Meet the Award panel
Yazeed Alabdulkarim
Research and Innovation Chief Scientist, the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE)
Dr. Yazeed Alabdulkarim is a Research and Innovation Chief Scientist at the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE), delving into emerging technologies with a specialization in blockchain, data analytics, and immersive technologies. He is an Assistant Professor at King Saud University with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. Yazeed is also an audit committee member for AZM Fintech company. He has published several papers and technical reports in prestigious academic forums as well as international organizations, including the World Economic Forum (WEF) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU). His multifaceted roles underscore his academic prowess, technical acumen, and commitment to technological innovation.
Shin-Gak Kang
Chair, ITU Focus Group on metaverse
Shin-Gak KANG is the Assistant Vice President of ETRI, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Republic of Korea. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electronics engineering from Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea in 1984, 1987, and 1998, respectively. He joined ETRI in 1984 and is currently Head of the Standards and Opensource Research Division. He is also Adjunct Professor of ETRI School of University of Science and Technology in Korea. He has actively participated in many international standardization activities of many SDOs including ITU-T SG 7, SG 8, SG 17, SG 11, SG 13, SG 16, SG 20, GSC, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 6, IETF and IEEE, as Rapporteur, Convenor, Editor, and major contributor since his first joining to ITU-T SG 8 meeting in 1988. He served as ITU-T SG11 Vice-Chairman and its WP Chairman from 2013 to 2021. Since 2004, he has been working as Convenor for ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 6/WG 7 on Future Network. He is also currently serving as Vice-Chairman of ITU-T SG16, Co-chairman of WP1/16, and Co-Chairman of the CG-Metaverse in SG16. He has been appointed as the Chairman of ITU-T Focus Group on metaverse in December 2022 by TSAG.
Seizo Onoe
Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU
Seizo Onoe took office as Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 1 January 2023. Known in the industry as “the father of LTE” (Long-Term Evolution mobile broadband), he now aims for global outreach to bridge standardization gaps, deliver the benefits of technology widely and speedily, and ensure meaningful and affordable broadband access for everyone. Before his election as TSB Director by ITU Member States, he completed an over 30-year career with Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO. In 2021, he became Executive Vice President and Chief Standardization Strategy Officer for NTT Corporation and a Fellow of NTT DOCOMO. From 2017, he served as NTT DOCOMO’s Chief Technology Architect and President of its subsidiary DOCOMO Technology. From 2012 to 2017, he served as NTT DOCOMO’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, a Member of the Board of Directors, and Managing Director of R&D Innovation Division. Earlier, he served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of NTT DOCOMO’s R&D Strategy Department and Managing Director of the company’s Radio Network Development Department. Mr Onoe holds a Master’s degree in electronics from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering.
Sameer Chauhan
Director, United Nations International Computing Centre, UNICC
Mr. Sameer Chauhan was appointed Director of the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) on 1 December 2019 by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
The Director has the responsibility to lead all aspects of UNICC’s strategy and operations to facilitate the provision of services to more than 90 Clients and Partner Organizations, to establish the UNICC strategy, to develop a biennial business plan and budget and to implement the approved plan. The Director is accountable to the UNICC Management Committee (MC) that governs the organization and represents the entire United Nations system.
With the advice and backing of the MC, Mr. Chauhan has effectively led a strategic transformation of UNICC since he assumed his post. This has enabled UNICC to become the preferred strategic digital partner for the whole UN system and has empowered the organization to successfully build capabilities in areas such as cybersecurity, data, AI and automation, as well as in key business areas like treasury, finance and HR. As Chief of Clients and Projects, he started his career at UNICC in August 2015 in New York.
Mr. Chauhan has over twenty years of experience in the public and private sectors and an educational background in Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Before UNICC, Mr. Chauhan was the Head of Knowledge Management and Digital Marketing IT for Deutsche Bank (DB) Asset and Wealth Management. He played several roles at DB over eight years, including being the COO for an IT division of approximately 800 staff and the product manager responsible for a multi-billion dollar trading platform for DB Prime Brokerage. He also spent several years as a consultant for Deloitte, working across various industries including financial services, the public sector, telecom, manufacturing and software.