Sameer Chauhan
Mr. Chauhan was appointed Director of the United Nations International Computing Centre on 1 December 2019 by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
The Director is the Chief Executive and has the responsibility to lead all aspects of UNICC’s strategy and operations to facilitate the provision of services to more than 100 Clients and Partner Organizations, to establish the UNICC strategy, to develop a biennial business plan and budget, and to implement the approved plan.
With the advice and backing of the Management Committee, Mr. Chauhan has effectively led a strategic transformation of UNICC since he assumed his post. This has enabled UNICC to become the preferred strategic digital partner for the whole UN system and has empowered the organization to successfully build capabilities in areas such as cybersecurity, AI, data, quantum encryption and cloud computing, as well as in key business areas like treasury, finance, and HR.
Session
Over five decades, is the largest strategic partner for common, trusted, and cybersecure
digital foundations across the entire UN system. Today, UNICC serves over 100 UN entities and other international organizations, operating in a global environment where secure, cross-agency collaboration is essential to fulfilling its mandates. Therefore, UNICC is uniquely positioned to identify and promote the reuse of open-source solutions across the UN system and beyond.
Operating within the UN context requires strict adherence to institutional independence,
technological neutrality, data privacy, and digital sovereignty. Matrix’s open, decentralized standard has helped UNICC ensure that sensitive inter-agency communications, crisis management, and incident response operations remain under complete institutional control, protected by end-to-end encryption.
This session explores UNICC’s practical journey in deploying Matrix at scale. Attendees
will gain insights into multi-tenant federation, open-source governance, and how
decentralized protocols provide a resilient, sovereign digital backbone for global public
goods.
Key Takeaways:
- Strategic Evolution: How UNICC shifted to open standards for global UN collaboration.
- Digital Sovereignty & Data Protection: Protecting sensitive data through decentralized, end-to-end encrypted architecture that strengthens institutional control and reduces dependency on proprietary platforms.
- Operational Value: Real-world benefits of federated communication in emergency response and automated workflows.