About the Speaker
Olena Kushnir is the founder and CEO of WEB PRO, a telecommunications operator that provides services in the design and construction of optical fibre networks and information security.
The company is a member of the RIPE NCC, the Ukrainian Internet Association, and the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. In 2021, WEB PRO received the People’s Choice Country Award Top in the Ukrainian Awards 2021, nomination “Telecommunications”.
Thanks to Olena’s attention to cybersecurity, the company became the first telecommunications operator in Ukraine to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Cyber Security Coordination Center of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. According to the results of an independent audit of telecommunications operators conducted by the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, WEB PRO had the fewest detected network vulnerabilities among communications operators providing Internet services through a secure Internet access node.
2023 thanks to her experience, active public position, desire to improve and develop the telecommunications industry, attention to cybersecurity, and protection of critical information, Olena was appointed as Adviser to the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Olena is a member of the Council for International Cooperation in the Development of Broadband Internet Access Infrastructure and Telecommunications at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and Head of the Committee of the Internet Association of Ukraine for the management of Internet resources and interaction with international organisations.
Olena proactively contributes to the development of the Ukrainian Internet and ensures its stability within the global Internet infrastructure. To achieve this goal, she builds new professional connections, keeps Ukrainian Internet providers up-to-date with global developments, takes an active part in the RIPE community, and promotes the importance of participation in community processes. Together with the RIPE NCC and the RIPE community, she is looking for solutions to protect Ukrainian members from illegally transferring IP addresses.
In 2022-2023, Olena was delegated by the Ukrainian Internet Association and participated in the Ukrainian-Lithuanian project “Legal Audiovisual Content.”
In addition to her professional activities, since February 24, 2022, Olena and WEB PRO have been actively engaged in volunteer activities in various areas. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, she has played an important role and now continues to help in the restoration, building, and development of the telecommunications networks of Ukraine that were destroyed by the aggressor state. For significant contribution to the strengthening of Ukrainian statehood, courage, and self-sacrifice, demonstrated in the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, significant personal contribution to the development of the telecommunications industry, defense of the national interests of the Ukrainian state, conscientious performance of professional duties by decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Olena was awarded the State Order of Merit of the III class in 2022.
