Category: Invited guests

Dean Emeritus at The American University in Cairo. He founded the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in 2009 but he is also a career Diplomat. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt from July 2013 to June 2014. During his distinguished diplomatic career over three decades, he served as Ambassador to the United States between 1999 and 2008 and Japan between 1997 and 1999, as well as in numerous government and international positions. His work focused on international and regional security, disarmament and non-proliferation, conflict resolution and Arab-Israeli diplomacy. He was also the Chairman of the United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, and the Vice Chairman of the United Nations General Assembly’s first committee dealing with disarmament and international security. Currently, he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. He serves on several academic and policy boards internationally. He is also a columnist and author of multiple books on Middle East diplomacy and international relations.

President of BOAD, the development finance institution of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member countries. Prior to joining, this well-known expert with over twenty years of international experience in global finance, structured finance and capital markets, worked as Natixis’ Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) Country Manager for the UK in London as well as Head of Global Markets for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Head of Natixis’ Africa and Russia Departments. Between 2010 and 2016, he managed Natixis’ Global Markets for the Asia-Pacific region before taking over as Chief Executive Officer of the bank based in Hong Kong. He holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, a post-graduate degree in Banking and Finance from Paris V University and a degree from the Institut d’études politiques of Bordeaux.

Professor of medicine and diplomat, former Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; former ambassador on HIV and communicable diseases and UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. More recently he was a member of the Independent panel on Pandemic Prevention., Preparedness and Response called by the World health Assembly after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Academic and senior advisor with extensive international experience spanning higher education, life sciences, innovation financing and public policy. His career has consistently focused on transforming scientific and technological innovation into economic and societal value. He currently serves as a board member, teacher and advisor in the fields of higher education, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and life sciences. He teaches entrepreneurship at Tianjin University and sits on the advisory boards of several leading institutions in China, including HKUST-GZ, Westlake University and EIT Ningbo. He also chairs the Board of Huawei Technologies France. From 2013 to 2018, he served as the first Executive President of École polytechnique, where he led a major transformation to strengthen research, internationalization and entrepreneurship, while developing strategic partnerships worldwide.Previously, he founded and led JNBD, a consulting firm in life sciences, and held senior governance roles at Guerbet. Earlier in his career, he worked in the French administration and in international biopharmaceutical companies. A graduate of École polytechnique and member of the Corps des Mines, he is an Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Jean Kramarz is currently Director of the Healthcare activities of the AXA Partners Group. He is a specialist in the development of healthcare services in France and around the world. Before joining the AXA Group, where he launched medical teleconsultation for the general population in France, he was Director of New Services for the Malakoff-Médéric Group, Director of Development for Europ Assistance, Director of International Health Subsidiaries for the Gras Savoye Group. He also worked in the French public sector, including in the Oil & Gas and Automotive Departments of the Ministry of Industry and in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance. Jean Kramarz is an alumnus of Sciences Po Paris and the Ecole nationale d’administration.

Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne Université and a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He began his academic career as a mathematician, specializing in logic and teaching at Paris 7 and other universities. He then was appointed as professor of philosophy of science at the universities of Lille, Nanterre and finally Paris IV. He is chiefly interested in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and in their impacts on education, collective decision and public policy. He was the founder and first director of the department of cognitive studies at the Ecole normale superieure in Paris. His latest books are La Silhouette de l’humain, quelle place pour le naturalisme aujourd’hui ?, La Cognition, du neurone à la société (co-authored) and Intelligence artificielle, intelligence humaine: la double énigme. 

Deputy director of the cabinet of the CEO of the Direction Générale des Entreprises (DGE), a French government agency attached to the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. He contributes to the design and implementation of public policies supporting business development. Previously, he was technical analyst in the Operations Department of the ANSSI, the French national cybersecurity agency. Before that, he worked for the industrial companies General Electric, Alstom, TotalEnergies and Vesuvius, as well as for the Private Equity fund Astorg in Paris. As a Corps des mines Engineer, Godefroy Galas is a French high civil servant. He is also a graduate Engineer of Télécom Paris, a graduate of the Grande École programme of HEC Paris and holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs (Prép’ENA) from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Prof. Sally Eaves is a highly experienced Chief Technology Officer, Professor in Advanced Technologies and Global Strategic Advisor, Author and Speaker on Digital Transformation, Sustainability, HealthTech and Social Impact. She specializes in the application of AI, Cloud, CyberSecurity, Blockchain, IoT & 5G disciplines for both business and societal benefit at scale. Sally is Senior Policy Advisor for the Global Foundation of Cyber Studies & Research and has founded ‘edtech’ enterprise Aspirational Futures to enhance accessibility, inclusion and diversity in education, technology and beyond.

General Secretary of the Fondation Dr Henri Dubois-Ferrière Dinu Lipatti and board member of several charity foundations in Geneva. In charge of administration, accounting and human resources for several companies in various industries. Member of the board of the WPC Foundation since 2013.

President of the Policy Center for the New South, and Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences and Executive Vice-President of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco as the Director of Economics, Statistics and International Relations. Prior to this, he served as an economist at the World Bank. He holds scientific and advisory positions in various institutions, including the Malabo-Montpellier Panel, the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, and the French Institute of International Relations. He is also advisor to the CEO and Chairman of the OCP Group, and serves as a board member of the OCP Foundation and as a global member of the Trilateral Commission. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bordeaux.

Vice Chairman of the WPC. He manages the organisation of the annual conference since its first edition in 2008. He is also chairman and founder of Alandia, a restructuring advisory firm which helped various States or Sovereign funds to regain control over their industrial investments (Middle East, Africa and West Asia). Former Vice chairman of the Franco Indian chamber of commerce, he was more especially in charge of agricultural investments. He seats, or seated, at several Advisory Boards such as British Telecom or PWC. He published a book on globalization in June 2010: Mondialisation, un autre regard and one on restructuring issues in France (2015).

Advisor to the Executive Chairman, Ifri, Editor of Politique étrangère and co-director of the annual report Ramses. He is also President of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe. Former Executive Vice-President of Ifri. Previously, he was in charge of the Security Studies department at Ifri. Before joining Ifri, he was Deputy Director of the Institut français de polémologie (French Institute of Polemology), and then Secretary General of the FEDN (Fondation pour les études de défense nationale). He also taught at the Military School of Saint-Cyr, at the Paris I University and at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (IEP). His studies and publications deal with strategic issues, particularly with French strategy and European issues.

President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, a global public policy think-tank based in Belgrade, and Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development. He is also the leader of Serbia’s opposition People’s Party. In 2016, he participated in the official election for UN Secretary-General and finished in second place. In 2012, he was elected President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. During his term in office he played a leading role in steering the UN towards the establishment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He served as Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012.

Former Ambassador of Switzerland to France (2002-2007). He joined the Foreign Service in 1971. He held several positions such as Ambassador to Guatemala and to other States of Central America, Head of the Swiss Delegation to UNESCO, Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the international organizations in Geneva. He contributes regularly to the Swiss newspaper Le Temps. He studied law and international relations at the University of Fribourg and the Graduate Institute for  International Studies in Geneva.

Managing Director of Banque Bordier & Cie, Geneva. He is also a member of the Board and Treasurer of the WPC Foundation. His area of expertise is private asset management. He was formerly Managing Partner at EFG Bank in Geneva. He previously worked as a money market dealer at the Al Saudi bank in Paris, then as treasurer for Europe at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in Paris. He received a degree in economics from the University of Neuchâtel and an advanced management degree from the École des Cadres de Lausanne.

Director-General of the World Health Organization since 2017. Prior to his election, he served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016 and as Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012. He holds a PhD in Community Health from the University of Nottingham and a MSc in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London. He is globally recognised as a health scholar, researcher, and diplomat with first-hand experience in research, operations, and leadership in emergency responses to epidemics. Throughout his career Dr Tedros has published numerous articles in prominent scientific journals, and received awards and recognition from across the globe.

Professor Emeritus of the Chair of Economics and Management of Health Services at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) and Founder of the Pasteur/CNAM School of Public Health. He is a member of the French Academy of Technologies and a member of the executive board of the Médecins du Monde Foundation. Former Consultant to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, he served as Visiting Professor at Yale University, Under Secretary at the French Ministry of Health and Adviser to the Prime Minister. He holds a Master in Agronomy from the Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon, a MBA and a PhD in Socio Economics from Cornell University.

Michael is a policy analyst at the OECD, and is specialized in health systems performance assessment, quality of care, performance indicators and primary care. His current work is driven by the ambition to move towards a new generation of indicators that will enhance international learning on the value of healthcare as reported by patients themselves. He is passionate about international collaboration and as a member of the OECD Health Division, he helps countries achieve high-performing health systems. Michael studied sociology, wrote a PhD thesis in the area of primary care and has been working on health services research and policy advice more than eighteen years. Michael is managing the development of an international survey of chronic patients within the framework of OECD’s Patient Reported Indicator Surveys initiative.

Elhadj As Sy is the Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board, and Co-chair of the WHO/World Bank Global Pandemic Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB). In addition, Mr. Sy is also a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Climate Adaptation, Governor at the Wellcome Trust, and a member of the Governing Board of Interpeace as well as numerous other boards and organizations. Mr. Sy has extensive experience in leadership roles in the humanitarian, health, environment, development sectors, and has previously served as the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) – the world’s largest humanitarian network. Prior to this appointment, he served at a senior level with UNICEF, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and other agencies for more than 25 years. For instance, Mr. Sy was UNICEF’s Director of Partnerships and Resource Development in New York, and from 2005 to 2008, he was Director, HIV/AIDS Practice with the United Nations Development Program in New York. Before that, he worked with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as Director of Operational Partnerships and Country Support in Geneva. Mr. Sy graduated from the University of Dakar, the University of Graz, the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna and the École normale supérieure in Dakar.

Stanislas Cozon is Executive Vice President of Capgemini. He was Managing Director in charge of global industry sectors within Capgemini (consumer products, retail, utilities, tax and welfare, public security, telecommunications, financial services and manufacturing). The transformation of corporations and governments is at the heart of this role. He started his career at the French Treasury (Inspection Générale des Finances) and joined Capgemini in 1989. He holds a diploma of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and of the École Nationale d’Administration.

Founder and Executive Vice-Chairman of the FutureWorld Foundation and Chairman of Strategic Concepts (Pty) Ltd. Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Global Economic Symposium, Advisory Council member of Climate-KIC and IAS Köszeg; and a Director of companies, Faculty Member of the Parmenides Foundation, and co-author, with Thierry Malleret, of Resilience to Risk, and Global Risks, as well as numerous articles and chapters. He studied social sciences and law and holds a MBA from Henley Management College at Brunel University, United Kingdom.

Roberto Burioni, MD, PhD, is Professor of Virology and Microbiology at the Medical School of the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy. Before that, he was Assistant Professor at the Medical School of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome. He began his career in the United States where he held several research positions, most recently at the Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, in Dr. Dennis Burton’s laboratory. He is currently leading a lab active in the development of human monoclonal antibodies against human infectious agents and is the medical director of the site www.medical facts.it.

Chairman of the Diplomacy Forum, Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator; Senior Adviser, Macro Advisory Partners; and Member of the Board of the Kofi Annan Foundation. Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (2013-2019). He served as Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation (2008-2011) and as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus (2006-2008). Between 2001 and 2006 he was Director for Political, Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary-General, while serving concurrently as Deputy Chief of Staff for the last two years of that period. He served as Head of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at UN headquarters (1997-2001). He began his career in 1979 with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University, United States, and the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

Jacques N. Biot currently serves as a Board-member or advisor to companies in the field of digital transformation and artificial intelligence, and a Trustee to several scientific academic institutions. He has international professional experience in higher education and research (First executive President of Ecole polytechnique, 2013-2018), life sciences (Roussel-Uclaf, Pasteur-Mérieux Serums and Vaccines, now parts of Sanofi; JNBD, strategic consulting firm in health technology, divested to ICON; and Guerbet, GBT, Euronext), industry and technology financing, and public administration (Prime Minister’s office). The motto of his career has been about how to turn scientific innovation into societal and economic value. Jacques is a graduate of Ecole polytechnique (X71) and a member of the Corps des Mines. He is an Officer of the Legion of Honor and of the French Orders of Merite, and a member of the Lion’s Order of Senegal.

Nardos Bekele-Thomas is Resident Coordinator for Nations (UN) in South Africa. She was previously the Senior Director of the Office of the Secretary-General. She also served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Benin. Her interest includes promotion of human development; anchored on the principles of economic, social and political rights for all. She has excelled as a Private Sector Policy Adviser focusing on the promotion of trade and investment in African countries through private/public sector partnerships in the United States. She holds a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. Candidate Certificate in Economic Development, Monetary Economics and Econometrics from New York University (NYU). She is the author of several papers and monographs, and she is fully bilingual in French and English.

Director of the Healthcare activities of the AXA Partners Group. He is a specialist in the development of healthcare services in France and around the world. Before joining the AXA Group, where he launched medical teleconsultation for the general population in France, he was Director of New Services for the Malakoff-Médéric Group, Director of Development for Europ Assistance, Director of International Health Subsidiaries for the Gras Savoye Group. He also worked in the French public sector, including in the Oil & Gas and Automotive Departments of the Ministry of Industry and in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance. Jean Kramarz is an alumnus of Sciences Po Paris and ENA.

Vice President of Advanced Concepts, Airbus, Munich, Germany. Before joining Airbus in 2004, he worked as a self-employed Security Policy Analyst and Consultant. Among many other functions, he served as President & CEO of the Institute for Strategic Analyses which he founded in 1992. He is an Honorary Professor for Foreign Policy at the University of Cologne. He began his career as a Research Associate at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. From 1990 to 1994, he served successively as Security Policy Analyst on the Policy Planning Staff of the German Minister of Defense and Security Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Defense Committee in the German Parliament.

Daniel Andler is emeritus professor at Sorbonne Université and a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He began his academic career as a mathematician, specializing in logic and teaching at Paris 7 and other universities, He then was appointed as professor of philosophy of science at the universities of Lille, Nanterre and finally Paris IV. He is chiefly interested in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and in their import for education, collective decision and public policy. He was the founder and first director of the department of cognitive studies at the Ecole normale superieure in Paris. His latest books are La Silhouette de l’humain, quelle place pour le naturalisme aujourd’hui ? and La Cognition, du neurone à la société (co-authored). His book on the significance of the present surge of artificial intelligence is forthcoming.