Osama Manzar works at the intersection of rights, access, and meaningful content. He is a Senior Ashoka Fellow, British Chevening Scholar, International Visitors Leadership Program Fellow of the US State Department, and an Advisor to the Women in Digital Economy Fund. After a half-decade in tech journalism, he founded the Digital Empowerment Foundation in 2002, focusing on “access to rights and rights to access,” and has digitally empowered over 35 million people to date.

Osama has played a pivotal role in several policy and impact initiatives, including India’s National Digital Literacy Mission, banning FreeBasics in India, liberalizing ISP licensing through PM-WANI, and combating misinformation with WhatsApp. He serves on the boards and advisories of various organizations such as the Women in Digital Economy Fund, APC, World Summit Awards, GNI, Barefoot College, Protsahan, and MISSING. The Hindu profiled him as “the man who travelled more than 10,000 villages.” Osama writes a regular column for Mint at Livemint.com and has authored several books, including “Internet Economy of India.”

At the summit, Osama will draw parallels between India’s and Iraq’s digital literacy and transformation journeys. He will discuss the challenges faced and opportunities created in India through government reforms, private sector partnerships, and social movements. Osama will share insights on how Iraq, with its young and diverse population, can leverage similar strategies to achieve digital transformation and bridge the digital divide.