Wesley Doorsamy received the BSc in Electrical Engineering, MSc and PhD in Engineering, and PGDip in Education from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he also held a Postdoctoral Fellowship. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg and is an active member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), and an affiliate member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). He has authored over forty peer reviewed research papers in international and national conferences, symposia and journals. He has successfully supervised several postgraduate students. He has also served in several technical advisory roles in industry working groups and policy advisory committees.

Ylva Rodny-Gumede is the Senior Director: Division of Internationalisation and also Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Johannesburg.

She is a Senior Associate Researcher with the Stanhope Centre for International Communications Policy Research at the London School of Economics. She holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University as well as an MA degree in Politics from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and an MA in Journalism from Cardiff University in the U.K. Ylva is a former journalist and has also worked in marketing and PR. In addition, she has consulted for several government, private and academic institutions in Europe and Southern Africa on issues concerning media and democracy, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. Ylva holds a C 3 rating from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and is the current President of the South African Communications and Media Association (SACOMM).

Ryan Smit is the Managing Director of BMIT, a research and consulting firm with a 30 track record in the digital industry, as well as being a professional futurist. He has been actively involved in the research, data and strategy across a number of different roles for over 10 years. His primary focus areas are the consumer digital and telecommunications market, authoring a wide range of reports on topics such as social media usage to smartphone usage analytics. In the past few years he has been working in the digital media industry in South African and the Caribbean, helping businesses with their digital transformation strategies.

He holds a BCom Economics and Marketing from Wits University, as well as a Master of Business Administration with specialisation in Strategic Planning from the Edinburgh Business School, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Future Studies from the Stellenbosch Business School. He is also the Head of the Measurement Council for the IAB South Africa.

Anesu Charamba is a Technology Strategist at Altron BSI. Prior to this, he was a Consulting Manager with Frost & Sullivan and before that a consultant with EY. He has over nine years business and management consulting experience, with experience across the ICT, manufacturing, infrastructure, retail, and oil and gas sectors. Anesu has provided consulting services to companies across the continent, focusing on digital transformation, due diligence, strategy development and market research. Anesu holds a BA (hons) from Durham University, a master’s degree from Aston University and a MBA from the University of Leicester.

Chris Borain is the IAB SA Chairperson (African Media Entertainment (AME)). After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Chris’ career has been spent working across all media types – including radio, TV, print and a newswire agency startup – but always with an emphasis on the transformational opportunities afforded by digital media. He twice served on the Management Committee of the OPA (the precursor to the DMMA and IAB), and on his return to South Africa rejoined the Publishing Council of the IAB before standing as chairperson. Chris has worked for and across most of the media groups in SA, and is currently the project director for OneRepublic South Africa.

Dudu Mkhwanazi is the Chief Executive Officer of Project Isizwe and a digital inclusion advocate.

Project Isizwe is a non-profit organization that advocates for -and enables the deployment of free WiFi hotspots within a walking distance in low-income communities.

Project Isizwe partners with the private and/or public sectors and pioneered the deployment of the largest free public WiFi network in Africa in the Tshwane Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa.

Under Dudu’s leadership, Project Isizwe pioneered connecting two mining communities to free Wi-Fi in partnership with Glencore Mine in Emalahleni (Mpumalanga).

Isizwe also partnered with AWARE.org to use internet access as an enabler for their Responsible Alcohol Usage Programme; and The Social Collective on their Free WiFi Champions Programme – in Botshabelo (Free State), Bushbuckridge (Nelspruit) and Emalahleni with Glencore Mine.

Dudu completed her Undergraduate Degree in Public Administration as well as her Honours Degree in Political Science at North-West University’s Vaal Triangle Campus.

She launched her professional career at the University as the Research and Support Assistant at the School of Humanities.

In 2013, Dudu embarked on her Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Comparative Politics at the Université Montpellier in the south of France. Upon her return, she worked in the political environment, including serving as the Operations Manager to the Private Office of the MMC of Corporate and Shared Services in the City of Johannesburg Metro prior to joining Project Isizwe.

An avid reader, she shares her passion for books through reading for children at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and enjoys spending time in the outdoors.

She is passionate about internet governance and actively endeavors to influence policies in South Africa which will see the implementation of broadband in rural areas, with a specific focus on safe and quality internet access.