GPD announces Advisory Board for Cyber Capacity Building Programme
Following a tough selection process, we’re delighted to present the 12 members of the Advisory Board for GPD’s Cyber Capacity Building programme.
Using their wide range of expertise and regional insight, the Board will assist in developing a curriculum for the training component of the programme and mentoring its participants. You can find out more about the programme itself here, and read the terms of reference for the AB here.
If you want to learn more about the project, feel free to get in touch with project manager Daniela (@danischni) and programme lead Cathleen (@_cberger_).
The members are:
Valeria Betancourt (@valeriabet)
Valeria is a sociologist specialising in Communication and Cultural Studies. Born and based in Ecuador, she is an activist in the field of ICTs for development and social justice. Her current work as manager of the Communication and Information Policy Programme of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) focuses on ICT policies in the context of developing countries, internet rights and internet governance. She earned a Life Achievement Award from LACNIC in 2012 and is former member of the Internet Governance Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group.
Nicolas Castellon (@MNCastellon)
Nicolas is a Brazilian/Dutch cybersecurity specialist, with expertise in securing critical infrastructures and data protection. He is Cyber Security Consultant at CGI Group in the Netherlands, working in the space, defense and intelligence sectors and a Fellow at the Peace Informatics Lab, where he researches data governance policies.
He has previously worked at organisations such as the Centre for Counter-Terrorism of Leiden University, UNDP in New York City, HCSS in The Hague, and FGV’s Centre for Technology and Society in Rio de Janeiro. He holds an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University’s Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs.
Mawaki Chango (@prodigilexis)
Mawaki is a researcher, lecturer, consultant and an entrepreneur in the ICT field. He is particularly enthusiastic about helping African countries develop a truly digital economy through inclusive, evidence-based and enabling ICT policy. He has more than 15 years experience working on issues of ICT and society, consulting with organisations including UNESCO, IDRC, OSIWA, NEPAD, UNECA, APC, and Hivos. The founder of DIGILEXIS Consulting, he is an active participant in internet governance policy-making at the global level. A native of Togo, he speaks English, French and Portuguese, and has a PhD in Information Science and Technology with a focus in digital identity management.
Eileen Donahoe (@EileenDonahoe)
Eileen is Director of Global Affairs at Human Rights Watch, where she represents the organisation worldwide on human rights and foreign policy, with a particular focus on digital rights, cybersecurity and internet governance. She served as the first US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 2010-2013, and is co-chair of the NETmundial Initiative on global multi-stakeholder internet governance. She is a member of the Freedom Online Coalition Working Group on Freedom & Security, focused on human rights-based approaches to cybersecurity policy, and an Affiliate at the Center for International Security & Cooperation at Stanford University.
Grace Githaiga (@ggithaiga)
Grace is currently co-convening the Kenya ICT Network (KICTANet), a multistakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. She also sits on the the executive committee of ICANN’s Non Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) and is active in internet governance policy debates.
Arzak Khan (@arzakkhan)
Arzak is a cyber policy expert focused on internet development, cybersecurity and the expansion of internet access in the global South. Other aspects of his research explore the promotion of human rights on the internet, the dark side of technological change, and the unintended consequences of ‘connectedness’. He is passionate about empowering marginalised voices from the South in global cyber policy debates and decision-making processes. He has a wide experience of serving in public sector and specialist management roles at the federal level, and holds an MSc in Communications Management from University of Strathclyde.
Marília Maciel (@MariliaM)
Marília is a researcher and coordinator of the Center for Technology and Society of the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law in Rio de Janeiro. She serves as a councilor at ICANN´s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) representing the Non-commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG). She is a member of the Freedom Online Coalition’s Working Group on Digital Development and Openness and the Advisory Board on internet security, created under the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. Marília is a co-chair of the NETmundial Initiative and took part in the Executive Multistakeholder Committee which organized the NETmundial meeting. She was a member of the Working Group on IGF improvements (UN CSTD).
Lilly Pijnenburg Muller (@mullerlilly)
Lilly is a Martin Fellow at the Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) at the University of Oxford. Before joining the GCSCC, she was a Junior Research Fellow in the Security and Defense group at NUPI where she specialised in cybersecurity and cyber capacity building, exploring cybersecurity risks in developing countries. Lilly’s research interests include cybersecurity and cyber capacity building, global governance and public-private relations. She holds a MA in politics from the University of Glasgow.
Samir Saran (@samirsaran)
Samir is Senior Fellow and Vice President at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, India. He leads the foundation’s efforts on business development, fundraising, developing global partnerships and designing strategic programmes across research initiatives. His research interests include: identity and radicalism; politics and economics of climate change; sustainable development policies; the digital economy; cybersecurity; and the emergence of BRICS. Samir is the chair of CyFy: The India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance, India’s premier international event in the sector. He is also the editor of India’s most read journal in this field, Digital Debates.
Tatiana Tropina (@gap_the_mind)
Tatiana is a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. In this capacity she is involved in both legal research and various applied cybercrime projects at the international level. Her areas of expertise include international standards to fight cybercrime, digital investigations, self- and co-regulation, public-private partnerships to address cybersecurity issues, and the multistakeholder approach to cybersecurity. Tatiana has a number of publications to her name, including a monograph on cybercrime. She holds a doctoral degree from the Far Eastern Federal University (Russia) and Master’s degree from the University of Strathclyde, UK.
Olga Tsafack (@OlgaTsafack)
Olga is an ICT4D initiator and digital security trainer, and translator (English to French) from Cameroon. She is also a human rights and women’s empowerment activist, with a particular interest in the digital education of women and girls. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations, specialised in International Communication and Public Action.
Francisco Vera (@panchovera)
Francisco is a digital policy specialist with almost 10 years of experience in the field. He currently works as a cybersecurity senior policy advisor at the Chilean Government. Formerly he was the policy director at Derechos Digitales – where he continues to serve as a board member – and a senior policy analyst in Access Now. While working in both organisations, he led several advocacy, research and capacity building projects on a Latin American scale, on subjects related to privacy, net neutrality, cybercrime and copyright regulations. Francisco is fluent in Spanish and English, and earned his law degree from Universidad de Chile Law School.