BILL OTTMAN

Bill ottman

Bill is the Founder and CEO of Minds.com, a free, open-source and encrypted social networking platform and mobile app. He administrates social media pages with millions of followers in the alternative news industry and is active in viral media research. He also is advisor of Code to Inspire, a nonprofit organization focusing on education of Afghan female students for better life, and has served as advisor in developing the open source network Word of Word Capital, a global macro investment company based in New York.

Prior to that, he was Marketing Director at Gathering of the Vibes, an annual music and arts festival. He graduated from University of Vermont.

SHUBHRANSHU CHOUDHARY

Shu

Shubhranshu Choudhary is a Knight International Journalism Fellow and the Founder of CGNet Swara, an Indian mobile phone ser­vice that allows citizens to upload and listen to local reports in their own dialect without the need for a Smartphone or an internet connection. He won the 2014 Digital Activism Award from the U.K.-based charity organization Index on Censorship for his Central Gondwana Net Swara community radio, and also named one of Foreign Policy’s 2014 “100 Leading Global Thinkers”.

Choudhary was a TV and radio producer for the BBC’s South Asia bureau for eight years, and a reporter for The Guardian’s South Asia bureau for two years. He also was a reporter for five years at the Hindi-language Daily Deshbandhu. He has served as a media trainer for the BBC World Service Trust, the United Nations and Indian universities. He produced the first television coverage of foreign militants operating in Indian Kashmir and conducted the first television interview with the chief commander of the Kashmiri militant organization.

 

ROYA MAHBOOB

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Roya Mahboob is an Afghan entrepreneur and businesswoman. She founded and serves as CEO of the Afghan Citadel Software Company, a full-service software development company based in Herat, Afghanistan.

She has received attention for being among the first IT female CEOs in Afghanistan,where it is still relatively rare for women to work outside the home. On 18 April 2013, Roya Mahboob was named to TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World for 2013 for her work in building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan and for Women’s Annex, a multilingual blog and video site hosted by Film Annex, which gives the women of Afghanistan and Central Asia a platform to tell their stories to the world.

She is also known for her work with online film distribution platform and Web Television Network Film Annex on the Afghan Development Project.

HOANG TRONG TON – Technical Manager

Technical Manager of The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Hoang Trong Ton is Technical Manager of The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation.

Hoang Trong Ton serves as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), spearheading AI, cloud computing, automation, blockchain, and digital transformation initiatives within Vietnam’s dynamic tech ecosystem. His deep expertise in software development and enterprise solutions positions him as a leader at the nexus of technology and business innovation.

Professional Leadership

As Co-founder and CTO of Vnnplus JSC since 2006, Hoang drives cutting-edge digital solutions, including value-added services (VAS), for clients throughout Vietnam. He also leads the AI & Automation team at SV Technologies JSC, delivering consulting and implementation for major automation projects serving large banks, telecoms, and enterprises. Hoang holds numerous certifications from leading tech firms such as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.

Key Ventures and Impact

Hoang co-founded Vnnplus, Vietnam’s premier CP ecosystem for VAS solutions, blending over two decades of technical mastery with strategic management to cultivate thriving company cultures, robust policies, and scalable growth. As head of AI and automation efforts, he pioneers digital transformation through training, consulting, and tailored platforms for financial and telecom sectors.

Broader Contributions

Hoang’s visionary leadership places him at the vanguard of Vietnam’s blockchain revolution, championing leapfrog innovations like AI-powered efficiencies. He provides expert guidance on talent development and cross-border operations, advancing the nation’s tech landscape.

 

Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland

Professor Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland directs MIT Connection Science, an MIT-wide AI and Data For Good initiative , and previously helped create and direct the MIT Media Lab and the Media Lab Asia in India.  He is on the Board of the UN Foundations’ Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, co-led the World Economic Forum discussion in Davos that led to the EU privacy regulation GDPR, and was central in forging the transparency and accountability mechanisms in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  He has received numerous awards and prizes such as the McKinsey Award from Harvard Business Review, the 40th Anniversary of the Internet from DARPA, and the Brandeis Award for work in privacy.