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BIOGRAPHIES
REGIONAL WORKSHOP
NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS:
INPUT, OUTPUT, AND IMPACT
25TH - 26TH November, 2013
Royal Scientific Society (RSS)
El Hassan Science City
MARSEILLE CENTER FOR MEDITERRANEAN INTEGRATION (CMI)/ EIB
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA-
TECHNOLOGY CENTER (ETC)
Gernot Hutschenreiter
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), France
Gernot Hutschenreiter is Head, Country Reviews of
Innovation Policy, Country Studies and Outlook Division of
the OECD‟s Directorate for Science, Technology and
Industry (STI). He has, among others, been engaged in
managing and contributing to a series of OECD Country
Reviews of Innovation Policy, including the first review of
China, and led the OECD Review on Innovation in
Southeast Asia. Before joining the OECD, Gernot
Hutschenreiter was a Deputy Director of the Austrian
Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) in Vienna. He has
worked as a consultant for a number of international organisations such as UNIDO, the
OECD and the European Commission and visiting scholar at renowned research
institutions in Europe and Asia.
Simon Bell
The World Bank, Washington
Simon Bell is Sector Manager in the Finance and Private
Sector unit of the Middle East and North Africa region
(MENA) of the World Bank. Prior to joining the MENA
region he held a similar management position in the South
Asia region. He works on all the countries of the MENA
region on Financial Sector, Private Sector and, increasingly,
Innovation issues. While working in South Asia his remit
also included ICT issues – at a time when the ICT and ITES
industry was booming in India. Simon has also worked
extensively in Africa – spending four years working in the
World Bank‟s Mozambique Field Office during the very
exciting times of the mid-1990s. In addition to working
extensively on Mozambique, he has also worked on most of
the countries of Southern Africa – as well as extensive work
on Tanzania and Eritrea in Eastern Africa.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Simon worked in the Central Bank of Botswana, working
on monetary policy and financial sector issues. He also worked in the Ministry of Finance
in Papua New Guinea and for four years and at the Australian National University. Simon
has a Masters Degree in Economics. He is keenly interested in innovation and the
development of Knowledge Economies in the Middle Income region of MENA.
Jean-Eric Aubert
Senior Consultant for International Organisations,
France
An international expert in innovation policies and in
development strategies, Jean-Eric Aubert worked at the
World Bank for ten years (2000-2009). He has managed
the World Bank Institute in Paris and the World Bank office
in Marseille, France, of which he initiated the
transformation into the Centre for Mediterranean
Integration, a multi-partner, intergovernmental platform
for North/South collaboration.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Jean-Eric Aubert worked at
the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) in the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, where he
entered in 1973. Throughout his career, Jean-Eric Aubert has operated as policy
evaluator and advisor in more than 40 countries of all development levels. He is the
author or director of some 50 international publications and books. A French national,
Jean-Eric Aubert holds Post Graduate Diplomas in Economics and a PhD in Applied
Mathematics (Docteur de Troisième Cycle) from Paris Universities.
Katrin Männik
Senior consultant at Technopolis group, Estonia
Dr Katrin Männik is the senior consultant of the Tallinn
office of Technopolis Group. Katrin began working with
Technopolis at the beginning of 2006 in the Brighton
practice. She launched the Technopolis office in the Baltic
region in 2006. She has more than 10 years of experience
in projects on innovation systems and policies. Prior to
joining Technopolis, she undertook teaching and research
in the research and innovation policy field at the Science
and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the
University of Sussex and at the Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, at the University of Tartu. She
worked from 2000-2004 in the field of innovation and
technology for the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Communications in Estonia.
Katrin is specialised in performing research and advising public sector in the fields of
R&D and innovation and entrepreneurship. Her experience includes comparative
research projects and international benchmarking as well as strategy and programme
design and evaluation (EU Structural Funds, R&D and innovation strategy "Knowledge-
based Estonia", Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Foreign Direct Investment
Policy). She has a long-term experience in funding and evaluating of public-private R&D
and innovation cooperation initiatives. She has been involved in the analysis of the
existing R&D competitive funding schemes and proposed alternatives for competitive
financing of the Valleys in Lithuania (for MOSTA).
Daniela Benavente
Consultant, Switzerland
Daniela Benavente is a consultant in international trade,
intellectual property, innovation, and international metrics.
She was Lead Researcher and Project Manager of the last
three editions of The Global Innovation Index (2011-13), an
annual Report co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD,
and the World Intellectual Property Organization
(www.globalinnovationindex.org).
She previously worked in Chile as Economic Advisor at the
cabinet office of Ricardo Lagos Escobar, President of Chile
(2001-02), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-99), and
the Ministry of Economy (1996-98). She also held teaching
assistant positions at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in
Geneva (2005-09), among others in Econometrics with Professor Jaya Krishnakumar. In
2013, the Graduate Institute published her ebook The Economics of Geographical
Indications.
She holds a Master and a PhD (obtained with highest honors) in International Economics
from the Graduate Institute, a Master's degree from Columbia University (Fulbright and
Dean‟s Scholar), the Diplôme of the Institut d‟Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po
Paris), and a BA in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She is a
Chilean citizen and a Swiss resident.
Sirin Elci
Director at Technopolis Group, Turkey
Sirin Elci is the founding director of Technopolis Group
Turkey. She has a professional experience of 22 years,
around 17 in the design, implementation and evaluation of
S&T and innovation policies, SME and private sector
development, entrepreneurship, and innovation-based
development actions. She is also a part-time faculty
member at the S&T Policy Studies Programme of the
Middle East Technical University in Ankara.
During her career, she has provided advice and support to
international organisations (European Commission, OECD,
World Bank, UNESCO, UNDP, etc.), government
organisations and regional authorities mainly in developing
and transition countries. Previously she worked as a manager for the Technology
Development Foundation of Turkey –established by the World Bank and the Turkish
Treasury- where she mainly dealt with the design, implementation, and monitoring and
evaluation of innovation programmes and policies.
Sirin was the national correspondent for Turkey in INNO-Policy TrendChart and
ERAWATCH, she supported the TrendChart project board concerning liaison with the
MEDA innovation policy programme (2007-2010) and was senior policy analyst for the
Mediterranean countries in ERAWATCH.
Ghaith H. Fariz
Project Director at the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), Lebanon
Dr Ghaith Fariz is the director and coordinator of the Arab
Knowledge Report-a joint initiative of the UNDP and
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, as well as
the director and coordinator of the Arab Water
Governance Report- UNDP. Dr Fariz is a strategic planner
with extended international experience in the Arab and
Asia regions in providing policy advice, planning,
programming, managing large portfolios in the fields of
“knowledge societies/economies”, poverty alleviation, and
socioeconomic development. Also, he is an expert, with
hand-on experience in change management and in
piloting UN reform with special emphasis on evaluation of
impact, effectiveness and efficiency.
He has coordinated, authored, and substantially contributed to several land mark
publications and papers as well as regional and international level developmental reports
including the Arab Knowledge Reports (AKRs) and the Arab Human Development
Reports. (Director/Coordinator of the “Arab Knowledge Report 2012/2013 –under
publication; “Arab Knowledge Report 2010/2011: Preparing Future Generation for the
Knowledge Society”; “Arab Knowledge Repot 2009: Towards Productive
Intercommunication for Knowledge”; the “Arab Water Governance Report- under
publication; Coordinator of the “Arab Human Development Report 2005: Towards the
Rise of Women in the Arab World”; and the “Arab Human Development Report 2004:
Towards Freedom in the Arab World”; substantially participated in writing AHDRs of
2002 and 2003; and several other socioeconomic/cultural initiatives). He is the author
of the first Arab Millennium Development Report 2003 and supervised and tangibly
contributed to the formulation of several other developmental reports all over the Arab
region. He has also publications in socio-economic/population-environment dynamics. In
addition, he is an expert in gaming and simulation.
Ghaith Fariz has a Ph. D. in Planning from the University of Michigan, USA, with a
research emphasis on socioeconomic development, socioeconomic-environment
dynamics, and gaming & simulation for research and training.
Maged Al Sherbiny
President of the Academy of Scientific Research and
Technology, Egypt
Prof. Maged Al Sherbiny obtained his PhD in diagnosis of
infectious diseases and vaccines from Cairo University in
1992 and professorship in immunology in 2004. Since 2004,
Prof. Maged has occupied several important positions in
Science and Technology System in Egypt, such as Assistant
Minister of Scientific Research and Higher Education,
Assistant Minister of State for Scientific Research, and
Secretary General of Supreme Council of Research Institutes
in Egypt. In April 2010 he was appointed as the president of
the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology.
Salient achievements of Prof. Maged included active participation in reforming the
science and technology system in Egypt, establishment of a national body for funding of
science, technology and innovations, internationalization of scientific Egyptian Journals in
collaboration with Elsevier, establishment of a unit for science, technology and
innovation indicators in Egypt (Egyptian STI observatory) and preparation of a national
plan for STI. He is well-known for his outstanding research in the field of immunology
and infectious diseases (schistosomiasis) and has published over 40 International
scientific papers and two patents in the field of Immunology.
Omar Hammami
Head of France-Tunisia committee of the French
cluster of competitiveness Systematic, France
Omar Hammami is Head of France-Tunisia committee of the
French cluster of competitiveness Systematic and Professor
with ENSTA PARISTECH. Omar Hammami received a PhD in
computer science from University of Toulouse (France) and
an HDR in Physics from Université Paris-Sud Orsay (France).
He has more than 20 years of experience in collaborative
R&D projects with industry worldwide with emphasis on
Japan and France. He has been involved in numerous
research and industrial large scale projects involving private
and public funding and managed several R&D laboratories
and research teams. His research interests are in System
Engineering, Applied mathematics/optimization and Embedded systems. He is a
consultant for several companies and startups involved in defense/security, embedded
systems/chip designs and investment funds.
Omar Hammami is regularly involved in the organization of several international
conferences in system engineering such as CSD&M 2013 (Complex System Design and
Management 2013, Paris) and MENA INCOSE 2014 EMEA Systems Engineering
Conference (EMEASEC) 2014 (Cape Town, South Africa). He is a member of several
scientific organizations worldwide. He is currently heavily involved on strategic R&D
strategy for the MENA region and organization of industrial and economic architectures.
Samir Raouf
Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Science and
Technology, Iraq
Dr. Samir Raouf completed his undergraduate education in
engineering from University of Baghdad (1977), obtained
his MSEE degree from Georgia Institute of Technology,
USA in1983 and his Ph.D degree in electronics and
communications from Al-Nahrain University in 1996. He
has a long career of research and R&D activities of over
thirty years. He priviously worked in the Council For
Scientific Research, Al-Battany State Company and in the
Ministry of Science and Technology. His work has been
published in scientific journals and conferences and he has
supervised several M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses during his work at Al-Nahrain University.
Dr. Raouf recognized the wide gap between research institutions and other socio-
economic sectors in Iraq. It was a strong motivation to work towards bridging this gap
and act to bring the benefits of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to the socio-
economic development of Iraq and to facilitate transition to Knowledge Economy. He is
now leading projects to empower the role of (STI) in governance, disaster risk reduction
(DRR) and economy diversification in Iraq. He initiated several projects aimed at linking
research to the practical needs of society and economy. He chairs an inter-ministerial
committee to create incubators in Iraqi universities and local governments and he is also
leading a project to draft a national STI strategy in Iraq. Within the framework of these
projects, he has been collaborating with international agencies including UNDP, UNESCO,
UNCTAD, UNOPS and US-DoC/CLDP among others.
Yousef Nusseir
Independent ICT Consultant, Jordan
Yousef Nusseir graduated from England and worked with
the Royal Scientific Society in Jordan from 1977 to 1993.
He was the Director of Information Technology and
Training Centre, and Dean of Princess Sumaya College for
Informatics. Between 1990 and 1991 he worked with
UNESCO as Chief Technical Advisor on Informatics in
Education and in 1993 established the National Information
Technology Centre and became its President until 2006.
Mr Nusseir chaired and participated in several national,
regional and international committees on ICT and the
information society, and has designed and implemented
several national ICT systems, set ICT policies and strategies and conducted institutional
and national studies. He has been Internet Top Level Domain Administrator for (JO)
domain from 1995 until 2006, and has many publications in ICT and related areas.
In 2006 he joined the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-
ESCWA) as Director of the ICT Division, planning, implementing and supervising national
and regional initiatives, including analytical studies, ICT policies and strategies, STI
strategies, and ICT for development initiatives to meet the needs of member countries.
He then established the UN- ESCWA Technology Centre for regional integration in
Jordan. In September 2011 he retired from the UN and currently operates as an
independent international ICT for development consultant.
Nizar Al-Halasah
Innovation Consultant at United Nations–Economic
and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
Technology Centre, Jordan
Nizar Al-Halasah is an Innovation Consultant at the
UNESCWA- Technology Centre through memorandum of
agreement between UN ESCWA and the Royal Scientific
Society of Jordan since May 1, 2011.
He is an experienced engineer with a proven track record in
economic development and SMEs support, and help in
creating entrepreneurial enterprises: expertise in innovation
management, intellectual property, commercialization, and
business incubation. He has more than 20 years of professional experience in
establishing entrepreneurial links between research institutions and industry and
relevant programs.
Mr Al-Halasah has more than 8 years of experience in the field of development and
support of innovation of start-up projects and SMEs, including innovation policy,
innovative industrial processes and their applications in the industrial environments.
He published papers in international journals and conferences in the areas of:
Innovation, intellectual Property, and Water Resources. He received his M.Sc. and B. Sc.
in Civil Engineering from University of Jordan.
Reem N. Bsaiso Al-Shahed
International consultant, Jordan
Reem is a leading authority on knowledge Economy for
Human Capital having served as CEO of World Links Arab
Region covering 22 countries and World Links International
thereafter covering 35 countries, a non-profit organization
initiated by the World Bank Group. She was part of the
Prime Ministerial National Agenda of Jordan, and initiated
the Jordanian national strategy for merging ICT in
education, and established the first ICT department at the
Ministry of Education.
She currently serves on several boards and panels such as
the Panel of Experts on Debt Swaps, Innovative Approaches
to Education Financing, and Private-Public Partnerships
(PPP) at the UNESCO Headquarters, World Economic Forum (WEF), the Global Education
Initiative (GEI) and is a member of the Technical Advisory Group and Partnerships for
Education (PfE) at the UNESCO-Paris, and the International Standard Classification of
Education (ISCED) review committee of Arab Countries (Qatar). She is an Advisory
Board Member of the United Planet, United States and the Global Thinkers Forum (GTF)
United Kingdom.
She has received several Awards and Honors including the 2010 nomination for the
World Economic Forum (WEF) Social Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Middle East &
North Africa (MENA) Region 2010.
Catherine Bentley
Consultant at the Higher Council for Science and
Technology, Jordan
Catherine holds a BA in political science from the University
of Texas at Austin, USA and an MBA from the Global Social &
Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) program at Colorado State
University, USA. She has worked in East Africa, Southeast
Asia and in the Middle East on various private sector
development initiatives focusing on support to micro, small
and medium enterprises. Her experience in providing
technical assistance and work in development finance
brought her to engage with the National Fund for Enterprise
Support (NAFES) hosted through the Higher Council for
Science and Technology (HCST). She also works directly with the HCST, representing an
intimate understanding of private sector dynamics in transitional economies in order to
help facilitate the execution of Jordan‟s innovation priorities.
Ayoup Ghrair
Researcher, the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan
Ayoup Ghrair is a scientific researcher at the Royal
Scientific Society, Jordan. He holds a PhD degree in
Geochemistry and nanomaterial from Hohenheim University
in Stuttgart-Germany. His PhD thesis was on
Immobilization of Heavy Metals in Soil by Amendment of
Nanoparticulate Zeolitic Tuff. He completed his B.Sc. and
master degree in Earth and Environmental Science from
Yarmouk University and Jordan University, respectively.
Dr. Ghrair published over 12 publications in international
journals, Conference Proceedings and books as well as four
patents. He was awarded from DAAD (2004-2009) and
from The German Soil Science Society (DBG) for the best
poster at the soil science conference, Dresden Germany in 2007. Ghrair worked about
five years (1999-2004) at the University of Jordan/UMS and taught environmental,
mineralogy, geology and mapping courses in addition to contributing to developing the
Jordanian national curriculum.
Da’san M. M. Jaradat
Researcher, the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan
Da‟san M. M. Jaradat is a chemist holding Ph.D Degree in
Bioorganic Chemistry and M.Sc. degree in Chemistry and
Crystallography from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. He
held several posts at Royal Scientific Society of Jordan (RSS)
since 2001 and the latest is a research scientist and a
consultant in bioorganic chemistry and instrumental analysis
field. His current research interests involve the synthesis of
antidiabetic and antimicrobial peptides by solid phase
peptide synthesis (SPPS) and chemoselective approaches to
produce peptide-based drug candidates for the treatment of
Diabetes Mellitus and some infectious diseases.
Adnane Akber
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Water Research Center, Kuwait
Mr Adnane Akber is currently the director of Science and Technology Division, at the
Water Research Center of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Previously he was
program manager for Natural Water Resources Development and Protection (2010-
2013), acting program manager for Water Resources Management and Allocation (2012-
2013), and a research scientist in the Water Resources Division from January 1992 at
KISR. He has also been project leader for several contract projects at KISR between
1983 and 1992.
Mr Akber holds an M.Sc. in Hydrology (Honors), from the Department of Civil
Engineering and Environmental Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, USA, 1989, and
a B.Sc. in Geology from Kuwait University, Kuwait, 1981. He is affiliated to a number of
scientific associations including: International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH),
American Water Resources Association (AWRA), National Ground Water Association
(NGWA), and Hydrological Society of Oklahoma. He has also published over 30 reports in
his field of specialisation, 20 artcicles in refereed journals, and a book in arabic.
Chadi Abdallah
Researcher, Lebanon
Chadi Abdallah (Lebanon, 1972) works in the research field
at the National Council for Scientific Research-Remote
Sensing Center in Lebanon since 1998. He holds a BS in
geology-applied geophysics (1997), a master degree in
remote sensing, GIS and geo-information from the
University of Paris VI (2003), a PhD in GIS and RS for
hazard assessment from Paris VI university, a Post-doc in
Radar Interfermotery from the University of Missouri-USA.
He is qualified from the Ministry of higher education and
research (France) as a „Maître de conférences‟ (Associated
professor).
In addition to eight years of teaching experience in GIS, Remote Sensing, Environment,
Hydrology and geology at several Lebanese Universities, and the University of Missouri
Columbia-USA, he is involved in many national, regional and international scale projects.
He has a Wide experience with EU funded projects (ResManMed, SMART, the European
research network NOSTROM (FP6), World Bank – NASA (including 5 countries), AUF,
CEDRE, SIDA, UNEP, FAO and ACSAD projects in the area of remote sensing and GIS in
environmental studies.
Mr Abdallah authored and co-authored over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed
international scientific journals, and conference proceedings, and participated in the
editing of several national and international scientific reports.
Mohamed Ahmed Alaswad
Science, technology & innovation policies advisor for
the Libyan government, Libya
Mr Alaswad (Gherian, 1957) is currently an advisor for the
Libyan government in Science, technology & innovation
policies. In the past he worked in a variety of roles including
in the Libyan public sector in the field of energy, industry,
and technical & vocational education. Mr Alaswad was deputy
minister for Education and Scientific research and a Libyan
ambassador to UNESCO. Besides, he is the founder of the
Libyan Incubator for technology & innovation and the
national Libyan SME‟s program.
Mr Alaswad holds an engineering degree from the University of Tripoli (1981), and has
undertaken during the last four years a number of executive education programs in the
field of Science, Technology, and Innovation strategies & policies (MIT Executive
Education Program, Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program, Twente
University, Manchester and IMD).
He is a member of a number of committees including the Libyan innovation initiative, the
national strategy for science, technology & innovation, the SME‟s national strategy, the
Libyan Science park committee, and the Libyan vision 2030 policies planning committee
and member of no. of International organizations, like TCI , SPICE , NBIA, Alumni of (
MIT, HKS and IMD)
Abubaker Haddud
The Libyan Innovation Initiative (LII) steering
committee, Libya
Dr. Abubaker Haddud works at the Ministry of Oil and Gas in
Libya. He is also a member of the Libyan Innovation Initiative
(LII) steering committee. In addition, Dr. Haddud works as
university lecturer teaching mainly postgraduate programmes.
He has more than 12 years of working experience within the
Libyan Oil and Gas sector and more than 7 years of university
teaching experience.
Dr. Haddud holds a BA in Management from Libya, an MBA
from England and a PhD from the U.S.
Selma DINIA
National Center for Scientific and Technical Research,
Morocco
Mrs Dinia is head of relations with enterprises unit at the
National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST)
since 2004. She is also the national coordinator of Morocco
Incubation and Spin off Network activities (RMIE). Her tasks
include technology Transfer through business creation, funding
innovative projects during their incubation stage, encouraging
entrepreneurial culture within universities, training of would-be
entrepreneurs and incubators managers. Previously she was a
researcher at the Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing
Lab in the CNRST (1993-2003).
She is a member of Industrial Engineering Network and Technology Diffusion Network,
and has conducted and contributed to a number of studies and projects related to
innovation, marketing, incubation, and entrepreneurship at national and international
levels.
Mrs Dinia is a civil engineer specialised in Hydraulic and a graduate of Mohammadia
School of engineering (1993, Rabat).
Abdullah Mohamed Al Mharuki
Director of Innovation at The Research Council of
Oman, Oman
Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Al Mharuki is a PhD holder in
Environmental Sciences with more than 20 years of
experience in academia and research at public and private
universities. Over the last three years he embarked on policy
making and got appointed as Director of Innovation at The
Research Council of Oman. His work involves developing
national innovation related strategies and programmes to
enable Oman to progress towards knowledge and innovation
driven economy.
Currently, he is directing the implantation of various
innovation programmes under the innovation hub project after he developed its strategy.
In addition, he is directing the development of the National Innovation Strategy and
acting as the national focal for the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Review
(STIP review) conducted by UNCTAD.
Based on his involvement and participation in various events at global level he developed
a very good understanding and expertise in very important issues related to
entrepreneurship, knowledge and innovation driven economy, FDIs related policies and
reforms, models of developing SMEs, managing IIAs, develop pro-poor policies, wealth
generation and job creation, investment policies and reforms, national innovation
systems and global competitiveness.
Hasan H. Omar
Director of the Palestine Business & Innovation Centre,
Palestine
Mr Omar is the Director of the Palestine ICT Incubator (PICTI)
and the Palestine Business & Innovation Centre (BIC). He is
an expert in entrepreneurship, innovation, ICT4D and
business incubation.
Mr Omar assessed more than 1000 business ideas and ICT
projects and is a member of many local and regional jury
panels. He has extensive experience in providing technical,
business, marketing advisory, mentoring and coaching
services to hundreds of high-growth start-ups and SMEs. He is also a Medibtikar
Innovation Expert and a certified trainer to incubators‟ managers (Business Incubation
Management – BIM) by the infoDev - World Bank.
He is a board member and a member in many associations and related communities
such as ISOC-Palestine Chapter, the Canadian Professional Engineers Association, NBIA,
MENA Incubators Network (MENAinc), YEN Marketplace and others.
Mr Omar holds a Bachelor Degree in Computer Engineering from Jordan University of
Science & Technology (1995) and a Master Degree in International Cooperation and
Development from Bethlehem University.
Mondher Khanfir
CEO & Co-Founder at Wiki Start Up, Tunisia
Mondher Khanfir is a Senior Consultant in Private Equity,
Innovation Strategy and Business Development. Associate
Partner at Colombus Consulting, Mondher Khanfir is also an
Impact Entrepreneur and Angel Investors. He co-founded in
2011 WIKI START-UP the first private Business Incubator fully
dedicated to Innovation in Tunisia (www.wikistartup.tn).
His achievements, in the arena of Business Consulting and
Strategy planning and execution, made him a reference in
business development and policies advocacy in the region. Thanks to his international
background and economic studies and publications track record, he was appointed in
2006 as Foreign Trade Counselor by the Tunisian Government.
Mondher Khanfir is Engineer graduated from Arts & Métiers ParisTech High School in
1990. He holds an Executive MBA from the Mediterranean School of Business of Tunis as
well as a Corporate Governance Certificate from International Finance Corporation. He
benefited in 2004 from a special training program on Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Management training at RPI New York – USA.
Amira Ben Mohamed
Ministry of industries, Tunisia
Ms Ben Mohamed (1983, Tunisia) graduated as qualified
computer technician in 2005 and earned degrees in Industrial
Engineering in 2008. She joined a large national car wires
company in 2008 and worked as Project Leader in enterprise
resources planning project. Since 2011 she is the Principal
Industrial Engineer in charge of the service of technology
watch in the Ministry of industries. Her main activities are
Innovation scoreboard, Support of innovative projects,
Technological exports, National innovation strategy, Financing
of innovation.
Mustafa Abbas
Intellectual property and competitiveness department,
League of Arab states
Mustafa Abbas hold an MBA in Business Administration from
Arab Academy for science, technology and maritime
transport- Cairo, he reserved an B.A bachelor of Language
and Translation in English from October 6th university- Cairo ,
he attended a program on American culture and English
language at Winona State university- USA. Mustafa worked as
strategic and Marketing manager in many local companies
from 2009 till 2012 currently he works at the department of
intellectual property and competitiveness at the league of
Arab states.
Fuad Ahmed Al-Hada
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research,
Yemen
Mr Al-Hada is the general director of projects in the Ministry
of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Yemen since
2009. From 2001 to 2006 he was a general director of the
vice Minister's office at the Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research, and coordinator of the training program
for leaders in Higher Education and Universities, Maastricht
School for Management (2006-2007). Since 1996 he has
been involved in the implementation of several projects
related to the education sector with the International
Development Association (IDA)/World Bank.
Fuad holds a Master in Public Administration (MPA) at the Center of Business
Administration Development in Sana'a University (2010), a Higher Diploma in Public
Administration by the Public Administration Institute in the Netherlands (2005), and a
B.A of Law from Yemenia university in Sana‟a (1999).
UNESCWA Technology Centre (ETC)
Fouad Mrad
Executive director of UNESCWA regional Technology
Center, Jordan
Dr. Fouad Mrad joined the United Nations in December 2009
and is currently the executive director of ESCWA regional
center for technology in Amman, Jordan. Dr. Fouad leads
the regional support center for the consecration of science,
technology, and innovation in social and economic
development.
He received his Ph.D. and Masters degree in electrical
engineering from the Purdue University, West Lafayette,
Indiana, and a BSc in electrical and computer engineering
from State University of New York, Buffalo.
Dr. Mrad was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the American
University of Beirut from 1993 to 2009. Prior to his academic post in Beirut, he worked
for IBM in the division of magnetic storage in Rochester, Minnesota, USA from1990 to
1993.
Dr. Mrad consulted in technological innovation for several local and international
organizations, including the TV program "Stars of Science", sponsored by the Qatar
Foundation, the Industrial Research Institute in Lebanon, the Euro-Lebanese Center for
Industrial Modernization, Indevco., the Lebanese Minister of Industry, Modern Electronic
Industries Co, and the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon.
He authored several publications on various specialized fields in professional journals and
contributed to international conferences on manufacturing, industrial equipment and
robotics. He co-authored the book "Applied Mechatronics" with Oxford University Press,
New York
Nael Al Mulki
Technology Transfer Consultant at the UNESCWA
regional Technology Center, Jordan
Mr. Nael Al Mulki holds the M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from
University of Missouri, USA (1993), B.Sc. in Civil
Engineering from Yarmouk University (1987). Currently he
is Director of Business Development at the Business Park/
El Hassan Science City, in addition to a Technology
Transfer consultant with ESCWA Technology Center (part
time).
Formally he was the Director of Training Center, and
Director of Technology Transfer Center at the Royal
Scientific Society. He has also worked at the
Environmental Research Center as Assistant Director, Researcher, and Quality Officer,
and worked as a trainer and consultant for ISO 9001, 14001, 17025.
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Jacques van der Meer
Managerial Adviser at the European Investment
Bank and CMI program leader on Innovation
Capacities, Luxembourg
Dr van der Meer is a Managerial Adviser at the European
Investment Bank‟s (EIB) Project Directorate, where he is
in charge of the assessment of R&D and Innovation
projects that are proposed for EIB-financing in industrial
sectors (in particular automotive, steel, glass, fine
chemicals and pharmaceuticals) as well as in the public
sector research infrastructures (like Syncrotrons, Laser
Installations and the European Extreme Large Telescope)
and S&T-parks, in line with the Bank's support for
Europe's Lisbon Strategy and the Horizon 2020 policy.
In 2010, Jacques was seconded to EIB's technical assistance unit JASPERS (Joint
Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions), where he led a team of experts
that provide technical assistance for project preparation in the Knowledge Economy
(Education and Research Infrastructures, Science Parks, specialised healthcare, ICT and
e-society projects).
His interest in Intellectual Capital and R&D dates back from his Ph.D.-study (1987),
which addressed the key issues for successful R&D-strategies in the semiconductor and
pharmaceutical industries. Before joining the EIB in 1991, Jacques van der Meer lectured
Strategic and Innovation Management at the Rotterdam School of Management of the
Erasmus University and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Lyon (nowadays EM de
Lyon).
Jihane Hakimi
Consultant at the European Investment Bank,
Luxembourg
Jihane Hakimi (1985, Rabat) is currently a consultant
working on the CMI Innovation Capacities program led
by the European Investment Bank (EIB). She holds an
MA in Development Economics from the University of
Westminster (2011) and a BA in Political Sciences from
Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane (2008).
Prior to joining the Bank, Jihane worked in a non-profit
grassroots incubator that offers co-working space and
community-based support for entrepreneurs and social
entrepreneurs; she co-managed the start-up phase and
contributed to its business plan and revenue model. Back in 2009, she had spent a year
within the EIB in the Directorate of operations outside the EU and candidate countries
supporting the activities of the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and
Partnership (FEMIP).
She is a certified microfinance expert from the Frankfurt School of Finance and
Management (2013), and holds a certificate in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation
from Luxembourg University (2012). Her interests include start-ups, innovation, and
public development policy.