Speakers Profiles

Prof. Peng Hwa Ang

Peng Hwa Ang is Director of the Singapore Internet Research Centre and a Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University. A lawyer by training, he teaches media law and policy in both the undergraduate and graduate programmes of WKWSCI. He stepped down as head of the School in September 2008 and was on sabbatical as Dean of the Mudra Institute of Communication Research, helping to start India’s first communication research centre. In his previous sabbatical, he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar and fellow at the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project, Kennedy School of Government in 2000 and a visiting fellow in 2001 at the Programme in Comparative Media Law, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University. He has published and presented his research on internet law and policy. In 2004, he was appointed to the Working Group on Internet Governance and later in 2006 he was elected inaugural chair of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet).

 

Mr. Keith Davidson

      • International Director of InternetNZ
      • Elected to ISOC Board of Trustees effective August 2012
      • Co Chair of ISOC Advisory Council until August 2012
      • Vice Chair of ccNSO in ICANN
      • Chair of ICANNs Framework of Interpretation Working Group
      • Vice Chair of APTLD
      • Organiser of Pacific IGF
      • On organising committees of APrIGF, Australia IGF and NZ Nethui
      • Owned and operated an ISP in regional New Zealand during 1990’s and early 2000’s

 

Mr. Yu-Chuang Kuek

Kuek Yu-Chuang is the Regional Director of Public Policy at Yahoo! Asia Pacific. He leads the company’s advocacy efforts and is responsible for overseeing Yahoo!’s government relations in the region. Kuek has extensive government experience having held roles as a diplomat, trade negotiator and policy-maker. He has worked in various Singapore government agencies including the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Prior to Yahoo!, Kuek worked at the Intellectual Property (IP) Policy Division at the Ministry of Law where he spearheaded reviews of Singapore’s copyright regime and represented Singapore in the concluded Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. Kuek was concurrently a negotiator for the ongoing EU-Singapore FTA Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. During his tenure at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kuek represented Singapore as a Political Secretary at the Singapore Embassy in Washington D.C.  He also served on the China Desk at the Ministry headquarters.

Kuek represents Yahoo! as a Director on the board of the US-ASEAN Business Council and the Asia Internet Coalition. A recipient of the Singapore Overseas Merit Scholarship, he holds a Master of Arts in Regional Studies, East Asia from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Politics from Peking University.

 

Mr. Kuo Wei Wu

Mr. Kuo Wei Wu is a CEO of NIIEPA based in Taipei (NIIEPA focus on the consultancy in Information Security Management System (ISMS), Personal Data Information Management System (PDIMS), and Internet Policy Research). He is also a member of the board of directors of ICANN based in Los Angels, CA. He was a member of the board of directors of PIR (Public Interest Registry) from Jan. 2008 til March 2010. He was also a member of executive council of APNIC from March 1999 til March 2010; a member of board of directors of TWNIC from July 2002 til Oct. 2011. He was a vice president of Acer, Inc. from July 2000 til Nov. 2003; a senior vice president of Yam Digital Inc. from April 1998 til June 2000; and a deputy director of NCHC (National Center for High Performance Computing) from June 1990 til March 1998; a senior programmer/analyst of Cray Research, Inc. from July 1984 til May 1990. He received his MS in Computer Science from Columbia University in 1982; MS in Mathematical Science from University of Cincinnati and had a teaching position in Kentucky Wesleyan College from 1982 til 1984. He also organized several High Performance Computing and Internet Conferences, such as HPC-Asia, Inet’97, Inet’98, The fourth Asia OSS Symposium in Asian Cities.

 

Mr. Rajnesh Singh

Rajnesh Singh is Regional Director of the Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau at the Internet Society (ISOC) where he oversees projects, initiatives and activities across ISOC’s functional and programmatic areas in the Asia and Pacific region, including Public Policy, Capacity Building and Internet Standards and Technology.

Prior to joining ISOC, Rajnesh played founding and leading roles in several technology and private equity investment firms, and still maintains varied business interests. In his professional capacity, Rajnesh has consulted on communications & power infrastructure, project management and business strategy for medium to large companies and organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. He has also held advisory roles across multiple sectors ranging from governmental organisations to sporting organisations and the private sector.

Rajnesh has worked extensively with the Asia-Pacific Internet community, and has held several leadership roles, including Founding Chair of ICANN’s Asia Pacific Regional At-Large Organisation (APRALO) and Chair of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society. He has worked extensively on ICT policy, training and capacity building in the region, including delivering programmes for UN agencies.

 

Mr. William Drake

William J. Drake is an International Fellow and Lecturer in the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich, as well as a consultant, based in Geneva.  He is also co-editor of the MIT Press book series, The Information Revolution and Global Politics; an elected representative on the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization and on the Board of Directors of the European At Large Organization in ICANN; a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum; a member of the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council of the OECD; a core faculty member in the European and South Schools on Internet Governance; and a founding member of Global Internet Governance Academic Network and the civil society Internet Governance Caucus.  He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University, and has taught at Georgetown University and the University of California, San Diego.  Some of his publications include: Editor, Internet Governance: Creating Opportunities for All—The Fourth Internet Governance Forum (United Nations, 2010); Co-Editor, Governing Global Electronic Networks: International Perspectives on Policy and Power (MIT Press, 2008); and Editor, Reforming Internet Governance: Perspectives from the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (United Nations, 2005).

 

Mr. Izumi Aizu

Izumi Aizu is Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for InfoSocinomics, Kumon Center, Tama University in Tokyo and Deputy Director at the Institute for HyperNetwork Society in Oita, Japan. Izumi promoted the use of PC based network in the ‘1980s, and the Internet in the ’90s in Japan and Asia In 1997, he moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and founded Asia Network Research, an independent research unit dedicated to promoting networking in Asia-Pacific region, focusing on societal aspects of the Internet, including global governance and digital divide issues. Between 1998 and 2000, he also worked as Secretary General of the Asia & Pacific Internet Association (APIA), a trade association representing Internet business community of the region. He was engaged in the creation process of ICANN (Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and organized global Internet Y2K campaign. He was member of AtLarge Advisory Committee of ICANN until 2008. In April 2000, he moved back to Tokyo where he continues the research work on promoting the Internet in Asia. He represented Japanese NPO under the government’s requests to GLOCOM, for the Digital Opportunity Task Force, or DOT Force, initiated by the G8 to address digital divide issues. In 2001, he was asked by the government to organize supporting Asian NGOs and Civil society member to participate the preparatory process of WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society). In April 2002, he became Deputy Director of Institute for HyperNetwork Society, and in August 2004 he co-found Internet Governance Task Force (IGTF) of Japan to engage in the international debate on Internet Governance at the WSIS Working Group on Internet Governance set by the United Nations. He worked as the Secretary of IGTF from 2004 to 2006. In 2008, he found Satellite Broadband Promotion Council and became its Secretary General. In 2009, he co-founded Japan Internet Domain Name Council to promote Internationalize Country Code Top Level Domain, dot Nippon and he serves as a member of the Steering Committee of this Council. His advocacy works include promoting users’ voices and civil society perspectives at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and Internet Governance Forum (IGF). He served on various governmental committees including Network Neutrality Study Group and currently member of Internet Basic Issues Committee and IPv6 Advanced Use Study Group at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) of Japan.

 

Mr. Paul Wilson

Paul Wilson has twenty years’ involvement with the Internet, including over ten years’ experience as the Director General of APNIC. As part of this current role, he represents the activities and interests of the Asia Pacific Internet community in local and global forums related to the development and management of the Internet.

Previously the Chief Executive Officer of Pegasus Networks, the first private ISP established in Australia, Paul also acted as a consultant to the United Nations and other international agencies. As a primary consultant on Internet projects, including the PAN Program with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Paul helped to introduce Internet services for the first time in several developing economies.

Paul is a highly respected member of the global Internet community and participates in the following organizations: APIA, APNG, ISIF, NRO, ISOC and dotAsia.

 

Mr. TingYao (Tim) Shyu

Tim Shyu is the CEO of  the Association of Digital Culture Taiwan(ADCT),and the founder of Wavetech. Tim is also the Founder of ADCT. ADCT is the most important NGO related to the digital community. In 2008, Tim started Puncar Action, which provides technology to people in rural villages. Puncar won the Ars Electronica award in 2010. In 2009, Tim started the Morakot Disaster System, this was an early appearance of social media in disaster response systems and in 2010 we became a project of APEC Tel. In 2009, Tim was named “MVP Manager of Taiwan” by Manager magazine. In 2011, Tim started the website ”Pansci.tw”,. It is the biggest science website in Taiwan.

 

 

Mr. Edmon Chung

Edmon Chung is serving as the CEO for DotAsia Organisation and as Vice Chair for Internet Society HK Chapter.  Edmon is also an elected member of the ICANN ALAC (Atl-Large Advisory Committee). Edmon currently Co-Chairs the ICANN Joint ccNSO/GNSO IDN Working Group (JIG) and the Internationalized Registration Data Working Group (IRD-WG).

Since 2002, Edmon played a leadership role in the region-wide .Asia initiative, bringing together an open membership of 29 official country-code top-level domain authorities and regional Internet bodies.  DotAsia is a not-for-profit organization with a mandate to promote Internet development and adoption in Asia.  Since its launch in 2008, DotAsia has contributed significantly to a variety of community projects in Asia, including for example: OLPC.asia, Relief.Asia, CreativeCommons.Asia, ISIF.Asia, NetMission.Asia, Paragon100.Asia, MaD.Asia and others.

Edmon is an inventor of patents underlying technologies for internationalized domain names (IDN) and email addresses on the Internet.  Edmon has served on many global IDN related committees, including technical and policy groups, that made it possible for the introduction of multilingual domain names and email addresses on the Internet.  Edmon founded Neteka Inc. in partnership with the University of Toronto Innovations Foundation in 1999, and went on to win the Most Innovative Award in the Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurship Award in 2001.  In 2000, Edmon was selected by The Globe and Mail as one of the Young Canadian Leaders.  Between 2007 and 2010, Edmon served as an elected member on the ICANN GNSO Council.  In 2006, Edmon was elected as a member of the Elections Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Information Technology Subsector.

 

Ms. Cheryl Langdon-Orr

      • Cross Community  SO/AC WG on DNS Security and Stability Analysis
      • Joint SO/AC WG on New gTLD Applicant Support (JAS-WG)
      • ALAC Budget and Finance Committee ( Chair from 2007-2010; APRALO Rep 2006 to Current)
      • ALAC Improvements Implementation Task Force (AII-TF) – CHAIR
      • ALAC Rules of Procedure Review (ROPR-WG)
      • ccNSO/GAC Framework of Interpretation (FOI-WG)
      • ccNSO/GAC Study Group on Use of Territory and Country Names
      • GNSO Consumer Metrics Project

 

Dr. Takaaki (Tomi) Tomizawa

Tomi started his career with Microsoft in 2000, by first being responsible for solution consulting for various ICT companies at Microsoft Consulting Services. He then (in 2004) became the director for D&PE (Developer and Platform Evangelism) to evangelize new technologies to professional audiences. In 2008 he was appointed as Chief of Staff of Microsoft Japan. His present role stared in 2010, and Tomi has been engaged with Technology Policy, introducing technologies & innovations, in parallel to communicating requests of Japan to Microsoft Corporation. He prioritized the dissemination of ICT (Information Communication Technology) knowledge in society, and his contribution to a textbook for Technical Arts and Home Economics (ICT category) has been published & adopted in junior high schools all over Japan, since April 2012.

 

Dr. Eric K. Clemons

Eric K. Clemons  is Professor of Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His education includes an S.B. in Physics from MIT, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Operations Research from Cornell University. He has been a pioneer in the systematic study of the transformational effects of information on the strategy and practice of business. His research and teaching interests include strategic uses of information systems, the changes that IT enables in the competitive balance between new entrants and established industry participants, transformation of distribution channels, the structure and governance of the IT functional area, and the impact of IT on the risks and benefits of outsourcing and strategic alliances. Industries of focus include international securities markets and financial services firms, consumer packaged goods retailing, and travel. He specializes in assessing the competitive implications of IT, and in managing the risks of large-scale implementation efforts.  More recently, he has begun studying blogging and social media, cloud computing and cloud computing standards, and the challenges to applying current antitrust law to online business models.

Dr. Clemons is the founder and project director for the Wharton School’s Sponsored Research Project on Information: Strategy and Economics within the Program for Global Strategy and Knowledge Intensive Organizations.  Dr. Clemons has 36 years’ experience on the faculties of Wharton, Cornell, Harvard, the Indian School of Business, and Singapore Management University, and consulting experience in the private and public sectors both domestically and abroad.

 

Mr. Craig Baty

Craig Baty is Executive GM, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer (CTIO)at Fujitsu ANZ, reporting to the CEO Mike Foster. Craig holds more than 30 years of international ICT experience and is a well know technology industry adviser having been a senior executive and analyst in the ICT advisory arms of Gartner Asia/Pacific and Japan and other research and advisory firms including Dataquest and Frost & Sullivan for 14 years prior to Fujitsu.

Craig is an active contributor to Fujitsu’s Global CTO and Technology Approval Board Communities, which together drive thought leadership and provide input to the development of innovative and leading edge solutions for customers across the globe. These offerings include Fujitsu’s Australian based Trusted Cloud, ICT sustainability, end user computing, data centres, managed services, and a comprehensive range of consulting and integration services.

Craig holds an MBA in International Business and Marketing (SGSM), is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, and has commenced an ‘IT in Japan’ focused Doctor of Business Administration (AGSB). He is a very active contributor to the development of Australia’s ICT industry as part of NICTA’s E-Gov Cluster steering committee, AIG’s Technology Industry Development Council, Chair of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) National Digital Economy Task Force, AIIA NSW Committee member and regular chair and speaker at the AIIA Marketing Forum.

 

Dr. Hong Xue

Dr. Hong Xue is a Professor of Law and the Director of the Institute for the Internet Policy & Law at Beijing Normal University. Prof. Xue is an elected Top Ten Nationally Distinguished Young Jurists by the China Law Society. Prof. Xue is a Fellow of Yale Information Society Project and the Chinese Representative to Global Academy on Access to Knowledge. She had taught in Yale Law School, Law Faculty of University of Hong Kong, Law School of Murdoch University, Australia and World Intellectual Property Academy. She is an invited professor to teach at Torino Law School-WIPO Master of Laws in Intellectual Property and the Faculty Chair of Asia Pacific Internet Leadership Project (APILP). She is appointed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to the United Nations Network of Experts for Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (UNNExT). She had served as a founding member and then the founding IDN Liaison of the ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and was appointed on the ICANN President’s Advisory Committee on Internationalized Domain Names. She was the Chair of Asia Pacific Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO). She is a founding member of Chinese Domain Names Consortium (CDNC).

 

Mr. Hiro Hotta

He has served as Director of  JPRS, a .JP ccTLD Registry, since 2001 and is responsible for corporate planning.  His speciality is in IDN, ENUM, and various services in domain name business.  He has actively participated and lead discussions in ICANN as a DNSO / ccNSO Councilor and members of various WGs and Committees.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Arthit  Suriyawongkul

A Pedestrian-in-Residence at Opendream, a Coordinator for Thai Netizen Network and an Informaticist by training, Arthit started his career as a software localization engineer in “The Network is the Computer” company. Later joined academic and industrial artificial intelligence research groups, in journalism and medical domains. Since 2006, he giving consultation and working for a number of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations involving ICT for developments, Internet freedom, journalism, and information rights. Now approaching his final year as a graduate anthropology student at a university near Bangkok’s backpacker haven. In recent years, he travels regularly in Southeast Asia for local tech community workshops and conferences.

 

Ed Legaspi

Ed Legaspi, as the Alerts and Communication officer of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), is in charge of monitoring and publicizing incidents of press and internet freedom violations in the sub-region. His involvements as an activist of more than two decades–doing reasearch, documentation/monitoring, communications and advocacy for various organizations–have also made him into an accidental techie in the face of growing demands for more adept use and understanding of technology. He is also responsible for SEAPA’s freedom of expression on the internet campaign.

 

Mr. John Liu

John Liu is the East Asia Programme Officer of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a membership-based regional human rights organisation committed to the promotion and protection of all human rights including the right to development. FORUM-ASIA was founded in 1991 in Manila and its regional Secretariat has been located in Bangkok since 1994. At present, FORUM-ASIA has 46 member organisations across Asia. Among its most recent publications is “Internet and Social Media in Asia: Battleground for Freedom of Expression” (2012).

 

Mr. Victorius (Ndaru) EPS

Victorius (Ndaru) EPS is an Indonesia-IGF caucus member, who is currently working as a freelance IT consultant for a nautical company and marine safety equipment, also working for Netriva a GCG consultant in Jakarta.

Ndaru is also working as a line producer for benang-merah.com, a movie documentary group based in Yogyakarta and is the co-founder of Golongandarah.net a social network site based on blood type to support the needs of blood donors. Prior to this, Ndaru was a Fotografer.net co system administrator, working in ISP business, also acted as a freelance reporter and photojournalist. After the “Koin Keadilan/Justice Penny” movement Ndaru became a community correspondent for Politikana.com, a UGC website focusing primarily on politics in Indonesia, and resigned in February 2011.

 

Mr. David APPASAMY

Management consultant with over 30 years of experience in: sales, marketing and advertising; hospitality services; marketing & advertising; internet, network and ecommerce services and financial services. Experience covers diverse verticals with widely differing customer segments.

Until recently Executive Director of a microfinance company in the process of being transformed into a dynamic modern organization that provides cost efficient microfinance coupled with knowledge and information services that raise human capacity and organizational capability. Transformation was through effective use of Information & Communications solutions including VPNs and mobile handheld devices for applications beyond the edge, software solutions, data mining and analysis.

Other professional experience:

Co-Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on the Internet and Telecoms Infrastructure & Services of the Commission on the Digital Economy from 2006 to 2011 (formerly the eBusiness, IT & Telecoms Commission (EBITT). As Co-Chair, was leading the development of global business positions and practical tools.

Selected by the UN Secretary General to serve on the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF); worked to advocate business priorities to governments, the IGF and other forums, inter-governmental and international organizations, Internet technical community organizations, as well as civil society.

 

Ms. Maureen HILYARD

Chair of the Board of the Pacific Chapter of the Internet Society, and has been involved in PICISOC since 2006; In 2004, after 15 years  in distance education with The Correspondence School in New Zealand, moved to the Cook Islands Ministry of Education  to facilitate distance learning for students in outer islands schools; Advocated for the initial connection of internet services to schools and communities in the outer islands and over time TelecomCI has continued to improve their  access via broadband, wifi and mobile services; Managed development projects including the National Environment Service POPS Project (also dealing with other hazardous chemicals and e-waste) and the eGovernment Project with the Office of the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands; Currently employed as a Development Programme Coordinator with the NZ High Commission on Rarotonga; Founded an NGO, the Cook Islands Internet Action Group (2010) which advocates for continued improvements in the development of internet services in the Cook Islands, and is an At Large Structure (ALS) of ICANN; Member of the Diplo Community (Diplo Foundation) with a special interest in Internet Governance; Tutor of Computing Fundamentals course at USP Campus, Rarotonga.

 

Mr. Phet Sayo

For the last decade, Phet Sayo’s work has centred on the networked information society and its impact on human development in South and Southeast Asia.

Sayo has worked on policies governing the Internet; intellectual property rights, such as software piracy and copyright infringement; and alternative delivery models for information and communication technologies (ICTs), like free open-source software. As a senior member of IDRC’s Information and Networks team, he manages research that aims to help communities make the best use of ICTs. Before joining IDRC, Sayo worked with the United Nations Development Programme, based in Malaysia and Thailand. As an author and editor, he has contributed to numerous publications, including ICT Policies and e-Strategies in the Asia-Pacific: A Critical Assessment of the Way Forward; and Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives

 

Mr. Tarn How TAN

Tan Tarn How is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies.

His research areas are in arts and cultural policy and media and Internet policy. He has written on the development of the arts in Singapore, in particular, fostering partnerships between the people, private and public sectors, on the creative industries in Singapore, China and Korea, on the history of cultural policy in Singapore, on censorship, and on the management of media in Singapore. He has also carried out research on the impact of the Internet and new technology on society, the regulation of the Internet, the role of new media in the 2008 Malaysian election and the 2006 Singapore election, and the impact of new media on old media. He was a journalist for nearly one and half decades before joining IPS. He has also been a teacher and television scriptwriter and is an award-winning playwright.

 

Mr. Mya THWIN

Mya Thwin currently works as an independent ICT Consultant in Myanmar for various projects. Prior to the current role, he served as IT Specialist at United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP). He has previously held various System Analysis positions including System Engineer for Flight Information System at Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok, Thailand).

He has experience working in areas such as e-learning, community of practice, e-government and ICT capacity building. Mr. Mya Thwin holds a Master’s degree in computer engineering, and a Bachelors of Science degree in computer science.

 

Prof.V.C.VIVEKANANDAN

Prof.V.C.Vivekanandan received his PhD from National Law School of India Bangalore in the field of IPR and holds the degrees of M.L. in Corporate Law & Securities, B.L. degree, M.A. in Public Administration, M.Phil. In Public Administration and a B.Sc. Degree.

He is the Director of the Institute of Global Internet Governance and Advocacy (GIGA)(www.thegiga.in) and also the Director of the Legal Information Institute of India (www.liiofindia.org) at NALSAR University of Law.

He teaches IPR, Internet Law, Entertainment Law and researches on the interface of IP and Internet. He also holds the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD)- Govt.of India IP Chair at NALSAR and is an Adjunct Visiting Professor of Buffalo University, SUNY.

He served as the Asia Pacific representative of ALAC with ICANN and also was a member of the Nominating Committee of ICANN in 2011. He is a visiting faculty for National and International level institutions and was a NWO-ICSSR research fellow with Maastricht in 2010.

He served as the Dean of the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT Kharagpur in 2009-2010 and also as the Head of the Distance Education Department at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore in 2009.

Mr. Danilo Bakovic

Danilo Bakovic currently serves as the Director of Freedom House’s Internet Freedom program. A native of Serbia he has more than a decade long experience in the fields of political parties, elections, civil society and human rights. At Freedom House he designs and manages program that supports human rights and civil society organizations and activists in countering digital censorship and mitigating digital attacks. Program is developing global network that encourages use of counter-censorship tools in countries with restrictive environments through the creation and dissemination of training materials, security tools, and information on how to operate securely online. This program also provides assistance for campaigns and advocacy strategies on issues related to internet freedom. Finally, important part of this program is active engagement of policymakers such as United Nations Internet Governance Forum by providing recommendations that strengthen internet freedom and ensure that the international bodies counter attempts by countries to erode users’ rights.

 

Ms. Pirongrong Ramasoota

Pirongrong Ramasoota is currently deputy dean of graduate studies at the Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.  She is also director of the Thai Media Policy Center
(Thai-MPC) which is a research unit specializing in issues related to media law and regulation.  She has actively participated in several endeavors related to media reform, including being commissioner in the tabling of the country’s first Public Television law and the Frequency Allocation and Communication Regulation law.  Pirongrong completed her PhD in communication studies from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, under the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) scholarship.  Her research interests include media policy and regulation, social implications of ICTs, and media and democratization.

 

Sean Ang

Sean Ang is currently the Executive Director for Southeast Asian Centre for e-Media (SEACeM), an organization committed to the promotion of freedom of expression, democracy and human rights through the use of ICT. As of today, SEACeM has provided technical assistance to more than a dozen of independent media organizations in the Southeast Asia, and has also supported NGOs and Citizen journalists in the region. He has initiated various projects to enhance human rights in Asia such as the Asia Human Rights Monitoring system and the Journalists and Netizens under threat monitoring system. He has attended IGF at both regional and international level. Prior to joining SEACEM, Sean was a policy advisor for the National IT Council of Malaysia and have experiences in the field of e-learning and e-governance.

 

Mr. Shahzad Ahmad 

Shahzad is the Country Director of Bytes for All, Pakistan. Byte for All is a human rights organization with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development, democracy and social justice. It experiments and organizes debate on the relevance of ICTs for sustainable development and strengthening human rights movements in the country. Shahzad’s focus of work includes ICT policy advocacy, internet rights, privacy and freedom of expression online.

At the forefront of Internet Rights movement in Pakistan, Shahzad is a development communications expert, a Diplo Fellow, an executive board member of the Association for Progressive Communications, policy advisory board member of .PK ccTLD and a member of the International Advisory Board of Privacy International, UK.

He regularly contributes to various publications and research studies around ICTs for Development, freedom of expression and gender related issues. Shahzad maintains a strong engagement with the broader civil society networks at national, regional and global levels and believes in inclusive participation and openness.

 

Prof. Jim Foster

Jim Foster comes from a career in diplomacy and the ICT business.  He worked for the US Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer for 25 years, serving in Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Brussels and Washington, D.C.  He joined Microsoft in 2006 as the Director for Corporate and Regulatory Affairs in Tokyo.  Since 2012, he has been teaching and doing research at Keio at the intersection of international relations and Internet technology policy.  He is currently vice chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Internet Economy Task Force.  He received a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Washington (Seattle).

 

Mr. Koichiro Komiyama

Koichiro Komiyama, CISSP, is the Manager of the Global Coordination Division at Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (JPCERT/CC), the National CSIRT of Japan. His current roles are to support the establishment of CSIRTs in its initial stage and to collaborate with CSIRTs overseas. He has experience as security analyst and led the gathering of security information and publishing multiple security alerts and advisories to the local constituencies.  Prior to joining JPCERT/CC in 2006, he worked for ISS (IBM ISS), where he was in charge of large IDS/IPS system designs and deployment.

 

Dr. Jason Nye

Dr. Jason Nye is Director of Research at Avascent International and is based in Seattle, USA. His expertise is in global defense and aerospace markets, US and international export and trade controls, intellectual property rights (IPR), information security and East Asia and Middle East defense and security. From 2002-2008, Dr. Nye served as a Division Chief and Senior Analyst with the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR).  A 1994 graduate of Montana State University, Dr. Nye received his PhD from the University of St. Andrews (UK) in history in 2000.

 

 

Mr. Jun Takei

Jun Takei manages Intel’s Global Public Policy (GPP) team in Tokyo. Since 2009, he has been a visiting professor at Keio University.  He serves on the board of WIDE project, a multi-stakeholder research program on the Internet.  Prior to joining Intel, he spent more than 10 years in communication industry and worked as a senior systems engineer. His work included IP network design & operation, satellite design and manufacturing, satellite performance measurement system development, and IP network design over the satellite. He is a contributor to Internet standard RFC3077 (UDLR).  He holds a Ph.D. from Keio University.

 

Mr. Masakazu Takahashi

Masakazu Takahashi has been with Microsoft Japan as Chief Security Advisor since 2006.  He previously worked for Japan Digital Laboratory and Internet Security Systems K.K. in a variety of security and quality assurance roles.  He is vice deputy chair of the Japan Network Security Association.  He serves on a number of Japanese government advisory committees, including most recently METI assessment of the role of cyber security in the economy.

 

 

 

Prof. Suguru Yamaguchi

Suguru Yamaguchi received his M.E. and D.E. degrees in computer science from Osaka University, Japan, in 1988 and 1991, respectively. In 2000, he became a Professor in the Graduate School of Information Science at NAIST. From 2004 to 2010, he served as an Advisor on Information Security in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Japan. He has been involved with JPCERT/CC since 1996, and APCERT since 2003.  Currently he also serves as a member of the steering committee member of FIRST for 2011/2012.  His research interests include technologies for information sharing, multimedia communication over high-speed communication channels, network security and network management for the Internet.

 

Mr. Takashi Yuguchi

Takashi Yuguchi entered Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) in 1989.  He was involved with the operations of OCN, Japan’s largest ISP since its service launch in 1996 until 2009.  Currently, he is responsible for cyber security crisis management at NTT Communications.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Seow Hiong GOH

Seow Hiong Goh plays an advisory role to government officials and regulators across Asia Pacific on a range of ICT-related policy issues. He assists governments in adopting policies and regulations that foster investment, innovation, growth and adoption of advanced ICT technologies and services. His current focus areas include advising on national broadband strategies and deployment, convergence policy, cyber-security and e-government. Mr. Goh was in the Singapore public service for 10 years, where he undertook various responsibilities including Deputy Director for Infocomm Development Policy, Deputy Director for Infocomm Security and Special Assistant to the CEO at the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. He was subsequently in private legal practice for several years, before taking up the position as Director, Software Policy for Asia with the Business Software Alliance for five years. He joined Cisco in his present position in 2008.

 

Mr. Rafik Dammak

Rafik Dammak is young Tunisian working as computer engineer and living in Japan. He hold a degree in Computer Engineering from Engineering school in Tunisia  and Msc on applied computer science from Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, at the University of Tokyo. He worked before as computer engineer at STMicroelectronics.

He is a DiploFoundation alumnae after completion of the Internet Governance Capacity Building program. He participated in the online WIPO course on Intellectual Property. He is a former Creative Commons Tunisian license project  Public co-leader. He is involved in the youth participation at Internet Governance Forum and in the organization of youth workshops, the coordination of Youth Coalition on Internet Governance (ycig.org ) and attended as a youth representative.

He is member of the steering committee for the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles. He has been involved in ICANN community as NCUC individual user member and currently an elected GNSO Councillor for the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group. He also participated in several working groups like the new gTLD  applicant support or JAS WG where he is the co-chair. He is also member of EC of the NCSG.

He is also in the program committee for APrIGF and Japan IGF, while he is working on improving awareness about IG in Tunisia.

 

Mr. Geoff Huston

Geoff Huston is the Chief Scientist at the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), where he undertakes research on topics associated with Internet infrastructure, IP technologies, and address distribution policies.

Widely regarded as the preeminent researcher on IPv4 exhaustion, he is routinely referenced by international agencies and is frequently quoted by the ICT media.

Geoff has also presented at a number of global technical and government forums, including the OECD, ITU, ICANN, APEC, and the IETF.

Prior to APNIC, Geoff was employed as the Chief Internet Scientist at Telstra and Technical Manager of the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNET). He was a leading figure in the development of Australia’s academic and commercial Internet services.

 

Mr. Lucas Vall

Lucas holds a PhD from Nagoya University in International Development. He is an economist, business analyst and strategist with special focus on the study of the development of small companies and the Internet.

He joined Brights Consulting in 2009 and since 2010 has been a member of the New gTLD Project that has helped Brights Consulting become one of the leading consulting firms in assisting renown brands to apply for their strings. As a member of the New gTLD Project he has actively participated in the development of the New gTLD Program within the ICANN community.

 

Mr. Robert Pepper

Robert Pepper leads Cisco’s Global Technology Policy team working with governments across the world in areas such as broadband, IP enabled services, wireless and spectrum policy, security,  privacy, Internet governance and ICT development.

He joined Cisco in July 2005 from the FCC where he served as Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development beginning in 1989 where he focused on the intersection of technology and policy including issues cutting across traditional boundaries, leading teams developing policies promoting the development of the Internet, developing broadband policy, implementing telecommunications legislation, planning for the transition to digital television, and designing and implementing the first U.S. spectrum auctions.

Before joining the FCC, he was Director of the Annenberg Washington Program in Communications Policy.  His government service also included Acting Associate Administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and initiating a program on Computers, Communications and Information Policy at the National Science Foundation.

His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University. He serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) and advisory boards for Columbia University and Michigan State University, and is a Communications Program Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, the UK’s Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board and the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy

Pepper received his BA. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Mr. Hasanul Aaq Inu

Elected Member of Bangladesh National Parliament in December 2009 and Elected Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee for Ministry of Post and Tele Communications and rising voice for voiceless workers, peasants, women in the Parliament.

  • Member,  Special Committee of the Parliament-2010.
  • Chair, All- Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
  • Co-Chair, Anti-Poverty Campaign National Committee, All- Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
  • Member, Parliamentary Caucasus for Indigenous Peoples.
  • Member, Bangladesh Bharat Pakistan People’s Forum.
  • Adviser, Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF).
  • Adviser, Bangladesh IPv6 Forum.
  • Vice President, Bangladesh Martial Art Confederation

 

Mr. Swee Seng YAP

Yap Swee Seng (Yap) is executive director of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, a regional human rights organization based in Bangkok with 46 members across 17 countries in Asia. He holds a master degree in human rights from University of Essex, United Kingdom. He is also the co-convenor of the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TFAHR), a coalition of more than 70 non-governmental organizations campaigning for an independent and effective ASEAN regional human rights mechanism.

 

 

Ms. Miwa Kubosaki

Miwa Kubosaki currently serves as the Senior Program Officer for Southeast Asia Program at Freedom House.  A native of Japan, she has worked in the field of human rights and democracy in Asia since 2004.  At Freedom House, Miwa runs the regional program that provides technical assistance to promote local and regional civil society groups’ voices and efforts on the rights to freedom of expression and association.  The program also provides strategic opportunities for cross-border exchanges and knowledge-sharing sessions among rights and democracy advocates in Southeast Asia.  Miwa holds a M.A. degree in International Relations and International Economics from the Southeast Asia Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

 

Ms. Sylvia CADENA

Sylvia has been working for almost 2 decades supporting different organizations and groups to strategically use ICTs for development.

In 1993, right after graduating from Industrial Design, she joined the United Nations Volunteers Program supporting south-to-south exchange of information among farmers. Later that year, she joined COLNODO to build a strong and consistent Internet presence from civil society organizations around the LAC region, providing technical training on web design, usability and accessibility. She coordinated the first telecenter project deployed in LAC providing access for marginalized communities. She provided useful insight to the National Connectivity Agenda in Colombia and similar initiatives that flourished throughout the region during the late 90s.

In 2000, she joined the CGIAR Tropical Whitefly IPM Project (a global initiative on integrated pest management) where she developed the researchers online platform. In July 2003, her work was recognized with the “Annual Award for Young Professionals” by the International Development Research Center (IDRC). During her internship she supported ICAmericas to start-up a variety of initiatives such as OSILAC, FRIDA, WiLAC & TRICALCAR, the World Dialogue on Regulation, among others.

As a consultant, she coordinated community wireless networking initiatives, focusing on collaboration platforms to provide training, localized materials (WNDW book) and equipment.

She moved to Australia in 2008 and joined the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) to coordinate the ISIF Asia fund, a grants and awards program supporting innovation on ICTs in the region.

 

Mr. Mikimasa Nakayama

NTT Communications Corporation (1999-Present)

  •  Supported with consultats to establish a sales organization and developed sales channel.
  •  Supported corporate marketing and established a partnering relationship in the Enterprise Cloud field.
  •  Belongs to the associations such as ASPIC(ASP・SaaS・Cloud Consortium, as director), iSRF(IT Skill Research Forum), and MIJS(Made in Japan Software consortium) (MIJS) etc, to encourage the activities of Cloud Businessas as an external activity,

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (1990-1999)

  •  Supported with consultants to establish NTT Communications Corporation with the reorganization of NTT.
  •  Supported corporate sales and marketing

 

Mr. Sébastien Bachollet

Sébastien Bachollet began his career in 1985 with Air Inter (the French domestic airline), then moved to SNCF (French National Railways) where he led innovative technological and organizational projects focused on information systems. With this experience, in the early 2000s he relaunched and promoted the development of CIO (Chief Information Officer) networks at the national level within CIGREF (Club Informatique des Grandes Entreprises Françaises) and at the European level with the creation of EuroCio. Within this framework, he was responsible for strategic development and networking. As deputy general manager of CIGREF, he represented CIGREF and business users in Internet governance at all levels in France, Europe and worldwide.

CIGREF has been a member of ICANN‘s GNSO Business Constituency since its inception.

Since his work with SNCF, Sébastien has been deeply involved in the Internet world. He launched the www.sncf.fr web site, the largest e-business web site in France today.

Sébastien worked actively to set up and hold the European Global Event on Domain Names and Address Systems, now known as EGENI Europe, held in Paris annually from 2002 to 2008 with more than 250 participants each year. He launched EGENI Africa in 2006 with ISOC Morocco.

Since 2001, Sébastien has been a member of the Internet Society French Chapter (www.isoc.fr), has served on its board since 2003 and was declared the Honorary President in 2009. He is an honorary member of other Internet Society chapters as well. He was elected European Internet users representative in May 2007 and has been the ALAC (At-Large Advisory Committee) vice-chair since 2008.

A citizen of France, Sébastien has served since June 2004 as the founding CEO of BBS International Consulting, a consultancy specializing in information systems with particular emphasis on Internet technologies.

Sébastien was selected by the At-Large to serve on the Board.  His first term starts following the Annual General Meeting in Cartagena Colombia on 10 December 2010  and expires six months after this meeting.  He has also been selected to fill a full term, which will start six months after the end of the 2010 Annual General Meeting and will expire six months after at the Annual General Meeting in 2013.

 

Mr. Erik Kline

Erik Kline is an IPv6 Software Engineer for Google in Tokyo. He has worked for Google since 2004 and has been architecting networks and writing software since 1993.

Having started work on IPv6 porting and deployment in 2005, as a <20% project, he transitioned to a 100% “IPv6 guy” in October of 2007. He has contributed as a software developer to the launch of IPv6 support for numerous Google services.

Erik is also an open source contributor, IETF participant, and prior to discovering networking and software was an Astronautical Engineer from MIT and NASA Ames Research Center (Moffett Field).

 

Mr. Haruka Saito

Haruka Saito has been Director of Computer Communications Division (Data-Tsushin-ka) at MIC (Soumu-sho. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) since July 2011.

He entered the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now MIC) in 1988 after graduated from Tokyo University Law Faculty.

Prior to taking up his current position, he worked as Director for ICT in Education at MEXT (Monka-sho. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) from 2009 to 2011 and Counselor for Telecom Policy at the Embassy of Japan, Washington D.C. from 2005 to 2008.

 

Ms. Kyoko Matsuba

Kyoko has been with GE Healthcare Japan since 2010, primarily responsible for executing Japan healthcare IT product strategy. While GE Healthcare Japan has long supported Japanese hospitals from multiple angles and provided wide variety of “modality equipment” such as CT, MRI, X-ray, cardiology and operating room monitoring device, it also has a track record in providing healthcare IT solutions to enable efficient hospital operations. Prior to joining GE Healthcare, Kyoko spent 10 years in the U.S. serving roles including administrator of a large academic medical center and hospital management consultant, after spending 5 years in another industry in Japan.

 

Mr. Iarla Flynn

Iarla’s policy focus is on preserving the benefits of the open Internet downunder.

He joined Google in 2007 as European Public Policy Manager based at the Company’s European headquarters in Dublin. His role included leading Google’s advocacy for communications and spectrum liberalisation across Europe.

Prior to joining Google he spent 12 years in senior roles in government and telecomms operators in the Irish and European communications sectors.

 

 

Ms. Shino Uenuma

Corporate; Intellectual Property; Copyrights; Unfair Competition; Bankruptcy; International Business Law; IT and Telecommunication; and Family Law

Experience

  • With Hayabusa Kokusai, Tokyo (1997-2002).
  • Intern at Perkins Coie (Seattle, USA)(2004)
  • Intern at International Consumer Protection Division at Federal Trade Commission (2005)
  • Intern at Counsil of Better Business Bureau (Arlington VA, USA) (2005)

Positions

  • Executive Director　：　Content Evaluation and Monitoring Association (EMA) (2012-)
  • Professor at the Legal Training and Research Institute of Japan (teaching criminal advocacy practice) (2012-)
  • Guest Associate Professor at Institute of Information Security

Publications

  • “Consumer Protection in Cross-Border E-Commerce Markets” in CYBERLAW FOR GLOBAL E-BUSINESS: FINANCE, PAYMENTS, AND RESOLUTION (IGI, 2007)
  • “Several Issues on Electronic Money and Payments” in JOURNAL OF THE LAW AND COMPUTERS ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN No.27 (2009)
  • “Study of cases in US and Europe regarding Search services on the Internet” in JOURNAL OF THE LAW AND COMPUTERS ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN No.28 (2010)

 

Mr. Akio Kokubu

Akio Kokubu is Vice President of the Internet Association Japan, where he has worked in the development and the spread of filtering functions to protect children from illegal and harmful information on the Internet since 1996. He has been promoting the Internet literacy of children by providing the guideline, the online test service and text books for Internet Rules and Manners since 1999.

He has acted as head of the Internet Hotline Center since its establishment. The Internet Hotline Center was established in 2006 with financial support from the National Police Agency and is operated by the Internet Association Japan to promote measures against cybercrimes by providing an integrated point for reporting illegal or harmful information on the Internet in Japan. It is a member of the INHOPE (International Association of Internet Hotlines) and the APIH (Asia Pacific Information Hotline Network).

Mr. Naoya Bessho

Naoya Bessho joined Yahoo! Japan in 1999, created the legal division in 2000, and is currently CCO and General Counsel and oversees legal, intellectual property, internet safety, governance, compliance, and risk management departments.

Mr. Bessho has represented and currently represents Yahoo! Japan on several committees and working groups such as the Anti-Spam Mail Promotion Council, the Agency for Cultural Affairs Committee on the Facilitation of Distribution and Use of E-books, Contracts and Use Working Team of the Copyright Legislation Issues Subcommittee for the Agency for Cultural Affairs Council for Cultural Affairs, Consumer Commission Expert Committee for Personal Information Protection, Cabinet Office Committee for Improvement of the Internet Environment for Youth, Safe Internet of JAPAN, Japan Advertising Review Organization, and the Internet Association of Japan Coordinating Council on Filtering Study Group.

He has also been at the forefront of Yahoo! Japan’s disaster relief efforts during and after the Great East Japan Disaster and continues to work with governments and businesses to fulfill the potential of the internet to impact lives in a positive way.

 

 

Mr. Fouad Bajwa

Fouad Riaz Bajwa manages the Internet Research Dot Asia Intelligence project that monitors the dynamic growth of the Domain and IP industry and its impact on innovation in South Asia since 2010. He was the youngest webmaster in Pakistan that brought online the Financial E-Government and established the first line of cyber defense against global hack attacks receiving presidential acclamation in 2003. He is the Director of the Linux Professional Institute Pakistan Territory (http://www.lpi.org), Visiting Research Fellow and Director of Internet Governance and Public Policy at a domestic think tank and is the Co-Vice Chair of APRALO in ICANN. He served on the Internet Governance Forum MAG from April 2009 to February 2012. Fouad is amongst Pakistan’s first generation of World Wide Web entrepreneurs and pioneers that trained and developed the country’s earliest web masters, entrepreneurs and knowledge workers. He brought online numerous organizations and developed the first industrial grade online research collaboration systems during his garage startup from 1994-2002. From 1997 to 2009, Fouad catalyzed the Free and Open Source Software movement in Pakistan establishing a parallel ecosystem as opposed to the closed proprietary IT software industry. Fouad has been actively involved in public policy information activism for the development of pro-people ICT, Internet and Electronic Laws in Pakistan. He has consulted governments, multilateral agencies, United Nations, ITU, UNCTAD and non-governmental organizations in various areas of ICT4D, FOSS and Internet Development. Fouad’s Internet research and contributions have been occasionally published by the media and multilateral organizations.

 

Dr. Suhaidi Hassan

Dr. Suhaidi Hassan is the Vice Chair of ISOC Malaysia and the Chairman of the InterNetWorks Research Laboratory, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). He is a visiting professor in Telecommunication Management, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Khartoum, SUDAN and a visiting professor in Computing, Engineering and Technology at the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (UCTI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He graduated with a BSc degree in Computer Science from State University of New York in Binghamton, MSc degree in Information Science (Telecommunications/Networks) from the University of Pittsburgh, and PhD in Computing from the University of Leeds, UK. Dr Suhaidi is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and actively involved in both IEEE Communications and IEEE Computer societies. He served as the Vice Chair (2004-2007) of the IEEE Malaysia Computer Society, a member of technical steering committee for the Malaysian Research and Educational Network (MYREN), Member of the Malaysian ICT Deans Council (2007-2011). Dr Suhaidi was a WKD Foundation (Switzerland)’s Young Scientist Fellow at the World Knowledge Dialogue, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland (2006). He is also the ISOC Fellow to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Dr Suhaidi formerly appointed as Dean (2007) of the Faculty of Information Technology UUM, and recently as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of the UUM College of Arts and Sciences (2008-2011.

 

Mr. Atsushi UMINO

Mr. Atsushi UMINO is Director for International Policy Coordination of Global ICT Strategy Bureau in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan (MIC) from 2011.  His background encompasses a broad range of policy fields, which include not only ICT but also local public administration, postal services, and outer space.  He also has some academic experiences as an associate professor at Nagasaki University and a senior researcher at Institute for Information and Communications Policy, a national research institution, in addition to as a policy analyst in the OECD.  He is also the author of “Essence of Administrative Law: Approach from the perspective of Japan’s Constitutional Law” issued in 2011 in Japanese.

 

Mr. David Farrar

David Farrar is the owner and editor of Kiwiblog, one of the most read blogs in New Zealand. He has chaired InternetNZ’s Policy Advisory Committee for the last ten years, and is also a director of the .nz Domain Name Commission. David worked in the NZ Parliament for eight years, including a role as an executive assistant to the Prime Minister. Since 2004 he has own and managed a public policy research and polling company – Curia Market Research.