Executive Director,Gearbox and University of Nairobi

Dr. Kamau Gachigi is the Founding Executive Director of Gearbox, a non-profit organization that provides members with access to modern machines for prototyping and low volume manufacture, specialising in electronics PCB fabrication. Gearbox also avails training, and incubation/acceleration services in order to broaden access to manufacturing in Kenya. Dr. Kamau was a key consultant in the creation of a science curriculum for the Faculty of Arts and Science at the planned Aga Khan University in Arusha, and the principal consultant in the creation of an engineering curriculum for the planned Kiambu University of Technology and Innovation. He also holds two government appointments, one as Chairman of the Board of the National Industrial Training Authority and another on the Board of the Numerical Machining Complex, a State Corporation.

Dr. Kamau is also a member of the Global Council on the Future of Production under the World Economic Forum, and of the Consultative Advisory Group of the Partnership on Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (World Bank and select African Governments). He previously served as the Director of the University of Nairobi Science and Technology Park and founded the Fab Lab at the University of Nairobi, another in a low income area in Nairobi and is setting up a third in a Kisumu. These digital fabrication centres are part of a global network founded at MIT that numbers over 1,000 Fab Labs worldwide, and represent a unique window into Industry 4.0 capabilities. Dr. Kamau holds a Ph.D. in Solid State Science from the Pennsylvania State University (USA) and worked in Japan for TDK in R&D for over two years after earning his doctorate. He holds a US patent for an invention and has around 10 academic and non-technical publications.

Co-Facilitator of the negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations

Macharia Kamau is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kenyan Mission to the United Nations. Along with the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Kamau is the cofacilitator for the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and was the co-chair of the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Deputy Director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Prof. Dr. Nebojsa Nakicenovic is Deputy Director General and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and former Professor of Energy Economics at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria. He is a world renowned energy economist and computer scientist with degrees from Princeton University and the University of Vienna, as well as a Honoris Causa Doctorate in engineering from the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 300 publications and is Editorial Board Member of several scientific journals. He is one of the leading experts on technology change and future scenarios, especially with regard to infrastructures, energy and environmental technologies, and climate change. Prof. Nakicenovic has held many science-policy and advisory positions, including as member of the Advisory Council of the German Government on Global Change (WBGU); the International Council for Science (ICSU) Committee on Scientific Planning and Review, and Co-Chair of the Global Carbon Project; United Nations Secretary General High-Level Technical Group on Sustainable for Energy for All Initiative; Board, Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA); Working Group of the Austrian Panel on Climate Change (AG-APCC); Panel on Socioeconomic Scenarios for Climate Change Impact and Response Assessments; Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) Steering Committee; International Advisory Board of the Helmholtz Programme on Technology, and the Earth League. Prof. Nakicenovic has been engaged in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in various roles over the past 25 years. In particular, he was Convening Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, the Third Assessment Report, and the Fourth Assessment Report. He was director of the Global Energy Assessment (GEA); Coordinating Lead Author of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; director of Global Energy Perspectives, World Energy Council, 1993 to 1998, Convening Lead Author of the World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, 1999 to 2000, Member of the International Science Panel on Renewable Energies (ISPRE), 2006 to 2008, and Guest Professor at the Technical University of Graz, 1993–2003. He also served as member of the UN Secretary General Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change.

Head, Gloal Connectivity and Technology Policy, Facebook, USA

Dr. Robert Pepper helps lead Facebook’s connectivity and technology policy activities focusing on new technology development, deployment and adoption. Pepper previously was Cisco’s Vice President for Global Technology Policy for more than a decade working with governments globally helping them develop digital strategies including ICT and development, broadband plans, wireless and spectrum policy, the Internet of Things, security, privacy, and Internet governance.

Pepper was Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development at the FCC for 16 years beginning in 1989 where he led teams designing and implementing the first U.S. spectrum auctions, developing policies promoting the development of the Internet, implementing telecommunications legislation, and planning for the transition to digital television.

His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University.

Pepper received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

President, Corporate Communications, Huawei Company, China

As the President of Global Media and Communications, Ms. Tan is responsible for setting and executing the media and communications strategy for the company.

Prior to this position, Ms. Tan was responsible for the corporate branding efforts and led the brand transformation initiative to build Huawei into a global brand. Ms. Tan joined Huawei in 2007 and was responsible for integrated marketing communications efforts for the US market before taking the corporate positions.

Prior to Huawei, Ms. Tan worked at several large companies including Verizon where she was responsible for consumer strategy and digital marketing; and TXU Energy where she led business customer acquisition efforts in the newly-deregulated energy markets. Ms. Tan also had experiences in start-up telecom companies where she was responsible for business strategy, operations as well as merger and acquisitions.

Ms. Tan studied Biology at Tsinghua University in China, holds a Master’s Degree and Ph.D candidacy in Neuroscience from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and MBA in Marketing from University of Texas at Dallas.