TakingITGlobal is proud to announce that Her Excellency has accepted vice-regal patronage of TakingITGlobal, and is proud to be a part of Her Excellency's focus on youth. Her Excellency is convinced that youth must be recognized as the leaders of today, as much as the leaders of tomorrow, as they are actively bringing about change in their communities, throughout Canadian society and around the world right now.
Akhtar Badshah
Senior Director, Community Affairs, Microsoft
As senior director of Microsoft Community Affairs, Akhtar Badshah manages Unlimited Potential, a global initiative to promote digital inclusion and increased access to technology skills training in underserved communities. Before joining Microsoft, Badshah was the CEO and president of Digital Partners Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to use the digital economy to benefit the poor. Badshah also helped to develop the Digital Partners Social Enterprise Laboratory, an initiative that mentors and provides seed money to entrepreneurs whose vision and business models use information and communication technologies to empower the poor and their communities.
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Charles Coffey
Former Executive VP, Government Affairs & Business Development, RBC Financial Group
Throughout his extensive career, Charles Coffey has made community leadership a priority. His proven record and reputation in private, public and not-for-profit sectors across the country has resulted in several appointments and special honours including: member, National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation Canada; and director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada. He received the Award of Distinction from the Public Affairs Association of Canada and the Humanitarian Award for Community Service from Yorktown Family Services (Toronto). Coffey was appointed an Officer to the Order of Canada in 2004.
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Walter Fust
Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Walter Fust has been Director-General of the SDC since September 1993. He is Chairman of the Board of Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP). Fust is also a member of the Panel of Advisors of the United Nations Task Force on ICTs; a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Governance Initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF); and of the Policy Committee of the Global Coalition for Africa. Prior to joining the SDC, Fust held a number of positions in the diplomatic service and with the Swiss government. As a diplomat, he served in Berne, Geneva, Baghdad, and Tokyo. His government posts included deputy head of the Integration Office, dealing with the Swiss government's relations with the European Community and the European Free Trade Association countries; personal advisor to the Minister of Public Economy; managing director of the Swiss Office for Trade Promotion, and Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior.
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Ismail Serageldin
Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina
As the Director, Library of Alexandria, Ismail also chairs the Boards of Directors for each of the BA's affiliated research institutes and museums and is Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts, and has also served in a number of capacities at the World Bank, including as Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development and for Special Programs. He has published over 50 books and monographs and over 200 papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Cairo University and Masters' degree and a PhD from Harvard University and has received 18 honorary doctorates.
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Don Tapscott
Chief Executive, New Paradigm
Don Tapscott, one of the world's leading authorities on business strategy, is Chief Executive of international think tank New Paradigm. Founded in 1993, New Paradigm produces groundbreaking research focused on the role of technology in productivity and business design, effectiveness and competitiveness. Tapscott is the author of 11 widely read books about information technology in business and society, including Paradigm Shift, Growing Up Digital and The Naked Corporation. His new book (January 2007), co-authored with Anthony Williams, is Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Tapscott is also adjunct professor of management at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. His clients include top executives of many of the world's largest corporations, and government leaders from many countries. He holds a master's degree in Research Methodology and two Doctor of Laws (Hon).
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Peter Piot
Director, Institute for Global Health
Peter Piot, MD, PhD, is Professor of Global Health, and Director of the Institute for Global Health at Imperial College, London, UK. He was the founding Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary of the United Nations from 1995 until 2008.Under his leadership UNAIDS became the chief advocate for worldwide action against AIDS, also spear heading UN reform by bringing together 10 UN system organizations in the global aids response. Dr. Piot co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, and led research on HIV/AIDS, women’s health, and public health in Africa. He was a professor of microbiology, and of public health at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, the Free University of Brussels, and the University of Nairobi, was a Senior Fellow at the University of Washington, a Scholar in residence at the Ford Foundation, and a Senior Fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He holds the chair "Science against poverty" at the College de France in Paris.
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