Sokol Haxhiu has more than 10 years of extensive management and senior expert experience working in the USA, Albania, and Kosovo with international organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, GTZ, EU, and Soros Foundation and with local and central government. He led the strategic direction, guidance and management of a programme at UNDP that includes several important ICT4D projects and initiatives with the Albanian government. He has been in charge of large-scale ICT project planning, preparation, management and administration and has expertise in capacity building, institutional strengthening, change management, talent development and resource allocation. For the past several years, Sokol has advised the Government of Albania in information and communication technologies as part of his work with UNDP.
As a team leader he initiated, designed and managed several important ICT projects for Albania, among them the e-School Project, National ICT Strategy, the GovNet Project, the e-Accounting Project, the e‑Service Project, x-Road, the TA Project, and e-Visa. He has worked in cooperation with the Albanian central government to set up the National Agency for Information Society by providing technical assistance and training.
Before joining UNDP, Sokol was head of the ICT department of Tirana, where he was responsible for reforming the municipality’s entire work and processes through ICT. He is now Executive Director of the Center for Development and Technology, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting development through technology and innovation.
An Albanian native speaker, he is also fluent in English and Italian. He has a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications/Computer Science Management from Oklahoma State University in the USA and a BA with honors from Harding University in the USA. He has been certified in ICT and e-governance from the e-Governance Academy in Estonia and in Internet Governance from the Diplo Foundation in Malta.