district officer, principal assistant secretary, director and resident.

He holds a Master of Science in human resource development from UNIMAS and a Bachelor of Arts from Universiti Malaya.

Datuk N. Rajendran is the deputy chief executive officer of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). During his 34 years of service in MIDA, he spent a significant amount of time promoting foreign and domestic investments in the manufacturing and services sector.

Prior to his current position, he served in three different MIDA offices overseas – namely MIDA Cologne, MIDA Milan and MIDA Tokyo. He then assumed position as director in the Foreign Investment Promotion, Asia/Oceania Zone Division, before his appointment as the deputy chief executive officer of MIDA. In recognition of his significant contributions in investment promotion for Malaysia, Datuk Rajendran was awarded the Darjah Pangkuan Seri Melaka (D.P.S.M.) in 2014.

He holds a degree in economics from the University Malaya and a degree in Laws from the University of London.

Dr Alexander Böhmer is head of division, Southeast Asia, at the Global Relations Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He oversees the newly launched OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme and country-specific programmes in Southeast Asia. He was director of section with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in Berlin and worked at the Federal Ministry of Economy and the EU Commission’s DG Trade. He has a PhD in law and a master’s degree on international business law from the London School of Economics. He has published on a variety of financial and business topics.

Dr Anirban Sukul completed his MSc in zoology, PhD in neuropharmacology and research associateship from Visva-Bharati University in India. He’s director of Sukul Institute of Homeopathic Research, Kolkata, India and editor of Clinical and Experimental Homeopathy. He has published 29 papers in international and national journals as well as a book published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in the Netherlands. He has lectured on homeopathy in 14 countries across Asia, Europe, UK and USA and conferred a few awards including Gold Medal Award (UK), Man of Excellence Award (Thailand) and Excellency Award 2017 (Bangladesh).  He was nominated for the Excellence in Integrative Medicine Research Award by the European Society of Integrative Medicine (ESIM) in 2017.

Dr Chen Shiun is the vice president for research and development in Sarawak Energy Berhad where he is tasked to set up a research and development portfolio for the electric utility group. He focuses on improving the performance of generation, transmission and distribution systems while exploring new energy resources, smart grid solutions as well as innovative use of ICT, drone and GIS technologies. He is also responsible for the rural electrification agenda in Sarawak that includes the deployment of new grid designs, and solar/micro hydro hybrid micro grid systems. He is also active in professional activities ranging from technical working groups, government task forces and research panels as well as speaking at meetings and conferences.

He was an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a PhD in power systems from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Dr Soraya Rahim Ismail is the franchiser of Boost Juice Bars in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. She has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London. She worked for 10 years in international management consultancy, Accenture, as a global expert in CRM for Oil and Gas clients. She quit the corporate world in 2009 and brought in Boost Juice Bars to Malaysia. Today, she has opened more than 100 stores across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. She employs over 800 people and sells over 125,000 drinks per week.

Dr Yeo Tiong Chia is the chief executive officer at Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) which, part of its function, documents traditional knowledge of the indigenous communities of Sarawak as well as the research and development on natural products to discover its useful applications. Through systematically collecting samples from the rainforest, Dr Yeo and his team continue to build up one of the most diverse natural product libraries in Malaysia. This library is available for research collaborations to discover novel compounds for drug discovery, health and industrial application. He received his Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry at the California State University in 1991 and went on to work at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, after. He obtained a PhD in immunology in 1993 from the University of Washington in Seattle where he attended graduate school.

Ebrahim Patel, a South African entrepreneur with a passion for business, started a number of successful ventures. He’s the chairman of TransAfrix Holdings and serves on various company boards.

He’s the current National President of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, deputy chairperson of Business Forum SA, International Advisory Member of the World Islamic Economic Forum, chairman of the WIEF Young Leaders Network, trustee of the eThekweni Community Foundation and Advisory Board member of the University of KwaZulu Natal ELC.

Ebrahim serves on the KwaZulu Natal Economic Council which advises the provincial government on economic strategy and is a lead member of the KZN Halaal Hub Task Team. He is passionate about youth and entrepreneurship and is regularly asked to speak on various platforms locally as well as internationally.

Essa Al Ghurair serves as the chairman of Al Ghurair Resources. He oversees the diverse business activities including manufacturing and marketing of edible oils as well as legumes and trading of food grains, oils and meals. He has been the main driver to encourage the group to invest in the energy and petrochemicals sectors. He now leads the group’s initiatives through Trans Asia Gas International to develop projects in the oil and gas, power generation as well as petrochemicals sectors, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa Region.

He graduated from the San Diego State University in California, United States, in business administration and holds major positions within the Group and its joint ventures: Chairman of Al Ghurair Resources LLC, Trans Asia Gas International LLC, Essa Al Ghurair Investment LLC, Tharawat Advisory Board and Tharawat Family Business Forum; Director of Al Ghurair University and National Cement Co. PSC, and; Board Member of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Farzam Ehsani has helped establish the Foundery, RMB’s FinTech unit and is currently RMB’s Blockchain Lead. Farzam Ehsani has participated in RMB’s Class of programme over the past few years which has exposed him to Rand Merchant Bank’s Global Markets, Group Treasury, Investment Banking and Private Equity divisions. He currently serves as the Chairperson of the South African Financial Blockchain Consortium. He was at McKinsey & Company in Johannesburg, Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco, the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa and the United Nations in Nairobi. He studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Glenn Rolfsen is a psychotherapist MNGF and was the Norwegian president of the National Gestalt Therapy Association in Norway as well as the Norwegian representative in the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT). Among other posts he held were as the national representative of the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) and as an expert in the National Agency for Quality in Education (NOKUT) in relation to the treatment of university college applications in the field of alternative treatment in psychotherapy. He started a master’s degree program in couple’s therapy at Metanoia in London in 2009. He has been a teacher and trainer in different psychotherapy Institutes in Norway and the Baltics countries since 2008. Since 2009, he has worked with leadership development through Emergence Leadership and Stamina Corporate Health and worked with executives from over 300, mainly Norwegian, companies. He developed a method, GOZZIP 2017, for improving the psychosocial working environment in organisations and it made him acquainted. He conducted a TED Talk through TEDx Oslo in 2016.

H.E. Djaffar Ahmed Said Hassani is the elected Vice President of Comoros. He is in charge of the Ministry of Economy, Planning, Energy, Tourism, Crafts, Industry, Private Sector and Land Affairs. He embarked in politics in 2005.

He began his career as professor of criminal law and commercial law at the National School of Administration and Commerce in Comoros. In 1997, he joined the Ministry of Justice as Investigating Judge at Moroni Court of First Instance. He was later promoted to become the first judge of children and President of Moroni Court of First Instance.

He was a counsellor to Moroni Court of Appeal and President of the Criminal Court of Appeal. In 2002, he was general prosecutor at Moroni Court of Appeal. In 2007, He was appointed as Inspector General of Judicial Affairs and President of the Indictment Division of Moroni Court of Appeal.

He participated in the elaboration of numerous studies and texts including the study on access to justice realised in 2015. He was appointed Director General of Judicial Affairs until 2016 and was a national expert of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).

Before his election as the Vice-President of Comoros, he occupied the post of Secretary General of the Olympic and Sports Committee of the Comoros Islands (COSIC). He graduated from Mohammed V University, Morocco in 1993 and from the National School of the Judiciary of Bordeaux France in 1997.

Dr Mohamed Nouri Jouini was managing director of MNJ Consulting. His experience spans strategy, development, economics, finance and international relations. He held key positions in the Tunisian government, including as minister of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation.

He sat on the board of governors of several organisations including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the IDB and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development. He was a director of the Sousse (Tunisia) Higher Institute of Management and a recipient of the Tunisian National Order of Merit for Education and Sciences. He also served on the faculty at the University of Tunis. He received his PhD in decision sciences from the University of Oregon in the United States.

In 2017, Dr Saad Eddine El Otmani was appointed as Head of the Government of Morocco. He practiced medicine as a general practitioner until 1990 and as a psychiatrist at Berrechid Psychiatric Hospital until 1997 before moving to the private sector.

He served as deputy secretary general of the Party of Justice and Development and as secretary general of the party until 2008 before being assigned as president of the National Council of the party.

He was also elected member of the House of Representatives for four successive terms between 1997 and 2016 and was assigned as vice president of the House of Representatives. He was also vice president of the Committee of Foreign Affairs and National Defence within the same council. He was minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

He was a founding member of the Movement for Reform and Renewal and member of the executive office of the Movement for Unification and Reform. He was a member of the executive office of the Association of Graduate Scholars of Dar El Hadith Al Hassania and founding member of the Moroccan Association for the History of Medicine. He is also a member of the Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rabat and Hassan II Foundation for Scientific and Medical Research on Ramadan.

He has published several books and dozens of articles that appeared in many national and international magazines. He studied medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Casablanca and obtained a PhD in general medicine. He received a specialised diploma in psychiatry from the University Psychiatric Center, Casablanca.

He has a bachelor’s degree in Islamic sharia from the University of Sharia in Agadir Ait Melloul and obtained his higher education degree in al-fiqh and its origins from Dar El Hadith Al Hassania in Rabat. He has a postgraduate certificate in higher education in Islamic studies from the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Rabat.

H.E. Masoud Karbasian is a reformist economist who currently serves as the minister of economic affairs and finance under President Hassan Rouhani. He previously held office as ex-officio vice minister of finance, heading Iran’s Customs Administration. He holds a PhD in commercial management and has also served as vice minister for heavy industries, petroleum and commerce government ministries.

Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was appointed as the minister of Communications and Information Technology in 2017. He was the deputy minister of Communications and Information Technology, chairman of the board and managing director of Telecommunications Infrastructure Company of Iran (TIC). He has been extensively involved in various aspects of promoting indigenous ICT industry in Iran.

H.E. Nico Barito

H.E. Professor Dr Ernesto M. Pernia is the secretary of socioeconomic planning at the National Economic and Development Authority, Philippines. He is also professor emeritus of economics, having served as professor and chairman at the University of the Philippines.

He has nearly two decades’ worth of work experience at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). His experience there covered investment climate and productivity, economic growth and poverty reduction, education and health, human resource development, and regional economic cooperation in Asia.

He served as a regional adviser on population and employment policy for Asia and the Pacific with the International Labour Organization. He is also on the board of a number of NGOs involved in education and health concerns, population and development, and care of street children.

He received the first award as Outstanding Young Scientist (economics and social sciences) from the National Academy of Science and Technology. He was also selected by the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering for the 2015 Science Lectureship Award.

He is a prolific writer, having authored a number of books and journal articles. He obtained his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, on a Ford Foundation scholarship and a Smithsonian Institution dissertation grant.

H.E. Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov is the President of Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation. He was the Prime Minister of Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation from 1998 to 2010 and its former minister of finance. He was also head of the Vysokaya Gora District and was first deputy head of the Arsk District Administration.

He was an engineer in Sabinsky District Association of Selkhoztekhnika, a senior engineer and chief power engineer in a state timber industry enterprise and a deputy chairman of District Consumer Society Board. He was a chairman of the District Consumer Society Board as well as the Executive Committee of People’s Deputies District Council and first deputy head of District Administration. He held various other positions including the chief power engineer and deputy chairman of the district consumer society in the Arsk District.

He graduated from Kazan Agricultural Institute as a mechanical engineer and from Correspondence Institute of Soviet Trade (Moscow) as a commodity expert.

Tuan Haji Sapuan bin Ahmad began his career as an executive forester in 1980 and has been active in the area of forestry for the past 37 years.

During his civil service for the Sarawak state government, he received a few awards such as Pingat Perkhidmatan Bakti (PPB), Pingat Perkhidmatan Setia (PPS), Pegawai Bintang Kenyalang (PBK), Pingat Terpuji Jubli Emas (PTE), Pingat Perkhidmatan Cemerlang (PPC) and the Anugerah Apresiasi Alumni UPM. For his contribution as a forester he was appointed as a board of director for a few companies and statutory bodies in Sarawak.

He is also an active board member of a few institutions. He currently serves as the director of the Forest Department of Sarawak. He holds a BSc degree in Forestry from University Pertanian Malaysia and an MA degree in Resource Management from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Jeffrey Lo currently sets the technical direction and oversees software development in Cisco. Lo was a technical architect at Juniper Networks and delivered multiple generations of Juniper’s industry-leading core internet networking systems. In the early phase of his career, Lo joined a number of startups, one of which was acquired by Nortel Networks. He was also a research member of the NEC USA research labs and co-authored a number of Internet RFCs. He graduated with first-class honour in BSEE from Imperial College of London and was the winner of the Willis Jackson Memorial Medal for being the top student in his class. He holds dual master degrees from Stanford University with MSEE and a master’s in engineering management.

With 35 years of professional experience, Jo Robrechts is executive chairman of Triamant, an award winning, privately held corporation that pushes the boundaries of current solutions in traditional living, care and health structures and creates the community of the future.

Earlier he worked with Johnson and Johnson as treasurer, and as head of strategic planning and assistant to the president of Janssen Pharmaceutica worldwide and later founded and expanded a high-tech growth company in Europe and the USA. He also assumed the role of founder and investor as well as managing director or chairman in about 30 companies and entities so far. He also created Plato, the today European widespread entrepreneur-coaching programme, and has been a keynote speaker at conferences and a teacher at various educational events.

Robrechts studied in many places and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Commercial Engineering degree magna cum laude, and a Real Estate degree from Louvain University.

Johan Bygge is the chairman of EQT Asia Pacific. He worked as CFO at Investor AB and a CEO at Electrolux as well as Electrolux Major Appliance Europe and Asia Pacific. He was also CEO of Electrolux Major Appliance International, including operations outside of Europe and North America. He also worked at Ericsson as deputy group treasurer and deputy group controller.
He is currently a chairman of the boards of PSM and ILA Vietnam, director of Anticimex, Getinge AB and I-Med. His former directorships include Swiss Smile, Sanitec, Novare and Samsari.
He holds a degree in economics and business administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Kamarul Bahrin Haron is an established TV journalist, editor and anchor in Malaysia. He has 20 years of experience in reporting and producing news of current affairs. Haron’s currently the executive editor in charge of editorial operations for the increasingly popular 24-hour news and current affairs channel in Malaysia called Astro Awani.

On his talk show, Agenda Awani, he addresses current issues of the day in areas such as globalisation, sustainability, innovation, social enterprise, human capital and entrepreneurship. He has critically engaged with local and international experts including Nobel laureates, country leaders like Prime Minister David Cameron and Dr Mahathir Mohamed, business leaders and public intellectuals. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Kunrat Wirasubrata is the acting director of the Islamic Development Bank Group Regional Office for Southeast Asia since December 2011. Before being posted in Kuala Lumpur, he worked in IDB headquarters in Jeddah managing IDB portfolio in East and Central Africa, and before that in South and Central Asia.

Kunrat is a Member of the WIEF International Advisory Panel (IAP).

Lisa Oake is the founder and CEO of Oake Media. She’s a former co-host of CNBC Asia’s top-rated morning programme Squawk Box and has 20 years of experience covering global economics, business and politics. She has conducted thousands of interviews with CEO’s, central bank governors and heads of state including Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Canada’s Kim Campbell. She was the first journalist to report live from the trading floor of the Singapore Exchange and a recipient of the Radio Television News Directors’ Foundation’s Eric Murray award for investigative journalism.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario.

Marc Prensky’s is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, consultant and ‘practical visionary’ promoting civilisation-level change in global education. He has spoken in over 40 countries, authored seven books and published over 100 essays that were translated into 11 languages. He’s currently the founder and executive director of the Global Future Education Foundation and Institute. His latest book, Education to Better Their World: Unleashing the Power of 21st Century Kids was published by Columbia TC Press in 2016. It’s a finalist for the 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in Education. Interestingly, he coined the term ‘digital native’.

Martin Tan is the executive director of the Institute for Societal Leadership (ISL) and co-founder and former executive director of Halogen Foundation Singapore, an Institute of public character that he co-founded in 2003 which is committed to youth leadership development in the region.

Tan has conducted programmes for youth, NGO and corporate leaders in Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and the USA. He is a master facilitator for the Leadership Challenge and Student Leadership and certified facilitator of the Birkman Method. Heis also the author of Youth Sector Organisation: Starters Kit. In 2013, he was conferred the Singapore Youth Award, Singapore’s highest accolade for youth.

Mohamed Geraldez is an American-Muslim entrepreneur and investor in a few different industries. He started the first vegan necktie company in the world and organises high-quality Islamic lectures online. He actively invests in various commercial arenas and is a strategic adviser to Pivotshare, a digital media distribution and monetisation startup, and Muzbnb, an online peer-to-peer homestay network that connects travellers with rental spaces hosted by Muslims worldwide. After studying abroad and becoming fluent in Arabic, Mohamed returned to the United States of America and obtained an MBA.

Mumtaz Khan is advisor to Nogaholding, the parent company holding all the oil and gas assets of Bahrain. He’s a recognised leader in private equity in the Middle East and Asia. He was the key person in establishing the USD730 million Islamic Development Bank Infrastructure Fund (IDB Fund). He was the chairman as well as CEO of EMP Bahrain and manager of the IDB Fund. He was a managing director at EMP Global in Washington D.C. and for three years was based in Hong Kong as a managing director for the USD1.1 billion AIG Asian Infrastructure Fund.

He was with IFC for 14 years and served as resident representative based in Jakarta. He was a manager in IFC’s Asia Department and pioneered IFC’s programme in China through extensive engagement with state owned entities in China and the Ministry of Finance. He’s a member of the Advisory Board of the UK based Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), Bretton Woods Committee and the Interim Council of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). At the WIEF Foundation, he serves as the economic advisor.

Nasser Munjee sits on 15 corporate boards in India including Tata Motors, Tata Chem, Britannia Industries, Cummins India, ABB India and Ambuja Cements (now part of the HOLCIM group). He’s also chairman of Development Credit Bank and other Aga Khan institutions in India. He was the president of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is the city’s oldest chamber of commerce and he has served on numerous government task forces on Housing and Urban Development.

Professor Arif Ansari is an expert in big data business analytics, IoT and intelligent systems. He’s the CEO of Intuition Intelligence, Inc. and holds multiple US as well as international patents in real-time AI based machine-learning systems. He developed a framework for creative analytics and built machine-learning engines for challenging problems like the viral prediction engine and the super relevance engine. He also developed analytical engines for manufacturing, retail, and media sectors.

His digital innovation for predicting viral contents and topics was selected as one of the top five among 250 innovative ideas by Thomson Reuters at the GIES Summit for the Innovation 4 Impact competition in Dubai 2016 and presented at IOTX during the Dubai Innovation Hub in 2015. Ansari’s a professor in the department of data sciences and operations at the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Dato’ Dr Mohd Azmi Omar is the president and chief executive officer of INCEIF. He was the director general for the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. Before IDB, he was the dean of the IIUM Institute of Islamic banking and finance as well as a professor at the department of finance, faculty of economics and management sciences, IIUM. He was also the shariah advisor to Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.

He’s currently a member of several advisory boards including the World Bank Global Islamic Finance Development Centre in Turkey and a member of the external advisory group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Interdepartmental Working Committee on Islamic Finance. He’s an academic advisor to Effat University’s Islamic Financial Management program and member of the Accreditation Technical Committee, Financial Accreditation Agency in Malaysia.

He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Northern Illinois University, United States and a PhD from Bangor University in the United Kingdom.

Volker Nienhaus was professor of Economics at the German universities of Trier and Bochum, vice rector of the University of Bochum and president of the University of Marburg. He holds an honorary professorship of the University of Bochum and was visiting professor at the University of Reading (UK), University of Malaya, and the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies. He served in several academic advisory committees and boards, including the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education.

Currently, Volker is a member of the governing council and adjunct professor of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in Kuala Lumpur and consultant to the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB). He is also member of the Supervisory Board of FWU AG in Munich, an internationally operating family takāful provider. His interest in Islamic economics and finance and his long list of publications date back to the late 1970s.

Raja Teh has over 20 years of experience in banking and finance focusing on areas of Islamic and investment banking. She was the managing director and CEO of Hong Leong Islamic Bank and global head of Islamic Markets at Bursa Malaysia. She was also the chief corporate officer and head of International Business at Kuwait Finance House Malaysia, CEO of Bank AlKhair Malaysia (previously Unicorn Investment Bank) and head of Investment Banking at RHB Sakura Merchant Bank (now RHB Investment Bank).

She’s the advisor on Islamic banking and finance to the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation. She served in Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad and was with CIMB Investment Bank for almost 10 years covering debt and equity origination and equity sales. She started her career at KPMG Peat Marwick Consultants. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws and an LLB (Hons) from the University of East London, United Kingdom.

Ramji Raghavan is the founder and chairman of Agastya International Foundation. It’s a non-profit organisation that aims to spark curiosity, creativity and leadership amongst underprivileged children and government school teachers. He’s also a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education of India, a board member of several organisations and has served as a member of the Working Group on Attracting Children to Science and Math of the Prime Minister’s National Knowledge Commission. He has spoken in various forums and conferences including the Education World Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative and Harvard India Conference. He has also addressed students, academics, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders in India on curiosity, creativity, innovation and leadership.

Roshan Thiran is the Chief Executive Officer of Leaderonomics, a social enterprise dedicated to providing access to leadership development to people of all ages in developing nations across Asia Pacific.  He was the director of Global Talent Management with Johnson & Johnson driving global talent initiatives. He also worked at General Electric Company (GE) for more than 12 years, in a number of roles involving acquisition integrations, driving business growth and business turnarounds, in the United States of America, Europe and Asia. He hosts various television shows, radio segments and is a columnist for various piblications.

Salahuddin Kasem Khan is the managing director of A.K. Khan & Co. Ltd.; chairman of Coats (Bangladesh); chairman of A.K. Khan Jute Mills; and director of Bengal Fisheries. He was appointed as the Honorary Consul General of Turkey by the President in 1984.

Khan is also the president of the Bangladesh – Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (BMCCI). He is the chairman of the SEACO Task Force, co-chair of Skills Development WG of the Better Business Forum (BBBF), and co-chair of the EC and member of the National Skills Development Council (NSDC).

Salahuddin Kasem Khan is a member of the WIEF International Advisory Panel (IAP).

Samba Bathily is an entrepreneur and pioneer in sustainable clean energy and solar solutions. He’s founder of Africa Development Solutions (ADS), co-founder and CEO of Solektra, the company driving the Akon Lighting Africa Initiative.

Recognised as one of the influential leaders driving growth in Africa, Samba is one of the key enablers setting up sustainable development ventures. With a global network and acute business acumen, he has a particular “forte” in establishing strategic and innovative financial structuring. This has led to partnerships and growth models between private and public entities as well as local and international financial institutions and banks.

To provide a formal framework for private and public partnerships, Samba launched the ADS Group in 2004, drawing in companies such as Huawei and Samsung. Under this umbrella there is a dynamic group active in the sectors of project financing, renewable energy and access to water, new technologies and communications, infrastructures construction and real estate, education and youth employment, automobile and logistics, processing industries and franchising, bringing together 18 subsidiaries operating in a total of 17 African countries.

Sevket Can Tulumen is currently a member of the board and chairman of Foreign Relations Committee for MUSİAD Businessmen Association in Turkey. He’s a member of the Auditing Board for Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO). His experience includes being a partner of Tulka Construction and Engineering Company and owner of Tulpa Marketing and Trade Company Ltd.

He received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey and his master’s degree in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University, United States.

Sharbini Suhaili is currently the group chief executive officer of Sarawak Energy that provides electricity to over 640,000 domestic, industrial and commercial customers, as well as bulk power to energy intensive industries in Sarawak and export customers. He worked for Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell in upstream production, asset development, planning, strategy and commercial as well as business development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from University of Leeds, United Kingdom and a master’s degree in business administration from Henley Management College, United Kingdom.

Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar was appointed group chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) in 2016. He was a senator and minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic planning. Prior to his cabinet appointment, he was president and CEO of Maybank from 2008 to 2013. He was group CEO of Telekom Malaysia Berhad from 2004 to 2008 and served as managing director of UEM Group Berhad as well as executive vice chairman of PLUS Expressways Berhad. He’s a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Ghani Othman is an economist. He was a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Malaya and became the dean for the Faculty of Economics and Administration. He served as a member of the senate, member of Parliament and a minister in various Malaysian government ministries.

His last position was as chief minister of Johor and chairman of the board of directors of Johor Corporation. He’s currently a non-executive director and chairman of the board of Sime Darby Berhad (SDB).

Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin is an educationist. He was a teacher and education manager within the Ministry of Education. His last position was as director general of Education of Malaysia. He’s chairman of Management and Science University (MSU), Furukawa Electric Cables (M) Sdn Bhd and Academy of Higher Education. He’s also a director of Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad, SP Setia Berhad and Amanah Mutual Berhad. He was the chairman of Berger International Ltd based in Singapore and Deputy Chairman of International Bank Malaysia Berhad.

He’s a board member of the Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC) and the training and development arm of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). He holds a bachelor’s (Honours) degree from University of Malaya, a master’s degree from Stanford University and a PhD from University of California, Berkeley. He also underwent a course in business management under the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. He’s the chairman of WIEF Education Trust, WIEF Board of Trustee and member of the WIEF International Advisory Panel (IAP).

Tanri Abeng was appointed by President Soeharto as Indonesia’s first minister for State Owned Enterprises and was reappointed to the same portfolio during Dr Habibie’s presidency. He has held top executive positions in Indonesia for Union Carbide (USA), Heineken (Netherlands) and Bakrie & Brothers. He has also held non-executive positions in companies including BAT (United Kingdom), BATA (Canada) and Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore).

He was an elected member of People’s Consultative Assembly from 1990-1998. Since leaving government, he has been active in the field of developing cross-cultural leadership skills for the benefit of future private and public sector leaders in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region, through the Executive Centre for Global Leadership. He’s currently the publisher of Globe Asia as well as the president director of Global Investment Partners. A graduate of State University of New York in business administration, he also completed an Advanced Management Program at Claremont Graduate School, USA.

Teymoor is a journalist, broadcaster and public speaker with a 25-year track record of presenting, writing and editing news and current affairs. He has launched and hosted high profile programmes for major global TV networks including Al Jazeera, BBC, CNBC, CNN and Channel 4, and has covered major international news events like 9/11, the Asian tsunami, the Arab Spring, the Japan earthquake and nuclear meltdown, the Thailand riots, and the Iran Presidential election of 2009. Teymoor was awarded the “Best News Presenter” at the Asian Television Awards in 2006, and shared the award for “Best News Story (Sports)” from the Royal Television Society in 2000.

The Hon. Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Ali Hasan was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Sarawak and also as the Second Minister for Urban Development and Natural Resources and Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development of Sarawak in May 2017. He’s also the Second Minister of Planning Resource Management and Minister of Public Utilities of Sarawak since 2004 and was appointed as Minister of Industrial Development Sarawak in 2011.

After the 2016 State Election, he was re-appointed as Second Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment. He has served as the Assistant Minister of Planning and Resource Management/Assistant Minister of Rural and Land Development and Assistant Minister of Industrial Development; Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office and as Assistant Minister of Resource Planning.

He’s a board member of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) and was appointed as the Chairman of the Board since 2011. He was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA) and as Chairman of Syarikat SESCO Berhad till 2007. He’s a member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly as well as Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) and its Supreme Council, Senior Vice President. He was PBB’s Deputy Youth Chief as well as its treasurer.

In recognition of his contribution to Sarawak and Malaysia, he was conferred various titles and awards including Ahli Mangku Negara (Federal) (A.M.N.) and Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang of Sarawak (PGBK). He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Tan Sri Datuk Amar (Dr) Haji Mohamad Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani is the State

Secretary of Sarawak since 2009. He has served in various organisations such as:

• PETRONAS (1980-1988), Director of DBKU (1988 – 1998)
• Director of Human Resource and Development Unit, Chief Minister Department (1998 – 2001)
• Permanent Secretary to Ministry Of Social Development (2001 – 2003)
• Director of State Planning Unit, Chief Minister Department (2004 – 2007)
• Deputy State Secretary of Sarawak (2007 – 2009)
• State Secretary of Sarawak (2009 onwards) and
• He also sits as Chairman or Board of Director in some non-government and corporate organisations.

Tan Sri Datuk Amar holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, a master’s degree in human resource administration from University of Scranton, Pennsylvania USA and attended the Senior Executive Fellow from Harvard University USA. In recognition of his achievement and contribution, he was awarded Honorary Doctor from

Tobias Puehse leads innovation management at MasterCard Labs Asia Pacific and the newly founded MasterCard Labs India. Recently, he was named as Next Bank’s Top 100 leaders in Asia’s fintech scene which recognises people shaping finance across Asia and beyond. He held key leadership positions in the innovation practice at The Nielsen Company where led the innovation practice for Southeast Asia, North Asia and Pacific supporting more than 100 clients in reaching their desired innovation outcomes.

In his 12-year career prior to joining MasterCard in Singapore, he had been based in the USA, India, Singapore, and Switzerland covering clients globally. He graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington with a Bachelor of Science degree in management and international business.

Since 2013, Todd Ashton became the President of Ericsson Malaysia and Sri Lanka and effective 1 July, 2017, Todd Ashton has been announced as the President of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh within the Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India.  In this role, Todd has been leading innovation and developing new capabilities in these markets by building long term partnerships with Ericsson customers and other industry stakeholders.  These innovative partnerships are fuelled by Team Ericsson, the most inspiring people in the Information and Communications Technology industry.

Todd started his career in financial consulting and then moved to the former Bell Atlantic in Arlington, Virginia USA, working on a large billing and customer care transformation.  In 1998 he joined the Ericsson Group working with OSS service and software sales and delivery within the Ericsson Hewlett-Packard joint venture in Sweden.  During his 19 years at Ericsson, Mr Ashton has held leadership roles across several portfolios within Ericsson, including IP backbone networks, OSS, BSS, and IP Multimedia software and services.

Todd was born in Washington, D.C. and has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA.