STEERING COMMITTEE
Parvez Iftikhar
ICT Policy and Regulation ConsultantWith more than 40 years of experience, Parvez Iftikhar is currently providing consulting services on ICT Policy and Regulation in various countries, mainly through global organizations like World Bank, ITU, DFID, USAID, and international consulting houses. Parvez has been the founding CEO of Universal Service Fund (USF) Pakistan (under the Ministry of IT), and the country-head of Siemens “Com” in Pakistan. He has been on sabbaticals to Carnegie Mellon, and Harvard Kennedy School, USA, and Oxford University UK. He received extensive technical and managerial training at Siemens, mainly in Europe. Parvez is also a member of Pakistan Prime Minister’s Task Force on IT and Telecom.
Ms. Ammena Sohail
Legal and Regulatory ConsultantAmeena Sohail, a legal and regulatory consultant for network infrastructure entities and a lawyer by profession graduated from the International Islamic University, Islamabad in 1995. With experience of advising both public and private entities in the field of policy making, legislation, negotiating infrastructure contracts and defending clients before adjudicating bodies, she enjoys her work as a strategist for various advocacy assignments, the most. Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) is an important piece of legislation to her credit which was supervised by her from its formulation to its passage by the Parliament as Member (legal) at the Ministry of IT & Telecom, where all steps in the process were handled by Ameena herself and she further worked on the body of rules to be notified under PECA. Mrs. Sohail is currently the managing partner of M/s Precision Advocates and Consultants
Dr. Nadia Khadam
Assistant Professor/Head Department of Law, Fatima Jinnah Women University RawalpindiDr. Nadia Khadam is currently serving as Assistant Professor/Head Department of Law, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi. After getting practical advocacy experience, she joined Ph.D Criminal Law, Policy and Procedure. Her areas of research are criminal law, cyber crime laws, cyber security policies, reform in justice sector of Pakistan and transnational criminal issues. She is associated with different initiatives with reference to internet governance in Pakistan. Moreover, she represented Pakistan at different national and international internet governance forums and wrote various articles.
Ahmed Bakhat Masood
Deputy Director (Cyber Security) in Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA)Ahmed Bakhat Masood is currently working as Deputy Director (Cyber Security) in Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), previously worked in PTCL and Instaphone. By qualification, he is MS Telecom & Networks, Master in Computer Science (MCS), Lead auditor ISO 27001, MCSE. Mr. Ahmed played a pivotal role in establishment of Pakistan IXP, in making consensus amongst all stakeholders of IXP in Pakistan and currently working as secretary to IXP board. He remained Chair of Task Force on Arabic Internationalized Domain Names (TF-AIDN), a subgroup of ICANN, from July 2017 to June 2020. He also remained a member of the Program Committee of the Middle East DNS Forum, ICANN for four from 2015 to 2018. He is currently a member of the steering committee of pkSIG since 2016 and managing secretariat. Apart from other achievements, Mr. Ahmed played a vital role in the success of South Asian Network Operators Group (SANOG) 29, at Islamabad Pakistan.
Muhammad Shabbir
President of Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest GroupMr. Muhammad Shabbir Awan is Founding President of Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group (Accessibility SIG) and member board of directors ISOC Pakistan Islamabad Chapter. Professionally a researcher in the domain of strategic studies, he is also pursuing his PhD in International Relations. Working in the domains of international relations and internet governance, Shabbir has a number of publications and international fellowships on his credit. He has also been working for the organizations of persons with disabilities since 1997 as a volunteer. Leading the working group on accessibility for persons with disabilities, Mr. Awan along with other representatives of PWDs, helped MOIT draft “Digital Pakistan” policy 2018. He is also the member of Pakistan School on Internet Governance (PKSIG) Steering Committee, Multi Stakeholder Group (MSG) of Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APRIGF), International Political Science Association (IPSA), Islamabad Council on World Affairs (ICWA), and member of Multi Stakeholder Group of Pakistan Internet Governance Forum.
Sidra Jalil
Founder, InspireMillSidra Jalil is Founder of InspireMill, a community based organisation promoting youth and women entrepreneurship using technology and entrepreneurship. She is a Community Builder, a tech graduate with strong expertise in the domain of Marketing, Research and Communication. She has been working in the industry primarily with Technology and Social Sector for over 13 years in a diverse domain and last 8 years particularly with Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Pakistan both as an Entrepreneur and Intrapreneur. She has worked with Code for Pakistan, OPEN Islamabad and Internet Society Pakistan Islamabad Chapter as a key community lead where she organizes workshops, Special Interest Group around startup problems, networking events, motivational talks and forums to address startup issues. She has worked on several youth and women empowerment initiatives, conducted several hackathons, innovation challengers and pitching competition to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. She is also the first and only female Ambassador of AngelHack in Pakistan. She is a blogger, internet marketer, motivational speaker and a socially active person with keen interest in community work.
Muhammad Adil
Treasurer, ISOC Pakistan Islamabad ChapterMuhammad Adil joined the Internet Society Islamabad Chapter office in February, 2018 as Treasurer, ISOC Pakistan Islamabad Chapter . He has been associated with the chapter since long. He is serving in Fauji Fertilizer Company as Executive – Information Systems. He is a PhD Scholar and certified in different Microsoft, Cisco, SAP and Information Security Domains. He is also representing ISOC Pakistan Islamabad Chapter as Secretariat of Pakistan School on Internet Governance
Waqas Hassan
President, Internet Society Pakistan Islamabad ChapterWaqas is the President of Internet Society Pakistan Islamabad Chapter. He has been an active volunteer for the Internet community of Pakistan, mainly in the field of capacity development, partnerships, advocacy, innovative education solutions and multi-stakeholder participation. He works as Assistant Director (International Liaison & Training) at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, with regulatory experience of over 14 years that includes international coordination, stakeholder engagement, ICT development analysis, ICT indicators review, Internet Governance, mobile money and civil society engagement.
Naveed Ul Haq
Regional Director, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Internet SocietyNaveed Ul Haq is the Asia-Pacific Regional Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity at Internet Society. He leads technical, policy and advocacy work in Internet access, infrastructure and community development domains.
Fouad Bajwa
Public Policy AdvisorFouad Bajwa is a public policy entrepreneur and co-founder of Byonyks, the Agriculture Republic and the Digital Trade Alliance. He actively participates and advises on issues related to Internet Governance in Pakistan and across various foras globally.
Mubashir Sargana
Vice Chair, Asia Pacific School on Internet Governance (APSIG)Mubashir Sargana is a well-experienced Cybersecurity Professional. His specialties include Digital Forensics and Incident Handling & Response, with diversified professional experience in relevant domains. Internet Public Policy is an addition to his skill set. He has got sufficient knowledge and grip on local & cross-border Cyber Security matters, including those involving privacy violations & data breaches.