Speakers and Judges

Dr Leng Phirom holds a PhD in Comparative and International Higher Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto (Canada). He was the former President of the Kirirom Institute of Technology (KIT), a Research Fellow, and the Head of the Education Unit of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) – Cambodia’s leading development policy research think tank – where he led some research projects on governance of higher education and management, comparative education, internationalization, and science and innovation education. Before returning to Cambodia, he worked as a Higher Education Consultant at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen (China), where he helped with the establishment of the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation – A UNESCO Category II Institute whose role is to support the development of ICT in higher education in developing countries. At present, Dr Phirom also serves as an advisor to Cambodia’s Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (Council of Ministers), the National Council for Science Technology and Innovation (NCSTI), the National Institute for Science Technology and Innovation (NISTI), the Centre for Inclusive Digital Economy (CIDE, AVI), and the Comparative Education Society of Cambodia (CESCam). 

Mr. Lihol Srou is a government official in charge of policy research work at the Techo Startup Center under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.  With nearly 10 years of experience spanning diverse fields, including education, entrepreneurship, the digital economy, and FinTech, Mr.  Srou has been deeply engaged in national-level research projects and policy development that shape Cambodia's technology and business landscape.

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology  / Korea

PhD in S&T Policy and Technology Management, University of Manchester

Senior Researcher, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Served as a President of Daejeon Institute of S&T for Enterprise and People(DISTEP)

Member of Presidential Committee of Intellectual Property and other related committees

To be add

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Dr. Ma. Josefina P. Abilay is the pioneer Regional Director of the Department of Science and Technology-MIMAROPA Region (DOST-MIMAROPA) helping serve the needs of the region for more than 15 years now. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Abilay has fostered a responsive and results-driven office, delivering relevant and effective science, technology, and innovation solutions which contributed to countryside advancement with a strong focus on prioritization of human wellbeing by improving access to safe and affordable basic necessities such as water; building disaster resilience wherein communities cannot only survive disasters but thrive in their aftermath; and accelerating research, development, and innovation for a more sustainable future, among others, that also dominated the awards from various institutions.

Dr. Abilay received the University of the Philippines’ College of Economics and Management “2021 Distinguished Alumna Award for Public Sector Governance and MSME Development.", the “2021 Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF) Innovation Award (BIA) for Government Service” and named as one of the Ten Outstanding Movers of the Philippines (TOMP) 2019 and received the “Champion of Life and Hero of the Environment Award" by the SAVE ME Movement. She was also named a national finalist for the “2019 William D. Dar (WDD) Research Leadership Award” conferred by the Philippine Association of Research Managers, Inc. (PHILARM).

Under Dr. Abilay’s leadership, DOST-MIMAROPA attained the most coveted “Philippine Quality Award (Level 2)”, highest level of recognition in the country for exemplary organizational performance. Furthermore, DOST-MIMAROPA received the “Science for the People Award in the Governance Innovation” and “Special Recognition Finalist in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) 22nd Gawad KALASAG Seal and Special Awards for Excellence in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Humanitarian Assistance”.

As luminary in her field, Dr. Abilay is an awardee of the “2021 Presidential Gawad Career Executive Service or Gawad CES” which is a Presidential award that recognizes members in the CES in the Philippines for exemplary performance and significant contributions, particularly in the areas of innovation, information and communication technology, social services, administrative reforms and public policy.

Associate Professor Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Rana holds master’s degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics, as well as a PhD in Software Engineering. With more than 20 years of experience, he has established a distinguished career in teaching, research, and academic leadership. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), Malaysia. Dr. Ehsan has authored and co-authored over 150 journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters in key areas such as Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Blockchain. He also serves as a reviewer for several prestigious indexed journals and actively contributes to the organization of IEEE and other international conferences. A strong advocate for bridging the gap between academia and industry, Dr. Ehsan has played a pivotal role in fostering industrial collaboration and integrating real-world engagement into academic initiatives.

Dr.Valliappan Raman is a Professor and Head in Department of AI  and DS at Coimbatore Institute of Technology. He also serves as  Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and  Science at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia.  His research interests lie in the area of artificial intelligence,  machine learning, deep learning, computer vision and pattern  recognition specialized in medical imaging, ranging from theory to  design to implementation. He also collaborated actively with  international researchers in several other disciplines of computer  science, particularly in Internet of Things and Data Science. He  has a strong supervision track record of guiding Master and PhD  students. He has authored and co-authored patents, many technical  papers in high impact factor journals and A* international  conferences. He has won various research grants and industry  fundings on the projects related to computer aided diagnosis  systems and healthcare applications. He has served on many  conferences and workshop program committees and part of the  technical review team in IEEE and Elsevier Journals. He holds the  professional membership of Institute of Engineering and Technology,  Senior IEEE, Chartered Engineers UK, International Professional  Engineer (IntPE), Australia Computer Society, Institution of  Engineers (India) and Malaysia Board of Technologist. Prior to  joining CIT, he worked as a Deputy Head, School of Information  Communication and Technology at Swinburne University of Technology  Sarawak Campus, Malaysia