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The Global Digital Foundation (GDF) has appointed Emmanuel Amos as its Director for Africa.
The GDF is a think tank that offers policymakers and stakeholders a forum to create and share understanding about the challenges of policy in a digital world. It comprises a secretariat based in Brussels, Washington D.C, Canberra and Lagos, and a global network of scholars and public administration experts.
The GDF supports a programme of policy analysis, direct bilateral interaction with governments and stakeholders, and a programme of multilateral dialogue between policymakers, businesses, trades unions and NGOs.
Emmanuel Amos is Chairman and Chief Software Architect for Programos Software Group, a software solutions provider based in Lagos, Nigeria, and has played a leading role in the provision of capital markets equity, debt instrument real-time investment trading terminal technologies for stock market institutions in Nigeria and other markets.
The Global Digital Foundation is led by John Higgins as Chairman and Paul MacDonnell as Executive Director. Higgins has been the public face of the digital sector in Europe since November 2011 and speaks regularly on platforms and at conferences throughout Europe and beyond. He was Director General of DIGITALEUROPE, the association for the digital technology industry in Europe. MacDonnel was Head of European policy at the Center for Data Innovation in Brussels.
Amos, who is designer of CloudIntegra BackOffice Investment software and CiFixPro Web Trading Terminal apps, has put in over 25 years in entrepreneurship innovation between Nigeria and Ghana. He is Immediate Past 1st Vice President, of the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria, ITAN where he chaired the ITAN Strategic Initiative Committee (ISIC).
The Global Digital Foundation is the only interdisciplinary public-policy think tank studying the relationship between digital innovation and public policy in the world’s major economic centers. With a presence in Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia the Foundation not only helps participants in the public policy process—governments, legislators, policymakers, industry, trades unions, cultural leaders and NGOs—better understand how digital innovation can improve the economic, social and cultural environment, it also helps them better understand each other’s digital-policy priorities. The Global Digital Foundation’s structure, research and events reflect insights from economics, information technology (including artificial intelligence, robotics and data science), management studies, law, social science and cultural studies.
Amos became the World Summit Awards (WSA) Eminent National Expert for Nigeria In 2012 and he is member of the World Summit Awards (WSA) Grand Jury. Amos has been working in collaboration with United Nations Global Alliance for ICT, UNGAID since 2010, contributing to the development of the computer-aided eNabler toolset on Strategic Planning Acquisition and Control Education (S.P.A.C.E. initiative) for Small Islands Developing States, SIDs, with special reference to Nigeria (SPACE4Nigeria: Anti-Corruption Portlet Service) as country coordinator.
He is a founder of SmartAfrican Innovation Network – a platform seeking to identify individuals, and organisations with web and mobile innovations likely to have the highest positive impact on African society. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Information Management, IIM, a member of AIESEC Alumni Nigeria, a member of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, and life member of the Nigeria Computer Society.
Other Directors to the GDF secretariat include Tim Conway, Director Asia-Pacific. Tim Conway has authored policy papers for the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). He is a former Government adviser, Economist for the Minerals Council of Australia and Deputy CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).
Phil Bond, Director North America, is former CEO of TechAmerica, the largest technology association in the United States (2013-2016), between 2001 to 2005, Phil bond served Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce for Technology.
Patrice Chazerand, Director Europe
Currently a director at DIGITALEUROPE, Patrice Chazerand was formerly Secretary-General of the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE), the trade body of PC and videogames publishers operating in Europe between 2002 and 2009.
Global Digital Foundation is structured by Academic Advisory Council (to ensure that its research programme and output reflect the most recent developments and thinking in all areas of discipline), Public Administration Council (to ensure its research programmes and programme of interactions remain relevant to the priorities of policymakers) and an Innovation Advisory Council (to ensure that the research focus and programme of activity remain relevant to the practical application of digital innovation).
