Giulia Biagioni is a scientist at TNO, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research where she works in the area of ontology engineering and semantic technologies, particularly within the legal context. Her primary interests revolve around advancing data integration solutions that can empower a wide range of stakeholders to reach interoperability while fostering the creation of a fair and inclusive market.

Patrizio Bianchi is the Italian Minister of Education. He is an economist and academic.

He studied at the University of Bologna and the London School of Economics. He held academic positions at the University of Trento and the University of Bologna before becoming Rector of the University of Ferrara in 2004, where he currently holds the UNESCO Chair in "Education, Growth and Equality". He has been councilor for Education in Emilia Romagna for two terms and he is the scientific director of Ifab - International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development.

Mr. Bianchi has contributed significantly to the industrial policy literature and published extensively on peer reviewed journals and volumes.

H.E. Mr. Marc Bichler was appointed Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations Office at Geneva in June 2021.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Bichler had been serving since October 2016 as Luxembourg’s travelling Ambassador for human rights, whose duties included presiding over the work of the Government’s inter-ministerial committee for human rights, and being associated with Luxembourg’s candidature as a Member State of the Human Rights Council for the period 2022-2024. He was Luxembourg’s travelling Ambassador for climate change from August 2014 to 2016. He was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund in New York from November 2012 to April 2014.

A career diplomat, Mr. Bichler joined Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in 1990. He has held several posts, including Deputy Director for cooperation in development and humanitarian action; Deputy Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations in New York; Director for cooperation in development and humanitarian action; and Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, with residence in Luxembourg.

Mr. Bichler is a lawyer by training with a master’s degree from the University of Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. He also passed his Bar exam before becoming a diplomat.

Nicole Bidegain Ponte is Social Affairs Officer, Division for Gender Affairs of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Ms. Bidegain contributes to ECLAC intergovernmental work particularly at the Technical Secretariat of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has expertise on the links between gender equality and trade and fiscal policies.

She also supports technical cooperation activities and research analysis in these areas. Author and collaborator to several publications on women’s human rights, development and gender equality public policies, including “The 2030 Agenda and the Regional Gender Agenda: synergies for equality in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Ms. Bidegain is a sociologist from the University of the Republic in Uruguay and holds a Masters in Contemporary Latin American Studies by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Before joining the UN, as a member of regional and global civil society networks, Ms. Bidegain actively participated for more than a decade in following up on the commitments of the United Nations Conferences on women's rights, population, financing for development, education and sustainable development.

Ms. Duncan is President of the Association of Executives of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan. Lawyer, Occupational Psychologist and Gender Engineering Expert of the regional UNESCO Chaire Office, Ms. Duncan is from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

She has 30 years of professional experience in the port industry. She holds the position of Deputy Human Resources Director and is responsible for the development of human capital with the aim of maintaining the position of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan as a leading port in the West African sub-region.

The Autonomous Port of Abidjan joined the TrainForTrade Port Management Programme in 2014 and is entering its 6th promotion. Ms. Duncan is the Educational Manager and Permanent Secretary of the Programme's French-speaking network. She was recently elevated within the National Order of Merit for Labour for the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

Céline is the head of stakeholder outreach of the Value Balancing Alliance and has been part of the alliance’s leadership team since its foundation in 2019. The Value Balancing Alliance is a non-profit organization aiming at standardizing methodologies for monetary valuation of impacts and providing guidance on how these impacts can be used for internal business steering. Céline is seconded from EY, where she works as a manager in the Climate Change & Sustainability department with a focus on outcome measurement and valuation. She pursued her doctoral studies at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, England. Her research centered on integrated reporting and environment, social, and governance performance measurement. She holds a Bachelor and Master in Finance as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dayton.

In addition to her role in the Ministry of Commerce, H.E. Al-Mutairi also concurrently serves as the CEO of the National Competitiveness Center and Supervisor General of the Saudi Business Center. With 27 years of leadership experience, she drives regulatory and policy reforms to enhance Saudi Arabia's business environment, foster private sector growth, and boost national competitiveness, with a strong focus on empowering youth and women.

Dr. Al-Mutairi holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in Bio-Organic Chemistry from the University of Bristol, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from King Faisal University.

Kevin Bishop is a digitization expert with a diverse professional background encompassing information management, communication technology, and academia. He holds pivotal positions in shaping global standards and propelling digital transformation.

Serving as the Associate Information Management Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/CEFACT), Kevin acts as the focal point for the methodology and technology domain. In this role, he oversees vital initiatives and upholds essential data standards.

Moreover, Kevin is entrusted with maintaining the UN/LOCODE, UN/EDIFACT, UN/CCL, and UN/FLUX. His expertise extends beyond the UN, as he also fulfills the role of Secretary for the UNECE/ISO TC 154 JWG 9, contributing significantly to the harmonization of standards in international trade and technology.

Kevin's influence resonates across various platforms, where he participates in the EU Special Data Project Group and the EU MSP (Multi-stakeholder Platform) on ICT Standardization. In these capacities, he promotes collaboration and coherence in ICT standards, ensuring seamless interoperability and enhanced efficiency in global digital systems.

Hillary Biwott is a Legal Officer, Regulatory Framework at the Capital Markets Authority, Kenya. Biwott has been actively involved in the development and implementation of the Code of Corporate Governance for Issuers of Securities to the Public, 2015. He is also involved in the development of the Stewardship Code for Institutional Investors. He is currently working on the frameworks to facilitate effective assessment and reporting on corporate governance by issuers of securities to the public. Biwott is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya having been admitted to the bar in April 2012. Biwott is a member of the International Finance Corporation Practice Group on Codes and Standards. He is also a member of the Stewardship Codes Network, a group convened by the International Corporate Governance Network.

His Excellency Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who is the second president of Cameroon since 1982, having previously been the prime minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982.

He is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa, the longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world and the oldest head of state in the world.

Mr. Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat in the 1960s, as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister.