BPN 1328 2009 WSA Grand Jury - Day 5

Today nothing much happens. The traffic outside the hotel is noisy with hooting ansd whistling. Inside the hotel compound all jury members are busy with the selection of their nominee list and they take their time for that. In the breaks this leads to interesting discussions on developments in the interactive media.

It also gives a chance to get to know better the new jury members like Ehssan Riazi Esfehani, from Iran. He is an IT Consultant at Hamsafar.com. Ehssan Riazi Esfehani, born in 1982, is an IT consultant and eSolutions project manager working with governmental and private organizations in Iran and abroad in order to help develop better e-contents and e-solutions. He has helped in development of e-contents and narrowing the digital gap by writing in different IT and economical papers, having many media interviews, working closely with ICT reporters, speaking at conferences and writing on the web. Ehssan has been the co-founder of “e-solutions festival” (IranWSA.com) since 2004, the first contest on e-content and digital media in Iran which has also served as the national approved contest for WSA05 , WSA07 and WSA09. He is the current chairman of “e-solutions festival”. Ehssan has also organized the first WSA Road Show in Iran to help Iranian experts and solution developers get better understandings of the WSA key matters and get more familiar with the world's best in e-content. Ehssan encourages Iranian developers to promote their products and show them opportunities to have a bigger share in e-Activities in the world through.

From a different continent is Gbenga Sesan, from Nigeria. ‘Gbenga Sesan, an Ashoka Fellow, is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and he serves on the board of various organizations. Originally trained as an Electronic & Electrical Engineer at Obafemi Awolowo University, ‘Gbenga has completed Executive Education Management Training Programs at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University and Stanford University. His consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Res Publica, Computer Aid International, Heinrich Boll Foundation and the International Telecommunications Union. Beyond Nigeria, ‘Gbenga has consulted and made presentations in 25 countries. He is a member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT and Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow; and he was Nigeria's first Information Technology Youth Ambassador. He was the Vice Chair of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s African Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC), voluntary adviser to numerous youth-led nonprofit organisations and pioneer Program Manager of Lagos Digital Village. In 2006, he was appointed as the youngest member of the Nigerian Presidential Task Force on the Restructuring of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecommunications Sectors. ‘Gbenga is also an author and regular feature on some of Nigeria’s popular television shows. A multiple award winner, ‘Gbenga has been profiled as one of the 35 Icons of ICT in Nigeria.

Blog Posting Number 1328

Tags: interactive media