Leo Yip
Head, Civil Service, PS (PMO, PMO (STRATEGY) AND NSIC), Singapore
Leo Yip joined the Singapore public service in 1982 as a police officer. He holds degrees from Cambridge University, Warwick University and Harvard University.
In 2000 he was appointed Principal Private Secretary to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew till 2002 when he joined the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) as Deputy Secretary. He served concurrently as Chief Executive of Singapore Workforce Development Agency from 2003.
Mr Yip was appointed Permanent Secretary of MOM in July 2005. He was concurrently appointed Deputy Chairman of the EDB in 2008 and became full-time Chairman from 2009 to 2014.
Mr Yip was appointed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in December 2014 and was concurrently appointed as Permanent Secretary (PMO and NSIC) in 2016. Mr Yip relinquished his MHA appointment on 1 September 2017 to become Head, Civil Service and PS (PMO, PMO (Strategy) and NSIC).
Loh Khum Yean
Permanent Secretary, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore
Loh Khum Yean graduated from Hitotsubashi University, Japan with a Bachelor of Economics. He also holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA.
He started his career in the Singapore Civil Service with the Ministry of Communications, where he handled portfolios in the areas of Air & Land Transportation and Telecommunications. He later took up appointments as Director of Personnel Policy in the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Director of Research and Planning at the Ministry of Trade & Industry.
Subsequently, Khum Yean was appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, where he was responsible for building a financial environment conducive to business and enterprise, and for enhancing organizational excellence in the public sector.
From October 2003 to April 2008, he was Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore, where he led the Statutory Board’s efforts to enhance the competitiveness and enable the growth of local enterprises.
He was appointed Deputy Secretary (Industry) of the Ministry of Trade & Industry in mid-2008, where he was responsible for the development of Singapore’s industry sectors and enterprises.
He was appointed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower from October 2009 to April 2016; and subsequently as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade & Industry from May 2016 to Mar 2019.
From Apr 2019, he has been appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office.
Peter Ong Boon Kwee
Chairman of Enterprise Singapore, Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore
Mr Peter Ong Boon Kwee was born in Singapore. He was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to pursue his Bachelor of Economics at the University of Adelaide, Australia and graduated with first class honours. He graduated top of his Masters in Business Administration class at Stanford University, USA, in 1993, and is a Henry Ford II and Arjay Miller Scholar.
Mr Ong was appointed Chairman of Enterprise Singapore following the announcement of the merger of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and SPRING Singapore. As Chairman of Enterprise Singapore, Mr Ong drives efforts to grow stronger Singapore enterprises by supporting them to build new capabilities and internationalise.
In January 2018, Mr Ong was also appointed Senior Economic Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where he provides strategic advice on economic strategies and policies as well as champion efforts to enable robust enterprise growth.
Mr Ong retired from the Administrative Service on 1 September 2017. Prior to his retirement, Mr Ong was Head of Civil Service, a position he held since 2010. In 2016, he was also concurrently appointed as Permanent Secretary – Strategy, at the Prime Minister’s Office, where he oversaw the PMO Strategy Group to support the Prime Minister and his Cabinet in establishing priorities and strengthening strategic alignment across government.
Mr Ong also previously held the positions of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; the National Security Intelligence Co-ordination Secretariat; Ministry of Trade and Industry; Ministry of Transport; and Ministry of Defence. Other previous postings include stints at Temasek Holdings – a Government investment holding company; the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mr Ong currently sits on the Boards of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship. He was conferred the (Honorary) Knight of the Most Distinguished Order Of The Crown by The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Malaysia XIV on 2 June 2012, an award which carries the title “Tan Sri”. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of Singapore in 2010.
Tan Ching Yee
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
Mrs Tan Ching Yee is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Singapore. She also holds the appointment of Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office (Special Duties). She assumed these posts on 1 May 2016.
She is Chairman of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, and a Board member of the National Research Foundation.
Mrs Tan read Economics at Cambridge University and joined the Singapore Civil Service in 1986, first as a Statistician and then as a Research Economist in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
She obtained her Masters of Science in Management from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, in 1997.
She next worked in the Ministry of Education for five years, covering portfolios in higher education and overall education policy, leaving as its Deputy Secretary (Policy).
In July 2002, she became the Chief Executive of the Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore. Concurrently, she also held the post of Deputy Secretary (Infocomm and Media Development) at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
She returned to the Ministry of Education as its Second Permanent Secretary in January 2005 and as its Permanent Secretary in April 2007. She was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health from April 2012.
She is married to Eugene, and they have three children.
Ng Chee Khern
Permanent Secretary, Smart Nation and Digital Government, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore
Mr Ng Chee Khern is Permanent Secretary for Smart Nation and Digital Government in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). In this role, he leads the government’s efforts in driving the development of digital enablers for citizens and businesses, and applying digital and smart solutions to improve the lives of citizens in a Smart Nation.
Mr Ng was previously Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) in Singapore’s Ministry of Defence with a portfolio ranging from defence research and technology, to capability development and acquisitions, to defence administration. He was concurrently 2nd Permanent Secretary in Singapore’s Ministry of Health from August 2014 to February 2016 where he oversaw the overall operations, emergency preparedness and capacity building for the public healthcare sector in Singapore.
He is the Chairman of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) board, and a Director of the board of CapitaLand Mall Trust Management. Mr Ng also serves as a board member of both the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Changi Airport Group (CAG).
Mr Ng was enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1984 and served in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Throughout his military career, Mr Ng held various appointments, including: Commanding Officer, 149 Squadron; Commander, Tengah Air Base; Director, Joint Operations and Planning Directorate; Chief of Staff (Air Staff). He took over as the Chief of Air Force in March 2006. After leaving the Air Force, Mr Ng was appointed as the Director of the Security and Intelligence Division in September 2010.
Mr Ng was a recipient of the President’s Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1985. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Second Upper Class Honours) and a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. He also graduated with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
Catherine Blewett
Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Canada
Catherine Blewett was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet on January 7, 2019. She is also presently serving as Canada’s representative on the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
Ms. Blewett brings a broad national perspective to her work, having grown up in Inuvik and Yellowknife, then pursuing university, raising her family, and beginning her career in Nova Scotia.
She has nearly 30 years of experience in public service, beginning in 1990 with the Departments of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs in Nova Scotia. In 2001, Ms. Blewett entered the federal public service serving with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
In 2011, she returned to the Province of Nova Scotia as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and as Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. She subsequently held the portfolios of CEO for the Office of Immigration, Deputy Minister of Communications, Nova Scotia, and Deputy Minister to the Office of the Premier.
Ms. Blewett returned to the federal government in June 2016 as Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada after serving as Clerk of the Executive Council and Secretary to Cabinet in Nova Scotia, the most senior non-political official in the Government of Nova Scotia. She was the head of the public service, responsible for the overall policy, management, and human resource leadership in the province.
Ms. Blewett holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Masters in Public Administration from Dalhousie University.
Katherine Jones
Deputy Secretary, Department of Finance, Australia
Katherine Jones is the Deputy Secretary for Business Enabling Services in the Australian Government Department of Finance. She has held that role since October 2017.
She has a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales.
Her responsibilities include being the Chief Operating Officer for the organisation and overseeing the delivery of services and support across the department. She is also responsible for delivering whole of government digital systems to support collaboration and customer service, including the innovative GovTeams platform.
Katherine has practical experience in delivering shared services in government. She is responsible for the Service Delivery Office, a shared service hub which delivers digital corporate services to 15 public sector agencies. This includes responsibility for the Productivity and Automation Centre of Excellence (PACE) that supports government agencies to achieve enhanced business management practices and process automation.
She has previously held senior positions in the Attorney-General’s Department including as the Deputy Secretary responsible for National Security, Criminal Justice and Emergency Management, the head of the International Crime Cooperation Division and the head of the Social Inclusion Division with responsibility for policy and programs across Indigenous justice, native title, legal assistance and human rights. In 2017, Katherine received a Public Service Medal for her outstanding contribution in the field of national security.
Before joining the public service in 1999, Katherine spent more than a decade in educational and academic publishing as a sponsoring editor and publisher at the McGraw Hill Book Co.
Taimar Peterkop
Secretary of State, Government Office, Estonia
Mr. Taimar Peterkop was appointed Secretary of State in December 2018. Secretary of State is the Head of the Government Office (central government institution to support the Government and the Prime Minister in policy making and implementation).
Prior to being appointed Secretary of State, Taimar was Director General of the Estonian Information System Authority (government agency responsible for core e-government systems and cyber security of Estonia). Before that, he was the Deputy Secretary General for Legal and Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Defence.
During the period 2000–2001, Peterkop worked as a lawyer at the Government Office and from 2001–2008, at the Ministry of Defence, the first four years of which was spent in the Legal Department as Head of the Office of International Law, and the last three years as Head of the Operations and Crisis Management Department. During the period 2008–2010, Peterkop served as Defence Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Taimar Peterkop is a graduate of the University of Tartu School of Law and the United States Army War College, and holds a Master’s level degree in Strategic Management.
Paul Huijts
Secretary-general, Ministry of General Affairs (Prime Minister & Cabinet Office), Netherlands
Paul Huijts (b. 1962) studied Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
From 1986 to 2000 he held various posts at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
From 2000 to 2004 he was a cabinet adviser to the Prime Minister on various policy fields, including public health and care.
From 2004 to 2014 he worked at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, first as Deputy Secretary-General, and from March 2009 as Director-General for Public Health.
In August 2014 he was appointed Secretary-General of the Ministry of General Affairs and Head of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Kong Sophy
Director General, General Department of Civil Service Policy, and Head of Secretariat of Public Administrative Reform Committee, Ministry of Civil Service, Cambodia
Mr Kong Sophy is the Director General of Civil Service Policy, and Head of the Secretariat of Public Administrative Reform Committee, Ministry of Civil Service, Cambodia.
Mr Kong was the deputy secretary general of the Council for Administrative Reform since 2005. He spent seven years on secondment to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC). Until resuming his job in the Ministry of Civil Service in 2013, he was the Chief of Court Management Section since 2011. Before being appointed as Head of the Interpretation and Translation Unit in 2007, he was the legal office and court interpreter/translator in the ECCC.
Since starting his career in 2000, Mr Kong held numerous positions in the Office of Council of Ministers including Deputy Secretary General of the Council for Administrative Reform (CAR), Director of Priority Mission Group (PMG) Program, Director of Governance Project, counterpart with international development donors, and assistant to the Program Manager for National Program for Public Administrative Reform.
Mr Kong has experience and knowledge in local and regional activities. He is an active senior official in the ASEAN Conference on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM).
Mr Kong holds a Master’s Degree of Public Management from Potsdam University in Germany, a Senior Official Diploma of Public Administration from the Royal School of Administration, and two Bachelor’s – one in Law from the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences and the other in Management from the National Institute of Management in Phnom Penh.
Hannah Cameron
Deputy Commissioner, State Services Commission, New Zealand
Hannah joined the SSC in April 2018, having previously held the role of Deputy Chief Policy Officer at the Ministry of Health.
Hannah came to New Zealand from the United Kingdom in 2004, in search of a home where she could continue to work at the centre of policy-making and democracy, but also have easy access to the great outdoors. She found Island Bay, Wellington, and has not looked back since. She believes that New Zealand can be a wonderful place to raise a family, and is frustrated that not all New Zealanders have equal access to a safe and fulfilling life.
Hannah has worked in the New Zealand public service for 14 years in government departments that also include the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice and Department of Internal Affairs. During that time, she has worked on policy issues as varied as family violence, organ donation, special education and medicinal cannabis, building a strong network of colleagues across government.
Hannah grew up in Nottingham, has a MA in social and political sciences from the University of Cambridge and spent the first part of her career in London as part of the UK Government’s Fast Stream programme.
Mikhail Pryadilnikov
Head, Center of Competence for Digital Government Transformation; and Deputy Director, Analytic Center for the Russian Government, Russia
The Analytic Center for the Russian Government provides on-demand information analytics and expert support for departments; and as Deputy Director, Mikhail Pryadilnikov is responsible for strategic management, regional development, SME support, public administration and investment climate reform.
Mikhail has also recently been appointed as Head, Center of Competence for Digital Government Transformation, a top-level unit with a particular focus on government digital services established to support public sector organizations in managing their digital transformation programmes.
He previously served as the director of the Department for Strategic Planning, Government Programs and Investment Projects at the Ministry of Economic Development. Prior to joining the federal government, he worked for Moscow city government as the Head of Economic Policy and Development.
Mr Priyadilnikov studied economics and philosophy in the USA and was awarded a PhD in government and political science by Harvard University. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and a Visiting Lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Before joining the civil service, he spent 10 years as a consultant at the World Bank in Washington DC, working in the Middle East and North Africa unit on anti-corruption and civil service reforms in Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, and the West Bank & Gaza.
H.E. Win Thein
Chairman, The Union Civil Service Board (UCSB), Myanmar
Mr. Win Thein, Chairman of the Union Civil Service Board, was born on 11 August 1948 in Yangon. He is the son of Toe Tet Yay U Thein (1st Class Order of the Star for Independence) and Daw Ma Ma Lay(3rd Class Order of the Star for Independence). In 1965, after completion of the matriculation of his high school education at St.Paul’s High School, he was selected as Officer Cadet and underwent training at Defence Services Academy. In 1969, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (DSA) and was appointed as Gazetted Officer in the Navy. He obtained the diploma of Higher Grade Pleadership (H.G.P) in 1976, and attended the training of Oceanography in Japan from 1978 to 1979 and computer programming courses conducted at the Computer Department of Universities in 1979. After he served in ranks in the Navy, he was transferred to serve at the Ministry of Transport in 1984.
He was elevated up to the rank of Deputy Director General at the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems under the Ministry of Transport. And then, he was promoted as the Principal of Myanmar Mercantile Marine College. He completed diploma of Advanced Computer Management conducted at the Central Statistical Organization in 1994, Post Graduate Diploma in Maritime Law in 2002, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Law in 2003, Post Graduate Diploma in International Law in 2004, M.A (Business Law) (1st Year) from Yangon University respectively. After that, he became a member of International WHO’s WHO of Professionals of United States of America in 2009. Furthermore, he was conferred Ph.D Honoris Causa in Educational Leadership from Akamai University, Hawaii, USA in 2014. He just completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from London College of Business Sciences in 2015.
In 1995-1996, being appointed as the National Consultant to draft “Myanmar Agenda 21” by the Head Office of United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) (Nairobi, Kenya), through National Commission for Environmental Affairs, Myanmar. Along with his career, he also compiled about fifty research papers related with environmental conservation, education, training and contributed them through international conferences. In 2012, he was assigned as a member of the Commission on the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues at Pyithu Hluttaw (People Parliament). In 2016, he has been assigned as the Chairman of the Union Civil Service Board.
Matthias Freundlieb
Deputy Director-General, Federal Chancellery, Germany
Matthias Freundlieb is Head of Directorate 11 (Personnel – the Federal Government; Administration) and permanent Deputy Director-General 1 (Central Services; Home Affairs and Justice) at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin since 2010. He holds the position of the Federal Chancellery’s CIO as well.
Prior to this, he held numerous positions at the Federal Chancellery since the early 90s like Head of Directorate 12 (Cabinet and Parliament, Federation-Länder Matters, Sport) from 2005 to 2010 and Deputy Head of Division for Cabinet and Parliament Matters between 1995 and 1998. Except in the Chancellery, he has years of experience in parliamentary work as research assistant of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in German Parliament, first subject specialist for legislative work on abortion issue from 1991 to 1994 and Head of Office of a Parliamentary Secretary from 1999 to 2005.
Mr Freundlieb started his career in the Public Service as a subject specialist for legislation at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Between 1987 and 1990, he served as General Manager of then newly founded German-Italian Centre for European Excellence “Villa Vigoni” on Lake Como, Italy.
In addition, he performed various consultancy missions for governments and parliaments abroad, i. a. in Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Colombia, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Mr Freundlieb is a fully qualified lawyer with a Law Degree from University of Bonn. He completed his legal clerkship in Cologne, Aachen and Sydney, Australia.
Sir Suma Chakrabarti
President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), United Kingdom
Sir Suma Chakrabarti, born in 1959 in West Bengal, India, is the sixth President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Sir Suma has extensive experience in international development economics and policy-making, as well as in designing and implementing wider public service reform.
Most recently he held the position of Permanent Secretary at the British Ministry of Justice and was its most senior civil servant. Prior to this, he headed the UK’s Department for International Development, also worked in the late 1990s in the UK Treasury, and in the early 2000s in the Cabinet Office.
After studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, Sir Suma took a Masters in Development Economics at the University of Sussex. He also holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sussex and East Anglia, Bucharest’s University of Economic studies and Kazakhstan’s 25th Anniversary of Independence Medal.
Bob Gengler
Director General, Ministry of the Civil Service, Luxembourg
Bob Gengler studied Law at the University Aix-Marseille III in Aix-en-Provence, France.
He started as a lawyer at the Bar of Luxembourg in 2001. Since 2002 he works at the Ministry of the Civil Service from 2002 to 2015 as a legal advisor. From 2015 to 2016 as head of the legal service and in 2016 he was appointed deputy director general. In December 2018 he was appointed director general.
Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori
Clerk to the National Assembly, Nigeria
Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori is Clerk and Chief Administrative and Accounting Officer of Nigeria’s National Assembly and Head of the country’s Legislative Service. His responsibilities include coordinating and supervising all National Assembly resources, processing passed bills and putting them before the President, and coordinating all interactions with foreign bodies and parliaments. He also Chairs the National Assembly Management Tenders Board.
Prior to his time at the National Assembly, Sani-Omolori was a Clerk in the House of Representatives between 2010 and 2016. He has also held roles as the Director of the Legal Services Department and Legal Officer at the National Electric Power Authority, and in his early career, gained experience in private law firms and as the legal representative for the Ajaokuta Steel Company. He began his career as a teacher, specialising in English and social studies, and was once private secretary in the Ebira Traditional Council’s Office of the Chairman.
Sani-Omolori obtained a Bachelor of Law in 1983, and is a member of the International Bar Association; Commonwealth Lawyers Association; and the African Bar Association among others.
H.E. Alicia dela Rosa-Bala
Chairperson, Civil Service Commission, Philippines
Alicia dela Rosa-Bala is currently the Chairperson of the central human resource agency of the government, the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Prior to her appointment, she was the Undersecretary for Policy and Plans of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which she has served for the past 39 years. She also served from September 8, 2012 to September 7, 2015 as Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Department in Jakarta, Indonesia which covers the sectors of civil service, science and technology, health, women, youth, social welfare and development, disaster management, among others. She was given recognition by ambassadors of member-countries for her contributions to ASEAN at the conclusion of her term.
At the DSWD, Chairperson Bala started as a training officer in 1976 and worked her way up the organizational ladder holding the positions of social welfare specialist, division chief, director, regional director and assistant secretary. Entrusted with critical projects and initiatives, she served as Project Director of the Social Welfare and Development Reform Project, Performance Governance System-Balanced Scorecard Project, and the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction. She also chaired the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, the National Committee on Filipino Family, and the Sub-committee on Social Protection of the Rights of Women and Children. She was instrumental in the creation of a sub-committee on Social Protection under the Social Development Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority.
In 2004, she was DSWD’s First Best Manager Awardee, and in 2012 she was awarded Outstanding Career Executive Service Officer by the Career Executive Service Board.
Chairperson Bala was appointed as the country’s first child rights representative to the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and the Protection of the Rights of Women and Children in 2010. She was also the first elected head of the first session of the Commission on Social Development, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific in 2008.
Chairperson Bala received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of the Philippines Institute of Social Work and Community Development, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Centro Escolar University.
Catarina Maria Romão Gonçalves
Deputy General Secretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Portugal
Catarina Romão Gonçalves is, since 2013, Deputy General Secretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Portugal.
In this position, and among other functions, she is responsible for ensuring the liaison of the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with members of the Government, and their respective Offices, as well as with other entities in the public and private sector.
She is also responsible for fostering, on an ongoing basis, curiosity, innovation and change, reinforcing the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers as a reference body integrated in the Portuguese CoG.
She holds a degree in Law and a Postgraduate degree in Artistic Programming Management and in her career had been also Director of two national theatres in Portugal.
Mario Cutajar
Principal Permanent Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet, Malta
Mr Cutajar was born in 1958. He studied in Universities both in Malta and the United Kingdom where he graduated in social studies and management. He started his career in the Public Service in 1976 and worked in Government Departments, Ministries, public entities and the private sector.
For a number of years he was also a General Workers’ Union official being elected as Deputy General Secretary until he resigned from the post in 2002. He held top management posts in Heritage Malta and within the private sector.
Mr Cutajar was appointed Cabinet Secretary in March 2013 and also Principal Permanent Secretary in the following month.
Mr Cutajar published a number of books with a history background.
Pg Hj Md Sarifuddin bin Pg Hj Alli
Senior Administrative Officer, Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam
Pg Hj Md Sarifuddin bin Pg Hj Alli graduated from University of Brunei Darussalam with a Bachelor Degree of Arts, Major in Economic and Minor in Islamic Banking from University of Brunei Darussalam in 2004. He is recognised as one of the certified examiner for Psychomentric Test after attending a course in Singapore in 2013. In 2014 and 2018, he had attended 17th Executive Development Programme for Middle Management at the University of Brunei Darussalam and 14th Executive Development Programme for Senior Government Official co-organised by The Ministry of Defence, Brunei Darussalam and Lee Kuan Yew, School of Public Policy, National University Of Singapore respectively.
He started his career with the Goverment of His Majesty Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam in 2005 as a Youth and Sport Affairs Officer at the Ministry of Youth Culture and Sport. In 2011, Pg Hj Md Sarifuddin joined Brunei Administrative Service and appointed as an Administrative Officer Grade 1. His first posting as an administrative officer was in June 2011 and given a task to lead Administration and Finance Division at Radio Televisyen Brunei (RTB) Department. After served at RTB for almost five (5) years, he then joined Prime Minister Office in August 2016 until now.
Sir John Manzoni
Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
As Chief Executive of the Civil Service, Sir John Manzoni leads the reform programme across government, working with permanent secretaries to transform public services and the way government works. Sir John’s work focuses on skills, property, shared services, government processes and digital technologies.
As Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office, Sir John is responsible for leadership and governance. The Permanent Secretary is also the Cabinet Office’s Accounting Officer, responsible for the financial propriety of the department.
Sir John has more than 30 years’ experience in the private sector. Before joining government, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian oil and gas company Talisman Energy Inc. Prior to that he was at BP, where he held senior strategic and operational leadership roles at global, regional and local level. Between 2002 and 2007 he was BP’s Chief Executive, Refining and Marketing, spanning six different businesses across more than 100 countries; and he was a member of the BP plc main board from 2003 to 2007.
Kevin Cunnington
Director General of International Government Service, United Kingdom
Kevin became Director General of GDS in August 2016. He was also Head of Function for Digital, Data and Technology across government, and a member of the Cabinet Office’s Executive Committee. He spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy, before becoming Global Head of Online for Vodafone Group then Business Transformation Group Director General at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
In June 2019, it was announced that Kevin would be moving to become Director General of the newly-created International Government Service. He has been replaced by Alison Pritchard, GDS’s Director for EU Exit and Transformation.
Nicola Villa
Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth. Global Lead, Government Center of Excellence. European Lead, Government Engagement, Mastercard
Nicola is a Mastercard senior executive focused at the intersection between Digital Infrastructure, Economic Development and Sustainability. A corporate entrepreneur at heart, Nicola brings together Foresight, Innovation, Strategy and Execution to help leading Public Sector organizations
across the world achieve their policy objectives. Nicola is in charge of the government industry’s vertical strategy and go to markets initiatives at Mastercard, with a specific focus on government Infrastructures, Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development, Public Finance Management and Citizen Welfare.
Prior to that, Nicola worked at Vice President and Executive Partner at IBM’s Global Business Services unit. In his role, Nicola collaborated with leading government agencies to develop Digital Platform programs. Strongly focused on urban innovation, he co-developed innovative strategies and solutions in the Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data spaces to solve some of the key challenges public sector organizations face. He also led the Internet of Things business in Europe, across all industries.
Prior to joining IBM, Nicola worked for Cisco Systems for almost 20 years where he led e-Commerce programs in the 90’s, he incubated the global digital consulting unit, he set up Cisco’s first steps in the Smart Cities market and helped created a 1.2B$ business in this space. Nicola worked as member of Cisco China’s Board for a few years as well as Biography led the company’s Data & Analytics services group at global level. In his final role at Cisco he partnered with the Chairman & CEO to develop multi-year digital partnership programs with the French, UK, German and Italian Prime Ministers.
Nicola is a Board member of the Internet of Things Global Solutions Forum in Barcelona, an Executive Member of the Board at the World Economic Forum’s Future of Urbanization program, a co-founder with the City of Barcelona of The City Protocol Society and of Metropolis’ “Partnership for Urban Innovation” commission.
Lim Wei Siong
Director, Public Policy, Southeast Asia, Mastercard
Wei Siong joined Mastercard in June 2014 and is Director for Public Policy for Southeast Asia. In his role, Wei Siong advises the company on public policy matters and drives public policy engagements with government authorities in the region. He also manages relationships with a broad range of third party entities such as business chambers and associations, consumer groups, NGOs, institutions and thought leaders, to profile the company and raise public awareness to the value of card and electronic payments.
Prior to joining Mastercard, Wei Siong was with Harley-Davidson and British American Tobacco. He started his career as a civil servant in Singapore. Within his 10-year service with the Singaporean Government, he was privileged to have served for four years as a diplomat based in Jakarta advocating the interests of Singapore-based companies.
Wei Siong graduated from the National University of Singapore and also holds an MBA awarded by the Leeds University.
Michael Punke
Vice President, Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services
Michael Punke is Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services, and lives with his family in Montana. He has more than 25 years of experience in international trade and regulatory issues.
Punke served from 2010 to 2017 as Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. He had lead responsibility for international trade negotiations including the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Trade in Services Agreement, the Environmental Goods Agreement, and all negotiations under the auspices of the WTO. Punke also led the negotiations resulting in the 2013 Trade Facilitation Agreement, the first fully multilateral agreement in the WTO’s twenty-year history, and the 2015 Information Technology Agreement, the first WTO tariff reduction agreement in seventeen years.
Punke served previously in government as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (1995-1996); Director for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council/National Economic Council (1993-1995); and International Trade Counsel to Senator Max Baucus (1991-1992), then chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade.
Punke is the author of the novel, The Revenant, basis for the Academy Award-winning film, as well as two works of narrative nonfiction and several screenplays. The Revenant has been translated into more than twenty languages and was an international bestseller, including four weeks as a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Punke received his BA with distinction in International Relations from George Washington University and his JD with Specialization in International Legal Affairs from Cornell Law School, where he was elected editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.
Punke is married to Traci Silk Punke and they have two children. He is an active sportsman and outdoorsman.
Lee Chew Tan
Managing Director for ASEAN, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services
Lee Chew Tan leads the public sector business including government, education, health and non-profit organizations across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries in ASEAN.
Lee Chew is focused on working with public sector organizations and AWS Partner Network in leveraging AWS Cloud technology to drive innovation and initiatives that positively impact the life of citizens.
Lee Chew brings more than 30 years of business development and marketing experience in the ICT industry. Prior to joining AWS, she was the global Senior Vice President of Sales and Category management for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)’s Hybrid Infrastructure Technology group, where she led go-to-market planning and execution of product sales strategies across HPE’s eleven geographies worldwide. In that capacity, her portfolio included Data Center Infrastructure and Software Defined technologies.
In Lee Chew’s collective 22 years with HPE, she had held various senior leadership roles including General Manager of the Asia Pacific Server business, Asia Pacific Vice President of Global and Enterprise Sales, Vice President for Services Sales, and Managing Director for South East Asia. Prior to HPE, she was also head of sales and relationship management for investor services at State Street Bank & Trust.
Having operated out of Singapore and California with business experiences in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, Lee Chew is a firm believer of talent development and a strong advocate for diversity.
Lee Chew earned her Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Honors in Philosophy from the National University of Singapore. She also serves as the Vice Chairperson on the Board of the Singapore Heart Foundation.
Jacqueline Poh
Deputy Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, Singapore
Jacqueline is Deputy Secretary in Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, which leads and organises the Public Service to develop and implement the strategic priorities of the Government. These include economic strategies, social strategies, marriage and parenthood policy, urban development and liveability strategies as well as technology and security. She also oversees the National Population and Talent Division and the Centre for Strategic Futures
She was the founding Chief Executive of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore until 2018. Jacqueline was previously Managing Director of the Infocommunications Development Authority, GovTech’s predecessor organisation, and has held key positions in the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Defence.