About the Summit committee


The list of committee members is sorted alphabetically.

 

Dr Helena R. Asamoah-Hassan, Ghana
Executive Director of the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA)

Dr. Helena R. Asamoah - Hassan is the Executive Director of the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), and a retired University Librarian of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. She has been in the library profession for 40 years, 30 years at the top management level and is a Fellow of the Ghana Library Association.

She was President of Ghana Library Association 2003–06; a Member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 2007–11; Member, eIFLnet Advisory Board 2007–11; Chairperson, Management Committee, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) 2004–2014; the Ghana Country Coordinator for INASP Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI) and also for eIFL from 2004–2014; Emerald Publishers Africa Regional Advisor 2011–2013; and the Chairperson of UNESCO’s International Advisory Committee on the Memory of the World Programme 2013–2015; 2012 BioMed Central Open Access Advocate of the Year and in August 2012 IFLA awarded her with a medal for ‘outstanding service to international librarianship by building bridges across Africa and with the rest of the world. Currently, she is INASP’s Associate for Africa.

She has 25 publications consisting of 3 books, a chapter each in 3 books, refereed conference proceedings and journal articles. She also has 78 conference papers and 20 major reports. She is a consultant to some international organizations on library and information issues, and an assessor for promotion of Library personnel to some university and research institutions in Ghana. She has served and still serves on several other committees at institutional, national and international levels.

 

Ms Tay Ai Cheng, Singapore
Deputy Chief Executive;
Chief Librarian
National Library Board of Singapore

Ms. Tay Ai Cheng is the Deputy Chief Executive of the National Library Board, Singapore (NLB). She is also the Chief Librarian. She oversees the National Library, the National Archives, the Technology, Resource Discovery and Management and Volunteer Management and Corporate Social Responsibility arms of NLB.

Ms. Tay graduated from the University of Singapore and studied librarianship at the Polytechnic of North London, United Kingdom. She has held various positions within NLB, gaining invaluable diverse experience and knowledge . These positions include those in the reference library, the technical services, corporate services, the human resource divisions and the processing and warehousing services.

Ms. Tay was previously the Assistant Chief Executive (Public Libraries). She had then played a major role in developing new and existing libraries, services and programmes apart from directing the daily operations of over 26 public libraries. She was also in charge of national programmes such as Reading Initiatives and Community Partnerships and Outreach to promote reading and learning.

Active in representing Singapore and NLB internationally she was Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the Metropolitan Libraries Section in the International Federation of Library Associations until recently. She was a panel member for the Access To Learning Award for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is also a member of the inaugural International Network Of Emerging Library Innovators (INELI), initiated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

John Van Oudenaren, United States of America

Director, Scholarly and Educational Programs, The Library of Congress, and Director, World Digital Library

John Van Oudenaren has directed the World Digital Library (www.wdl.org) since its inception in 2006. The WDL is a collaborative initiative of the Library of Congress, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and libraries, archives, museums, and educational institutions from around the world. Since May 2015, he also has been Director of Scholarly and Educational Programs at the Library of Congress. Previously, he served as chief of the European Division at the Library of Congress. Prior to joining the Library in 1996, he was a senior researcher at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, and director of RAND's European office in Delft, the Netherlands. He has served on the Policy Planning Staff of the U. S. Department of State, and has been a research associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He received his Ph. D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his A. B. in Germanic Languages and Literature from Princeton University. Dr. Van Oudenaren is the author of several books and numerous articles on European politics, U.S. foreign policy, and international relations.

 


Bruno Sagna, France
Deputy, International Affairs
National Library of France

Mr. Bruno Sagna is the Deputy of the International Division of the National Library of France and is also in charge of bilateral relations for Europe and North America. He is also a literary advisor for Scandinavian literature and has worked in this capacity for various French publishing houses.

Mr. Sagna graduated from the Sorbonne University in Paris and studied librarianship at ENSSIB in Lyon. He has a degree in Scandinavian Studies and a Master's Degree in translation from the ESIT school of interpretation and translation in Paris.

Mr Sagna was previously the curator of the Bibliothèque Nordique, a department of the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève and the world’s largest Scandinavian library outside Scandinavia. Prior to it he was the curator of the Scandinavian languages collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

 

Dr Ismail Serageldin, Egypt
Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Ismail Serageldin is Founding Director of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, and also chairs the Board of Directors for each of the Library’s affiliated research institutes and museums. He is advisor to the Egyptian Prime Minister in matters concerning culture, science, and museums. He has been a Distinguished Professor at the College de France in Paris (2010–2011), Vice-President of the World Bank (1993–2000), and has received the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), as well as the Legion d’Honneur (France), and the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan). He is a member of many academies, and has received more than 34 honorary doctorates. Dr. Serageldin serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Cairo University and Master’s degree and a PhD from Harvard University. He lectures and publishes widely, and has developed a TV Science Series in Arabic and English.