Session 5: Emerging science and technology trends, challenges and the SDGs (2024)

H.E. Mr. Mohammad Koba is Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York. He started his career in 1997 in the Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. His diplomatic posts include the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the European Union, and the Permanent Mission of Indonesia in Geneva. He has a broad knowledge of international affairs having experience in the Asia-Europe Meetings, ASEAN-EU, international security and disarmament, Multilateral Environment Agreements, International Telecom Union, CITES, RAMSAR, WMO, IPCC. Before his posting in New York as Deputy Permanent Representative, he was the Deputy Director of the General Affairs Bureau.

Ms. Heide Hackmann is the CEO of the International Science Council, having previously been the Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU) since March 2015. Before joining ICSU, Ms. Hackmann served eight years as Executive Director of the International Social Science Council (ISSC).Ms. Hackmannhas worked as a science policy maker, researcher and consultant in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Before moving into the world of the international councils, Ms. Hackmannworked as Head of the Department of International Relations and Quality Assessment of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Elliott Harrisis Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).Mr. Harris brings over 25 years of international experience in the fields of international economics and development policy analysis, coupled with knowledge of the United Nations system, multilateral and inter–agency coordination processes.He has extensive experience in the design of macroeconomic policies and its application as a central instrument for the reduction of poverty and for resilient and sustained economic development.His work in the field of economics also focuses on the macroeconomic linkages with global social and environmental policies.Since 2015, Mr. Harris served as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He joined UNEP’s Senior Management Team in 2013 as Director of the New York Office and Secretary to the Environment Management Group.Prior to joining UNEP, Mr. Harris began his career in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1988, where he worked in the African Department and the Fiscal Affairs Department. In 2002 he became an Adviser in the Policy Development and Review Department, and was appointed in 2008 as Special Representative to the United Nations, in addition to serving as Assistant Director of the Strategy and Policy Review Department.

Mr. Peter Major is chairman of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UN CSTD). He actively participated in various activities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and other international forums for more than 30 years. Mr. Majorchaired the CSTD Working Group on the Improvements of the Internet Governance Forum. Subsequently he chaired the CSTD Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation. Mr. Major was a member of the IGF Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group and he was vice-chair of the Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG) of ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (ITU/BR). He is alternate representative of Hungary on the Governmental Advisory Group of ICANN (GAC). Mr. Majoris faculty member of the European Summer School on Internet Governance (Meissen, Germany) and he is visiting professor at the Higher School of Economics, National Research University (Moscow, Russia).

Mrs.Wilhelmina Quaye is currently the Director of CSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute in Ghana. Her areas of specialization include socio-economic related research, monitoring & evaluation, policy and gender issues. She is a member of the team responsible for the development of Science, Technology and Innovation for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Roadmap in Ghana.She obtained her PhD in Rural Sociology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands in 2012. She had her MPil (2002) and BSc (1993) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon. She also has a certificate in Gender Mainstreaming from Institute of Capacity Development in South Africa and a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Mr. Hiroshi Matsumoto was appointed President of RIKEN in 2015. Prior to his appointment he served as President of Kyoto University from 2008 to 2014.His academic career began with an appointment as a research associate of Kyoto University in 1967. In 1975, he was appointed associate professor, and during his term carried out research as a visiting researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and Stanford University. In 1987, he became a professor at Kyoto University's Radio Science Center for Space and Atmosphere, and served as its director from 2002 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005, he served as director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere. He is a specialist in space radio science, space plasma physics and space solar power systems (SSPS).