As artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital connectivity continue to reshape economies worldwide, the reliability and governance of digital infrastructure have become matters of global importance. Behind the rapid expansion of these systems lies an extensive ecosystem of standards bodies, research review panels and international forums tasked with guiding how emerging technologies are deployed, evaluated and regulated.
One of the professionals contributing to these global efforts is Joy Selasi Agbesi, a Ghanaian-born network engineer currently working in the United States, whose technical and academic engagements span international policy discussions, research oversight and large-scale infrastructure operations.
In November 2025, Agbesi participated as part of Ghana’s representation at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC 2025), organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference, which ran from November 17 to 28, brought together governments, regulators, industry leaders and technical experts to shape global development priorities for telecommunications and digital inclusion.
The ITU-WTDC serves as one of the United Nations’ primary platforms for addressing disparities in connectivity, with discussions covering broadband expansion, resilient infrastructure, emerging digital services and policy frameworks designed to support developing economies. Through remote participation, Agbesi contributed to deliberations focused on strengthening telecommunications development and advancing inclusive access across national and regional networks.
Beyond global policy forums, his work increasingly extends into research governance—an area that plays a critical role in determining how new technologies are evaluated before entering widespread deployment.
Over the past year, Agbesi has received multiple invitations to serve on technical programme committees and peer-review panels for leading international conferences and journals. Among these is the 56th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2026), scheduled to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in June 2026. The conference is widely recognised as a premier global venue addressing system reliability, security and resilience across critical digital infrastructure.
He has also been invited to join the Technical Programme Committee of the International Conference on Computational Intelligence Systems and Devices, technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Uttar Pradesh Section and hosted by Sharda University in Greater Noida, India, in July 2026. The conference focuses on advances in artificial intelligence, intelligent systems and computational methodologies supporting next-generation technologies.
In parallel, Agbesi has been selected to serve as a peer reviewer for several high-impact scholarly journals published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), including IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, IEEE Networking Letters, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems and IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing. These journals play a central role in shaping research directions across communications networks, transportation systems and large-scale cloud infrastructure.
His review activities also extend to the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), where he has been invited to contribute to flagship publications such as ACM Computing Surveys, ACM Transactions on Information and System Security and ACM Transactions on Storage. Additional reviewer invitations have come from Elsevier journals spanning communications engineering, machine learning and evolutionary algorithms, security and privacy, power engineering and signal processing.
At the conference level, Agbesi has been invited to serve as a peer reviewer for a range of internationally recognised venues in 2026. These include the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2026) in Edinburgh, Scotland; the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA 2026) in Marrakesh, Morocco; the International Conference on Networking, Intelligent Systems and Security (NISS 2026) in Málaga, Spain; and workshops associated with IEEE VR 2026, a flagship global conference in virtual and immersive technologies scheduled to take place in Daegu, Republic of Korea.
He has also supported the research community through review roles with the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2026) and the Southern Association for Information Systems (SAIS 2026), contributing to the evaluation of interdisciplinary work spanning information systems, digital transformation and socio-technical research.
Such peer-review responsibilities form a critical but often unseen layer of the global innovation ecosystem. Reviewers and programme committee members are entrusted with assessing originality, methodological rigour and real-world relevance, helping determine which ideas influence future standards, technologies and research investments.
In addition to academic review service, Agbesi has participated in initiatives aimed at strengthening data-driven internet governance. In December 2025, he took part in the Internet Measurement Awareness Workshop organised by the Internet Society (ISOC) Ghana Chapter. The initiative focused on promoting measurement-based approaches to understanding network performance, routing behaviour, connectivity resilience and quality of experience across Ghana’s internet ecosystem—areas increasingly important for national digital planning and policy formulation.
Alongside these external engagements, Agbesi works in global network operations in the United States, where he supports large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure. His role involves leading network deployment efforts for high-performance GPU platforms used in training and inference workloads, contributing to the operational backbone that enables modern AI systems.
Moreover, he has authored more than a dozen scholarly publications spanning artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity and optical and IP networking, reflecting sustained engagement with both applied engineering and academic research.
His professional affiliations include senior membership within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as membership in organisations such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), ISACA, OPTICA and the Internet Society.
As digital infrastructure continues to expand across borders—powering cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, financial systems and national communications networks—collaboration between practitioners, researchers and policy institutions remains essential. Contributions made through international forums, peer-review systems and infrastructure operations increasingly shape how technology evolves, often far from public view.
In that landscape, professionals working quietly across continents and disciplines play a growing role in ensuring that global digital systems remain secure, resilient and inclusive in the years ahead.
The writer is a journalist.
BY STEPHEN GBADEGBE
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