Thoko Miya is the CEO of Girlhype - Women Who Code, enabling digital transformation, and bridging the divide of women in science, technology and engineering. In her volunteer capacity, she serves on the United Nations Internet Governance Forum under the IGF Secretariat. She is A UN Youth IGF Coordinator and also forms part of South Africa's Internet Governance Forum currently held secretariat by the ZA DNA. She holds qualifications in domain name systems, media, journalism and management. Thoko Miya is an entrepreneur and change-maker in the area of internet services, digital transformation, and digital skills development.

I have played a leading role in the Internet industry in South Africa since 1997 and was an effective agitator for telecommunications liberalisation in Africa. I have written and presented many papers at local and international conferences on the Internet, Spectrum, telecommunications, regulations, TVWS, VoIP and Bridging the Digital Divide.

Wadzanai Ndlovu is a seasoned Information Scientist with over 17 years of experience, passionately advocating for digital rights, information access, and socio-informatics. She excels in merging policy, technology, and access to information, benefiting civil society, governments, and public institutions. Committed to bridging the digital divide, Ndlovu focuses on connecting underserved and marginalized communities, especially women and girls. She empowers them through tech training, digital literacy workshops, and mentorship, challenging gender stereotypes and amplifying their voices online.

Kodishang Tshwaane, founder of Viewmax Interactive Media has been in the ICT sector of South Africa for more than 15 years. As an ICT Consultant and Website Developer he has worked with the Western Cape Department of Social Development, Wolwekloof Youth Academy, IDASA, MYCOZA, The Department of Basic Education, The Office of the Premier, ZADNA, The Department of Sports, Arts & Culture, Ekasi Esports, Amani Good Parenting, Sinkov Tech and other private sector companies.

Shaun works in the Internet Service provider industry and has been involved in networking and computing for over 25 years with specific experience in interconnecting networks, regulation, security and DNS.

I am wholeheartedly committed to the mission of the Internet Society which are broadly speaking are three fold.

• Building and supporting the communities that make the Internet work;
• Advancing the development and application of Internet infrastructure, technologies, and open standards; and
• Advocating for policy that is consistent with our view of the Internet. I believe that we can make the internet work better for everyone in South Africa.

Mondli Mungwe is Technical Administrator at HashtagDesign. He started his career as digital skills trainer for a Google powered program that supported individuals, communities and small businesses to be empowered in digital transformation. This led him to different roles in web development, project management, mentoring and coaching. He has been instrumental in helping organisations such as Upskill Digital Limited UK, Google Africa and Facebook Africa to deliver digital skills programmes that have impacted communities and has trained/mentored over 9000 participants over the last 8 years facilitating digital programmes. He was a digital strategist for a winning innovation team, Energy Efficiency which won in 2019 Builders of Africa’s Future Awards (BAF) for its energy saving LED light comprising a WIFI hotspot.

Dr. More Manda holds a PhD (Information Systems) from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master of Information Technology from the University of Pretoria.

Dr Manda recently completed a an MBA at the Wits Business School. He has extensive experience in digital business, strategy, research and innovation management. Dr Manda is currently an Executive responsible for Strategy and Research and at the merSETA and a board member of Internet Society.

On the 1st of July he will be joining MINTEK as the Chief Technology Officer.

Dr Manda is a recipient of the 2018 Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) young scholar award. In 2018 he was also awarded the United Nations Government Fellowship.

Sthembiso Xhakaza is committed to task completion, high performance, quality service, and achieving results. He values his contributions, effective teamwork, fostering growth and development. Sthembiso Xhakaza was awarded an Award by the Premiers Office via the Youth Excellence and Service Awards. Sthembiso Xhakaza serves as a board member for both Internet Governance Forum SA and Internet Society SA. He is an innovator and creator, and one of the conceptualizers of Youth Expo and Soweto Innovation Week . As a pioneer of the  YEM Online Education initiative, he has been instrumental in bringing online courses, coding, app & web development, digital and literacy training in local communities.

Roland has been in the Internet industry since 1995, when the Internet was still in its baby stages and he started a dial-up internet service.  He has noticed over the years how corporate interests have attempted to take over software development and the Internet and leaving individuals at their mercy, which prompted him get more formally involved to see what he can contribute to the effort of keeping the internet freedoms intacts. He has been involved in Internet technologies for a long time, and has come full circle from being an early user or Google, “The Facebook” and many others to starting to run his own mail and web servers again, and getting off the major networks to run the Internet as it was originally intended, rather than in a semi walled garden like Google, Facebook and others’ offerings.