Meet our Keynote Speakers

Dr. Neeta Verma is a distinguished Indian technology leader who has previously served as the Director General of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Chief Advisor (IT) to the Election Commission of India (ECI). At ECI, she guided IT strategy for the management of India’s elections and played a key role in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Prior to that, as DG at NIC, the Government of India’s premier ICT organisation, she led large-scale digital infrastructure and    e-governance platforms , Dr. Verma has been instrumental in driving digital transformation across health, education, government services and citizen-engagement platforms. Her leadership has emphasised inclusion, scalability and the integration of emerging technologies into public service delivery. A strong advocate of digital access as a human right, she brings strategic vision as well as operational expertise helping institutions move from manual processes to sustainable, technology-enabled frameworks.

In her current and past capacities, Dr. Verma has built strong cross-functional partnerships across government, industry and academia, and is widely regarded for her ability to translate complex technical mandates into socially meaningful outcomes.

Anicia is a computer scientist specializing in Human-Computer Interaction and currently serves as CEO of Namibia’s National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST). She previously held key roles as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development at the University of Namibia and Chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A bold, independent thinker, Anicia is driven to advance tech, research, and innovation across Africa. Outside work, she enjoys family life, gardening, and writing.

Cathy is the Academic Director of the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and Professor of Interaction Design and Innovation at UCL’s Interaction Centre. She co-led GDI Hub to become the first WHO Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology, with projects across 41 countries impacting over 28 million people. Cathy has shaped global policy through roles with WHO and the Global Report on Assistive Technology, and has driven innovation by launching Africa’s first assistive tech accelerator and impact fund. She has published over 190 papers and the book *Disability Interactions*, and was named in the Shawe Trust Disability 100 List 2023.

Anirban Bandyopadhyay is a Senior Scientist at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), specializing in brain-inspired molecular computing and quantum biophysics. He is known for developing “nano-brain” architectures and exploring the role of quantum oscillations in cognition and consciousness. Anirban has authored over 180 publications and several books, and his innovations span from organic nanomachines to new circuit elements. A former visiting scientist at MIT and recipient of multiple international awards, he continues to push the frontiers of science at the intersection of technology, biology, and physics.

As one of the earliest User and HCI researchers in India she has worked with multidisciplinary multinational teams in innovation driven environments driving exploratory , generative , and evaluative research across categories of products and services at various stages of maturity including at Intel and HP Labs. She brings an ethnographic expertise and lens backed by a systems thinking approach, to ensure human centeredness and actionable insights to influence the work and work ethos of teams and organization she works with. She has to her credit peer reviewed publications and patent grants.