KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Mr Bilahari Kausikan is currently Chairman of the Middle East Institute, an autonomous institute of the National University of Singapore. He has spent his entire career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his 37 years in the Ministry, he served in a variety of appointments at home and abroad, including as Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry. Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York all attempted to educate him.

Dr Piacentini is the Senior Analyst leading the work on the PISA assessments of transversal, 21st-century skills. He is the lead author of the frameworks for the PISA 2018 assessment of Global Competence and for the PISA 2021 as- sessment of Creative Thinking. He also authored several PISA analytical reports, including the first report on the well-being of students. Dr Piacentini joined the OECD in 2009 as a Young Professional. Before moving to the PISA team in April 2015, he worked for the Public Gover- nance Directorate and the Statistics Directorate of the OECD, the University of Geneva and the World Bank. Dr Piacentini has contributed to several large OECD and inter-agency projects on gender and well-being, and led the definition and development of international indicators on metropolitan areas, inequality, entrepreneurship and trade. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Geneva.