Get to know the WSA Online Jury Members of 2025

WSA aims to keep the jury process as transparent as possible. After the National Experts all nominate local solutions that are helping achieve the Global Goals through digital means, the solutions undergo a multi-phase filtration process. This process gives all nominees global visibility, but only selects the best as WSA Winners.

The WSA Jury Process Explained

1. Nomination and Application:

WSA National Experts from 182 UN member states nominate up to eight cutting-edge digital solutions across eight distinct categories, including Government and Citizen Engagement, Health, Education, and more. Additionally, participants of the Young Innovators have the chance to submit direct applications. Once nominees successfully complete their applications on the official WSA online platform, they officially enter the WSA Jury process, starting the evaluation journey.

2. The Online Jury:

A diverse international panel of experts meticulously reviews each eligible application. This stage, known as the Online Jury, is critical, as it narrows down the entries to the top 15 to 18 solutions in each category, thereby creating the Shortlist for the next phase of evaluation.

3. The Grand Jury:

The shortlisted entries then advance to the second phase, where an in-person Grand Jury convenes. Here, expert panels will re-evaluate the entries and select the five best solutions in each category, which are recognized as WSA Winners.

4. Announcement and WSA Global Congress:

After the jury process concludes, the WSA team publicly announces the winners and personally notifies them. The winners are invited to the WSA Global Congress, where they present their digital solutions to a prestigious international jury. This presentation determines the ultimate Global Champion for each category. The WSA will reveal the champions during the WSA Award Ceremony and Gala, held this year in Vienna, Austria.

Get to know the WSA Online Jury Members of 2025

Stephan Hamberger

Head of Digital Platforms

Red Bull Media House

Get to know the WSA Online Jury Members of 2025

Solange Rodriguez Soifer

Director

Startup Grind Buenos Aires

Argentina

Tom Dawkins

Cofounder/Chief Impact Officer

LendForGood

Australia

Victoria Kerrisk

Co-Founder

Cérge

Australia

Sachi Wickramage

Co-Founder and CEO

i4T Global

Australia

Christian Bauer

Manager

Bauer & Associates

Austria

Dudu Gencel

Startup Services

Vienna Business Agency

Austria

Eva Hiesmair

Co-Founder & COO

Content Creation School, WSA Austria

Austria

Christoph Höbart

Interface- and Communication Designer | Entrepreneur

Austria

Kambis Kohansal-Vajargah

Head of Startup-Services

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

Austria

Kristina Maurer

Expert of Digital Humanism

Vienna Business Agency

Austria

Brigitte Pfisterer

Program Manager

INiTS

Austria

Christian Rupp

Senior Expert

European Joint Innovation Lab

Austria

Dr. Constanze Stockhammer

Geschäftsführung

SENA - Social Entrepreneurship Network Austria

Austria

Tanja Wehsely

CEO

Volkshilfe Wien

Austria

Jens Wirsching

Senior Advisor

Business Angel

Austria

Georg Woschnagg

Co-Founder

goood network

Austria

Ulduza Khalilova

Chief Executive Officer

“Digital Umbrella” LLC

Azerbaijan

Nawaf M. Abdulrahman

Head of Information Technology

Mohammed bin Khalifa Cardiac Center

Bahrain

Akib Arafatul Islam

Founder & CEO

Startup Chattogram

Bangladesh

Rahat Hossain

Program Manager

AYAT

Bangladesh

Mikalai Kavaleuski

Secretary

TIBO Internet Award Competition

Belarus

Malcolm Duerod

Assistant Professor

International Burch University

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tanja Madžarević

Business Development Manager

Education Development Center Inc.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Babak Fakhamzadeh

IT consultant, designer, developer

B's projects

Brazil

Francisco “Chicko” Sousa

Founder

GreenPlat

Brazil

Cid Torquato

CEO

ICOM Libras

Brazil

Gica Trierweiler

Innovation Consultant

AlphaBeatCancer, Gliteres

Brazil

Aristide Touwindsida Zongo

Founder

Yam Pukri

Burkina Faso

David Shelters

Entrepreneur-In-Residence

Mekong Strategic Partners

Cambodia

Gabriel Ashu-Arrey

Chairman & CEO

AfricaCom International Group

Cameroon

Agbor Ashumanyi Ako

Co-founder and Medical Director

GiftedMom

Cameroon

Abakar Mahamat

Co-Founder

Telemedan

Chad

Komal Dadlani

CEO & Co-founder

Lab4U

Chile

Edward Lau

Chairman of Innovation and Transformation Committee

Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence & Innovation Association

China

Yvonne Wong

GBA Strategic Partner

Shenzhen Hexcubes Group

China

Ana Brigovic

Business Development Manager

ACT Group

Croatia

Panayiotis Andreou

Assistant Professor in Computing

School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus

Cyprus

George Malekkos

CEO & Software Innovation Architect

POWERSOFT COMPUTER SOLUTIONS LTD

Cyprus

Irene Polycarpou

Professor of Technology and Innovation in Education, Head of the School of Sciences

University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus

Cyprus

Paul Bonea

CEO

Bonea Creative Studio

Denmark

Malisa Richards

Web Services Manager

BrainStreet Group Inc.

Dominica

SAMAR EL SHEIKH

Partners Development Unit Manager

ITIDA

Egypt

AHMED M. EL-SOBKY

Vice CEO

Information Technology Industry Development Agency “ITIDA”

Egypt

Alem Abreha

CEO

GoodayOn

Ethiopia

Dagmawi Lemma

Head of the Computer Science Department

Addis Ababa University

Ethiopia

Biruk Yosef

Country Director

AGGP Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ilkka Kurkela

Director

Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Finland

Yasmine Machwate

Incubator Manager

EDHEC Business School

France

Denby Elizabeth Royal

Head of Sales

Peftrust

France

Alexander Felsenberg

Head of Innovation, Development and CSR

Circet Deutschland GmbH

Germany

Sarah Klein

Managing Partner, Publisher/Chief Editor

Bunny Island, Tea after Twelve

Germany

Huzaifa Abdulai

Achieve Investment App

Ghana

Alexander Ojo

Head of IT

The Royal Senchi Resort & Hotel

Ghana

Ato Ulzen-Appiah

Director

GhanaThink Foundation

Ghana

Oscar Morales Cuellar

CEO & Founder

Tecsify

Guatemala

Maria Mercedes Zaghi

Operations Director

Ergocom

Guatemala

Lenny Petigny

Consultant in Energy Industry

Petigny Solutions

Haiti

Jóhann Malmquist

Professor and serial entrepreneur

University of Iceland

Iceland

Rakesh Dubbudu

Founder

Factly Media & Research

India

Ehssan Riazi Esfehani

IT Consultant

Hamsafar eSolutions

Iran

Ali Hilli

Zain Iraq

Iraq

Shwan Qaradaghi

Managing Director Of Iraq | Programs

Mesopotamia Leadership Institute (MLI)

Iraq

Savo Rasoul

Managing Director of Iraq | Ecosystem Growth

Takween Accelerator

Iraq

Martin Casey

Managing Director

Arekibo Communications

Ireland

Emeka Farrier

World Summit Awards

Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Bahamas

Mio Yamamoto

Executive Director and Co-Founder

World in You

Japan

Ismail Wahdan

Head of E-government Section

Greater Amman Municipality

Jordan

Anatoliy Kremenchutskiy

Academician ; Director

International Academy of Informatization ; India-Kazakhstan Centre of Excellence in ICT

Kazakhstan

Sriram Bharatam

Founder & Chief Mentor

Kuza.One

Kenya

Monica Nthiga

Regional Director - East Africa

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

Kenya

Michael Madara Ogot

Nairobi Innovation Week

Kenya

Afërdita Pustina

Civil Society and Civic Tech Expert

Kosovo

Hussein Ayoub

Director, Middle East & Africa

EDT & Partners

Lebanon

Odeta Iseviciute

Juror | Mentor | Advisor | Host | Moderator

WSA

Lithuania

Ieva Žilionienė

Consulting Business Lead

NRD Companies

Lithuania

Vincent Kumwenda

Partner

BUMAS International

Malawi

Sulaiman Mahzan

Senior Lecturer

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

Malaysia

Firdaus Mohamed

CEO and Co-Founder

GoBarakah

Malaysia

Willie Ng

Managing Director

Global Cerah

Malaysia

Renuka Sena

Impact and Sustainability Advocate, Impact Investor, Scaleup Venture Capital, Ecosystem Builder, Accelerator Design, Angel Funds, Startup Coach, Speaker

PROFICEO

Malaysia

Kenneth Bone

Managing Director

Seasus

Malta

Rudy Laddaga Lopez

Gnius Club

Mexico

Efraim Vilho

Community Manager

CcHUB

Namibia

Santosh Aryal

Project Manager

Nagarik App

Nepal

Mujibor De Graaf

CEO

Fellow Digitals

Netherlands

Herman van Oorschot

Media enterpreneur

Fullmoon Interactive Solutions

Netherlands

Mahsa McCauley

Director

Auckland University of Technology & She Sharp

New Zealand

Emmanuel Amos

Chief Software Architect / Ceo - Founder

mNCS, FIIM, Programos Software Group

Nigeria

Yemi Keri

Founder

Heckerbella

Nigeria

Natasha Lazarovska-Trajcheski

Co-founder and Executive Board Member

Startup Macedonia

North Macedonia

Jehan Ara

Founder & CEO

Katalyst Labs

Pakistan

Arletty Pinel

Silver economy evangelist, social entrepreneur & angel investor. WBAF International Partner, Aging2.0 Ambassador.

Panama

Vanessa Cañete

Managing Director at Willdom Paraguay | Bootcamp Product Manager at Programando Paraguay | Co-founder at Girls Code | GCL 2023

Willdom Paraguay

Paraguay

Alfonso Accinelli

Deputy Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer

CONCYTEC

Peru

Patryk Kamiński

Founder/CEO

Waterly

Poland

Katarzyna Klimek

Mobile Open Society through Technology Foundation (MOST Foundation)

Poland

Marcin Waryszak

CEO & Founder

Calmsie

Poland

Katiuska Cruz

Coordinator

ANI

Portugal

Sandra Fazenda Almeida

Executive Director

APDC – Digital Business Community

Portugal

Neeti Virmani

Venture Partner: Loyal VC I Author I INSEAD I Mentor: Founder Institute I Global Expert: BFF I Global Expert: WSA I President: SKIBC, WICCI I Founding Member: Power Women

Global Start-up Lab

Republic of Korea

Raluca Prelucă

Partner & Senior consultant

Fonduri-structurale.ro / consolid8

Romania

Ameenah Naytah

Digital Transformation Director

Ministry of Hajj & Umrah

Saudi Arabia

FATOUMATA NIANG NIOX

Founder

ACCEENT

Senegal

Dušica Birovljević

Nomcentar NGO

Serbia

Damjan Damjanović

Co Founder

Health Tech LAB

Serbia

Ivana Kostić

Co-founder

Health Tech Lab

Serbia

Goran Pastrovic

ReSPA

Serbia

Abdulai Kemoh Conteh

CEO

Sensi

Sierra Leone

Vladimír Burčík

CEO

iLearn Online Learning Centre

Slovakia

Tomáš Halász

Co-founder & CEO

TrollWall

Slovakia

Angela McCann

Founder

Black Square White

South Africa

Daniela Elster Rifo

Founder

Auka Experience

Spain

Arshad Ameer

Co-Founder and Director

Flash Health

Sri Lanka

Chiranthi Balapatabendi

Consultant on Digitization for Social Good

Sri Lanka

Chitranganie Mubarak

ICT Agency of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Peumi Rodrigo

Vice President - Marketing & Corporate Communications

Wavenet

Sri Lanka

Dilanka Sanjaya

Managing Director

FONIX Software Solutions

Sri Lanka

Abdelrahman Noureldien

Dean

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology at University of Science and Technology

Sudan

Sana Hawasly

Co-Founder and CEO

Daraty

Syrian Arab Republic

Angella Karashani

Director of Programs and Operations

Launchpad Tanzania

Tanzania

Angelina Ali

Student

University of the West Indies (U.W.I.)

Trinidad and Tobago

Gia Gaspard Taylor

President

Network of Rural Women Producers Trinidad and Tobago (NRWPTT)

Trinidad and Tobago

Wiem Chamsi

Corporate Innovation Lead

Betawaves

Tunisia

Faouzi Zaghbib

General Manager

R2i

Tunisia

Derrick Hosea

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

OneLamp

Uganda

Saul Kabali

Co-Founder and Chief Operations Lead

SafeBangle Technologies

Uganda

Brian Ndyaguma

Business Development Manager

Hague Institute For Innovation of Law (HiiL.org)

Uganda

Luna Carmona

Marketing Officer

Achieve More! Scotland

United Kingdom

Carlos Abler

Consultant

United States of America

Elsa Romero

Medical Professional

Uruguay

Amir Richani

Consultant

Freelancer

Venezuela

Long Lam

CEO

Quang Trung Software City Development Co., Ltd.

Vietnam

Co-Funded by the European Union