Welcome and Keynote Speaker
Welcome Speaker
Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Germany
Short Biography
Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider has been Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information since September 2024. She previously held the chair for Civil Law, Data Economy Law, Data Protection, Digitization and Artificial Intelligence at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
She studied law in Bremen, completed her doctorate and habilitation in Freiburg and subsequently held professorships in Cologne and Passau. As director, she headed both the Institute for Commercial and Business Law of the Faculty of Law and Political Science and the Center for Medical Data Usability and Translation (ZMDT). She also oversaw the establishment of the Data Institute under the leadership of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI).
Besnik Dervishi, Information and Data Protection Commissioner, Albania on behalf of the ICIC Chair/Secretariat
Short Biography
Mr. Besnik Dervishi graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tirana in 1986. Throughout his professional career, he has served in the justice system and in the state administration as a civil servant, Secretary General at ministry level, Regional Governor, Deputy Minister, Minister, and Member of Parliament.
Since 2014, he has been appointed by the Albanian Parliament as the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.
In 2021, Commissioner Dervishi was elected as a member of the ICIC Executive Committee and currently serves as the Interim Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC).
Furthermore, from 2018 to 2022, he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA).
He is recognized for his contribution to the reform of national legislation on the right to information and the right to personal data protection, including efforts to align it with the regulatory framework of the European Union, the conventions of the Council of Europe, and other international acts. Mr. Dervishi is also engaged in teaching at the higher education level and at the School of Magistrates.
Keynote Speaker
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Short Biography
She serves as a member of the German Bundestag (since 2005), the German federal parliament. In addition to her parliamentary work, Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, is again Parliamentary State Secretary since march 2025.
From 2021- 2025 she served as Parliametary State Secretary in the Ministry of Interior and Community. Before she was already from
2013-2021 Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Nature Cornservation and Nuclear Safety.
She studied Business Administration at the University of Freiburg and the University of Zurich, graduating in 1989.
Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi, Director of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policy and Digital Transformation, and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP), UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
Short Biography
Since January 2025, Guilherme Canela is the Director of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP) at UNESCO headquarters, in Paris. As Chief of the Section for Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists for 5 years (2020-2025), he was notably responsible for World Press Freedom Day, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, and the Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms.
Between 2012 and 2020 (8 years), he held the position of Communication and Information Regional Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNESCO Montevideo Office. During those years, he performed as Regional Coordinator of the UNESCO Initiative for the Promotion of Democracy and Freedom of Expression in judicial systems in Latin America. He was also the Secretary of the Regional Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, and focal point of the Organization for issues related to the safety of journalists. He has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Brasília (UNB) and a Master’s Degree on Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP).
For 8 years (2000-2008), Guilherme coordinated the media and journalism research area of the News Agency for Children’s Rights (ANDI). In this period, he was responsible for several surveys that evaluated the news media coverage on issues such as children’s education, rights, violence, health, sexual abuse, human and social development, drugs, participatory democracy, entrepreneurial social responsibility, human rights, among others.
He is co-author of 10 books published by ANDI on these issues (Series Media and Social Mobilization, Cortez Publisher) and several brochures, magazines and discussion texts on various topics related to the universe of human rights, of the rights of children, and the development and of democracies.
Jointly with Solano Nascimento he published the book Access to information and public policies social control. He actively participated in the process of discussion and implementation of Access laws in several countries. He was/is a member of several advisory boards and juries related to journalism, freedom of expression and access to information.