Geoff Huston

Chief Scientist, APNIC

Geoff Huston AM is the Chief Scientist at APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia Pacific. He has worked in and one the Internet for the past 35 years. He was responsible for building the first Internet platform in Australia in the early 1990s, AARNet, for the higher education and research sector, and then worked for Telstra where he constructed their national and international Internet platforms. He joined APNIC to concentrate on research programs in 2005. He is an active member of the IETF, and has authored 44 RFCS. He was a member of the Internet Architecture Board, and has chaired a number of Working Groups. His current research interests include measurement, routing, security, and the intersection between economics, public policy and technology. His blog and various presentations can be found at https://www.potaroo.net .

Adrian Wan

Senior Manager, Policy & Advocacy, Internet Society

Adrian Wan is Senior Manager, Policy & Advocacy at the Internet Society. Based in Singapore, he focuses on issues affecting the Internet’s openness, connectivity, trustworthiness, and security, with an emphasis on Asia-Pacific. A former business journalist based in Hong Kong and Beijing, he found interest in Internet policy and standards and has worked in organizations including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Microsoft, and Huawei. He was an Obama Leader Asia-Pacific in 2022.

Leonard Lim

Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Asia Pacific and Japan, Zoom

Leonard leads a regional team which engages with policymakers, think-tanks, civil society, and academics, to advocate for Zoom’s interests in areas such as data privacy, artificial intelligence, digital trade, and cybersecurity. He is also vice chair of the Washington, D.C.-based Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) Asia Pacific Committee.

His previous positions include Country Director for Singapore at Vriens & Partners, a government relations consultancy covering Southeast Asia; research associate at the Institute of Policy Studies, a think-tank under the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; and assistant political editor at The Straits Times, Singapore’s national newspaper.

He is trained in economics, with Bachelors’ (first class honours) and Masters’ (by research) degrees from the National University of Singapore.

Cokorda Pramartha

Associate Professor of Computer Science, Universitas Udayana

Cokorda Pramartha is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Udayana University, Bali. He earned his PhD in Information Technologies from the University of Sydney. His research focuses on information systems and cultural preservation, particularly digital heritage and Balinese culture. He is the Co-director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHSS), a collaboration between the Australian National University and Universitas Udayana, and heads the Net-Centric Computing Research Laboratory. Additionally, he leads the Information Systems and Collaboration Unit at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. He invented the Tamiang Balinese keyboard for Balinese script and previously served as Secretary of the International Office at Universitas Udayana. Currently, he collaborates with world-leading universities to preserve threatened languages in Indonesia (https://enggano.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk).

Sarmad Hussain

Senior Director, IDN and UA Programs, ICANN

Sarmad Hussain is with ICANN’s Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) and Universal Acceptance (UA) Programs. Earlier, Sarmad was a professor of Computer Science and held the IDRC Chair position in Multilingual Computing. His research has focused on developing computing solutions for Asian languages, including research in linguistics, localization, speech processing, and computational linguistics. He was an active member of the ICANN community before joining ICANN – he was engaged in the IDN ccTLD application for Pakistan, and was a member of ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC).

Sally Costerton

Sr. Advisor to President and SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement & Interim President and CEO, ICANN

Sally is an experienced global leader. She has served as Senior Advisor to the President and Senior Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) since 2012, and is also currently serving as ICANN’s Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. In her role, she is responsible for ICANN’s international offices and internationalization strategy. Her direct reports include the regional office managing directors and regional vice presidents, as well as the vice presidents of Meetings and Public Responsibility Support (PRS). Most recently, Sally led the development phase of the ICANN Grant Program, the Emergency Support Infrastructure Project and ICANN organization’s contributions to the Anti-Harassment Board Working Group. Under the GSE function, she leads the GSE, Meetings, and Public Responsibility Support teams.

Prior to joining ICANN, Sally led one of Europe’s largest public relations firms, Hill & Knowlton, as EMEA CEO. In this role, she was responsible for more than 1,000 staff members in 33 offices. Throughout her career, Sally has worked with diverse international companies and senior leaders to maximize their resources and build strong relationships with their stakeholders. She is an experienced Board Director, including roles as Board Chair.

Jia-Rong Low

Vice President, Stakeholder Engagement and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, ICANN

Jia-Rong Low joined ICANN in August 2013. He is currently the Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement, and concurrently Managing Director for the Asia Pacific (APAC) regional office. Stationed in Singapore, Jia-Rong works with key stakeholders to bring ICANN to the region and facilitate stakeholders to participate in multistakeholder Internet governance.

Prior to joining ICANN, Jia-Rong served at Singbridge International, a Singapore government-linked company specializing in sustainable urban development projects. A former diplomat, Jia-Rong worked for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as First Secretary (Political) at the Singapore Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam. Jia-Rong is very familiar with the region, having represented Singapore in engaging the region’s governments such as Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Jia-Rong holds a Diploma in International Trade Law from WTO in Geneva, Switzerland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Communications Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

Andrew Ure

Managing Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Southeast Asia, Google

Andrew Ure is Managing Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Southeast Asia at Google. He has been at Google for over ten years, working on policy issues across the Asia-Pacific. His expertise is in technology policy, workforce skilling and the economics of the digital economy. Prior to this he was Managing Director of OgilvyEarth, a sustainability consultancy. He also spent ten years in a number of senior roles with the Australian Government, including as a diplomat in the Middle East and as a climate negotiator and chair in UN and World Bank processes. He started his career as a strategy consultant based in London. He has a Masters in International Law from the Australian National University and an undergraduate degree from Oxford University.

Sylvia Cadena

Head of Programs and Partnerships, APNIC Foundation

After ten years managing the Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia) at APNIC, Sylvia was appointed Head of Programs at the APNIC Foundation in December 2016. As Head of Programs and Partnerships, Sylvia works on the management, design and implementation of collaborative programs and projects to expand APNIC Foundation activities in the region including the ISIF Asia program, one of the region’s most established Internet development programs, as well as the Seed Alliance, which supported innovative Internet development across the global south.

Over her 25 years of experience in Internet Development in Latin America and Asia Pacific, Sylvia’s work has focused on the strategic use of the Internet for development with an emphasis on capacity building and infrastructure deployment. Since her early years as a UN Volunteer, she has worked across the multistakeholder spectrum of organizations with technical, training and advisory roles, mainly about information systems, access provision and innovation coordinating projects and team across the global south.

She has served in many selection committees and working groups focused such as the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance appointed by the UN Secretary General, the ICANN CCWG on new gTLD auction proceeds, the APrIGF Multi-stakeholder Steering Group and the Policy Network on Meaningful Access among others.

Samiran Gupta

Vice President, Government and IGO Engagement, APAC and Stakeholder Engagement, South Asia, ICANN

Samiran is Vice President, Government and Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) Engagement for the APAC region, and Stakeholder Engagement South Asia.

Before rejoining ICANN in October 2023, Samiran was Senior Director of Global Government Affairs for India and South Asia with Twitter/X Corp. Samiran previously served as ICANN’s Head of Stakeholder Engagement in South Asia from September 2014 until February 2022.

Samiran brings an extensive business strategy and public policy consulting background in sectors including telecom, entertainment, fintech, e-commerce, social media, and energy and renewables.

Samiran has a Master’s in Business Administration from St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, United States of America, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calcutta, India.

Jennifer Chung

Director of Corporate Knowledge, DotAsia Organisation

Jennifer Chung is the Director of Corporate Knowledge for DotAsia Organisation. She represents .Asia Registry at ICANN and is a GNSO councilor for the RySG. She headed the ICG Secretariat that oversaw the IANA stewardship transfer from the US government to the global multistakeholder community.

Ms. Chung was appointed to the IGF MAG (2018-2020), and the 2022 Expert Working Group that developed recommendations on strengthening the IGF. She heads the IGFSA Secretariat which provides support to the IGF and gran​ts seed funding to National, Regional and Youth Initiatives. She serves in the Asia Pacific Regional IGF Secretariat and works towards amplifying Asia Pacific contributions on Internet governance.

Ms. Chung is on the ISIF.asia Selection Committee that awards grants for research and technical solutions supporting Internet development in Asia Pacific. She works on Internationalized Domain Names policies and supports efforts to achieve Universal Acceptance, a foundational requirement for a multilingual Internet.

Amrita Choudhury

Director of CCAOI

Amrita Choudhury is an active participant in national and global digital policy and internet governance discussions. She serves as the Director of CCAOI, Chair Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA), Chair, Asia Pacific Regional At Large Structure (APRALO) at ICANN, Chair Asia Pacific Regional IGF (AprIGF), President of Internet Society India Delhi Chapter. Amrita has co-founded the India School on Internet Governance (inSIG) and is a Coordination Committee member of the IndiaIGF (IIGF). She advises youth initiatives such as Youth IGF India. She has in the past served as a UN IGF MAG Member.

For more details visit: https://in.linkedin.com/in/amrita-choudhury-b0865511/

Ian Sheldon

Director, Internet Governance, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Australia

Ian Sheldon is the Director of the Internet Governance team, in the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Ian is the Australian GAC representative at ICANN, and covers a breadth of Internet related issues across various fora, including ICANN, APNIC, IGF and the ITU. Ian has a depth of experience across both private and public sectors, and has worked on a range of public policy issues, including research, strategy and foresighting, telecommunications, and employment and workplace relations. Ian currently co-chairs the GAC Operating Principles Evolution working group and Commonwealth GAC group, and co-facilitates the APAC GAC group.

Shita Laksmi

Southeast Asia Representative, Diplo Foundation

Shita Laksmi is currently a Southeast Asia Representative for the Diplo Foundation. Shita received an ICANN78 Fellowship in 2023 and is currently a member at APRALO. She was the Executive Director at Tifa Foundation in 2019 – 2022. Before that, Shita worked as an expert team member at the Directorate General of Informatics Application, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Indonesia. Shita spent more than a decade at the Hivos Southeast Asia Office. She was also a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the Internet Governance Forum at the United Nations (2014 – 2017). Shita has more than 23 years of experience, working at international development organizations and quasi-government on issues related to transparency and accountability, personal and open data, media, and internet governance.

Pitinan Kooarmornpatana

IDN Programs Sr. Manager, ICANN

Pitinan Kooarmornpatana joined ICANN in August 2017 and serves as an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Programs Senior Manager. Her role focuses on facilitating various script communities to develop Label Generation Rules proposals for the root zone and for references at the second level. She also supports IDN-related policy developments at ICANN. Pitinan is passionate about enabling the effective and efficient use of information technology for everyone through technology localization.

Harrison Seletsky

Business Development Director, SPACE ID

Building in the crypto space since 2017, Harrison Seletsky is the Director of Business Development at SPACE ID, a universal name service network and domain-name-as-a-service solution. Harrison oversees the business development and partnership pipelines of SPACE ID, and is involved in many of the forward-facing and strategic aspects within the organization. With the goal of maximizing utility for the community of SPACE ID domain name holders, expanding the reach of SPACE ID’s domain name service capabilities, and bringing in new users to the web3 domain name sector, Harrison focuses on strategic growth for the SPACE ID ecosystem.

Prior to SPACE ID, Harrison worked at a NFT marketplace as the Head of Growth and Strategy, at a blockchain-focused hedge fund, as a contributor to various crypto news outlets, and worked privately with blockchain networks and decentralized applications collectively worth billions on their business development, communications, and user-facing interactions.

Hiro Tsukahara

Chief Executive Officer, GMO Registry, Inc.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Hiro was educated in Boston, Massachusetts, and holds a BA in Economics. Hiro founded his first business at the age of 17. Since then, he founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of two investment firms before joining GMO Internet Group in November 2008.

Hiro is a co-founder of GMO Registry, Inc., established in 2009 with the vision of building a secure, meaningful, and trusted namespace for e-commerce. He has served as the Chief Executive Officer since October 2012, and today, the company operates 49 Top Level Domains including .shop, .tokyo, and a number of dedicated brand domains for Japan’s largest corporations.

Shoko Nakai

Information Security Analyst and Incident Handler, JPCERT Coordination Center

Shoko Nakai joined JPCERT/CC in 2010 as an Information Security Analyst and Incident Handler.

For nearly a decade, she has been committed to providing coordination and assistance for cybersecurity incidents related to Japanese networks. She has also actively collaborated with local and global security communities such as FIRST and M3AAWG.

Izazi Mubarok

Chairman, AFDI (Digital Forensic Association Indonesia)

Izazi Mubarok is a digital forensics expert from the Indonesian Tax Authority, Ministry of Finance, who has worked on hundreds of cases on cybersecurity incidents, criminal acts, and occupational fraud. Izazi is known for his passion for digital forensics. He achieved a high level of training and education in his expertise, completing his master’s in Forensic Computing and Cybercrime Investigation from University College Dublin with first-class honors. Currently, Izazi leads the Indonesian Digital Forensics Association, which accommodates practitioners from law enforcement officials, private sectors, academics, and the community to jointly develop digital forensics nationally. He is also an expert council member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners-Indonesia Chapter, who often shares his expertise on how to use digital forensics for investigating fraud with many corporate investigators. Additionally, he has carried out assessments of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 on 17 Digital Forensics Labs as requested by the Indonesian National Accreditation Committee.

Sheryl (Shane) Hermoso

Training Delivery Manager, Southeast Asia and East Asia, APNIC

Sheryl (Shane) Hermoso is a Network Operations Engineer and a Senior Technical Trainer at APNIC. Before joining APNIC, Shane had various roles as a Network Engineer, managing the enterprise network backbone and wireless infrastructure. Shane regularly presents on routing issues at conference and training events throughout the Asia Pacific.ation Committee.

Muhammad Arif

Chairman, APJII (Internet Service Providers Association Indonesia)

Muhammad Arif is a prominent figure in the Indonesian telecommunications sector, known for his role as the Chairman of APJII (Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia), where he represents internet service providers in the country. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from Bina Nusantara University.

Arif’s dedication to the growth and development of the Indonesian telecommunications industry is evident throughout his career. He founded GreenNet, an Internet Service Provider, and SIAPNet, a Network Access Provider, both in 2010, demonstrating his commitment to improving Internet infrastructure in Indonesia. Notably, in 2023, he successfully guided his company, Synergy Network, to go public on the stock exchange with the code INET.

From 2019 to 2021, Muhammad Arif served as Chairman of the Indonesia Telecommunication Network Provider Association (APJATEL), pivotal in advancing various initiatives to enhance internet penetration rates in the country.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the telecommunications sector, Arif was elected as the Chairman of APJII in 2021, continuing his journey after serving as the Chairman of APJATEL. His ongoing collaboration with the Indonesian government in advocating for policies promoting industry growth underscores his commitment to the industry’s development.

Arif’s involvement extends beyond his leadership at APJII; he serves as the Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Internet Domain Name Organization (PANDI) and represents APJII on the Board of Advisory of the Indonesian ICT Society. These roles highlight his broad impact and influence within the Indonesian tech community.

Alban Kwan

Head of Corporate Development and Strategic Alliances, APAC, CSC

Alban Kwan is the APAC head of Corporate Development and Strategic Alliances for CSC. He has been with CSC’s Digital Brand Services business and affiliated companies since 2009. Alban has developed a deep understanding of online brand protection, digital assets management, and cyber security, specifically for the Asia-Pacific region, and he advises top global and local companies. Alban frequently engages with local policy makers and is often invited to speak at conferences, where he shares his invaluable insight on brand protection, security, and local policies affecting businesses.

Kenny Huang

TWNIC Board Chair and APNIC EC Chair

Dr. Kenny Huang is a leading figure in Internet communities across Asia. Since the early years of Taiwan’s Internet development, he has contributed significantly to building a better Internet environment in Taiwan. Due to his extensive knowledge and experience, he has been invited to take up leading roles in many Internet organizations, including APNIC executive council chair, TWNIC board chair, and PIR board director (.org registry).

Dr. Huang’s contributions are particularly acknowledged in the development of Internet technology. He is one of the authors of IETF RFC3743, co-chair of ICANN CGP (Chinese LGR for the root zone), chair of ccNSO ccPDP4 WG, and advisory council member of DotAsia.

Dr. Huang has also been deeply involved in digital policy in Taiwan. He is a consultative committee member of the ICDF (International Cooperation and Development Fund), committee member of the telecommunications universal service fund of MoDA, committee member of the critical infrastructure protection program of the Executive Yuan, advisory committee member of the cybercrime prevention center of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, and an ICT expert of NSTC (National Science & Technology Council).

Dr. Huang holds a Ph.D. in MIS from National Chengchi University, an MSc in Scientific Computing from South Bank Polytechnic London, and a BEng from Tamkang University.

Benedict CHENG

Group Chief Risk Officer,

Mr. Benedict Cheng has spent more than 30 years of his career predominantly in investment banks where he held senior roles in market risk, traded credit risk, operational risk, compliance, and acted as business COO covering the Asia Pacific region. Throughout his banking career, Mr. Cheng led several key change management initiatives covering different business life cycles, including enterprise risk management process re-engineering and digital risk transformation. Since January 2019, Mr. Cheng has joined PCCW and HKT as GCRO and GDPO overseeing cybersecurity, technology risk, privacy, operational risk, regulatory, and financial crime compliance.

David Liu

Chief Information Security Officer, LINE

David Liu joined LINE in 2016. He oversees security designs and strategies for LINE and has been working in the cybersecurity domain for over 16 years.

In addition to technical domains of security, such as software security, abuse detection, and privacy impact assessment, David has also extended his expertise to data science and legal compliance for handling abuse problems on the LINE platform, protecting business operations since becoming a LINE security member. He currently serves as the chief information security officer of LINE and manages security enhancements for security teams in overseas group companies, such as those in Thailand and Vietnam, as the lead of the Asia & Pacific team.

Manju CHEN

Manager, National InformaNational Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association (NIIEPA)

Manju Chen is a manager at the National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association (NIIEPA). She has been conducting and leading researches regarding Internet Governance practices and policies since she joined NIIEPA in 2018. She also co-directs various projects that aims to expand and deepen Taiwanese engagement in the regional and global Internet Governance community.

Manju Chen currently serves on the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council, representing the Noncommercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG). She actively participates in local, regional, and global Internet Governance discussions and is often invited to speak at conferences and capacity-building workshops, where she shares her insight on youth engagement, security, and domain name polices.

Boyoung Kim

Deputy General Researcher, KISA

Boyoung Kim is a Deputy General Researcher at KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency), with expertise in international relations and Internet governance. She has been involved in developing domestic and international policies for domain name and Internet governance while representing Korea in GAC, ccNSO of ICANN community for the last 10 years.

Recently, she leads the youth capacity building project in Korea. She collaborates with Korean academia to develop text books, college courses, research groups and youth groups. She also takes a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region through the APTLD and DotAsia Boards.

Yash Agarwal

Stakeholder Engagement Manager, South Asia, ICANN

Yash Agarwal joined ICANN recently as the Global Stakeholder Manager for South Asia, based out of New Delhi. He has worked for the Indian Parliament, Twitter and consulting firms in the past and has an educational background in communications.

When not at work, Yash spends time mostly reading, playing tennis, brewing coffee, travelling or exploring the experiences New Delhi has to offer on the weekends!

Swapneel Patnekar

CEO, Shreshta IT Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Swapneel is the CEO of Shreshta, a DNS Security and threat intelligence company. Swapneel is the co-chair of the DNS Abuse SIG at Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams(FIRST) and also a Liaison Member from India.

He is also an APNIC Community Trainer and has delivered technical workshops in Bhutan, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. He has also delivered technical workshops to law enforcement on countering cybercrime.

Yee Ling Yeo

Head of Legal Operations, MYNIC Berhad

Ms Yeo Yee Ling is the Head of Legal Operations in MYNIC Berhad. She is responsible for overseeing the Policy, legal and regulatory matters in relation to domain name operations, contract management and intellectual property management. She graduated from the University of Manchester with Honours degree in Law, underwent professional training at the English Bar at Gray’s Inn and is a non-practising Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

Vivek Goyal

Chief Operating Officer, LdotR

Vivek Goyal is an Online Brand Protection expert with over 10 years of experience helping business protect their brand and manage digital assets.

As a member of the Business Constituency in ICANN, he has served on the Nominating Committee and is the Councillor-elect to the GNSO council.

He has worked with multiple start-ups and conglomerates in USA, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka helping them develop and execute digital strategy, brand and marketing strategy, and long term business expansion plans.

He has completed his MBA (Marketing), MS(IT) from Boston University and Bachelors in Engineering (Computers) from Pune University.

Currently, Vivek serves as the COO of LdotR, an online brand protection agency in South Asia.

Nathan Woo

Criminal Intelligence Analyst, IP Crime and Digital Piracy, INTERPOL

Nathan Woo is a Criminal Intelligence Analyst at INTERPOL, Organized and Emerging Crime Directorate. He completed a MA in Criminology, where he analyzed data through a multidisciplinary approach to better understand crime patterns. He was previously employed by a Canadian law enforcement agency and subsequently transitioned to INTERPOL, where he currently serves to address crime on a global scale. Although social structures and behaviors contributing to crime can be extremely complex, he believes that data analysis can help us better understand these nuanced phenomena.

His team currently addresses copyright infringements in online environments, where they coordinate international law enforcement investigations, assist with criminal intelligence analysis, and increase policing capabilities. They also recognize the importance of collaborating with non-government partners to better understand emerging trends within these environments. Through Nathan’s experience in research and analysis, his work typically supports law enforcement agencies with furthering investigations and exploring disruption strategies.

Champika Wijayatunga

Regional Technical Engagement Sr. Manager, ICANN

Champika Wijayatunga is the Regional Technical Engagement Sr. Manager for Asia Pacific at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). He is part of ICANN’s Office of the CTO and represents ICANN in Technical, Security, Law Enforcement and Capacity Building forums primarily in the APAC region.

Prior to ICANN, Champika held managerial, specialist, and liaison roles at Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) where he was instrumental in building the APNIC training unit and its capacity building program. Champika started his career with IBM Corporation as a technical specialist, and later worked in the IT industry, academia, research, and training environments. Champika has been regular speaker at various technical and security forums and also received a number of excellence awards during his academic and professional careers.

Champika holds a postgraduate degree in Computer Science & Engineering, as well as professional education qualifications in Cybersecurity. He also serves in various technical community groups and committees.

Atsushi Endo

Deputy Vice President, Planning Division & General Manager, Strategic Planning Department, JPRS

Atsushi Endo has been with Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd (JPRS), the .jp ccTLD Manager since 2001.

Currently, as a Deputy Vice President of Planning Division and General Manager of Strategic Planning Department, he is in charge of designing strategic plan, business administration and external affairs of JPRS. Prior to current position, he has involved in public communications and business development of JPRS. Especially, he has been heavily engaged in business development of JPRS including gTLD Registrar and new gTLD business through contracting RAA （Registrar Accreditation Agreement）of JPRS and its subsidiary and RA（Registry Agreement）of TLD “.jprs” with ICANN Organization.

Atsushi is long time participant of ICANN community. His first participation for ICANN meeting was ICANN 32 in Paris on 2008 and he has been regular attendee and participant of the ICANN Meeting since ICANN 40 in San Francisco on 2011.

Puthineath Lay

Data Scientist, Cambodia Digital Government

Puthineath leverages her expertise in data analysis to contribute to advancements in public sector efficiency at the Digital Government Committee. Previously, she worked as a researcher and instructor in Data Science and Natural Language Processing (NLP) at the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology. Puthineath holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (2019) from the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology and a Master’s degree in Informatics from the University of Grenoble Alpes, France (2022). She has participated in cutting-edge research since 2022 and continues to do so. She remains active in Internet Governance initiatives, having participated in prominent events like APIGA 2017, APrIGF 2018, APNIC48, Netmission Ambassador 2020, APSIG 2023, and ICANN NextGen 74.

Hiro Hotta

Board Member & Senior Executive Vice President, JPRS

Hiro Hotta is a Board Member and also Senior Executive Vice President of JPRS, which runs .jp ccTLD. He has over 20 years of experience in domain name industry and is currently responsible for business planning and stakeholder communication of JPRS.

He has been actively participated and lead discussions in ICANN. He was among the first DNSO Names Councilors of ICANN in 1999. After he joined JPRS, he served as a ccNSO Councilor for 16 years until 2020. He is currently a member of the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) representing M-Root DNS server operator.

In 2017, he received ICANN Multistakeholder Ethos Award, especially by being acknowledged for his contribution to IDN development and deployment.

Jenius Shieh

Partner, Cybersecurity & Privacy, PricewaterhouseCoopers | Darklab 

Jenius Shieh is a Partner at PwC’s Dark Lab, specializing in cybersecurity and technology risk advisory services. He runs the Cyber Threat Operations business at PwC Dark Lab where he provides services across cyber threats disciplines including OffSec, DFIR, Threat Intelligence and Managed Detection / Response services.

Leonid Todorov

General Manager, APTLD

Leonid Todorov holds an M.A. in Linguistics and did postgraduate studies in international relations, management and business leadership, and economics in Denmark, Taiwan, and the US.

In the 1990s, he had served for more than a decade as Chief of Staff to the PM of Russia. His background also includes the private sector and academic activities.

In 2008, he joined the .RU registry and contributed to the launch of the IDN ccTLD .РФ and new gTLDs . ДЕТИ (kids) and .TATAR.

In 2015, he was appointed as General Manager of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association (APTLD).

He was one of the founders of the Russian IGF and contributed to EuroDIG and APrIGF, as well IG schools in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

His focus is on ccTLDs, Internet governance, public policy, and cybersecurity. He has authored and co-authored a number of publications on the matters, and presented at various national and international events.

Jayce Yeo

Senior Director, APAC, CSC

Jayce Yeo is the APAC regional director of CSC with over 15 years of industry experience. She has spearheaded the APAC enterprise account management team in the Oceania since 2007, and has continued its regional expansion. Today, CSC Asia’s presence is represented by its established footprint in Australia, Greater China, Japan, and Singapore. Jayce is instrumental in consulting corporations in protecting digital assets across key channels and specializes in engaging senior stakeholders from cross-functional disciplines such as legal, security, IT, and marketing.

YBhg. Datuk Ts. Hasnul Fadhly Hasan

Chief Executive Officer, MYNIC

Datuk Ts. Hasnul Fadhly Hasan is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MYNIC Berhad, the official registry for .MY domain names and a key digital enabler for Malaysians. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

With over 20 years of experience in the IT and telecommunications sectors, Datuk Hasnul has made significant contributions to Malaysia’s digital landscape. He began his career as an IT Quality & Security Executive at PETRONAS, where he managed various IT security projects. He then moved to MIMOS Consulting Group as a Principal Consultant, working on security consultancy projects for major Malaysian companies.

Datuk Hasnul’s career continued to flourish at EXTOL MSC Berhad, where he served as Deputy Director of Research & Development, leading the development of AI and multi-factor security authentication systems. He later joined JARING Communications Sdn Bhd, holding roles such as General Manager of Technical Operations in Cloud Computing and ICT Security, managing 150 technical personnel and driving infrastructure cost savings.

Since 2013, Datuk Hasnul has been leading MYNIC Berhad as CEO. His leadership has transformed the company, focusing on corporate culture, global best practices, and enhancing customer experience. Under his guidance, MYNIC has achieved significant revenue and profit growth, product expansion, and improved governance and corporate culture through certifications in ISMS, BCMS, QMS, and ABMS and PIMS.
At MYNIC, Datuk Hasnul is committed to bringing the .MY domain to the global market. Serving as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Malaysia since 1987, .MY has been a cornerstone of Malaysia’s digital identity. Datuk Hasnul’s vision is to empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with credible and recognizable digital identities, supporting Malaysia’s digital economy by providing innovative solutions and services that help businesses thrive globally.

Tony Kirsch

Commercial Director, BSA (Brand Safety Alliance)

Tony Kirsch is the Commercial Director of the Brand Safety Alliance and has over 20 years of industry experience running registries and advising some of the world’s largest companies.

Via a range of business development, marketing and product development roles, Tony has a passion for innovation and collaboration across the industry.

Widely known for his advocacy of new Top-Level Domains and entertaining presentations, Tony has recently launched the GlobalBlock service which aims to revolutionise brand protection for companies worldwide.

Sergey Gorbunov

Director, Registry Services, it.com Domains

Sergey has worked in the domain name industry since 2007, being an expert in global partnerships, customer relations and product marketing. In his current role at it.com Domains he manages registrar channel in the APAC region and the company’s registry service provider business.

Adiel Akplogan

Vice President, Technical Engagement, ICANN

Adiel A. Akplogan is Vice President for Technical Engagement at ICANN, with more than 25 years of engagement and active contribution to the Internet industry globally. Before joining ICANN, Adiel was the President and CEO of AFRINIC (2004-2015), IT Director for Symbol Technology (a Motorola company) in France (2001-2003), and CTO at CAFÉ Informatique in Togo (1994-2000). Recognized as one of the Internet Technology pioneers in Africa, he has contributed to building technical capacity for some of the first private ISPs in West Africa between 1996 and 2000. These achievements were recently recognized by the Internet Society community, which inducted him into the 2019 class of the Internet Hall of Fame.

Throughout his career, Adiel has served on Boards and Advisory Committees of several global and international organizations – currently at the USTTI (United States Telecommunications Training Institute), the Technical Advisory Committee of the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa (ATAC/UNECA) from 2005 to 2006, the Executive Council of the Number Resource Organization (NRO) from 2005 to 2015 as Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, ICANN’s Strategic Panel on its role in the Internet Governance ecosystem in 2014, as well as the Africa Union’s Internet Exchange development program’s Steering Committee from 2012 to 2015. Adiel also served on the very first IGF MAG (UN Multistakeholder Advisory Group) from 2006 to 2009.

With a strong passion for Internet technology and its impact lifting humanity, he has also actively contributed to the setup of several technical coordination bodies in Africa, such as the African Network Operators Group (AfNOG), The Africa Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) which he had led for 10 years, the African ccTLD Managers Association (AfTLD), AfricaCERT, Africa Internet Summit (AIS), etc. As a public speaker, he has written and contributed to several papers and articles on the Internet’s infrastructure and its governance.

Adiel A. Akplogan is an Electrical Engineer and holds a Masters in E-Business and New Technology Management from the Paris Graduate School of Management. He lives in and works from Montreal, Canada.

Ma. Christina V. Abalos-Naig

Director of Legal Services, Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology

Ma. Christina V. Abalos-Naig is a distinguished member of the legal profession with a strong academic track and extensive background in legal affairs, particularly in the areas of labor and employment, international finance, human rights, dispute resolution, international trade, negotiations, and technology. She currently serves as the Director for Legal Service at the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology, directly influencing policy-making and steering the legal aspects of information and communications technology and cybersecurity.

She attained her undergraduate degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, followed by a Bachelor of Laws from Arellano University. She holds a Masters degree in Public Management Major in Public Policy and Program Administration from the University of the Philippines – Open University, and she is currently finishing her Masters of Law degree at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

She has taken on various roles in the government and has significantly contributed in the crafting of various laws, rules and regulations, including, among others, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 and its implementing rules and regulations, Philippine Competition Act, SIM Card Registration Act and the Tatak Pinoy Act.

Beyond her governmental roles, Atty. Abalos-Naig is reputable for her contributions to education and policy development, recognized by various professional bodies including the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, among others. She maintains her thought leadership by contributing to capacity-building webinars aimed at driving digital governance. In her speaking engagements, she shares her specialized knowledge in conflict management, mediation, negotiation, arbitration, digital transformation and the future of public policy.

Mary Wong

Vice President, Strategic Policy Management, ICANN

Mary Wong is the Vice President for Strategic Policy Management at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), where she leads a globally-diverse team that manages policy development work to facilitate the openness, interoperability, resilience, security, and stability of the Internet domain name system. Under Mary’s leadership, ICANN’s policy staff provide subject matter expertise, policy process guidance, and professional secretariat services to ICANN’s stakeholder communities around the world, ranging from governments and businesses to civil society groups and entities that represent Internet end user interests.

Prior to joining ICANN, Mary was a Professor of Law with the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, a top-ten-ranked intellectual property law school in the United States. Mary was the first-ever Singaporean to achieve full academic tenure at a United States law school, and is the author of an amicus curiae brief that has been cited by the United States Supreme Court. While at Franklin Pierce, Mary was appointed the Founding Director of the school’s flagship applied research center for intellectual property and Chair of Global Intellectual Property Partnerships and Graduate Intellectual Property Programs.

Mary has also worked with Internet startup companies, multinational corporations, and the media and technology industries as Special Counsel to the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP. Based variably in the firm’s New York, London, Brussels, and Singapore offices as part of its Technology Transactions Group, she advised American, European, and Asian clients on cross-border technology and licensing transactions, data protection and privacy laws, and international intellectual property and Internet policy issues.

Mary began her career as a law professor in her native Singapore. She graduated at the top of her class with an LL.B (Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore and holds an LL.M degree from the University of Cambridge, England. Throughout her career, Mary has served in a number of public service roles in the United States and Singapore, and she continues to be a frequent speaker at academic and industry conferences around the world.

Harsha Wijayawardhana

COO/CTO, Theekshana, a Not-For-Profit Company started by University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC)

Harsha Wijayawardhana is a Biochemist turned Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Consultant with more than twenty years of experience in hardcore ICT. He is also a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS, CITP). He was appointed to the Board of the largest Bank in Sri Lanka, Bank of Ceylon, twice, in December 2018 and January 14, 2020, and served until his term ended in January 2023.

Harsha has been involved in major Government ICT-Projects. He was responsible for setting up the Software Development Unit (SDU) of the University of Colombo and is the COO/CTO of Theekshana, which is a company associated with the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC). He was also responsible for some of the major national-level software projects such as Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for the Sri Lanka Police, Electronic Government Procurement for the Government of Sri Lanka.

He was appointed as the ICT consultant to Presidential Secretariat by the fifth executive President of Sri Lanka and ICT Consultant to Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka. He served on the Board of Directors of Lanka Government Information Infrastructure (LGII) from 2010 to 2015. He is also a Board Member of nic.lk (LK Domain Registry) since its inception. He was the founding president of the ISOC LK Chapter.

He had been recognized as one of the Internet Pioneers in Sri Lanka in 2015 by ISOC Sri Lanka Chapter, ICTA, and LK Domain Registry. And he was honored by Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN) as one of the seven founding members of LEARN at its thirty-year celebrations.

Harsha Wijayawardhana is an author and researcher who has published several books, articles, and research papers. His research into Sinhala numerals led to the encoding of Sinhala Numerals in Unicode.

Devesh Tyagi

Chief Executive Officer, NIXI

Dr. Devesh Tyagi is the Chief Executive Officer of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) since 19th July 2023 as an additional charge in addition to his regular assignment as Senior Director with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). He has more than 31 years of experience in IT/ESDM sector. He has been actively involved in the promotion of IT/ESDM sector and also working for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation, and product creation in the country. He has also been involved in various policy formations for IT/ESDM sector. Prior to joining STPI, he served National Informatics Centre (NIC) in various capacities. He has a wide range of experience in Project Management and Software development. He possesses strong technical capabilities and delivered a lot of remarkable projects during this period. He has earned his Doctorate degree from SHUATS, Allahabad.

Sophia Feng

Deputy General Manager, Internet Domain Name System Beijing Engineering Research Center LLC (ZDNS)

Feng Shuo (Sophia Feng) is the Deputy General Manager of Internet Domain Name System Beijing Engineering Research Center LLC (ZDNS). She led the construction and operation of the largest cloud service platform for New gTLDs in Asia. She has been deeply involved in the 2012 round of ICANN New gTLD application, helping many well-known enterprises to successfully apply for brand TLDs.

Walter Wu

Co-Founder and President, Dot Trademark TLD Registry

Walter lives in Beijing, China. He is the co-founder and president of the Chinese IDN registry, DotTrademark Organisation Limited. Walter has over 20 years’ experience in the domain name industry. His career covers both the domain name registry and registrar sides. Walter began IDN promotion work in China in the year 2000 when he served as the Assistant Director General at China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

Walter began to get involved in ICANN back in the year 2000. Since May 2019, he was appointed as UA Ambassador by UASG and now actively participates in the promotion activities of IDN and UA improvement in China.

Pensri Arunwatanamongkol

Executive Director, THNIC Foundation

Pensri Arunwatanamongkol’s internet journey began in 1990 at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, where she started working with “.th” domain names. Since the launch of the Thai Network Information Center, THNIC, in 1991, Pensri has served as their technical contact for “.th,” demonstrating her long-standing commitment. Her passion lies in making domain names, email addresses, and digital identities work for Thai and all languages, a concept known as internationalization. Today, she leads the team at the THNIC Foundation as the executive director.

Adres Ginting

Director, Protergo Cyber Security

Adres Ginting is the Director of Protergo Cyber Security, a leading cyber security company in Indonesia.

With over 32 years of experience in the IT industry, Adres began his career as a network and security engineer, earning certifications such as CCNA, CCSE (Checkpoint Certified Security Engineer), and InfoSEC (Cisco Certified – Information Systems Security Professional). His early work with system integrators and internet service providers (ISPs) laid a strong foundation for his expertise.

Adres advanced to handling several critical IT projects in the public sector, serving as an IT consultant, project manager, and project director. Despite moving into managerial roles, he remained deeply engaged with technical matters, particularly in AI and cloud technology. He holds certifications as an Alibaba Cloud Associate for Cloud Computing & Cloud Security and as an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.

Adres’ leadership combined with his extensive knowledge of cybersecurity issues and compliance standards, has significantly contributed to Protergo’s prominence and influence in safeguarding Indonesian enterprises against cyber threats.

Walter Chia

Chief Representative Officer, Asia Pacific, International Trademark Association (INTA)

Walter is the Chief Representative Officer for Asia Pacific at the International Trademark Association (INTA) and heads its representative office based in Singapore. INTA’s representative offices support the Association’s members by promoting and supporting the use of trademarks and complementary intellectual property (IP) to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation, and building a better society through brands.

Walter has over 24 years of experience in government. Prior to joining INTA, he was with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). His last role there was as its founding head of its Partnership and Programme Department, which manages IPOS’ relations with its domestic stakeholders. In the ten years at IPOS, Walter was also part of teams that helped established Singapore as an International Search Authority under the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), set up IPOS’ wholly-owned subsidiary IPOS International Pte Ltd and played a role in Singapore’s successful campaign for the Director General position at the WIPO in 2020. He was also involved in the running of IPOS’ Annual Flagship event, IP Week @ SG since 2013.

Before joining IPOS, Walter was with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 14 years . He served in its diplomatic missions to Philippines and Malaysia and had a short stint representing Singapore at the UN in New York.

Thomas Kuiper

Director, Intercap

Thomas is responsible for the APAC Region at domain name registry Intercap Registry Inc, which manages .INC domain names as well as .DEALER, .BOX (and soon to be launched .LLP).

Originally from Germany, he is based in Taiwan where he has been involved in brand protection and internet software since nearly two decades. He is one of the co-founders of the Taiwan Trademark Association where he serves as one of the directors and is the Vice-Chairman for International Relations. He is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and currently serves on the Digital Asia Subcommittee of the Internet Committee. In his free time he enjoys hiking, diving and software engineering.

Kristy Lau

IP Legal Counsel, Alibaba Group

Kristy Lau is the IP Legal Counsel at Alibaba Group since 2019. She was in private practice for over 10 years prior to being in-house and has experience in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property issues. She has managed the Group’s intellectual property matters including global trade mark prosecution and enforcement, domain name management, online and offline brand protection. She is a qualified Chartered UK Trade Mark Attorney since 2013.

Chaoyi Lu

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Network Sciences and Cyberspace, Tsinghua University

Chaoyi Lu is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Network Sciences and Cyberspace, Tsinghua University. His research areas lie in network security and Internet measurement, with particular interests in the Domain Name System (DNS) and other infrastructure. He has published papers at top academic venues and is a recipient of the IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP).