Mr. Talant Sultanov is a Founder and the Chair of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the Internet Society and Expert at the Center for Strategic Initiatives. Previously he served as an Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Coordinator of the Working Group on Taza Koom Digital Transformation Program; as an Adviser to the Chief of the Administration of the President; and the Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, as well as worked in Almaty and Washington Offices of the World Bank. Mr. Sultanov is also a Founder of the Silk Road Studies Center. Additionally, he served as a member of the Supervisory Board of the National TV and Radio Corporation, the Council on Business and Entrepreneurship under the Speaker of the Parliament, the Board of Directors of the Bank of Asia in Kyrgyzstan and Humo Microcredit Foundation in Tajikistan. Mr. Sultanov holds an MA in International Finance from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (2006) and a BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University (1999). He has also received executive education at the Harvard Kennedy School (2016).