Michael R. Nelson works on Internet-related global public policy issues for Cloudflare, a startup that has improved the performance and security of more than 6.5 million Web sites. Prior to joining Cloudflare in early 2015, he was a Principal Technology Policy Strategist in Microsoft’s Technology Policy Group and prior to that was a Senior Technology and Telecommunications Analyst with Bloomberg Government. In addition, since January, 2009, Michael Nelson has been teaching courses and doing research on the future of the Internet, cyber-policy, technology policy, innovation policy, and e-government in the CCT Program at Georgetown University.

Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Dr. Nelson worked for IBM's Internet Technology Team, at the Federal Communications Commission, in the Clinton White House, and for the Senate Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee, which was chaired by Senator Al Gore. He has a B.S. from Caltech and a Ph.D. from MIT.

Laura DeNardis, M.Eng, Ph.D., is a Professor of Internet architecture and governance and Faculty Director of the Internet Governance Lab at American University in Washington, D.C. With a background in information engineering and a doctorate in Science and Technology Studies, her five books include The Global War for Internet Governance (Yale University Press 2014). Dr. DeNardis served as the Director of Research for the Global Commission on Internet Governance and is an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Yale Information Society Project from 2008-2011. Her expertise and scholarship have been featured in Science Magazine, The Economist, National Public Radio, New York Times, ABC news, Bloomberg, Time Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Slate, Reuters, Forbes, The Atlantic, the Globe and Mail, and the Wall Street Journal. Dr. DeNardis holds an AB in Engineering Science from Dartmouth College, a Master of Engineering degree from Cornell University, a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech, and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.

Fanny Hidvegi is Access Now’s European Policy Manager based in Brussels. Previously, Fanny was International Privacy Fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. where she focused on E.U.-U.S. data transfers. For three years Fanny led the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Program of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union where she engaged in strategic litigation with journalists and other NGOs, participated in the fight against the national data retention law in Hungary, and promoted privacy enhancing technologies. There, she gained experience on how to operate as a human rights advocate in a restrictive environment. Fanny also worked as a consumer protection lawyer both in the public and the private sector. She has a law degree from Eötvös Loránd University Budapest and she spent one academic year at the University of Florence with Erasmus Scholarship.

Masaaki Sakamaki has had an extensive public service career spanning twenty eight years. He left the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications after serving as the Director General of Chugoku Bureau of Telecommunication. He has held diverse Directorships in the government, which include Director for International Policy, Director for Information and Communications Policy, Special Assistant to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, and other notable posts.

Mr. Sakamaki was also appointed to the United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance as a Member by the UN Secretary General. He serves the Pacific Telecommunications Council as an Advisory Council member and co-chaired the program committee. He is currently a member of the board of directors and executive vice president at Docomo CS Inc., NTT Docomo. He has an MPA from Harvard University.

Nigel Cory is a trade policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

He previously worked as a researcher at the Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to that, he worked for eight years in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which included positions working on G20 global economic and trade issues and the Doha Development Round. Cory also had diplomatic postings to Malaysia, where he worked on bilateral and regional trade, economic, and security issues, and Afghanistan, where he was the deputy director of a joint U.S.-Australia provincial reconstruction team.

Cory holds a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in international business and commerce from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.