The current Executive Committee is:

  • The Board of the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information, and Personal Data Protection of México. The Board of this Body is integrated by commissioners Blanca Lilia Ibarra Cadena. (INAI’S President), Josefina Román Vergara (GPA works coordinator), Norma Julieta del Río Venegas and Adrián Alcalá Méndez.
  • Paul Vane, Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC).
  • Ulrich Kelber, Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Germany
  • Omar Seghrouchni, President Commissioner, Morocco-National Commission for the Protection of Personal Data Protection (CNDP).
  • Alexander McD White, Privacy Commissioner of Bermuda.
  • Ventsislav Karadjov, Chairman, Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data Protection.
  • Haksoo Ko, Chairperson of Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC). Korea

Executive Committee meeting summaries

 

Committee profiles

 

 

 

 

Blanca Lilia Ibarra Cadena

Ms. Ibarra Cadena has been a Commissioner at the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection since 2018, and became the President Commissioner of INAI in December 2020.

She has served as Director of the Documentation Centre at the Coordination of Information, Documentation and Transparency of the Federal Electoral Tribunal in Mexico. She was President of the Transparency Commission of the Municipality of Puebla and President Commissioner of the Commission for Access to Public Information and Personal Data Protection of the State of Puebla.

Ms. Ibarra Cadena has had a 30-year career in media, including as Director General of the Television Channel of the Mexican Congress. She was also President of the Network of Educational and Cultural Radio and Television Broadcasters of Mexico, and member of the Editorial Board of the Mexican State-owned News Agency (Notimex), among others.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Journalism, and an M.A in Public Administration.

Adrián Alcalá Méndez

In June 2011, he was appointed as Commissioner at the Institute for Transparency and Access to Public Information of the State of Baja California. On January 2013, he was elected Coordinator of the North Regional Assembly of the Mexican Conference for Access to Public Information and was a member of the Technical Panel of Experts convened by the former Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection, which aimed the creation of a draft on the General Regulatory Law of Section A of Article 6 of the Mexican Constitution, on transparency and access to information.

From June 2014 to November 2020, he was appointed as Secretary for Access to Information and he is currently a Commissioner at the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI).

He has also been a lecturer on transparency and access to information in many courses, programmes, and workshops, as well as lecturer and panellist in both national and international events since 2009.

Mr. Alcalá holds an LLM in Law and Amparo, and he completed several Seminars in Constitutional Law, Amparo, Insolvency and Procedural Law.

Norma Julieta del Río Venegas

From 2015 to November 2020, Ms. Del Río Venegas served as Commissioner of the Zacatecan Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (IZAI) and from 2016 to 2018 she served as the first President Commissioner of IZAI.

Ms Del Río Venegas was Coordinator in Commissions of the National Transparency System: Information Technology Commission and National Transparency Platform, Accountability Commission and Open Government and Proactive Transparency Commission, and coordinated the preparatory work for the first Law of Access to Public Information of the State of Zacatecas and promoted its reform. She launched the INFOMEX Zacatecas System, the first technological tool to expand and guarantee the right of access to information in the state.

She contributed to the reform of the Mexican Constitution´s Art 6th, through the Guadalajara Declaration, to establish access to public information as a fundamental right.

She holds a Degree in Business Administration from the Technological Institute of Zacatecas, an M.A in Administration from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas and a Ph.D in Public Administration from the International Institute of Law and the State in coordination with the Autonomous University of Zacatecas.

Josefina Román Vergara

Ms. Román Vergara is currently a Commissioner of INAI for the 2019 – 2026 period.

In 2013, she was appointed Commissioner of the Institute of Transparency, Access to Public Information and Protection of Personal Data of the State of Mexico and its Municipalities, where a year later, she was elected as the President Commissioner, a position she held until 2017. From November 2015 to November 2016, she was the first Coordinator of the System of Supervisory Bodies of the Federative Entities of the National System of Transparency, Access to Public Information and Protection of Personal Data. In 2018, she was the Technical Secretary of the Executive Secretariat of the Anticorruption System of the State of Mexico and its Municipalities

She holds a Law Degree from the Universidad del Estado de México’s Law School, an LLM in Corporate Law from Universidad Anahuac Law School and a Ph. D in Law from the Centre for Postgraduate Studies in Law.

Paul Vane

As Information Commissioner for the Bailiwick of Jersey, Paul is accountable for the overall leadership of the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC), the independent Authority responsible for overseeing the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018, Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 2018 and the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Paul has extensive experience in the regulatory and law enforcement environment. He held the position of Jersey’s Deputy Information Commissioner from 2004 to 2021 and was Acting Jersey Information Commissioner between January and August 2018. Previously, Paul worked at the Jersey Financial Services Commission and as a police officer with the States of Jersey Police.

Paul holds a BA (Hons) degree in Social Policy & Criminology and an ICSA Certificate in Offshore Finance and Administration. He is a member of the International Association of Privacy Practitioners, the Institute of Directors (Jersey) and The Open University Alumni Association. He is also involved in charitable work, most notably as a Governor for local charity, Holidays for Heroes Jersey, which provides holidays in Jersey for mentally and physically injured servicemen and women.

Paul has served as Chair of the Global Privacy Assembly Data Sharing Working Group since May 2022 and was elected to the Executive Committee at the 44th Annual Meeting held during October 2022.

Ulrich Kelber

Ulrich Kelber was appointed Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Germany in January 2019 (Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit – BfDI) for a first term. In his capacity as BfDI, he also fulfils the function of a Joint Representative of German Data Protection Supervisory Authorities in the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). In October 2020, Ulrich Kelber was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly.

Before being BfDI, Ulrich Kelber was a member of the Federal Parliament in Germany, the “Bundestag”, where he represented the constituency of the city of Bonn. He won the direct mandate in this constituency in 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017. In the Bundestag, he held the position of a Vice-Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group for the issues of environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety, food, agriculture and consumer protection and sustainability (2005-2013). In the executive branch, he served from December 2013 to March 2018 as a Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Justice and Consumer Protection.

Ulrich Kelber has a technical background. He studied computer science and biology at the University of Bonn, before working as research associate at the GMD Research Centre for Information Technology (now part of the Fraunhofer Research Society) and, after that, as a knowledge management consultant at an IT company.

In July 2019, Ulrich Kelber was awarded the position of an Honorary Professor for Data Ethics at the Centre for Ethics and Responsibility of the Hochschule / University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS). In addition, he served as a member and expert of the “Data Ethics Commission” in Germany, which submitted its final report to the German Federal Government in October 2019.

Omar Seghrouchni

Omar Seghrouchni is the current president of Moroccan DPA (CNDP), and the leader of “governance of transformations’’. He is born in 1962, in Rabat, married and has two children.

He graduated from the Mohammedia School of Engineering in 1986 as an Electrical and Industrial Automatic Engineer. In 1987, he obtained a DEA in Mathematics and Automation from the University Paris IX – Dauphine and Ecole des Mines of Paris. He had also a Master degree in Diplomacy and Strategy ECSR and a Master in Economic Intelligence at the School of Economic Warfare in Paris.

He began his career in 1988, in France, as a research engineer at the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA), before directing the Laboratory of Real Time Computer Science at the Higher Institute of Electronics in Paris (ISEP). Since 1998, Mr. Seghrouchni held several positions of responsibility and management in large firms and companies in the field of consulting and information systems architecture. He piloted several major digital transformation projects, in both the private and public sectors, in France and in Morocco.

Alexander McD White

Alexander White was appointed by H.E. the Governor of Bermuda to take office as Bermuda’s first Privacy Commissioner in January 2020. The mandate of the Privacy Commissioner is to regulate the use of personal information by organisations in a manner which recognizes both the need to protect the rights of individuals in relation to their personal information and the need for organisations to use personal information for legitimate purposes, among other duties described in the Personal Information Protection Act 2016 (PIPA).

Commissioner White is an attorney licensed in the US State of Illinois and District of Columbia, and previously served as State Deputy Chief Privacy Officer for the State of South Carolina and as a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (DPIAC). In his early career, he worked as a lawyer, consultant, and non-executive director in insurance and education.

He holds a variety of privacy, legal, cybersecurity, and risk management qualifications, including a bachelor’s degree in history and a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Georgia (US) School of Law, with further coursework and study with the Harvard Kennedy School, City University (London) Law School, Law Society of Ireland, Vrije Universiteit Brussels Institute for European Studies, Tsinghua University School of Law, and Fudan University Law School.”

Ventsislav Karadjov
Chairman
Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data ProtectionVentsislav Karadjov has been Chairman of the Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data Protection since April 2014. After two terms as Vice-Chair of the Article 29 Working Party, he was elected unanimously for Deputy Chair of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in May 2018.Mr Karadjov is a graduate of Sofia University’s Faculty of Law and holds a Master’s degree in Law, with specialization in Public Jurisdiction.He began his career as a legal adviser and Programme Director at the Transparency International, Bulgarian chapter. He has also held various senior legal and management positions on projects concerning anti-corruption and the creation of functioning democratic institutions for international institutions such as the European Commission, the US Agency for International Development, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the UN Development Programme. Throughout his career Mr Karadjov has worked as advisor to the Minister for Internal Affairs in the field of international public security activities and anti-corruption and Chief Expert Associate to the 41st and 42nd National Assembly on matters related to the control of security services, special surveillance devices and access to data retained by public security bodies.Until his election as CPDP Chairman, Ventsislav Karadjov was a member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria.Mr Karadjov has been awarded as “Jurist of the Year” 2018.
Haksoo Ko

Haksoo Ko is currently serving as Chairperson of Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), a ministerial-level government agency overseeing data policy and practice. Under his leadership, the PIPC formulates and executes Korea’s national strategy for data privacy, and enforces related regulations.
Mr. Ko is a preeminent scholar in legal and regulatory issues related to data privacy and artificial intelligence (AI). He became Chairperson of the PIPC in October 2022. In October 2023, he was appointed as a member of the UN High-level Advisory Body on AI, where he is involved in the effort to address the issue of international governance of AI.
Prior to his appointment at the PIPC in 2022, Mr. Ko was a Professor of Law at Seoul National University (currently on leave). He has conducted extensive research in areas encompassing law, economics, and technology. Throughout his academic career, he was actively engaged with the public sector, as well as the private sector, often playing an advisory role in formulating policies, particularly in the technological, financial, and medical fields.
He served as President of Asian Law and Economics Association; President of Korean Association for AI and Law; Co-director of SNU AI Policy Initiative; and Associate Director of SNU AI Institute, among others.
Mr. Ko holds a B.A. in Economics from Seoul National University and received both J.D. and Ph.D. (Economics) degrees from Columbia University in New York.

 

Service of former Chairs

Under the Conference Rules and Procedures there are limited terms for each member of the Executive Committee. The service of the former chairs is acknowledged:

 

 

Elizabeth Denham, United Kingdom (2018-2021)
  Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, France (2017-2018)
John Edwards, New Zealand (October 2014 – September 2017)
Jacob Kohnstamm, The Netherlands (November 2011 – October 2014)