Biographies

Mr Stefano Baldi 
Head of the Statistical Office at the Policy Planning Unit, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr Stefano Baldi is a career diplomat in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head of the Statistical Office at the Policy Planning unit. He has served at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the international organisations in Geneva, where he has developed several initiatives for the use of Information technologies (IT) in the diplomatic community. Baldi has an academic background in demography and international social issues. He also lectures on the use of Internet for ministries of Foreign affairs and missions. Baldi's most recent research focuses on the impact and future developments of information technology on international affairs.

Mr Jason Bellone
Head, Information Security and Assurance Program of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Mr. Bellone coordinates security and assurance services to WHO missions spanning the globe to include such places as Denmark, Egypt, India, the Philippines, Switzerland, the United States and Zimbabwe, and over 100 country offices.
Prior to taking post with WHO, Jason held several public service positions with the U.S. Government in the area of information security. During his tenure with the U.S. Department of Energy, he provided sworn expert testimony to the U.S. Congress hearings on Protecting America's Critical Infrastructures: How Secure Are Government Computer Systems? In his capacity with DOE, Jason led teams of technical "penetration" experts to provide friendly capabilities for breaking into government systems.
Mr. Bellone served with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Computer Analysis Response Team (CART), an expert team providing rapid response and analytical capabilities for the forensic examination of computer crime incidents. Jason was certified by the FBI Laboratory as a Forensic Examiner of Computer Evidence with a specialization in Internet Security. He has conducted numerous specialized training sessions and lectures for the FBI, International Law Enforcement Academy (Budapest, Hungary), Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other national and international organizations.

Mr Michael Darmanin
Head of Sales - Vodafone Malta
Mr Micheal Darmanin is the Head of the Sales department at Vodafone Malta. With around 130 employees working in his department, he is responsible for customer care
corporate and consumer sales, distribution network and value added services .
 
His current focus is for the introduction of new voice and data services which he envisages will change the way customers will interact on their mobile phone.  Mr Darmanin is a family man, married with one child. His interests include reading, sport and new technologies  He is also the Honorary Vice Consul for Austria.

Dr Eduardo Gelbstein,
Director, United Nations International Computing Centre
Dr Gelbstein was appointed Director of the U.N. International Computing Centre in 1993, and has led its transformation from an old-fashioned mainframe computer bureau in Geneva to a business unit present in Geneva, New York and Rome, providing a wide range of computing and telecommunications services to 28 organisations in the United Nations system.
During this period he conducted management audits for several United Nations organisations, gave a "talk and show" of the Internet and its impact to the 1995 session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and received the 1997 U.N. 21 Award from Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his contribution to the U.N. reform programme.
He is a regular speaker at conference and seminars. Recent events included the Workshop on Information Security (OECD, Paris, April, 2001) and the 2000 Session of the U.N. ECOSOC (New York, July 2000). His book "Preparing for the Information Age" first prepared in 1997 for the United Nations Staff College (Turin, Italy) was revised and issued in CD-ROM format at the year 2000 U.N. ECOSOC. Other recent publications include three articles for the Encyclopedia of Information Systems (Academic Press, 2001).

Mr Ian Hunter, 
Head of Network  Information Services Division, OECD 
Mr. Hunter began his computing career in the Scottish Office of the UK government in the early 1970s, where latterly he was responsible for development of several online information systems, including an office automation system that linked senior officials in Edinburgh and Glasgow with Ministers in London. He joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in early 1986. He became Head of the Computer Services' Client Services division in 1988, with responsibility for the OECD's online information service for Member countries.
In 1996 he took up his current position as head of the new Network Information Services division. His responsibilities include the development and operation of the OECD's Internet, Intranet and Extranet environments and international communications services. 
A key element of his work is promotion of intergovernmental co-operation through secure online networks, which involves working with OECD Delegations in Paris and ministries in national administrations. Some 40,000 experts from national administrations participate each year in the work of 200 or so OECD Committees and working parties, and use the OECD's Extranet (OLISnet) as their primary information source and interaction environment in support of this activity. 

Dr. Goran Jovanovic
Scientific Administrator, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva
Dr Jovanovic recently completed his Doctorate in International studies at The Graduate Institute of International Studies (IUHEI) at the University of Geneva. As scientifc adminstrator at the Center for Study of Audio-Visual Sources of History (CHERSA) at the IUHEI, he gives workshops and lectures on Information, media & violence, oral history, audiovisual media. In the last seven years has held research positions at the Center for Study of Audio-Visual Sources of History (CHERSA) in Geneva and NATO, based in Brussels. 
He has published 15 academic papers on the Yugoslav crisis, war propaganda, public administration, migration & immigration, German historiography, published in English, French and Serbo-Croatian in reviews and books, some translated in Arabic and Turkish. His multimedia and internet publications can be found at (http://heiwww.unige.ch/chersa/realisations/multimedia.html) and (http://heiwww.unige.ch/chersa/realisations/web.html)

Prof. Dietrich Kappeler, 
Consultant, DiploProjects
Professor DIETRICH KAPPELER served as Director of the Diplomatic Studies Programme of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva from 1993 to 1998. He was the founding Director of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta, 1990-1993. Professor Kappeler has extensive experience in diplomacy and international relations, and lectures and writes on international law, diplomatic and consular law, law of international institutions, human rights and humanitarian law, diplomacy, and constitutional and administrative law of Switzerland. 

Mr. Jovan Kurbalija
Director, DiploProjects
Mr Jovan Kurbalija is Director of DiploProjects and a lecturer on diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, Malta. He has academic and professional background in diplomacy, international law and computer science. Along with academic research, Kurbalija has developed many applications in the field of diplomacy (knowledge management systems, databases, online learning courses, etc.). His major research interests focus on a multidisciplinary study of the influence of information technology on diplomacy and international relations.

Mr Aldo Matteucci
Mr Aldo Matteucci graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) in Agriculture, and from Berkeley in Agricultural Economics. He spent three years in East Africa doing research on land use, then in Maryland, working on rural development. In 1977 he joined the Swiss Federal Office of Economic Affairs. He was Deputy Director of the EUREKA Secretariat in Brussels, and from 1994 to 2000, Deputy Secretary General of EFTA. He obtained early retirement upon leaving EFTA.

Mr Declan McCullagh
Chief Political Correspondant - Wired
Declan McCullagh is the Washington bureau chief for Wired News. He lives and works in Washington DC. 
McCullagh has been writing about the Internet since 1990. An award-winning journalist, McCullagh writes and speaks frequently about technology and politics. Before taking his current job, he has been a reporter for Time Digital Daily, The Netly News, and Time Magazine, as well as a correspondent for HotWired.
McCullagh moderates Politech, a well-known mailing list looking broadly at politics and technology that he founded in 1994, he has been a visiting faculty member at George Mason University's Institute for Humane Studies, and is a founding editor of cluebot.com, a technology and politics news site. He has co-hosted a weekly cybercast TV show at thesync.net. 

Dr Matthew Montebello
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science & AI, University of Malta 
Dr. Matthew Montebello is an educator by profession and has been involved in I.T. education for over fifteen years after graduating from the University of Malta.  Apart from teaching in secondary schools he was involved in I.T. teacher in-service training and I.T. skills acquisition.  In 1996 he was awarded the British Steel award after topping the Masters students at the University of Cardiff in Wales, UK and funded to read his Doctorate in “Personalising Information Retrieval over the WWW”.  
In 1999 he started lecturing at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malta while pursuing his own research interests in Internet Technologies, Mobile Computing and Intelligent Agents.  In 2000 he was appointed the National Contact Point for Malta in the Information Societies Technology program which makes part of the research and technological development framework set up by the European Commission.  

Mr Michael Olejarnik 
Web Editor, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Mr Michael Olejarnik works in the Press and Public Information Section at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna where he is member of a four-person team leading the development of the OSCE’s public Internet presence www.osce.org.  

His major interests include Web management in international organisations and the use of the Internet as a communication and information tool by international organizations and institutions.  He is currently co-writing a book on effective management and development of international organization Web sites. He holds Master’s degrees in political science and international economic and political relations.

Ambassador Kishan S. Rana
Ambassador Kishan S. Rana retired as Ambassador to Germany in 1995, after 35 years in the Indian Foreign Service (serving as Ambassador/High Commissioner in Algiers, Prague, Nairobi, and Mauritius, and Consul General in San Francisco). He was a Joint Secretary in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Office from 1981 to 1982. Ambassador Rana specialised in economic diplomacy, and worked initially on Chinese affairs. Since 1995 he has worked as a business advisor, assisting international and Indian companies, and taught at the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi. He has written a study of the diplomatic process, Inside Diplomacy (October 1999), and is co-author of Managing Corporate Culture, a book on business culture in India (November 1999). Recently, Ambassador Rana assisted the Namibian Foreign Ministry as Commonwealth Advisor. 

Mr Micheal Rosner
Head, Department of Computer Science & AI, University of Malta  
Mike Rosner obtained an M.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from Oxford in 1972 and obtained the Diploma in Computer Science from Cambridge in 1974. He also has a Certificate in Online Learning and Distance Education from the University of London.
He is currently Head of Department of Computer Science and AI, University of Malta and teaches courses in Natural Language Processing, Logic, and Artificial Intelligence for the University's IT degree programme. His main research interests are Natural Language Processing and eLearning. He currently coordinates research for Maltilex, a  project for development of software and language resources for computing with the Maltese Language. He has served for many years on the Executive Board of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics and also that of the Malta Internet Foundation.
Before living in Malta, he was Deputy-Director of IDSIA, Lugano, Switzerland, an Artificial Intelligence research institute for the Italian speaking region where, apart form coordinating scientific policy, he developed the Portable AI Lab, an integrated didactic environment for exploring AI tools and techniques.

Dr Alex Sceberras Trigona
Lecturer, Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta
Dr Sceberras Trigona has been organising courses simulating international negotiations—bilateral and multilateral—at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta, since 1991. Dr Trigona served as Malta's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1981-1987. He negotiated Malta's Neutrality Agreements. He lobbied for, won and managed Malta's first ever seat on the United Nations Security Council for 1983-1984. His Law Doctorate was awarded on the basis of a seminal thesis "Constitutional Change and the Maltese Constitution." Fundamental constitutional changes in 1974 followed this thesis in both manner and substance. His thesis as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford on "The Anglo-Maltese Crisis 1971-1972" innovatively used a rigorous multi-disciplinary approach to international relations employing legal, political, strategic, and economic analyses of international disputes.

Amb. Dr. Ernst Sucharipa
Director of the Diplomatic Academy Vienna
Previous positions include: Head of Department for Eastern Europe in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;Director General, Political Affairs (Political Director), Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations New York. Dr. Sucharipa is Member of the Board, International Peace Academy, New York and Member of the Board of Trustees of UNITAR. Ambassador Sucharipa has written extensively on questions of foreign policy (in particular on European Integration issues; Austrian policy in relation to Central and Eastern Europe; and the United Nations).
In 2000/2001 he was the Head of the Austrian negotiating team on property restitution and compensation to victims of the Holocaust.

Dr. Earle A Taylor 
Professor of Strategic Management, Public Policy and Entrepreneurship, University of Namibia
Dr Taylor graduated with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania ('85) in Management of Public Policy; a Doctorate in Business Administration from Century University (83); MA from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (joint program with Tufts & Harvard University) (81); Diploma in International Relations from Fletcher School in Law and Diplomacy (80); a postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from University of the West Indies ('74). Prof Taylor was awarded (89) with the Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa) by the Albert Einstein International University Research Foundation for research work in energy and industrial development modeling. 
A former Senator in the Jamaican Government, Prof Taylor is a Jamaican citizen who is currently working in Namibia.

Prof. Vatroslav Vekaric
Director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade.
Prof Vekaric graduated from the Faculty of Law, at University of Belgrade in 1967. Since then, he received both his Master's degree (MA) and Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) from the same University.
His has worked as a Research fellow at the Institute for International Politics and Economics (IIPE), Belgrade, where he later served as Director of the Center for Regional Studies and as Director of the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) from 1985 to 2000. In 2000, he was appointed Director of the Institute for International Politics and Economics (IIPE), Belgrade - 
His areas of research include International Relations - Peace Research - Security Studies - European Studies - Mediterranean & Middle East Studies - Diplomatic Studies - Social Sciences and Information Technologies.
Of his numerous recent publications the following are of a special relevance to this conference:
Diplomatija i nove informaticke i komunikacione tehnologije, (Diplomacy and ICT);
Virtual Guide For Internet Use in Non-Profit and Non-Governmental Organizations' Activities In Yugoslavia - CD-ROM & website; 
Internet i nevladine organizacije, (Internet and Non-Governmental Organizations), Medjunarodni odnosi, No.45/Vol.1, CSS, Belgrade, October 1998 ;
Internet i resavanje konflikata (Internet and Conflict Resolution), Medjunarodni odnosi, No.4/Vol.1, CSS, Belgrade, September 1998 ;
Applying Internet in the International Studies, Review of International Affairs, No.1046/97, Belgrade, 1997; 
The New Mediterranean Strategy of the European Union and the Balkans, Belgrade, 1996, CSS Survey, No.10/96 (Article).