Author: wpc_editor

Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since 2008. He started his career at WIPO in 1985. Previously, he had been teaching and practicing law. He is an honorary professor of, and holds honorary doctorates from, universities in a wide range of countries. He is the author of a number of publications, one of which has become a standard legal text in the UK and is published by Oxford University Press as Gurry on Breach of Confidence. He holds law degrees from the University of Melbourne and a Ph.D from the University of Cambridge.

Physicist. Founding member and Honorary President of the National Academy of Technologies of France. He is also a former member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and Honorary chairman of A-Ulm (Association of alumni of Ecole Normale Supérieure, ENS). He was R&D Vice President of Saint-Gobain Group (1988-2005), Vice-chairman of the French Higher Council of Research and Technology (1997-1998) and the French Higher Council of Research (1998-1999), Scientific Director of French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), head of its physics and mathematics Department (1981-1988), Researcher at laboratoire Kastler-Brossel of the ENS (1961-1981). Higher education at Ecole Normale Supérieure. He holds a PhD in physics.

President, Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russia. He is among others a member of the Presidium of the Presidential Council for Science and Education, a member of the Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), a member of the Russian Foreign Minister’s Scientific Council. He is a frequent commentator on Federal TV Channels. He is also Chairman and Founder of the Primakov Readings. He was visiting professor and lecturer at Georgetown University (USA, Washington, D.C.). He holds a PhD in economics.

Former Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry of Albania (2013-2015). He joined the international private sector in 2015. He has served as External Advisor on Investments to the Prime Minister of Albania since 2016. Previously, he was Director of the European Integration and International Projects at the Ministry of the Economy, Trade, and Energy of Albania (2009-2013). He was also Director of Project Management Unit for the TAP Trans Adriatic Pipeline. He has founded and been involved in several Albanian and international non-governmental organizations such as the Albanian Free Forum, IDEA Institute. He graduated from the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Cyprus. He pursued postgraduate studies at King’s College London.

Vice Rector of the MGIMO University, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Russia’s Foreign Policy. Artem Malgin is a member of the Valdai Discussion Club Scientific Council, member of the Scientific Board at the Security Council of the Russian Federation, member of the Council “Russian-Polish Center for Dialogue and Understanding”, Coordinator of the Russian-French Civil Societies Forum “Trianon Dialogue”. He graduated from MGIMO-University and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations.

Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Total. He began his career in the French Transportation Ministry. From 1988 to 1995, he was a project manager for the Normandy Bridge across the Seine, a worldwide record of giant bridges. He joined Total in 1995 as Deputy General Manager of the Normandy Refinery. In 2004, after senior positions in the exploration and production business and in the internet new business in Houston, he was appointed Corporate Vice President, Competitive Intelligence. In November 2008, he was appointed General Secretary of Total Refining & Marketing Division and joined the Corporate Management Committee of the Group. In January 2012, he was appointed General Secretary of the new Refining and Chemical Division. He graduated from France’s Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, a civil engineering school.

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since July 2012. Previously, he served as Secretary of State for foreign affairs in Bern (2010-2012). He was chairman of the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly, in charge of administrative and budgetary affairs (2009-2010), Ambassador and permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York (2004-2009) and ambassador and head of the human security division in the political directorate of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern (2000-2004). He entered the Swiss diplomatic service in 1987. He studied history and international law in Bern, where he was awarded a doctorate.

Mayor of Meaux. Business Lawyer at the Paris Bar. President of the Communauté d’Agglomération du Pays de Meaux. Former Seine-et-Marne’s MP, Jean-François Copé also was a member of Government under President Chirac from 2002 to 2007, notably as Spokesperson of the Government, delegate Minister of the Interior and Minister for the Budget. He became Head of the Parliamentary majority in 2007 and then the President of the UMP party, the main French conservative party (2012-2014). Jean-François Copé graduated from Sciences Po and ENA, and was Associate Professor of Economics at Sciences Po and of Public Finances at Paris VIII University. Lawyer at Stehlin law firm, Jean-François Copé has a particular interest in Artificial Intelligence. He has co-authored the book “Would AI also kill democracy?” with Laurent Alexandre.

Managing Director of Ndlovukazi Online Media, Digital Media Consultant. She is a professional journalist, with years of experience in the news media, corporate social media management and online development. She currently sits as stakeholder and representative of women in the technology sphere of Durban, advising in the Internet For All South Africa initiative as the WEF Global Shaper. She is currently listed as a Visionary Leader of the Engineering Symposium Africa conference 2017. She holds a National Diploma in Journalism from Durban University of Technology.

Vice President of Advanced Concepts for Airbus Defence and Space in Munich, Germany. Before joining Airbus in 2004, he has worked for 12 years as a self-employed security policy Analyst and Consultant in Bonn, Germany. He conducted some 30 studies for the German Ministry of Defense and was a frequent TV and radio commentator, publisher, and lecturer. He is an Honorary Professor for Foreign Policy at the University of Cologne, Germany. He began his professional career in 1986 as a Research Associate at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Foundation for Science and Politics). From 1990 to 1992, he served on the Policy Planning Staff of the German Minister of Defense and from 1992 to 2004 as the Security Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Defense Committee of the German Parliament.

Co-founder & CEO, Hippogriff. Allen is an inventor and a visionary social entrepreneur who has developed the world’s first clinically validated Artificial Intelligence technology for diagnosis of complex diseases including an accurate tool for early diagnosis of heart disease. As one of the youngest ever candidates, Allen has been honored as “European of the Year 2018” together with other brilliant personalities including President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel. He has also been selected by the Forbes magazine as one of the top 30 most influential innovators and featured on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He has been mentor to young students on the path to developing their full potential. He is also grand jury member in different national and international competitions including European Youth Award. He was honoured as the “young entrepreneurial talent of the year 2016” in Europe and received the “European Change Award” which was handed by European Commissioners Carlos Moedas and Commissioner Tibor Navracsics.

Professor of public law at the University Paris Descartes from 2017, she previously has been a professor at the University of Rouen Normandie (2010-2017) and co-director of the Rouen University Center of law studies (2012-2017). She has been Secretary-General of the Société française pour le droit international (French Society for International Law) since 2016. She is also a member of the strategic committee of Ifri. She holds a PhD in law from the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Following on from her PhD, she focuses her research on the United Nations, the maintenance of international peace and security as well as the normative power of international organizations. Since 2013, she has also been working on international digital law and co-edited several books in this area, including Cyberattaques et droit international (Cyberattacks and International Law) (Pedone, 2019).

Investment director and Chief of Staff to the CEO of Meridiam, an investment company specialized in sustainable infrastructure. Former Advisor for Energy, Industry and Innovation in the private office of the French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition. He held various positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the fields of energy and corporate financing. He also worked for Total Gas & Power New Energies USA and L’Oréal. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and Mines Paristech, Paris, France.

Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Développement since 2016. In 2015, he was responsible for financial matters in the French negotiation team for COP21. In 2014, he served as Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development in charge of economic affairs. He was Director of the Office of Mr. Pierre Moscovici at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance (2012-2014). In 2010, he was Deputy Director for international financial affairs and development at the General Directorate of the Treasury. In 2007, he was Deputy Director for the transport and audiovisual sectors at the State Holdings Agency (APE). He is an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm, Sciences Po, and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.

Founding Partner of Okan Partners, strategy and financial advisory boutique dedicated to Africa since 2012. Former McKinsey, PAI Partners and Ardian, Benjamin has developed an expertise in financial advisory and fundraising in Africa. At Okan, he mainly leads infrastructure, agriculture and mining sectors. Benjamin graduated from HEC Paris.

Professor and scholar focused on socio-political and socio-cultural analysis of conflict in Africa.  Executive Director of ACG – Frontières d’Afrique. ACG, a pan-African consultancy organization, offers mediation to governments and organizations and works to raise awareness at regional and continental levels around all issues relating to human security, and conflict management, both transnational and cross-border, across Africa. Dr. Condé is a former minister of the Republic of Guinée, a former Mediator of the Republic and a former Member of Parliament. He worked as researcher with the distinguished Max-Planck Institute for Criminology and International Criminal Law in Freiburg im Breisgau/Germany, and later taught African crisis resolution at Columbia University in New York where he also founded the American Council on Africa. Having lived and worked in the United States, Europe (on both sides of the iron curtain during the cold war), and a number of African countries, Dr. Condé offers profound insight into the state of the world as it relates to African progress. In addition to speaking several African languages, Dr. Condé is fluent in French, English, German, Czech, Slovak and Polish.

John Sawers is Executive Chairman of Newbridge Advisory, which he founded in 2019 to advise corporate leaders on geopolitics and political risk. He is also a Non-Executive Director of BP.  He was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 (2009-2014). Prior to that he was UK’s Ambassador to the United Nations and Egypt, Political Director of the Foreign Office and Foreign Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since leaving public service he has been advising global companies and investors. John Sawers studied at the universities of Nottingham, St. Andrews and Harvard.

Head of Airbus Strategy and International since 2017. He began his career in the aeronautical industry at MBDA in 1997, before spending three years with Baker & McKenzie. He joined Airbus in 2002. At the end of 2010, he joined the Commercial Division of Airbus and was appointed Vice-President Contract. In 2014, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ATR. In 2016, in the frame of the Airbus reorganization, he came back to Airbus as member of the Executive Committee, becoming Corporate Secretary (of Airbus Commercial Aircraft) and Executive Vice-President Strategy (of Airbus). He has a DESS (advanced post-graduate diploma) from the University of Bordeaux, and a DEA (advanced post-graduate diploma) from the Sorbonne University and Paris II Assas. He is a qualified attorney (CAPA) with the Paris Bar.

Founder and Managing Partner, Bussmann Advisory. He also holds important mandates in industry associations, including as President of the Swiss Crypto Valley Association, Global Ambassador for UK-based Innovate Finance and as a Board Member of Identity 2020. He served as was Group Chief Information Officer of UBS (2013-2016). Prior to joining UBS, he was Global Chief Information Officer at SAP, and before that CIO for North America & Mexico at Allianz. Previous roles have included executive positions at Deutsche Bank and IBM. He has been included twice on the Financial News “FinTech 40” list of innovators shaping the future of finance.

Managing Partner of McLarty Associates. He has led the firm’s work in Europe and Eurasia since 2007. He was a partner with McKinsey & Company (1992-1995). He also served as US Chief Negotiator in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the former Soviet Union. Prior to this, he was US Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (1985-1989). He worked at the State Department as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian affairs (1983-1985). He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He graduated from Cornell University and from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Vice-Chair of the Management Board, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) since 2011. He held several positions at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (2000-2010) and among others Managing Director, Director General of the Country Department Asia/Pacific, Latin America/Caribbean, Director General of the Country Department Mediterranean Region, Europe and Central Asian Countries. He was also a Research associate to the chair of economic and social geography, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (1991-1996). He is member of the Board and Honorary Professor of Tongji University, Shanghai. He holds a doctorate degree from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB).

Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund since 2017. He served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister (2005-2008). Before and since his time as finance minister, he has held a wide range of posts in the private sector, including McKinsey and Booz and Co. where he served as vice president and senior executive advisor (2009-2013). Prior to joining the Fund he was a managing partner at the advisory and investment firm Inventis Partners. He holds a PhD in International Finance and a post-graduate degree in International Economics and Finance, both from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also did research on emerging economies and their integration into the global economy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard, and holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Dauphine University, Paris.

Internationally renowned TV presenter, talk show host, conference moderator, emcee and journalist. His international career in broadcast journalism spans more than two decades and three continents.  Throughout his career, Aslan has hosted numerous international TV talk shows with a global audience, often reaching over 100 countries and more than 100 million viewers weekly worldwide. Aslan is also one of the world’s most sought-after moderators and Masters of Ceremonies of high-level international conferences & summits, including for the UN, the EU, the G20, the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD. Aslan has interviewed and shared the stage with numerous presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, Nobel Prize winners and leading personalities from all over the world, including US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellors Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to name a few. Aslan earned two masters degrees in International Relations and Journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Georgetown University.

Economist, local and national government official, politician, Poland. Volkswagen AG Head of Group Office Poland – Government Relations and Public Policy Volkswagen AG since 2016. She served as undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy, responsible for international trade, investment and European Funds (2011-2015), secretary of the Chief Executive Committee of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) (2012-2015) and Deputy Governor (Voivode) of Dolnośląskie Region (2010-2011). She graduated from the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder) and from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. She acquired international experience at the École Nationale d’Administration in Paris and Helsinki University of Technology, among others.

Director, Strategic Business and Planning Division, Natural Resources Canada, Government of Canada. Previous to his current role, he has worked at the heart of the Canadian federal public service in both the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat. He has also worked in consulting for Deloitte and the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Action Canada public policy leadership program. He graduated with a Masters degree from Dalhousie University.

Senegalese politician and Human Rights activist. Member of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration of the United Nations (UN/CEPA). She held several governmental positions including Prime Minister (2013-2014), Minister of Justice (2012-2013), President’s Special Envoy for Internal and External Affairs (2015-2019), President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (2019-2020), and elected representative of the National Assembly (July 2022). Dr. Touré worked for 24 years in the United Nations Organization where she held technical expert positions in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. She also headed the Gender and Human Rights Direction at the United Nations Population Fund Headquarters in New York. At the early stage of her career, Dr. Touré worked in the private sector and with the Senegalese branch of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. From 2014 to 2020, Dr. Touré led and co-led Presidential election observation missions on behalf of the African Union and The Carter Center in Mauritius, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia and Guyana. Aminata Touré holds a Master in Economics and an MBA from the University of Aix-Marseille in France and a PhD from the International School of Management in Paris. Dr. Touré directed more than 30 United Nations publications and authored in 2021 a book highlighting Africa’s contribution to International Penal Law through the Extraordinary Judiciary Chambers that tried Hissein Habré, former President of Chad.

Chairman and CEO, Maurinvest Group, which he founded in 2011. It is a company that develops industries and add values through fundings with international partners. He is also the Chairman/CEO of MAURILOG a logistics services & transport company for Industrial Projects, Oil & Gas and Mining activities in Mauritania. He started in the fishing business at the age of 28. He is the founder of MIP SEAFOOD, the unique Mauritanian company able to reach Europeans standards allowed to export directly transformed products from the sea. He has been providing outboard motors for the fishing sector for the past 20 years. He served as in Charge of the Promotion of Private Investments between 2007 and 2008. He graduated from ENSM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique) in France.