AIFOD Appoints Four Senior Fellows at Geneva Summit 2026 Closing Session

During the Geneva Summit 2026 closing ceremony, AIFOD appointed four professionals as Senior Fellows in recognition of their contributions across education, law, and technology.

By Editorial team · drafted with AI · 18 October 2026

Disclosure: This story is based on material from AIFOD, the publisher of this site.

At the conclusion of the Geneva Summit 2026 on 14 August, the AI for Developing Countries Forum (AIFOD), which publishes this website, named four individuals as Senior Fellows. The distinction represents the Forum's highest individual honour. During the ceremony, AIFOD Director Velynne Ji invited delegates to celebrate contributors whose work has advanced artificial intelligence initiatives across institutions, industry, and public administration. H.E. Mr. Tšiu Khathibe and Prof. Muhammadou M.O. Kah presented the recognitions on stage.

Education and Enterprise Honourees

Among the new fellows was David Williams, Dean of the School of Computing at Dublin Business School, recognised for his role in building educational capacity across 19 programmes serving roughly 1,500 students. Rahul Ghatalia, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Awarathon, was also honoured. His artificial intelligence platform was developed in India and subsequently implemented in Nigeria, highlighting South–South technological exchange.

Governance and Legal Expertise

The Forum also inducted Noboyuki Ota, Partner and Head of Asia at OXYGY, Tokyo, an institutional member of AIFOD. Ota served as a committee chair and contributed to synthesising the outcomes of the summit.

Finally, Valerie J. Pelton was confirmed as a Senior Fellow in absentia. Pelton serves as General Counsel at Tracked Biotechnologies LLC and Principal at Solid State Law Firm, combining expertise in technology licensing, national security, procurement, and data protection. She is a United States Air Force veteran and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, and her work spans the legal foundations that help determine whether countries can adopt AI on their own terms.