Panel 3

Ben Bland is the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, an international policy think-tank based in Sydney, and the author of two critically acclaimed books on Asian politics. His most recent publication is Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia (2020). His first book was Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow (2017). He is currently pursuing data-driven research projects on internet governance and international aid flows in Southeast Asia.

Before joining the Lowy Institute, Ben was an award-winning correspondent for the Financial Times, with postings in Hanoi, Jakarta and Hong Kong, and experience reporting across Southeast Asia and China over the previous decade. He has an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Cambridge.

Professor Jovan Kurbalija is the Executive Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP). He was a member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (2004‒2005), special advisor to the Chairman of the UN Internet Governance Forum (2006‒2010), and a member of the High Level Multistakeholder Committee for NETmundial (2013‒2014). In 2018-2019, he served as co-Executive Director of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation.

A former diplomat, Jovan has a professional and academic background in international law, diplomacy, and information technology. He has been a pioneer in the field of cyber diplomacy since 1992 when he established the Unit for Information Technology and Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta, and later, DiploFoundation.

He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the telecommunications industry and is active in the national and international organizations on internet governance and utilization. In his role with the government, he focuses on Digital Transformation in three areas: society, business, and government, through application development programs that synergize with various stakeholders to create a conducive climate for the national economic development, as well as to increase and encourage investment and people's income.