2026 Speakers

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).

H.E. Talal Bin Adullah Al-Subaie

Deputy Director-General of the Performance Department, National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Agencies (Adaa), Saudi Arabia

Experienced strategic leader with over 15 years of expertise in enhancing performance management and developing effective strategies. Skilled at handling complex challenges in high-pressure situations using a balanced mix of technical knowledge and strategic insight. I have led more than 20 successful projects, showcasing strong team leadership, a results-driven approach, and excellent collaborative skills. Effective at communicating with stakeholders at all levels, I excel at building partnerships and driving project success with clear strategic thinking.

Jamie Ang

Deputy Secretary (Transformation), Public Service Division, Prime Minister’ Office, Singapore

Ms Jamie Ang is the Deputy Secretary (Transformation) at the Public Service Division. As an officer in the Singapore Administrative Service, Ms Ang has previously served in the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Ministry of National Development. Prior to her appointment at PSD, she held the role of Chief Executive Officer at the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). ECDA is the regulatory and developmental authority for the early childhood sector in Singapore, overseeing key aspects of children’s development below the age of 7, across both kindergartens and childcare centres.

Ms Ang graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Econs) from the University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom in 1999 and obtained a Masters in Science (Engg-Economic System & Operations Research) from the Stanford University, USA the next year. In 2014, she completed the Masters in Public Management at the National University of Singapore.

Dr Subho Banerjee

Deputy Commissioner, Australian Public Service Commission

Dr Subho Banerjee is the Deputy Commissioner, Head of APS Academy and Capability.  Subho is an experienced SES Band 3 officer, with previous Deputy Secretary roles in the Education and Training, Industry and Climate Change portfolios. 

Subho was previously the Deputy CEO, Research and Advisory, at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, where he worked on public sector reform issues at the interface of academia and practice.  He has previously held visiting and adjunct academic appointments at the ANU and at Griffith University, and has also worked for a private sector management consultancy, and an Indigenous policy think-tank.

Subho holds a BSc and PhD in Physics from ANU.  He also holds Masters qualifications in economic and social history, and environmental change and management, from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar. ​​

Tshering Choden

Strategy Lead, Innovation Lab, Bhutan

Tshering Choden is UNDP Bhutan’s Innovation and Data Advisor, providing strategic guidance on innovation, data-driven policy, and foresight to support national decision makers in addressing complex development challenges. She leads analytical work, national diagnostics, and high-impact advisory to strengthen evidence-based governance and public-sector innovation. She also serves as the Strategy Lead for the Bhutan Innovation Lab (BIL) under the Office of the Prime Minister, where she guides the Lab’s strategic direction and advances the use of human-centred design, systems thinking, and futures approaches to improve policy design and service delivery across government.

Adrian Chua

Deputy Secretary (Development),Ministry of Finance, Singapore

Mr Adrian Chua is Deputy Secretary (Development) at Singapore’s Ministry of Finance. He oversees financing for the government’s transport, housing and infrastructure programmes, and security, resilience and sustainability needs. Mr Chua also oversees whole-of-government functions relating to procurement, programme evaluation, and finance systems.

Prior to this, Mr Chua was Deputy Secretary (Industry) at the Ministry of Trade and Industry where he was responsible for industry and enterprise development, energy policy, and economic planning and strategy. Before that, Mr Chua served as Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, where he was responsible for the defence budget, manpower, and digital transformation.

Mr Chua started his career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), where he led the work on the Basel II and III bank capital rules and prudential regulation. He served as a member of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2010, during the global financial crisis. He was also a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Policy Development Group, where he contributed to the development of the post-crisis bank regulation framework.

Mr Chua has served as a Board member of the Defence Science and Technology Agency, Mandai Park Holdings, Sentosa Development Corporation and JTC Corporation. Mr Chua is currently a member and Audit Committee Chair of the Defence Science Organisation (DSO) Board and JTC’s Finance and Investments Committee.

Gillian Dorner

Deputy Director, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

Gillian Dorner is Deputy Director in the Public Governance Directorate of the OECD. She has served at the OECD since December 2020, first as Senior Counsellor in the GOV Director’s Office and then as Deputy Director. The Directorate for Public Governance works to help governments at all levels design and implement strategic, evidence-based and innovative policies to strengthen public governance. This includes regulatory policy; open, innovative and digital government; public employment and skills; public sector integrity; budgeting and public expenditures; infrastructure and public procurement, monitoring and evaluation, risk management.

Gillian has an extensive knowledge of the work of the Public Governance Directorate, as well a strong strategic vision of its priorities, having led work to structure and enhance the Directorate’s impact over recent years, including through the design and delivery of the Public Governance Committee’s Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy Initiative.

Prior to joining the OECD, Gillian served as a UK senior civil servant as Deputy Director Financial Services Regulation at Her Majesty’s Treasury. She also has deep international experience, having represented the UK on multiple boards and committees, including as Vice Chair of the OECD Financial Markets Committee and having held several positions focused on International and EU economic and finance policy, including as an Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General and in several positions in HM Treasury and the UK Cabinet Office, as well as a period on loan to the French Treasury.

Ms Dorner, a British national, holds a Master’s degree in French and European Studies from the University of Edinburgh (UK) and a Diploma in EU Construction from the Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales (France).

Marie-Chantal Girard

President, Public Service Commission, Canada

Marie-Chantal Girard was appointed President of the Public Service Commission of Canada on January 2, 2024, the organisation dedicated to building tomorrow’s public service that is based on excellence and is representative of Canada’s diversity. It safeguards non-partisanship, promotes and protects merit in all staffing and recruitment-related decisions.

She had previously served as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, responsible for the negotiations and legislations pertaining to Employee Relations and Total Compensation at the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada.

Ms. Girard also held several senior leadership positions in the public service to support key policy priorities, program development, and communications in departments centered around economic and labour market development as well as income security support.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Girard has developed a regional, national and international perspective, including as Canada’s representative at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Regional Development Policy Committee as well as a member of several commercial missions.

Dr He Ruimin

Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Singapore

Ruimin is Singapore’s Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Officer, where he leads a multi-stakeholder effort to achieve Singapore’s strategic AI objectives, including developing and implementing Singapore’s national AI strategy. He is also concurrently the Deputy Government Chief Digital Technology Officer. He was a member of the United Nations High Level Advisory Body on AI.

Ruimin has a BS in Electrical Science and Engineering, and a PhD in Economics, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Hoe Wee Meng

Senior Director, Office of Leadership Innovation, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore

Wee Meng is Senior Director, Office of Leadership Innovation, at the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister’s Office, where he drives leadership transformation for the Singapore Public Service. He is concurrently Senior Director, Public Sector Transformation, which is the strategist, catalyst, and mobiliser to transform and build the future Public Service today.

Prior to this, he was Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Strategy and Corporate Group) at the Civil Service College, where he oversaw strategy formulation and the corporate services to support CSC’s mission to develop people for a first-class Public Service. He was also Institute Director of the Institute of Public Sector Leadership, which grooms public service leaders through a suite of milestone programmes focusing on leadership development, public policy, and governance in Singapore.

When Wee Meng was at the Strategy Group of the Prime Minister’s Office, he held several portfolios including Director (Futures) overseeing the Centre for Strategic Futures, Director (Geo-Strategic Policy), Director (Integration, National Population and Talent Division), Director (Social Resilience), and Director (Corporate Planning and Organisation Development).

A teacher by training, Wee Meng spent a part of his public service career with the Ministry of Education, including as Principal of the School of Science and Technology, Vice-Principal of Yishun Junior College, and Deputy Director (Higher Education). Wee Meng also served as Deputy Director (Income Security Policy), and Senior Assistant Director (Manpower Planning and Policy) at the Ministry of Manpower.

Wee Meng graduated from the University of Cambridge, UK, with bachelor (first class honours) and master’s degrees in chemistry, on an Overseas Merit Scholarship by the Public Service Commission. He completed his postgraduate diploma in education with distinction from the National Institute of Education, Singapore. A recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and a postgraduate scholarship from the Public Service Division, Wee Meng completed his master’s in public administration from Harvard University, USA, where he was named a Lucius N. Littauer Fellow for outstanding performance and leadership potential. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in leadership and learning at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Keit Kasemets

Secretary of State, Estonia

Mr Keit Kasemets is the Secretary of State since 1st February 2025.

Before becoming the Secretary of State, he was the Secretary General of the Ministry of Climate from June 2023.

In 2022-2023, Kasemets was a member of the Council of the Tallinn Center of the Stockholm Environmental Institute.

In 2017–2022, Kasemets was the Head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia. 

From January 2016 to January 2017, Kasemets was the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, from 2012 to 2015 he worked as the Deputy Head of the SIGMA program in the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate of the OECD.

In the years 2001-2012, Kasemets worked in the Government Office of Estonia: starting as the deputy head of the European Integration Office, then as the Director for EU Affairs and after that as the Strategy Director.

He graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Tartu with a master’s degree in political science.

Keit Kasemets was born on March 24, 1976, in Tallinn.

Ben King

Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, New Zealand

Ben King is Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, a role he commenced in April 2024. As Secretary, Ben:

• provides advice and support to the Governor- General, Prime Minister, and portfolio Ministers
• works with his central agency counterparts in the Public Service Commission and Treasury to support the government to deliver on its priorities across the public sector
• oversees work to build New Zealand’s national security and resilience to risks. He is New Zealand’s lead official for national security and strategic crisis management.

Prior to his role at DPMC, Ben was Deputy Chief Executive (Policy) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). He has also held various other roles at MFAT, including Deputy Secretary of the Americas and Asia Group. He has been New Zealand’s Ambassador to Thailand and the Foreign Policy Adviser at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

In addition to his posting in Bangkok, Ben has also served at New Zealand missions in Washington DC, Riyadh, and Canberra.

Ben has a Master’s in Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  Ben was also Student President at the University of Waikato, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours, First Class). 

David Koh

Commissioner of Cybersecurity, Chief Executive, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore’ and Chief (Digital Security & Technology), Chief Quantum Advisor, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Singapore

Mr David Koh is Singapore’s first Commissioner of Cybersecurity and the founding Chief Executive of the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore. He is concurrently Chief (Digital Security & Technology) at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

As Commissioner, he has the legal authority to investigate cyber threats and incidents to ensure that essential services are not disrupted in the event of a cyber-attack. As Chief Executive of CSA, he leads Singapore’s efforts to provide dedicated and centralised oversight of national cyber security functions. These include enforcing the cybersecurity legislation; strategy and policy development; cyber security operations; ecosystem, R&D and capability development, public outreach and international engagement. Concurrently, as Chief (Digital Security & Technology), he oversees digital security policy and technology capability development in the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Mr Koh is also the Chief Quantum Advisor, overseeing the development of Singapore’s quantum policy and strategy.

Mr Koh also sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Cyber and Technology Resilience Experts (“CTREX”) Panel and the Healthcare Cybersecurity Advisory Panel (HCAP).

Prior to his current appointments, Mr Koh served in the Singapore Armed Forces and held various command and staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence and the SAF. He previously held the positions of Defence Cyber Chief; Deputy Secretary (Technology); Director Military Security and Chief Signals Officer.

Mr Koh is the recipient of the first Billington CyberSecurity International Leadership Award. He has also been awarded the Public Administration Medal – Gold (Bar), Public Administration Medal – Gold, the Public Administration Medal – Silver (Military), the Public Administration Medal – Bronze (Military), and the Commendation Medal (Military).

Mr Koh has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA, and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from King’s College, London, UK.

He and his wife, Marlene, have three children, Daniel, Rachel, and Michael.

Catherine Little CB

Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Cat started her career at the accountancy firm PwC, dedicated to Government and Public Sector finances, mainly working in assurance roles. Over more than a decade, Cat worked with clients across Health, Local Government, Higher Education and Central Government sectors.

Cat joined the Civil Service in 2013 first at the Legal Aid Agency where she worked on the digitisation of civil legal aid, and removing the long standing financial accounts qualification as the Director of Finance and Digital.

Cat went on to become the Group Finance Director at the Ministry of Justice overseeing all aspects of financial management and supporting prison reform, courts reform and transformation programmes. In 2017, Cat joined the Board of the Ministry of Defence as Director General Finance. In this role she was the primary financial advisor to ministers, the Defence Board and Accounting Officer and led the finance, commercial and analytical functions across Defence. During this time, Cat led the reform of Defence Acquisition and Procurement as part of the Modernising Defence Programme and instigated the Financial Improvement Programme. Cat led the oversight of the Defence portfolio, and was the Race Champion for the Department.

Cat joined HM Treasury in 2020 as Director General Public Spending. She took on the role of Acting Permanent Secretary in September 2022, and in October 2022 was appointed to Second Permanent Secretary. In this role Cat oversees public spending, international and national security policy. She combines this with her positions as head of the Government Finance Function and Chair of the Finance Leadership Group for Government. Cat is a chartered public finance accountant and represents the UK as a member of IFAC, PAIB and is also a co-opted member of CIPFA Council. Outside of work Cat lives in the Kent North Downs, enjoys running, cycling and walking the dog with her wife Ruth.

Harri Martikainen

Director General, Government Strategy Department, Prime Minister’s Office, Finland

Harri Martikainen is a Finnish public servant and social science specialist currently serving as Director General of the Government Strategy Department at the Prime Minister’s Office. He was appointed to this key government leadership role on 2023 for a five-year term, following his tenure as Director of Strategic Steering and Development at the Ministry of the Interior.

He holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and has gained broad experience through various roles including Senior Ministerial Adviser, Head of Planning, Ministerial Adviser, and Senior Officer at the Ministry of the Interior. His career began in regional development as Coordinator for Rural Development at the Employment and Economic Development Centre for Satakunta, and as Structural Funds Coordinator at the Ministry of Education.

The Government Strategy Department is responsible for social policy foresight and planning and the Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities. It also coordinates the national implementation of sustainable development, supports the Government’s strategy work, reports on Government policy, and supports the Government in cross-administrative tasks requiring an understanding of the overall situation. The Director General manages the Department’s operations and is responsible for ensuring the effective discharge of its tasks and for the medium-term sustainability assessment of social policy.

Expertise: Strategic governance, social policy foresight, sustainable development, regional planning and security.

Innocent Bagamba Muhizi

High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda in Singapore

Innocent Bagamba Muhizi is the High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda in Singapore, accredited on 17th November 2025. Before his appointment, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), a public institution mandated to drive Rwanda’s digital agenda, where he spearheaded Rwanda’s e-governance, ICT skills development, cybersecurity, the adoption of new technologies and ICT infrastructure development.

An IT engineer by training, High Commissioner Muhizi holds a Master of Science in Information Technology from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a dual bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems & Business Management from Laroche University in Pittsburgh, USA.

High Commissioner Muhizi is a technology and business executive with around twenty years of experience in both the public and private sectors, notably in banking. Before joining RISA, he served as the regional Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Access Holdings Bank, where he led digital transformation across their outlets in Rwanda, Zambia and Liberia. He was also CIO and Head of Transactional Banking Services at I&M Bank Rwanda, where he played a pivotal role in launching Rwanda’s first e-tax services in collaboration with the Rwanda Revenue Authority. A devout Christian, High Commissioner Muhizi is married with two daughters and two sons.

Kevin Ng

Senior Director, Data Programme, GovTech, Singapore

Kevin is an accomplished global tech leader with over 20 years of working experience. He has significant experience in launching new technology capabilities, as well as growing new product and engineering teams. At GovTech, he leads the data programme, which aims to drive seamless data sharing across Singapore government, and hence, encourage data-driven decision making and improved government service delivery leveraging on data. Earlier, he was also instrumental in the implementation of Government on Commercial Cloud (GCC) and Singapore government adoption of cloud, resulting in more than 80% eligible government workloads implemented on cloud. He also spear-headed widespread DevOps adoption across government agencies. 

Prior to joining GovTech, he was the Senior Director, Product and Technology at Expedia and was based in Singapore and London. Kevin has led global teams involved in search and globalisation, transformed monolithic solutions into microservices on the cloud, created reusable platform components for both customer-facing apps and internal-use pipelines, and re-architected monolithic systems to incorporate AI models. His team spanned across multiple locations globally and comprised engineering and product directors, product managers, technical product managers and engineers.

Kevin graduated with a B.Sc. (First Class Honours) in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and holds a M.Sc. (by Research) in Computer Science from NUS.

Anita Puri

Global Public Service Industry Lead, Accenture

In her more than 20 years at Accenture, Anita has worked across the broad public service spectrum, helping many of our US Federal agencies with some of their most ambitious, large-scale transformation missions. Her previous roles include Growth & Strategy for the US Federal Civilian practice and most recently she served as a Client Account Lead for one of our largest US Federal account portfolios where she received Accenture’s 2021 Pierre Nanterme Global Diamond Client Account Leadership award, an honor given to one DCAL each year for excellence in client service and leadership.

Anita brings Accenture’s ecosystem of technology, industry, and local experts together to help public service agencies embrace emerging technologies to increase efficiency, productivity, and mission impact.  Anita has a passion for working with clients to co-create a strategic vision for their enterprise transformations and has particular expertise around examining organizational levers for change and better ways of working. Anita is dedicated to helping drive impact and success for our government clients by identifying and achieving, ‘interim north stars’ for teams to move in the right direction.

Anita is based in Washington, D.C. and is an active member of the Board of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital advisory council. She is also a member of Leadership Greater Washington and the Junior League of Washington.

H.E. Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa Al Khalifa

Director General, Institute of Public Administration, Kingdom of Bahrain

H.E Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa is the Director General of the Institute of Public Administration in the kingdom of Bahrain. H.E career in public service spans several key roles in the Bahraini government. From 2021 to 2023, she served as the Secretary-General of the Higher Education Council, and from 2017 to 2021, she was the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That made her the first woman in the Arab world to hold the position of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has also held other significant positions, including Assistant Undersecretary for Arab and Afro-Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2017).

Beyond her governmental roles, H.E Dr. Al Khalifa is actively involved in various committees. She is a Member in the Council of Administration of The International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), a vice chairman of Government Service Centers Evaluation Committee, she was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed bin Mubarak Academy for Diplomatic Studies and has been a Vice chairman of the board of trustee of Higher Education Council. Additionally, she has contributed to many national and international initiatives, including serving as Vice President of the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

H.E achievements have been recognized with numerous awards and honors. She was awarded the Efficiency Medal of the First Class from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (2018) and the Prince Salman bin Hamad Medal for Medical Merit (2021). Her other accolades include the “Star of Italy” Medal by the President of the Italian Republic in 2023, the Arab Woman Award for Social Leadership in 2022, an Honorary Doctorate from the United Nations’ University of Peace in 2022 and the Arab Women Award for Social Responsibility in the Era of Transformation, Developmental Inclusiveness and Digital Diplomacy by the Arab Council for Social Responsibility “ACSR” (2021).

H.E Dr. Al Khalifa’s has an impressive academic background with a Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, a master’s degree in international Peace and Conflict from American University in Washington, USA.

Jerald Tan

Director, Strategy, Policy and Resourcing Division, Smart Nation and Digital Government, Ministry of Digital Development, Singapore

Mr Jerald Tan is currently Director of the Strategy, Policy and Resourcing Division, Smart Nation and Digital Government, under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. He joined MDDI in Aug 2025.

Prior to this, he served as the Commander of Jurong Police Division and was responsible for the safety and security of residents in the west of Singapore. He had previously served other stints in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Police Force.

Jerald has a Master’s in Engineering from the University of Oxford, and a Master’s in public administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Jimmy Toh

Chief Executive Director, People’s Association , Singapore

Mr Jimmy Toh was appointed Chief Executive Director of People’s Association (PA) on 1 January 2023.

Prior to joining PA, Jimmy was the Deputy Chief of Government Communications (Operations) and Senior Director (Public Communications) in the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), where he was responsible for Government communication strategies and coordination of communication operations within MCI’s Information Group and across the Government. He also served as Senior Director of PMO Communications Group and Senior Director (Engagement) in MCI and started his career in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Since joining PA as Chief Executive Director, Jimmy has positioned PA as a pivotal force in fostering a more connected, resilient, and engaged Singapore community. He leads the organisation’s communications and engagement strategy, leveraging data and technology to strengthen citizen connections and community building. He builds a caring, learning and innovative culture anchored in teamwork and alignment across the staff, volunteers and partners. By systematically gathering resident feedback and insights, PA works with Whole-of-Government partners to translate ground feedback into policies and services that improve lives.

Mahesh Uttamchandani

Regional Practice Director for Digital and AI, East Asia and Pacific and South Asia, World Bank

Mahesh Uttamchandani is the World Bank’s Regional Practice Director for Digital and AI in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) and South Asia (SAR) regions. In this capacity, he oversees the World Bank’s lending, advisory and knowledge programs in the area of digital transformation in all EAP and SAR countries and is a member of the Regional Leadership Teams for both EAP and SAR.

Mr. Uttamchandani joined the World Bank in April 2006, as Senior Counsel in the Legal Vice Presidency. He has since held various positions in both the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, including Global Manager for Financial Inclusion & Infrastructure where he led the Bank’s work on expanding access to finance through digital financial services and the financial sector aspects of digital ID and digital payments.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Uttamchandani worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, UK and as a commercial litigator at a leading law firm in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Uttamchandani has taught and lectured at universities around the world and has published extensively, including key World Bank publications on fintech and as an author in the World Bank’s flagship World Development Report, 2022

Didi Esther Walson-Jack

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Nigeria

Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who was appointed the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation of Nigeria in August 2024 after 33 years of public service, began her career in the Civil Service as a State Counsel in the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Nigeria.

In a career that has seen her traverse the Public Service of two States, two arms of government, and ultimately, two tiers of government, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack stands out as the only person in Nigeria to have served a State Government in the Offices of Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Deputy Chief of Staff; Hon. Commissioner of Science and Technology, and Manpower Development; and Chief of Staff, all in the service of the people and Government of Bayelsa State. Mrs Didi Walson-Jack joined the Nigerian Federal Civil Service in 2009 and rose through the directorate ranks before being appointed a Permanent Secretary in 2017. She served as Permanent Secretary of the Service Welfare Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), the Ministries of Niger Delta Affairs, Power; Water Resources and Sanitation, Education; and the Special Duties Office in the OHCSF.

Mrs Walson-Jack holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987. Her expertise in Legislative Drafting and her certification as a Mediator, Conflict Resolution and Peace-building practitioner has been brought to bear on her work in the Civil Service.

She is a Member of Nigeria’s prestigious National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (mni). In 2023, she was awarded Nigeria’s National honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

Mrs Walson-Jack is the author of one of the best-selling books, “Roses in the Thorns”, an autobiography and a true story of resilience and the triumph of faith over adversity.

Siobhan Benita

Facilitator, Global Government Forum

Siobhan was a senior civil servant in the UK with more than 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell, to lead work on civil service reform and strategy. Siobhan left to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University, as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.