IDCT 2026 Speakers

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IDCT 2026 Speakers

AllDiplomats and High ExcellenciesAcademic and Policy MakersMedia and AI SpecialistsField Experts and Interfaith Leaders
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H.E Zaki Nusseibeh

the Cultural Advisor to the President of the UAE
the Chancellor of UAE University

H.E. Dr. Abdulla Belhaif Al Nuaimi

Chancellor of Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies

His Holiness Brahmavihari Swamiji

Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi

H.E. Dr. Ashraf El-Shihy

Former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research - Arab Republic of Egypt

Dr. Fawaz Habbal

Director General of Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies

H.E Alexandru Nazare (TBC)

Minister for Finance of România

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

H.E.-Maqsoud-Kruse

Executive Director of Hedayah

H.E Dr. Layla Alhyas

Executive Director - Department of Community Development

Dr. Firas Habbal

President of Emirates Scholar Center and Chief Executive Officer of Geminos Investment Group

H.E Lorenzo Fanara

Ambassador of Italy to the United Arab Emirates

H.E. Dr. Etienne Berchtold

Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United Arab Emirates

H.E. Ambassador Wolfgang Bruelhart

Swiss Special Envoy MENA

Dr. Mohammed Abdulla Al Ali

CEO and Founder of the new TRENDS Research & Advisory

Ambassador (Ret.) Marc J. Sievers Diplomats and High Excellencies

Director, AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding

Sen. Cinzia Pellegrino Diplomats and High Excellencies

Member of the European Policies Commission

On. Lorenzo Cesa Diplomats and High Excellencies

President of the Italian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

H.E. Mr. Euan Mackway-Jones Diplomats and High Excellencies

Lead for Intercultural Dialogue for Peace at UNESCO

George Guido Lombardi Diplomats and High Excellencies

President of Republican Liberty Caucus (former President Trump Advisor)

Shannon Seban Diplomats and High Excellencies

Executive Director of European Affairs - Combat Antisemitism Movement
National Secretary of "Les Républicains"

Major General Giuseppe Petrella Diplomats and High Excellencies

General of the Carabinieri, Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Italy

H.E. Dr. Mohammed Jaber bin Jabr

Vice Chairman of the Board - Emirates Human Rights Associations

H.E Dr. Khalifa Mubarak Al Dhaheri

Chancellor of Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities

Dr. Ebrahim Al Alkeem Al Zaabi

National Risk & Policy Director, AML & CTF. UAE Government

H.E. Dr. Fatma Al-Dahmani Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

Acting Head of the Tolerance and Coexistence Section at the College of Social and Human Sciences
a member of the UAE Fatwa Council

On. Cristina Almici Diplomats and High Excellencies

Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy

Dr. Noora Al Shamsi Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

Board Member of the UAE Youth Leadership Program and Entrepreneur

Dr. Majid Al Sarrah Academic and Policy Makers

Legal Adviser and Expert in Public Policy

H.E Fadila Al-Muaini Media and AI Specialists

President of the UAE Journalists Association

Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed

Attorney at Law – Member of the Board - Emirates Human Rights Associations

H.E Muna Khalifa Hammad

Member of the Federal National Council (FNC)

Mark Albert Media and AI Specialists

founder and CEO of Media Advisory Experts

Maaz Sheikh Media and AI Specialists

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at STARZ PLAY

Dr. Hassan Sawaf Media and AI Specialists

founder and CEO of aiXplain

Dr. Mohamed Al Hasan Media and AI Specialists

Media Manager at Security Industry Regulatory Agency- SIRA

Alessandro Bertoldi Academic and Policy Makers

Founder & Ceo AB GROUP - Executive Director Friedman Institute

Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi

Managing Director of Jerusalem Interfaith Center

Dr. Jassim Al Awadhi Media and AI Specialists

Executive Director - Head of Enterprise Platforms at Emirates NBD

Laurice Constantine Media and AI Specialists

Digital Managing Editor for Forbes Middle East

Dr. Yusra Adil Media and AI Specialists

Political Editor at Abu Dhabi Media

Dr. Ingmar Weber Media and AI Specialists

Founding director of Interdisciplinary Institute for Societal Computing (I2SC)

Dr. Abdulrahman Al Shammari Media and AI Specialists

Editor-in-Chief, Al Watan Newspaper

Dr. Nidal A. Shoukeir Academic and Policy Makers

Executive Board Director, ICCEHS

Dr. Noura Nasir AlKarbi Academic and Policy Makers

Head of Community Relations for Scientific Research at the University of Sharjah

Dr. Yousef Al Ali Academic and Policy Makers

Advisory Board Member of the Research and Doctoral Studies Deanship at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University

Dr. Khawla Al Hattawi Academic and Policy Makers

Assistant Professor at Rabdan Academy Science &Technology National Security Strategist

Safa Al Qahtani

Senior Executive | Organizational Transformation | CC & International Operations | Strategy, Governance & Leadership Development

Rtn. Manpreet Singh Academic and Policy Makers

President, Indian Chamber of International Business

David Lazaro Academic and Policy Makers

Director of Edraak at Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development

Marcus Sheff Academic and Policy Makers

CEO, IMPACT‑se

Dr. Yigal Ben‑Shalom Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

President, Association for Yemenite Society, Culture, Research & Documentation

Dr. Rashed Karkain Academic and Policy Makers

Vice President of the Society of Scholars

Dr. Rahaf Ajaj Academic and Policy Makers

Associate Professor, College of Engineering, Abu Dhabi University.

Dr. Nir T. Boms Academic and Policy Makers

Research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University

Einat Levi Academic and Policy Makers

Strategic Consultant & Co-Founder of ViaCity - The Center for City Diplomacy

Dr. Lucian Reinfandt Academic and Policy Makers

Senior researcher- Austrian Fund for the Documentation of Religiously Motivated Political Extremism

Dr. Sterling Denmark Jensen Academic and Policy Makers

Associate Professor, Tolerance & Coexistence, MBZUH

Prof. Ghanim Kashwani Academic and Policy Makers

Fellow Chartered Civil Engineer (CEng FICE), Chartered Environmentalist & Academic Leader

Jean Candiotte Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

UAE Representative, Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM)

Prof. Abdul Rahim Sabouni Academic and Policy Makers

CEO of Span Management Consulting (SMC), and the Acting President & CEO of the Emirates College of Technology (ECT)

Dr. Omar Bortolazzi Academic and Policy Makers

Associate Professor; Director, Master of International Affairs, AUD

Prof. Sherine Farouk Academic and Policy Makers

Assistant Chancellor for Global Partnerships and Impact at Abu Dhabi University

Dr. Maxime Jaffré Academic and Policy Makers

Assistant Professor, UAE University (UAEU)

Dr. Aleksandra Brankovic Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

Founder, Cultural Center Taraba

Dr. Lina Abu Libdeh Academic and Policy Makers

Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Al Ain University

Huda Raphael Sievers Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

Researcher and tolerance advocate for Arab-Jewish dialogue in the Middle East

Abdulla Saeed Alzaabbi Academic and Policy Makers

Director External Branches Department at Dubai Economic Department

Khalid Al Ali Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

President of Olive Management Group, Entrepreneur, Treasury of Emirates Scholar Research Center

Mustafa Al-Ammar Field Experts and Interfaith Leaders

Security & Terrorism Expert for International News Channels

Jean-David Benichou Media and AI Specialists

Founder and President of Abraseed & Abramundi

Eran Vaskar

Chief Executive Officer at Argyle Consulting Group

Dr. Nahyan Helal

President of the Emirates Association for Community and Occupational Health (EACOH)

Hesham Salah

Chief editor at Al Mashhad

Dr. Abdalla Swikir

Assistant Professor Robotics Department AT Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Nesya Shemer

senior lecturer at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University

Dr. Saada Khadragy

Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the College of Arts and Sciences at Umm Al Quwain University (UAQU), and Director of the Cybersecurity Program

Sarah Saddouk

Director of Innovation and Strategy Entrepreneur Middle East

Hamad Odhabi

Vice Chancellor for AI and Operational Excellence at Abu Dhabi University

Dr. David Santandreu Calonge

Assistant Director, Educational Program Development, Center for Teaching and Learning

Dr. Ahmed Al Mansoori

Professor and Chairing the Department of Media and Creative Industries at the UAE University

Dr. Zainab Rasheed

Chief Technology Officer at Al Madad Group
CEO of Zennova Technologies

Ram Jalan

Director Digital Transformation, Customer Journey Evolution, AI Innovations at DAMAC Properties

Luís Rodrigues

CPO & Regional Head of Middle East Lab49

Claude Fachkha

Associate Professor in the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Dubai

Dr. Lolowa AlMarzooqi

Associate Vice Provost at New York University Abu Dhabi

Prof. Khaled Assaleh

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Ajman University (AU)

Dr. Ahmed Dabbagh

Managing Director AI Academy at Polynome

Tannya Jajal

CEO of AIDEN

Steve Bambury

Head of Digital Learning and Innovation at JESS Dubai school group

Dr. Saed Alrabaee

Director of Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)

Jad Saab

Digital Growth Lead at MBC Media Solutions

Richard Fitzgerald

CEO and Founder of Augustus Media

Paul Dawalibi

Chief Executive Officer at Innovation City

Fatima Al Mazrouei

Head of the Historical Archives Section at the National Library and Archives

Xi Liang

Head of Artificial Intelligence at Mashreq Bank

Samer Geissah

Head of Artificial Intelligence, Client Executive, Customer Team Head at Nokia

Moe Abeidat

Independent Strategic Advisor – Digital Transformation, AI, and Technology Strategy

Saeed AlKetbi

Head of Research and Sharia Studies Preparation Section at General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat

Dr. Lisa Springer

Dean of the Division of Lifelong and Professional Studies (DLPS) and Associate Provost for Continuing and Digital Learning at at The Jewish Theological Seminary

Magdalena Konig

General Counsel at Sirius International Holding

Dr. Ikram Rehman

Associate Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at Middlesex University Dubai

Manoj Bhojwani

Group Chief Information Officer at ADIB - Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Dr. Heba Aboukhousa

Assistant Professor at Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities

Dr Seppe Verheyen

Director of Education and Outreach at the Abrahamic Family House (AFH)

Pranav Desai

Director of BAPS Hindu Mandir

Dr Roeia Thabet

Representative of Office of Public Affairs of the Baha’is of the United Arab Emirates

Anas Najdawi

Director of Abu Dhabi University's Dubai Campus at Abu Dhabi University

Vishal Mishra

Head of Data and AI at IDC Technologies, Inc.

Dr. ameena alsumaiti 

Associate Professor Electrical Engineering at Khalifa University

Prof. Christopher Hill

Vice President for Research and Innovation Canadian University Dubai

Dr. Ayman Al Hendy

Professor | Chair, Medical Sciences at Khalifa University

Dr. Hamdan Hamdan

Assistant Professor Biological Sciences at Khalifa University

Dr Sergio Hernández

External Policy Consultant UNESCO Learning Cities Expert

Ayelet Mavor

Co-Creator of Women Champions for Change (WCC)

Rina Naor

Co-founder at LumiFlies

Hanan Alsanah

Co-Executive Director at Itach-Ma'aki

Rachel Wagner Rosenzweig

CEO and Co-Founder of FemForward

Elah Alkalay

Chair, International Women’s Network; Senior Partner, IBI Investment House

Mas Watad

Social entrepreneur, President & Co Founder, Dawsat Ltd

Natalie Sanandaj

Public Policy Director, Combat Antisemitism Movement

Rabbi Dr. Yakov Nagen

President of The Jerusalem Interfaith Center

Dr. Iyad Zahalke

Qadi of the Sharia Court of Appeals

Rabbi Ben Abrahamson

founder of the Al-Sadiqin Institute

Dr. Ofir Winter

Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)

Necolas Hamwi

CTO / Production Manager at aratech.ae

George Stevens

Co-founder and strategic director of WeAreMENA

Hatem El-Hady

Representative of the Bahá’í International Community for the Arab region

Saoud Saqer

Engineer and Middle East Affairs Expert

Lenah Hassaballah

Editor at CNN Business Arabic

Prof. merouane debbah

Founder and Senior Director of the Digital Future Institute at Khalifa University

Prof. Samir El-Masri

Founder and President, Arab Society for Digital Transformation

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