Short Bio

For the past 35 years, Mr. Zambrano has supported the roll-out of digital technologies in nearly 90 developing countries to address critical development priorities and promote overall human development. Working with national governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations, he has provided advice and helped formulate national policies and programs that strategically factor in the potential benefits of new technologies.

Working closely with public institutions at the various levels of government, Mr. Zambrano has promoted local innovation to enhance access to public information, advance public service delivery, and foster the participation of stakeholders in public policy and decision-making processes. His approach positions digital technologies as a catalyst that can amplify ongoing development efforts whose ultimate goal is to increase local populations’ overall well-being.

With a multidisciplinary academic background comprising engineering, sociology, and economics, Mr. Zambrano brings a unique approach to compellingly facilitating governments and civil society’s harnessing of new technologies. He has recently supported open data, social innovation, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence policy and project development.

He worked in the US academic sector before the expected gray hair colonization process self-launched without notice. He subsequently joined the UN Development Programme, where he held the fort for over 20 years, but could not stop the tenacious colonization. Now, he tries hard to get by as an independent researcher while doing international consultancies on digital technology policy development to subsidize the former. It seems to be working, barely, so he says.