The Institute of Digital Government at Waseda University in Japan, in cooperation with the International Academy of CIO (IAC) has released the 16th Waseda IAC World Digital Government Rankings Survey 2021, which marks digital transformation in 64 countries/economies.

The Institute was established in 2002, and the ranking survey model was created in 2005 by Prof. Dr. Toshio Obi, a Founder of the Institute and President of IAC at the time of the First Ranking Survey. Dr. Obi was awarded a spot on “The World’s Most Influential 100 People in Digital Government in 2018” by “Apolitical,” a UK based Think tank. In 2021, both the Institute and the ranking survey are mainly managed by Prof. Dr. Naoko Iwasaki of Waseda University.

For more information and the full rankings report, please go to: https://iacio.org/the-16th-waseda-iac-international-digital-government-rankings-2021-report/.

About the International Academy of CIO (IAC):
The IAC or International Academy of CIO was founded in 2006 in Japan by co-founders including Japan, USA, Indonesia, Philippines, Switzerland and Thailand. The IAC members, partnerships and alliances now span all regions with economies such as China, Cambodia, Netherlands, India, Korea, Laos, Hong Kong, Macao, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Nigeria, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The IAC has active participation from more than 50 countries and partners with NGOs and multilateral organizations including APEC, OECD and ITU.

Dr. J.P. Auffret is the co-founder and president of the International Academy of CIO (IAC), the director of the Center for Assurance Research and Engineering (CARE) in the Volgenau School of Engineering and the director of the Research Partnerships and Grants Initiatives in the School of Business at George Mason University.

To RSVP for these events, please go to The School of Business Calendar: https://business.gmu.edu/component/eventcalendar/

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“I consider this one year as arguably the most fulfilling time of my life,” says Piyabelan Bouyo, a Humphrey Fellow visiting scholar from Togo who is mentoring under Professor J.P. Auffret from George Mason University’s School of Business and Volegenau School of Engineering’s Center for Assurance Research and Engineering (CARE).

Humphrey Fellow, Piyabelan Bouyo is visiting George Mason University for eight weeks and working with Professor Auffret for her Humphrey Fellowship Professional Affiliation on the topics of Digital Payment Platforms and technology networking policy striving to someday create a digital payments platform for Togo.

Under JP Auffret’s guidance and mentorship, Piyabelan Bouyo’s work with Mason encompasses:

• Researching business models and technological approaches for digital payments platforms in West and East African countries.
• Analyzing the opportunities and limitations of Togo’s regulations as part of the roll-out of a new electronic payment system.
• Researching the highest security integration models in payment transactions.
• Developing a business plan for a Togo digital payments platform.

Piyabelan is working with JP virtually as part of the Humphrey Fellowship Program which is a Fulbright Program through the U.S. Department of State. The Humphrey Fellowship provides a select group of mid-career professionals from developing countries with ten months of graduate study, professional development and cultural exchange in the U.S.  Fellows are selected based on “potential for leadership and dedication to public service.” Alumni have made contributions in their home countries ranging from serving as government Ministers to starting schools and leading transformative policy initiatives.

Piyabelan continues, “My time here exposed me to the best possible academic environment and has brought me in contact with some of the most extraordinary people that I have ever met, people with diverse backgrounds. Now, I have friends in every continent of the world, and I cannot thank the US State Department enough for giving me this amazing opportunity. Thanks to Mason as well for showing me your superb institution and allowing me to learn so much. I plan to bring back everything to my country.”

The research is urgent because the adoption and use of digital technologies in Togo would improve the efficiency and quality of public services and enhance transparency and accountability. Currently, however, the penetration rate of mobile broadband is 20%, placing Togo in 28th place in sub-Saharan Africa, while 3G and 4G cover only 65% and 10% of the population, respectively.

Prior to visiting Mason and working with Professor Auffret, Piyabelan spent eight  six months with the 2020-2021 Humphrey cohort at Syracuse University for graduate public policy study. Syracuse welcomed Fellows this year from Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Tanzania and Togo. For 2020 – 2021, there are more than 125 Humphrey fellows from 81 countries. Syracuse University is one of 12 campuses across the country to host Fellows.

In Togo, Piyabelan Bouyo is a technical manager at Mainway, a Togolese company in digital, electrical, and environmental transition. She previously spent 18 years at Togo telecom as Network Switch Manager and Head of Audit and Billing. Her goal is to establish an IT consulting firm to develop a practical framework integrated with Togo’s National Development Plan and U.N. Sustainable Development Goals by incorporating data-driven decision making.

Piyabelan earned a Master of Science in Information and Communication Technology from the Institute National des Postes et Télécommunications, Morocco and Ecole Supérieure Multinationale des Télécommunications, Senegal.

Piyabelan is the eighth Humphrey Scholar Fellow to visit the School of Business and mentored by Professor JP Auffret. Previous Humphrey Scholars that Auffret has hosted were from Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Russia, and Namibia.

Please Join us for The George Mason University Cybersecurity Innovation Forum

As with previous events, the Forum will consist of a series of 15-20 minute case study presentations by cybersecurity experts and technology innovators followed by a Q&A.

The focus of the meetings is on cybersecurity innovation including innovation rationale and motivation, technology, metrics, and lessons learned.

We are excited to announce our speakers will be:

• Heather Dahl, Co-Founder and CEO of Indico.tech
• Jamil Jaffer, Founder & Executive Director, National Security Institute; Director, National Security Law & Policy Program; Assistant Professor of Law, George Mason University

Heather C. Dahl is the co-founder and CEO of Indico.tech. Through her vision and leadership, Indicio has become a global leader in decentralized identity, launching a blockchain-based distributed network on five continents, creating the first implementation of a complete ecosystem for sharing privacy-preserving digital health credentials, which was donated to Linux Foundation Public Health for use by public health agencies across the world, and developing a series of innovations in software to manage identity and data sharing.

For more information: https://indicio.tech/heather-c-dahl-biography/

Jamil Jaffer – Founder & Executive Director, National Security Institute; Director, National Security Law & Policy Program; Assistant Professor of Law, George Mason University

Jamil currently serves as Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute and as an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he teaches classes on counterterrorism, intelligence, surveillance, cybersecurity, and other national security matters, as well as a summer course in Padua, Italy with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Jamil is also affiliated with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and previously served as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2016 – 2019.

For more information: https://www.law.gmu.edu/faculty/directory/fulltime/jaffer_jamil_n

Please RSVP Here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/george-mason-university-cybersecurity-innovation-forum-registration-166169041075

Follow us on Twitter @MasonCyber for more up-to-date discussions on cybersecurity and innovation.

George Mason University’s (GMU) Volgenau School of Engineering’s CARE and School of Business sponsor the events.

The Cybersecurity Innovation Forum Series is generously supported by Accenture.