Scott Edward Parazynski (born July 28, 1961 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski's latest mission was STS-120 in October, 2007 – highlighted by a dramatic, unplanned EVA to repair a live solar array. In May 2016 he was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. He retired from NASA in March 2009 to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in the private sector, and he is currently the CEO of a technology start-up. He is the first person to have both flown in space and summited Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. ✩ Twelve years of C-suite and Board level experience in product and technology development and commercialization within aerospace, aviation, biotechnology, robotics, and medical devices. ✩ Seventeen years of experience as a Mission Specialist Astronaut, Spacewalker, and Inventor of Extravehicular Activity (EVA) tools and medical devices. ✩ Prolific inventor successful in securing numerous patents for leading edge products and technologies. ✩ Articulate communicator and presenter with notoriety as a keynote speaker, lecturer, and best-selling author. ✩ Creative problem-solver adept in guiding diverse mindsets through unchartered areas to identify new opportunities for growth and technology advancement.
Sanjay Aggarwal is Chairman, Paramount Cables Group, and President, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He graduated from the prestigious SRCC‐ Shri Ram College of Commerce in the year 1983. He has been an integral part of the growth story of Paramount Cables from a Rs. 1 crore MSME unit to one of the largest cable manufacturers in India. Paramount Communications Ltd, the flagship company of the group is amongst the largest exporters of Cables & Wires in India for the past many years and has been consistently presented with the Star Exporter Award by EEPC‐ Northern Region. Mr Aggarwal has been the recipient of many prestigious awards over the past 37 years which include the National Small Industry Award 1984 given away by the President of India, Entrepreneur of the Year Award 1994 by All India Manufacturers Organization, Niryat Shree Award 2008‐09 by FIEO, numerous Star Exporter Awards by EEPC over the years and Major Donor Award 2017 by Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
Educated as a marketer, he has a diploma degree in finance and a degree in marketing. Prior to joining the public sector, he ran his own SMM agency. Among the clients: PepsiCo, Ukrzoloto, Sniezka Ukraine, Fedoriv Hub, Superman, Caparol and others. In 2019, he joined the team of Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov as an advisor. Later, Mykhailo Fedorov delegated the Diia project to Mstyslav Banik, and Mstyslav headed the Directorate for Electronic Services Development.
Michael Stanley-Jones is a Programme Management Officer with UN Environment Programme. He supports knowledge management and digital transformation within the Ecosystems Integration Branch based in Nairobi. As co-Secretary to UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion from July 2018 to September 2020, Michael has advocated for engagement with the textile and apparel industries on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. From 2014 to 2018, Michael led knowledge management and communications for the UN Development Programme—UN Environment Programme Poverty-Environment Initiative. From 2009 to 2014, he served as Press Liaison with the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the three leading global treaties addressing hazardous chemicals and wastes. Prior to that he served for six years with UN Economic Commission for Europe in the Secretariat of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention, 1998). During his tenure, Michael helped to bring the Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (2003) into force while managing the Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy, a global web platform. Outside the United Nations, Michael has served in academia, business, civil society and the public sector. As chair of the Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative from 2001 to 2003, he developed Silicon Valley, California region's watershed management plan and historic pollution prevention plans for copper, nickel and mercury contamination of the San Francisco Estuary. In 1993-1994, he assisted the 10-nation Danube Environmental Forum with negotiation of the Danube River Protection Convention (1994). A native of Solano County, California USA, Michael holds a Master of Arts in Politics degree from The Claremont Graduate University. His passions include digital transformation, nature and poetry.
Dimitris is Financial Economist, financial markets innovator, public speaker and author, with seventeen years of experience in Financial Regulation, Financial Services and Corporate Finance. He is ranked among the 100-Top world influencers in the area of RegTech and Blockchain and he is frequent speaker in top-tier universities, international organizations, the World Economic Forum and professional summits on FinTech, RegTech, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Disruption of Banking and Financial Services, in Europe, America and Asia. He has published two books, one on Disintermediation Economics and the impact of Blockhain in Markets and Policies, and one on the Financing and Financial Reporting for the European SMEs in the era of the CMU and the new IFRS, both by Palgrave McMillan.
Surina Shukri brings two decades of experience working across a diverse range of companies including global multinationals, middle market companies and early stage startups across the financial services, natural resources and technology sectors. She spent the bulk of her professional career in the United States, including 17 years of experience as an investment banker, strategist and leader at JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest bank in the United States. There she served as Head of Strategy, Innovation & Business Management for Middle Market Banking, Head of Strategy for Commercial Banking, Chief of Staff to the CEO and Executive Director in Natural Resources Investment Banking. Surina left JPMorgan Chase in 2018 to start SheNovation Ventures, a transformation and growth venture studio where she advised fintech and blockchain startups on growth strategy and capital raising and consulted business leaders on culture change and transformation. She graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Management & Technology dual degree program with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Systems Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Prior to returning to Malaysia, Surina lived in Manhattan, New York City, with her Malaysian husband and three children.
Barry McKeon is Senior Policy Manager for Trade and Competition at DIGITALEUROPE, where he coordinates work around multilateral and bilateral trade agreements, market access issues, export controls, customs, and taxation. Before joining DIGITALEUROPE, Barry worked in public affairs in Brussels, developing strong expertise in the fields of trade policy and EU funded programmes such as Horizon Europe. He began his Brussels career at the European Committee of the Regions, where he focused on territorial cohesion policy and EU budgetary affairs, as well as communications. He previously spent a number of years working in tourism and education in Berlin. Barry is an Irish citizen, and holds an MA in Sociology – European Societies from the Freie Universität Berlin. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor Degree in Law and French at Trinity College Dublin, during which he also earned the Diploma of the International Programme from Sciences Po, Paris. DIGITALEUROPE is the leading trade association representing digitally transforming industries in Europe, standing for a regulatory environment that enables European businesses and citizens to prosper from digital technologies. We wish Europe to grow, attract and sustain the world’s best digital talents and technology companies. Together with its members, DIGITALEUROPE shapes the industry policy positions on all relevant legislative matters and contribute to the development and implementation of relevant EU policies. DIGITALEUROPE membership represents over 35,000 businesses who operate and invest in Europe. It includes 77 corporations which are global leaders in their field of activity, as well as 40 national trade associations from across Europe.
Florian von Tucher is Chairman of the Tucher Group, which is the holding company of his family’s Engineering, Investment and Project Development companies. As Chairman of the EU Tech Chamber and President of the EU Senate of Economy and Technology he actively promotes the vision that „With Great Technology, Comes Great Responsibility“! According to this vision, he aims to increase the competitiveness of Europe, reach the UN SDGs and builds bridges to emerging markets.
Dr Zeynep Engin is a Senior Research Associate based at UCL Computer Science. She has established multiple disciplinary and cross-sector recognition for leading the global debates in two key fields, Data for Policy and Algorithmic Governance. Supported by UCL-EPSRC grants, she is also leading the GovTech Lab, a national knowledge transfer consortium focusing on government digital transformation; and the UCL Digital Ethics Forum, a cross-disciplinary collaboration to generate UCL wide responses to some of the most pressing social and policy challenges under the ongoing digital revolution. Zeynep is also the Founder and Chair of the international Data for Policy conferences (dataforpolicy.org); and the Editor-in-Chief for the Data and Policy (cambridge.org/dap), an open-access peer-reviewed journal published by Cambridge University Press. She has over ten years of executive experience in the non-profit sector and obtained her PhD in statistical pattern detection from Imperial College London.
With over 20 years of international business, traditional and digital marketing experience, Jomar's core skills are with taking strategic approaches to business development and marketing working with the latest marketing technologies, for B2B, eCommerce(B2C). He designs and manages the execution of the online marketing ecosystem orchestrating specialists in web analytics for tracking and optimising conversion, Social Media, SEO & content strategy, paid advertising (SEM/PPC/Social advertising). He is also an active producer of media including film, video, photography and music.
Professor Fernandes is a world-leading expert on modelling complex systems and on digital innovation in supply chains. His research has modelled complex systems ranging from crime networks to global supply chains, with a strong track record in translation to the business community. Using a complex systems lens he has worked with construction, pharmaceutical, biotech and digital firms. His research has been funded by prestigious and competitive funding bodies like the British Council, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Economic and Social Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Miguel Amaral holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management; MSc in Engineering Policy and Technology Management from the University of Lisbon, a degree in Economics and an Advanced Diploma in Communications Science. Miguel Amaral presently works as a tenured Assistant Professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico – Universidade de Lisboa and as a Research Associate at the Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN+/IST, where he integrates the Laboratory of Technology Policy and Management. He is also a Research Associate at The Observatory for Living and Working Conditions (U.Nova, IST, U.Paris) and a Founder at the Social Innovation Lab at IST. His research interests and teaching focus mainly on Technological change, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Human Capital.
Florian Marcus is a Digital Transformation Adviser at the e-Estonia Briefing Centre. He engages with the highest of stakeholders from both the public and private sector to elaborate on Estonia’s digitalisation journey and encourage international cooperation in the area of e-governance. His previous positions have involved work at globally active cybersecurity firms and the Estonian Government Office as part of the country’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. An avid researcher, Marcus holds two Master’s degrees in the field of politics and international relations from University College London and the University of Tartu. He has created his own politics course that he consequently taught to cohorts of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students.
Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, MTOM, PhD is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the University of Surrey School of Law and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has published widely on issues associated with law and technology, health law, and intellectual property in leading legal, medical, and scientific books and journals. He is the author of “The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law” published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. Professor Abbott’s research has been featured prominently in the media, including in the New York Times, Financial Times, Forbes, and VICE. He routinely gives keynote lectures and presents internationally in academic (e.g., MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge), government (e.g., World Intellectual Property Organization, World Trade Organization, UK Intellectual Property Office), and industry (e.g., AIPPI, American Chemical Society, INTERPAT) settings. Managing Intellectual Property magazine named him as one of the fifty most influential people in intellectual property in 2019. Professor Abbott is a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS and a panelist with a variety of national and international dispute resolution service providers. He is a CEDR-accredited mediator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He has worked as a partner in legal practice, where he focused on both contentious and non-contentious matters and in the life sciences and high tech industries, and he has been general counsel of a biotechnology company. Professor Abbott is a licensed physician, patent attorney, and acupuncturist in the United States, and a solicitor advocate in England and Wales. He is board-certified by the American Board of Legal Medicine (ABLM). Professor Abbott is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine (MD), the Yale Law School (JD), University of Surrey School of Law (PhD), as well as a Summa Cum Laude graduate from Emperor’s College (MTOM) and a Summa Cum Laude graduate from University of California, Los Angeles (BS).
General coordinator and social worker at The Lucas Amoroso Institute/Brazil www.institutolucasamoroso.org.br Vice president of the municipal council for the rights of children and adolescents of the municipality of Guaratinguetá/Brazil Member of the COVID 19 crisis committee of social assistance of Guaratinguetá/Brazil Member of La cause dés Bébés association Brazil/France since 2018 Master in Linguistic USP/ Brazil
Dr Ouenniche is Professor and Chair in Business Analytics at the University of Edinburgh Business School (UK) and Member of the Senate. He held positions such as Member of the Business School Executive Board, Head of the Management Science and Business Economics group, and Director of the MSc in Business Analytics. He holds a BSc. in Mathematics and an MSc. in Operational Research from the University of Montreal (Canada), and a PhD in Operations Management from Laval University (Quebec, Canada). He acts as a Referee for over 30 academic journals, several international conferences, and several national and foreign research councils. He is also a Member of the Editorial Board of 8 academic journals and is an Associate Editor of Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications. His research portfolio encompasses a broad range of applications and a variety of research methodologies in descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and tackles important managerial issues in manufacturing, transport, banking, energy, and public sector policy.
Dr. Nguyen Truong is a Research Associate at Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, United Kingdom. He is an expert in Blockchain Technology, Data Management, Distributed System, Security, Privacy and Trust in the Internet of Things. His research topics are revolving around the decentralisation of data management that takes control back to data owners from big tech firms and creates a worry-free platform for both providers and end-users to develop and to use applications and services. He has actively participated in UK/EU research projects to 1) design and develop GDPR-compliance solutions that support SMEs to comply with the EU/UK GDPR, as well as 2) to revise the GDPR under the perspective of technological feasibility to help regulators to prepare futuristic data protection regulations.
Professor Yu Xiong is an academic, researcher and serial entrepreneur. He was trained as a computer scientist, then became a professor in various business schools across the UK. He is active in doing research, growing start-ups, creating his own companies. During his career, he has wide publications in top academic journals, and created business impact in multiple industries.
Jiaying is a Hauser Global Fellow affiliated with the Information Law Institute. She is also the co-leader of the Central Bank Digital Currency project, cooperating with the China Center at Yale Law School, and a contributor of the RegTrax Initiative at the CodeX Center for Legal Informatics, Stanford Law School. She is admitted to the bars in China and the State of New York. Her research focuses on the interaction between law and technology, especially policies and regulations on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, digital currencies, FinTech, and LegalTech. Her research interests also include computational law, comparative law, data rights, platform competition, and privacy issues.
Jaewon Peter Chun is President of World Smart Cities Forum (WSCF), a non-profit organization based in London, England. He also runs XnTREE, Tech Accelerator, and ARK-i Labs, Smart City investment vehicle. Mr. Chun has accumulated expertise in smart city planning and investment activities over the past eight years and working on a number of smart city initiatives in the UK, South Korea, Vietnam, Ukraine, the US as a strategic advisor, master planner and investor. He has currently been prioritising the establishment of innovation-based sustainable cities in Hanoi, Lviv and Maryland.
João Amato Neto is the President of the Board of Directors at Vanzolini Foundation and a Senior Full Professor at the Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (POLI-USP), Brazil, where he coordinates a research group on Cooperation Networks and Knowledge Management (REDECOOP). He was a visiting researcher at the University of Aachen (Germany) and a visiting professor at the International Master in Industrial Management (by the European Commission), at Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Dr. Amato Neto has a Post PhD in Economics and Management from Ca' Foscari University of Venezia (Italy).
Senior International Private Banker with over 17 years experience in the Ultra High Net worth and Family Office space. Key trusted advisor and ""confidant"" to family business owners internationally and on multi-generational governance issues. Field of expertise: . Investment Management and Private Investment Banking for UHNW and Family Offices from Developed and Global Emerging Markets. . Expertise in the offshore structuring for UK Resident Non-Domiciled entrepreneurs and Non Resident clients. . Sophisticated networking approach through the Investment Club transactions.
A smart cities specialist who works with national and local governments across the world to develop leading smart governance, mobility, urban planning and sustainability projects. Most recently overseeing the Prosperity Fund Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) for the Department of International Trade (DIT) as their Future Cities & Prosperity specialist. Designing and delivering a specialist programme to help realisation of commercial opportunities emerging from Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Projects include smart cities handbooks in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Philippines, an AR smart tourism App in Turkey, and the upgradation of the Liveable Cities Data Dashboard in the Philippines. Jawad also works with tech companies to help build smart cities applications and use cases for Ai, IoT, AR/VR, and data analytics in cities. In previous roles he has delivered a range of smart cities, regeneration, and capacity building projects across the UK, East Africa, East Caribbean, and South Asia. Leading trade missions to Kenya and Pakistan and playing an integral role in the development of the India Pakistan Trade Unit. As an angel investor he is also working with startups in rapidly growing markets including Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Turkey.
Professor Parry's work is characterised by an approach of partnering with organisations to develop creative solutions to challenges. He is interested in understanding what makes 'good' business. He works with organisations to help them with business models, value capture, servitization, and supply chains. He has managed research consortia within the automotive, aerospace, creative media and construction industries. He has published and edited numerous international journals. He is currently the Head of the Department of Digital Economy Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Prof Parry’s current projects include work as CoDirector of DECaDE: Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy, a UK research centre exploring the potential for decentralized platforms to disrupt the Digital Economy and represents £4M of UKRI/EPSRC investment plus over £6M of industrial contribution. Glenn is CoI on the Digitally Enhanced Advanced Rail Signalling Services project, working with an electronic systems and service provider to investigate how digitally advanced services can improve performance for London Underground and National Rail services. He is CoI for the £1.5M Optimising Me Manufacturing System [OMMS] EPSRC project developing a healthcare microfactory that provides on-the- body manufacturing of therapeutics to treat B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a prevalent cancer in children. Prof Parry is CoI of the £1.75m EPSRC project to develop the next generation of "Trans-Disciplinary Design-Engineers" who have the skills to realise the potential of current and future manufacturing processes and techniques. He was CoI on the EPSRC Hub of All things [hubofallthings.com] working with the team to develop a personal data store that also allows data processing for individuals. The project launched start-up firm https://www.dataswift.io/ .
By highlighting their industry expertise
Javed Jaffrey is a renowned Indian movie actor who has starred in numerous Hindi movies as well as in television serials. Aside from his connotation with India’s significant and substantial film industry, he got approval for his act in Maggi tomato ketchup commercial aired in the year 1990. He is a famous entertainer, recognized for his character in Bombay Boys, featuring in its superhit song “I am Mumbhai”. Javed Jaffrey has portrayed numerous roles in Hindi serials and movies. He gained immense fame for his Maggi tomato ketchup TV commercial. Javed’s dubbed commentary has been utilized in Japan wherein he is recognized to many. Javed Jaffrey has three children, two sons named Abbas and Mizaan and a daughter named Alaviaa. In the year 1985, the movie Meri Jung gave him an opportunity to portray the role of a villain and illustrate his dancing skills on screen. 1990s Television highlighted his magical powers and comical abilities, spreading his fame further. Javed Jaffrey hosted the show titled “Videocon Flashback” with idiosyncratic brilliance. His bilingual puns and deadpan expressions gave him an arduous fan following. As a short-lived example, he inferred “What is Yaadon Ki Baraat in Hindi as “a demo of mummeries”. His construal is infact a game of words on how positively people across India enunciate the word ‘memory’ – a flippant reminder that the movie featured two unforgettable actresses, Neetu Singh and Zeenat Aman who were both recognized for their large breast size and henceforth ‘procession of mummeries’.
Debra Ruh is a north America Consultant for UN ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN) and GLobal Speaker for the US State Dept. Legislative and Technical Experience: Expertise with Standards and Legislation including the United Nations Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ADA, Section 503, 504 and 508 of Rehab Act, W3C, WCAG and ISO (Accessibility). Serve on W3C WCAG Cognitive Working Group as Invited Expert.
Xavier Gomez is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of INVYO. In 2018, he founded INVYO, a SaaS company that uses machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to help financial institutions see tomorrow's opportunities in Financial sector. He is regular columnist on BFM Business TV (french CNBC TV) about Fintech and Finance. Before INVYO, Xavier worked for banks, in Credit Suisse, as executive Director, in different top management positions (wealth management and Investment banking) between London, Paris and Zurich, and in Pictet as global multi-asset portfolio manager. Xavier has master from ISC – Institut Supérieur du Commerce (Master Graduate School Management – Finance) in 2000. He holds a certification from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) specialization Fintech (2016) and is a graduate of HEC Paris in Private Equity (Leadership Executive program in Private Equity in partnership with France Invest - French Association of Private Equity) in 2017. Moreover, Xavier is speaker in global fintech events (Paris Fintech Forum, Finovate series, Finnovation Africa, Open Banking World Congress Robo-Investing,…) and is also regular chronicle on Finance Mag about global Finance Technology topics.
Dinis Guarda is an author, academic, influencer, serial entrepreneur and leader in 4IR, AI, Fintech, digital transformation and Blockchain. With over two decades of experience in international business, C level positions and digital transformation, Dinis has worked with new tech, cryptocurrencies, drive ICOs, regulation, compliance, legal international processes, and has created a bank, and been involved in the inception of some of the top 100 digital currencies.
Melanie Eusebe is Chair and Co-founder of the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards) and Director, Strategy and Consulting at Accenture. Melanie is an entrepreneur, a board trustee and a business strategist with over 20 years’ experience as a management consultant. In her role as Director, Strategy and Consulting at Accenture, she focuses on growth and engagement strategies for some of the world’s biggest brands and largest organisations. A committed teacher, Melanie is a professor in the field of leadership and management at leading business school and also has her own on-line business school. Alongside her leading role in the BBBAwards, Melanie was Executive Producer for the Women of the World (WoW) Festival, a global gender equality festival involving over two million women from 50 cities on five continents. Recognised by the Queen for her contribution, Melanie has been profiled as one of the most influential women in business and the creative industries in the UK.
Ben Goertzel is an artificial intelligence researcher and founder of SingularityNET. Goertzel is the chief scientist and chairman of AI software company Novamente LLC; chairman of the OpenCog Foundation; and advisor to Singularity University. He was Director of Research of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (formerly the Singularity Institute). Ben Goertzel was the mastermind behind one of the most advanced robots to date, Sophia.
Elise Quevedo is an author, tech Global Thought Leader, speaker, advisor, and social/digital media storyteller. She has been voted 'Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter' and is ranked among the Top 2% most viewed profiles on Linked In. Top 25 Global sHero Award Winner 2020. Elise often writes for MilliOnAir digital magazine and as a global thought leader has collaborated with Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Huawei, eBay, and Paypal. Interests include AI, Digital Transformation, Disruptive technologies, Enterprise & Digital Innovation, the impact of digital learning in the younger generation, Tech 4 Good, IoT, Influencer Marketing, Start-Ups, business, and personal growth and leadership.
An educator and connector, Linda Goetze, M.Ed., has been engaged with blockchain technology since 2012. She is Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of DFM Data Corp., Inc., and recently served as President and CEO of the Blockchain Chamber of Commerce headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. A member of Mensa and former CEO of Balancing Health, Linda helped establish the Atlanta Neurotherapy Institute after spending 13 years as an award-winning educator. She is passionately engaged in facilitating the responsible use of cutting edge technologies for the betterment of humanity. Linda leads to serve and supports a variety of non-profits, including her favorite charity, BloomintheDark.org.
Eloisa Marchesoni is better known as the youngest consultant in the Blockchain and A.I. sector, as well as influential author of articles for the major national and international newspapers. Eloisa is now Europe's number 1 Token Model Architect, as stated by Irish Tech News and the rest of the web, and part of the Top 100 Leaders and Influencers of Italy in FinTech, as we read in one of the most recent rankings published by StartupItalia !, awards that only confirm her thriving business as a consultant. Eloisa has established herself as a multimillionaire role model for many aspiring entrepreneurs of the digital industry. In the last two quarters of 2019, she was nominated as #1 blockchain influencer by many reputable media outlets. She has been speaking in blockchain conferences, seminars since the last 2 years.
Entrepreneurial leader with international public and private sector experience. Works at the intersection of business development, economic development and technology with a devotion to sustainability, equity and economic development. CEOs and boards, governments, nonprofits and universities. Investor and mentor of startups. Specialties: *Global growth strategies/internationalization, International affairs, FDI & trade -Urban and national promotion -Economic transformation -Smart Cities and sustainability -Innovation ecosystem building -Strategic Public-private partnerships.
Simon Cocking is the Chief Editor of Irish Tech News and Editor in Chief at Crypto Commonwealth. Simon has been working as an advisory board member for several other successful ICO launches who have achieved their ICO targets, to help with marketing, media, PR and strategy. He has been included on many global influencer lists of people to follow for fintech, blockchain, AI and other tech related topics.
Ized Uanikhehi is the CEO/CMO Loose Media, a dynamic digital marketing and advertising agency set in the hearts of Nigeria’s busiest city, Lagos where she has led her team of young and smart creatives to work and create insightful marketing campaigns for big corporations, brands and businesses like the digital bank, V, Afripay, government agencies, banks, Crowfunding organizations among others. Having previously founded TORA Africa, an impact driven Human Resources technology startup that recruits, trains, verifies and deploys workers in the informal sector, employing and putting over 10,000 Nigerians to jobs within and outside Lagos, Ized has taken up another daunting task to help build and grow brands that people love in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large. She is also convener of the largest community of digital marketing professionals in Africa - DigiClan and she is driven by her life's goal to bridge the digital (gender) divide in Africa with this community and collaboration. A graduate of Biochemistry, with 17-years post-college experience in Marketing, she has spent the last 7 years changing the digital marketing landscape of Africa through her works and adopting digital technology for advocacy and helping startups promote their businesses She has worked for and with Multi-billion naira International and local brands, successfully developing and working on a number of creative digital contents and offline marketing strategies to propel their brands forward. She was Director of Marketing and growth at MAX Okada, a 2-wheel ride hailing mobility company where she was key in ensuring that the company’s growth goals were achieved through effective marketing, communications and growth strategies. Before joining MAX she was the social producer at CNN Africa.
Neil Milliken is Atos representative on the Business Disability Forum Technology Task Force. Previously he worked at Iansyst - one of the largest providers of Integrated Assistive Technology Solutions in the UK. He delivers both strategy and services working with a wide range of clients internally and externally helping them to develop policies, processes and technology solutions to meet the needs of their staff and customers. These clients include: BBC, Department of Health, Ministry of Justice, Insolvency Service, and NHS.
Uri is the co-founder and CEO of Grupo BienAhora and BienFest, the largest wellness event and the leading organization of the wellness movement in Mexico and Latin America. With more than 10 years of experience in the financial sector, Uri held various high-level positions such as CMO in London, Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Danish online investment bank “Saxo Bank” in addition he has worked as a strategic consultant in the marketing agency "design: success" through which he collaborated closely with Larry Light, one of the pioneers and top experts in the Brand Management arena. In 2015, Uri decided to change 180 degrees his focus and vision to promote the development of healthy habits and wellness in Mexico and the Latin World. Today Uri and his brother Ade Alvarado lead the largest movement and are the organizers of the most important Latin Wellness Event and Wellness Awards.
Ricardo is the Branch Manager of EurA AG Portugal & Brussels .- As a technology and innovation consultancy operating throughout Europe, we support the market leaders of tomorrow in the innovation process since 20 years: from research and development of new products to market launch and international marketing of innovations. We accelerate innovations with the help of regional, state and European subsidies and implement cross-sectoral technology transfer. In addition, we manage more than 60 national and international innovation networks across a dozen sectors in which entrepreneurial developments and associations from science and industry are initiated.
Aaron is an entrepreneur with experience in technology, digital media and retail. In 2015 he founded Touristly a travel startup that aimed to help tourists discover and book attractions across Asia Pacific. In 2017, the business was acquired by AirAsia to spearhead its digital transformation with the aim of monetising the data from the 100m travellers who fly every year. Touristly was later rebranded to Vidi and has now become AirAsia.com where Aaron remains as a senior advisor. He currently serves as General Partner at Scaleup Malaysia, an accelerator looking to help start-ups build and scale to the next level. The accelerator has invested in over 20 companies so far and will soon launch its 3rd Cohort in Q2 of this year. ScaleUp Malaysia aims to invest and scale 50 companies over the next 3 years. Aaron is passionate about start-ups and is excited to work with founders who want to use technology to change the world around them.
As the Senior VP of Public Affairs, Ms. Tan is responsible for setting and executing Public Relations and Government Relations strategies for Huawei USA. From 2014 to January 2019, Ms. Tan served as the President of Global Media and Communications for Huawei, setting and executing media and communications strategy for the entire company. She was instrumental in promoting Huawei’s thought leadership, corporate values, key products and solutions, and making Huawei one of the top 100 brands in the world. The scope of her work included: Strategic communications planning for all three Business Groups / Managing companywide engagement with international and Chinese media / Guiding advertising, social media, and branding campaigns aimed at building Huawei’s global profile / Representing the company at major industry events and conferences, such as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation Prior to this role, Ms. Tan was responsible for corporate branding, where she led the initiative to transform Huawei into a global brand. She also managed Huawei’s integrated marketing communications in the United States. Before joining Huawei, Ms. Tan worked at Verizon, where she was responsible for consumer strategy and digital marketing, and at TXU Energy, where she led customer acquisition efforts in the newly deregulated energy markets. Ms. Tan studied Biology at Tsinghua University in Beijing and holds a Master’s Degree in Neuroscience from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where was a PhD candidate. She holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Tara Moss is the internationally bestselling author of 13 books of fiction and non-fiction, a documentary maker, Edna Ryan award winner and an outspoken advocate for human rights and the rights of women, children and people with disabilities. Her #1 bestselling memoir The Fictional Woman examined the fictions and stereotypes around women and girls, and her latest book is the internationally best-selling novel The War Widow, featuring feminist 1940s PI Billie Walker and her disabled war vet assistant, Sam Baker. She is an Edna Ryan Award winner and UNICEF Australia’s National Ambassador for Child Survival. As a disabled woman and ambulatory wheelchair user diagnosed with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) after a hip injury in 2016, Tara has used her public profile to help de-stigmatize disability, chronic illness and chronic pain. In 2020 she accepted the honorary role of Pain Champion with Pain Australia. In the media and through her page ‘Tara and Wolfie’ (named for one of her first mobility aids), she brings advocacy and visibility to issues of disability and chronic illness, and the need to normalize mobility aids.
Anca Petre, PhD, is a digital health entrepreneur passionate about the impact of emerging technologies in healthcare. She is the co-founder of 23 Consulting, a Paris-based firm known for detecting the latest tech trends in healthcare. She is also a podcast producer at MedShake Studio, where she gives patients and health professionals a platform to tell their stories. Anca is also an advisor for health tech startups such as SUN, a dynamic and engaged young patients’ community. Anca completed a double degree in pharmaceutical sciences at Université Paris-Saclay and management at INSEEC Business School. During her PhD, she specialized in the use of blockchain technology in the healthcare industry. In her work as an international thought leader, she is focused on bringing new technologies to the health industry and involves patients in the digital innovation process. As a TEDx speaker, she travels the world to give inspiring and impactful talks that raise awareness about tomorrow’s health system and instill change.
Antonio Santos is a Social Media Business Evangelist and Senior Data Intelligence Expert, at Atos, focusing on Digital Inclusion, Social Media Engagement, and Social Business. He is a Sociologist with expertise on Applied Research; he previously worked in the Media, Military, Public Sector and Telecom before joining Siemens IT in 2006 in Cork and Atos in 2011. According to Onalytica who measures online presence and influence, Antonio is the 3rd most influential employee in the world, in Consulting based on data from Twitter and LinkedIn and number one on Sustainability amongst employees of the 48 most important consulting companies globally. In 2014 with Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken he creates axschat. A weekly Twitter chat on diversity and inclusion, who become the most popular twitter conversation on that topic over the last six years. AXSChat was chosen by Valuable 500 CEO Caroline Casey to become one of their primary media partners and to support their efforts to create a community to revolutionise disability inclusion through business leadership and opportunity.
Jewel is an Entrepreneur and Chemical/BioProcessing Engineer by profession. She has more than 20 years of experience spanning from environmental services, oil & gas, process engineering, and investor relations. She has worked globally with a focus in the UK, Australia, USA, and Nigeria. She is also a Co-author of the bestselling book The Art & Science of Success Volume 5, Proven Strategies From Today's Leading Experts. Jewel was born in the UK however, she considers herself a citizen of the world and spends most of her time abroad. She is passionate about the environment and 20 years ago, she established her own environmental services company. (Handpicked to assist the legislative compliance of various companies such as Rohm & Haas, Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Woodside Energy and Bitrez. Industry focus: Chemical and Environmental Engineering and innovation for the future within health and education. Passion: Making an impact on this world and striving to make a difference, mentoring professionals and younger creatives at the start of their careers (Sits on the board at Infant Jesus Academy Asaaba(IJAA)). She is also passionate about business development and currently sits on the board of VFD group, Abbey Mortgage Bank and Loosemedia. Strengths: fast-paced, growth-minded, leadership, performance-driven, problem solving, compassionate, multi-tasker, and organised. Weaknesses: To be disciplined, my strive for perfection is my greatest strength and weakness. Hobbies: Biohacking/health optimisation, fitness, exploring the world. Values: Loyalty, critical thinking, compassion, positivity, self-reflection, integrity and accountability.
Joao Bocas is a World’s #1 Wearables recognised Thought Leader, Global Keynote Speaker, #B2B Digital Influencer, Influencer Marketing, CEO at Digital Salutem. Joao Bocas’s global expertise, global networks and experience combined +25 years of business acumen. He is an expert and keynote speaker in wearable technology and is a globally recognized business thought leader, mentor, advisor, and entrepreneur.
John is a serial entrepreneur and investor, and the Founding Partner of Hatcher+, a next-generation, data-driven venture firm that utilises a massive global database in combination with AI and machine learning-based technologies to identify early-stage opportunities in partnership with leading accelerators and investors worldwide.
Dave Steele is an award-winning poet, author, public speaker, singer, and advocate for the blind. Diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) in 2014, this genetic eye condition left Dave “severely sight impaired.” Together his wife, Amy, the family grappled with the difficult diagnosis as RP quickly left Steele an unemployed father of four. Feeling the stressors of financial debt and the loss of his independence, Dave turned to social media for support with his RP journey. He was also struck by the numerous misconceptions and stories of injustice being experienced by so many blind/visually impaired people all over the world. When a member in one of these online groups learned of Dave’s singing background, they invited him to perform at a meeting for those living with RP and Usher Syndrome. The experience inspired Steel’s idea for his “Stand By Me RP” song. Using the classic song by Ben E. King, Dave altered the lyrics to relate to how he felt losing his own sight to Retinitis Pigmentosa. In December 2014, Dave sought permission from the band Elbow, to alter the lyrics of their song “One Day Like This.” With the band’s blessing, Steele performed his version of the song at Joanne Milne’s “Breaking the Silence” book launch.
Daniel focuses his thirty-five+ years of cross-industry, international experience building and leading multi-functional teams in the strategy and planning of major digital transformation and growth programs, with a primary focus on Fintech, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Enterprise and Solutions Architecture, and Product Innovation and Transformation. Working at Board and C-suite level, his multi-cultural business-focused technology perspective enables him to collaboratively 'translate' cross-organisational visions, needs and objectives into cohesive, coherent and executable plans. A contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Financial Times, he is considered a top ICO expert including IDACB, TokenMatch and ICOBench and he has been ranked in the #Cloud Global Power 100 Influencer List for several years. Invited to speak at events around the world, his speaking and presenting credits including TEDx, India Institute of Technology (IIT), UK-Canada Chamber of Commerce, Cloud Forum, CASS Business School, WireSummit Delhi, eNigeria, MoNex Frankfurt, Pirate and other industry-leading events.
Vernon is the author of The Stairway to Happiness and The Way - Finding Peace in Turbulent Times. He has over 30 years of Board Of Directors experience in US, UK and EU, in FMCG (former CEO Reckitt, Chairman Firmenich,Thomson Travel, Photo-Me, Gala Group, Redco Ltd); IT (current Board Director and Chair Audit, Atos SE) Insurance (Board Director, chair remuneration com, Zurich Insurance), publishing (Board Director, chair audit Pearson plc) family and privately owned businesses (Cofra SA) and other smaller private and public businesses and start-ups. Founding Director/Member of UK’s Food Standards Agency for 5 years, Governor Harrow School and Trustee of John Lyons Charity for 15 years. Advisory board member of various businesses. Speaker on Leadership, Change, Personal Development, Wellbeing and Managing Stress, delivered to Corporates, Conferences, Universities and Schools. Areas of expertise include Business and Strategic Development, Corporate Change, Governance (in its widest sense), Leadership, Executive Coaching, Mentoring, Personal Transformation and Career advice.
Melanie Mohr is a Berlin-based entrepreneur with 20 years’ experience in media, marketing and mobile applications. In 2016 she founded YEAY - the leading community for Generation Z to share honest recommendation videos with one another about the lifestyle products they love. In 2018 she became the founder and CEO of the WOM Protocol, the blockchain company helping brands tap into peer-to-peer recommendations, and digital publishers monetize their platforms in a user-friendly way through word-of-mouth content. Melanie is a four-time founder and a strong female presence in the tech and blockchain scenes. She is a member and Global Chapter Chair of the prestigious H2 network as well as a Chapter Lead of the Disruption Disciples. Melanie is a frequent speaker at tech, blockchain and marketing events around the world.
Guenther is a Partner with PwC in Zurich and Leader of PwC Legal Switzerland where he also heads the Legal FS Regulatory & Compliance Services practise. He is a member of PwC’s Global Legal Leadership Team directing the firm’s global legal practise in 90+ countries as well as PwC‘s former Global Financial Services Legal Leader and former Global LegalTech Leader. Guenther specialises in structuring, authorization and ongoing lifecycle management of financial intermediaries and their products. His passion as a practicing tech-enthusiast since 2002 is innovation linked to Exponential Technologies with a particular focus on achieving decentralization and he has also been working to promote sustainability since 2010 where he advocates a systemwide change towards a circular economy. He is the author of three books on innovation and disruption and of five books on European, Swiss and Liechtenstein regulation. He also authored and co-authored 100+ publications in international expert magazines and has to date been speaking at more than 200 conferences worldwide. Next to being a lawyer, Guenther is an entrepreneur and innovator in the legal field fully embracing technology. His believes that his job first and foremost is to provide an inspiring and rewarding environment that allows talent to grow on the basis of what he considers to be the future of legal services: interdisciplinary and diverse teams of passionate specialists working together on the basis of trust and respect and as part of a truly global legal network but also closely connected to all the other areas of expertise within PwC. He fundamentally believes that regulation has become a strategic dimension and he is passionate about translating legal into business with his team of great Swiss and EU attorneys and lawyers. He is also passionate about rock music (really his second biggest love after his wonderful family), vinyl records & custom motorcycles. Always interested in innovative ideas, exchange on innovation, legal & regulatory subjects as well as legal talent to join his team.
Eduardo is a native of Argentina who lived 10 years in Brazil and works in projects in the United States since 2012. Over the past seventeen years, Eduardo worked with International business, integration of complex value chains, product development, import-export, supply chain operations, and business consulting in Brazil, Argentina, and US. In the last 9 years developed an impressive career in ArqBravo Group, a sustainable mobility innovation company, leading its success in the US, integrating technology companies from all around the world to work over solutions on Sustainable Transportation, Renewable Energy sources application and communications. As the company's CEO is in charge of establishing operations, strategic alliances, articulating efforts with private and governmental institutions to create solutions to complex problems. Specialties: Strategic view, lateral thinking, International Business, negotiation, logistics, product development.
Presenting global thought leaders, tech industry experts & CEOs
Hirander Misra is the Chairman and CEO of GMEX Group (GMEX), offering innovative solutions for the creation & operation of electronic exchanges and post trade infrastructure in securities, FX, derivatives, commodities, crypto & digital tokenised assets. He is also Chairman of SECDEX, a digital exchange ecosystem and a Partner at Digital Partners Network, which provides digitally focused professional services and runs a digital investment fund.
Hilton is Vice Chairman of the Ztudium Group of companies that include techabc limited, citiesabc, openbusinesscouncil, fashionabc and has an unique high profile professional in the financial industry, asset management and fintech. Hilton is the co-founder of ztudium group an ecosystem specialised in bridging the best of AI, Fintech and Blockchain. With more than 30 years of Banking and Asset Management experience in London from Quantitative Asset Management, Capital Markets, Hedge Funds and Private Equity.
Results-oriented, adaptable, established executive equipped with 20 years of success driving global business development and growth in large, multimillion-dollar organizations and private start-ups. Extensive experience spearheading operations within complex, technology-driven environments ensuring adherence to organizational strategies and best practices. Expert at building and directing high- performing, cross-functional teams with a focus on leadership, collaboration, and continuous expansion. Adept at utilizing remarkable communication skills to conduct successful negotiations as well as cultivate and maintain strategic relationships with executives, internal and external stakeholders, clients, and staff. Business-minded visionary adept at leveraging technologies to achieve marketplace advantage and meet strategic goals and objectives. Dedicated to employing deep knowledge of industry-leading systems and processes while driving business impact, ROI, and performance. Areas of Expertise: Business Management; Development Strategic Planning; Consulting Business Analysis; Intelligence Business Process; Productivity Team Leadership; Development Relationship Building Consultative sales approach Business; Revenue Growth Negotiation; Communications Digital Forensics; CyberSecurity Data & Voice Encryptions; Protection Blockchain Technology; Security Intelligence Gathering; Analytics.
Max, Co-Founder, Managing Director and COO of Iconic Holding, a global crypto asset manager, started his career as a management consultant, where he advised Furtune500 companies from the steel, utility, and retail industry on topics like digitalization, project management and IT integration. He transitioned into Private Equity at an Asset Management group with € 40 Billion assets under management, then joined a fintech company builder, where he built several alternative finance startups from scratch together with the management team. He holds a BA in international management, an MBA, is Harvard educated and completed the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. Additionally, he serves on the supervisory board of MLP, Germany’s biggest independent financial advisor group and is personally invested into several startups as a business angel.
Mun-Gu Park is a Partner with KPMG in Korea in Digital Transformation CoE / Operations Consulting & Tax. He specializes in various areas including; customs diagnostics, customs valuations with cost analysis & expense allocation, trade remedy, trade disputes advisory, designing & implementing FTA origin calculation systems and conflict mineral advisory. Furthermore, Mun-Gu Park works closely with KPMG’s Global Industrial Manufacturing practice to drive and deliver KPMG’s i4.0 service offerings in his capacity as the KPMG country leader of i4.0. in Korea.
An author on the subject of the art market and western art history, Aidan has been consulted by the media as an expert in his field, with recent appearances on the BBC, CNN and Sky News regarding affairs such as the exhumation of Salvador Dali. He has widespread coverage from the New York Times, Guardian, TIME magazine to international coverage in China and Russia. His specialism is Modernism, particularly the School of Paris and Modern British. In 2019 Aidan developed the concept of the world’s first ultra realistic robot artist called Ai-Da. Bringing a team of experts together, called the Oxfordians, Aidan was able to devise a cutting edge artistically creative robot. Named after Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer of all time, Ai-Da’s first exhibition at the University of Oxford created a media storm, appearing in over 1000 publications worldwide. This led the way to Ai-Da appearing at the Barbican, Tate Modern, and being interviewed by Tim Marlow, the then Artistic Director of the Royal Academy. In 2020 Ai-Da gave a TEDx talk to great acclaim, and a further exhibition at the United Nations.
An impassioned architect, urbanist, and entrepreneur, Michael Jansen studied architecture at Yale and Cambridge and has founded and led high-growth companies in the U.S. and Asia for more than two decades. He became CEO at Cityzenith in 2010 and began a personal mission to revolutionize use of data to transform the global built environment. He has been featured by CNN, CNBC, the BBC, plus other world-wide media, and received several awards for his work, including a ‘40 Under 40’ accolade from highly respected industry publication, Building Design + Construction. In 2014, Michael was honored as a ‘World Cities Summit Young Leader’ in Singapore for his life-long contribution to improving sustainability and the quality of city life and, in 2019, received a Chicago Innovation Award for Cityzenith’s ground-breaking work in the Digital Twin arena. A husband and father of three, Michael speaks Chinese and Hindi, has travelled to more than 90 countries, swims a lot, and plays the guitar.
Dr. Eva Szalkai Csaky is the Executive Director of the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity at SMU, co-founder of the Inclusive Economy Consortium and the President of FinTech4Good Global. She has 25 years of global experience in the areas of climate-smart inclusive economic development and fostering solutions to pressing societal problems in those areas through innovation and social entrepreneurial approaches. Her work leverages transformational technologies for high impact solutions; from access to finance to energy access and conservation, resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and sustainable and inclusive value chains. Financial and policy innovations are integral to all her efforts to ensure sustainability and systemic impact. Prior to her current roles, she worked for 18 years at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, where she developed innovative programs and financing mechanisms to empower small businesses, farmers and social enterprises. Eva holds an MS in Finance from George Washington University and a PhD in Public Policy from Duke University.
Bas van Beers is a Strategic Business & Leadership Developer. His firm FRINGE. develops winning Service propositions re. B2B2C Value Chains, leading to new Business Growth in Sustainability and Service Industries, by: • managing Open Innovation processes, engaging the people involved; • coaching top management and their teams in commercial, result oriented attitudes and behavior, innovation and process improvement; • design Change- and Development plans and make them happen, integrated in the practice of the involved managers and professionals.
Nitin is a self-driven, inspired senior executive with a lineage of establishing successful business from concept to commission. He is leading successfully various verticals of Alqimi Group in India since early 2008. A management graduate with dual specialisation in marketing and Information technology started his career post MBA as marketing executive in 2001 with a US based IT company and in a span of 5 years began heading the sales and marketing with complete P & L responsibilities. With a brief stint in the year 2007 at tecnova for consulting and later that year with Oracle India for developing the Oracle Unbreakable Linux market for North America moved to ALQIMI in early 2008 for establishing the presence of Alqimi Group in india. Nitin is currently responsible for Alqimi Groups initiatives in india for Big Data Analytics.Managing the Partner relationship with IBM,Leading the GTM initiative in india for Big Data Analytics & Insights for various verticals including e-commerce , Retail , Healthcare , Edutech and finance. Nitin also Manages all facets of organisation in India including planning , operations , compliances , Human resource & Sales.
Eduardo is a native of Argentina who lived 10 years in Brazil and works in projects in the United States since 2012. Over the past seventeen years, Eduardo worked with International business, integration of complex value chains, product development, import-export, supply chain operations, and business consulting in Brazil, Argentina, and US. In the last 9 years developed an impressive career in ArqBravo Group, a sustainable mobility innovation company, leading its success in the US, integrating technology companies from all around the world to work over solutions on Sustainable Transportation, Renewable Energy sources application and communications. As the company's CEO is in charge of establishing operations, strategic alliances, articulating efforts with private and governmental institutions to create solutions to complex problems. Specialties: Strategic view, lateral thinking, International Business, negotiation, logistics, product development.
Nikhil Malhotra is the global head of innovation and creator of Maker’s Lab, a unique Thin-q-bator space within TechMahindra with 20+ years of experience. Nikhil has been a researcher all his life and is now leading the growth of AI, machine learning, robotics and quantum research within TechMahindra. Nikhil’s area of personal research has been how quantum computing and neuroscience has inspired the growth of AI and how the two fields can merge in the future. Nikhil has also designed an indigenous robot in his lab, as a personal assistant. The current bets he has undertaken is how quantum physics and computing can give us better cancer drugs. One of his visions is to enable machines to talk in local Indian dialect. There are 1645 dialects in India and 26 mother tongues and 80% of Indian population does not speak English. Nikhil is researching on Sanskrit along with Quantum Computing and how this ancient Indian language could sow the seed for the next computer revolution.
Armando Gonzalez is a technology entrepreneur and the CEO and Co-founder of RavenPack, the leading provider of big data analytics for financial institutions. At RavenPack, he oversees all product design and engineering of the company’s data products and analytical tools. Armando is a recognized expert in applied big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. He is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable authorities on systematic data analysis in finance. Armando Gonzalez is a recognized speaker at academic and business conferences across the globe. Armando holds degrees in Economics and International Business Administration from the American University in Paris. As a thought leader, his commentary and research has appeared in leading business publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, among many others.
Prakriti focuses on building peace & harmony and to the arrest the overwhelmingly large unrest of mental and emotional health. Across the age spectrum she empowers people in a systematic way. New Initiative of WELLBEING VOLUNTEERS UNITED, is the need of the hour. Over 500+ Volunteers have come together and have been trained to provide a first line of defense over a Free Helpline. She is the director of the Poddar Wellness, a wellness company focused of mental, emotional and psychological wellness, she has Counseling and healing centers, as well as corporate tie ups for delivering counselling and therapy based services to their employees. As the Chief Strategy Officer with the National Women’s Parliament, Prakriti singlehandedly handles strategic planning, direction and execution of the NWP. This platform aims to bring the collective voice of women over various agendas specifically to move them towards participatory democracy.
Widy Medina is Co-founder and CEO of Telebionix, specializing in developing and managing innovative healthcare and bio-sensing technologies. He brings over 25 years of experience in automated manufacturing design and deployment for medical devices and high-end consumer technologies. Medina’s background in electronics and robotics informs his skills to innovate while improving industry manufacturing standards. As a leader, Medina excels in leading and aligning cross-functional and international teams primed to deliver transformative and breakthrough results.
Faris is a storyteller, strategist, and a natural connector of ideas, people, and places. Faris worked in the corporate world for many years and after watching a life changing TED Talk, he struggled to find a role that fit his skill set and interests. So he created his own. As Instigation Protocol’s Chief Instigator, Faris collaborates with cities and forward thinking blockchain startups to transform flawed systems, achieve SDG’s, and prioritize human value over shareholder value. He’s also won mega infrastructure projects in the Middle East, sold financial products to working families in New Jersey, interviewed heads of state across Europe, worked the night shift at Subway, the day shift at Dairy Queen, and has taken an around the world trip for under $100. Faris thinks the ability to create a future where humans play a vital role is pretty amazing and hopes that feeling is contagious.
Fran Sanderson has been at Nesta for five years and has overseen the development of Arts & Culture Finance, which manages over £30m of impact capital. She has led on various projects including Amplified, a grant and structured support programme helping cultural and creative organisations to use digital ideas to generate social impact; Nesta’s involvement in the RSC’s Audience of the Future project; a Creative Immersive Mental Health fellowship programme with StoryFutures looking at the role of creatives in engaging users; and Alternarratives, a prize designed to bring the short story form into the 21st century with the aim of reigniting interest in reading for pleasure among young people. Fran started her career as a fund manager at JPMorgan, before spending some time travelling in a campervan and living off grid in southern Portugal with her young family. She started working in impact investment at the birth of Big Society Capital in 2012, and has a lifelong passion for the arts.
Based in Brazil since July 2015, Renata Ramalhosa is the co-founder and CEO of Beta-i Brazil a European group active on collaborative innovation doing open innovation programmes in areas such as circular economy, smart cities, finance, healthcare, tourism, education, and many other business areas; Renata is also part of the innovation board at IBGC - Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute and board member and advisor of companies and start ups; Renata came to Brazil as part of the UK diplomatic service as British Deputy Consul-General in São Paulo, Director for Trade and Investment of the UK in Brazil and appointed as Director for Investment for Latin America. She was also part of the board of the Prosperity Fund programme for Brazil with projects in Green Finance, Smart cites, Energy, Education, Trade facilitation, etc totalling funding of approx. 80 million until 2022. Her diplomatic journey began in 1999 at the Trade and Investment Department of the British Embassy in her homeland, Portugal. Ahead of her arrival in Brazil, she led the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for over six years. She developed a number of projects related to climate change, sustainable development, energy , which aimed to strengthen the relations between Portugal and the UK. Renata has degrees in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Aveiro and Environmental Engineering from the University of Greenwich. She also has a Masters Degree in Environmental Management and Economics from Imperial College London. She undertook a number of management and leadership courses in Europe and Brazil; In 2020 Renata was appointed as an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by HM the Queen.
Jaspreet Bindra is a leading expert on Digital Transformation, Blockchain, Future of Work, and AI. He was the Group Chief Digital Officer at Mahindra Group, a $20bn conglomerate, and a Regional Director at Microsoft before that. He is the author of the bestselling book ‘The Tech Whisperer: On Digital Transformation and the Technologies that Enable it’, published by Penguin Random House, as well as ‘The Immune Organisation: Future Proofing Organisations from COVID-like Disruptions, published by Amazon Westland. He was recognised as the inaugural ‘Digitalist of the Year’ by Mint and SAP in 2017, is a Global Moderator/Educator for Harvard Business, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Indian School of Business, and a Partner and Chapter Leader of Singularity University. Jaspreet has been awarded the Global (Exceptional) Talent Immigrant Visa by the UK Home Office for technology expertise for start-up/entrepreneurial capability. Jaspreet is the Founder of Digital Matters in India and Tech Whisperer Limited in UK, which does Advisory and Consulting work on Digital Transformation and Digital Technologies like AI, Blockchain, etc.
Patrick is the CEO & General Counsel of Novum Alpha, a quantitative digital asset trading firm, as well as the Deputy Chairman for the Novum Group. Appointed as an Advocate & Solicitor in 2005, Patrick specializes in blockchain technology law and was previously practicing with one of Singapore’s top blockchain technology law firms. He oversees trading teams in the United Kingdom and Singapore, analyzing and managing risks related to cryptocurrency trading for Novum Alpha and his writing is regularly featured in leading publications.
Maya is a Regenerative Entrepreneur, operations maven and emerging technology aficionado who applies the power of narrative, technology and regenerative design to world-changing ideas. Her career has spanned tech-startups, cleantech, regenerative design, film, video games and multiplatform projects. Her current projects and endeavors: Luman.io – COO – innovation and human capital strategy firm Global New Mobility Coalition – World Economic Forum project – content advisor / IEEE – Ethically Aligned Design – co-chair for the Diversity and Inclusion committee – ethics for AI/AS (volunteer position) / Innovation, Enterprise and Circular Economy MBA – currently enrolled – MBA was developed in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation RSA Fellow / Solar Punk SciFi Writer
LaMondré Pough is the Chief Sustainability Officer for Ruh Global IMPACT and host of multiple podcasts where he combines both his personal and professional missions to “create environments where all people are empowered and have a sense of belonging- where their insights, experiences and perspectives are truly valued." LaMondré began his career in Disability Inclusion as a college student in central South Carolina where he became the leading advocate at The Disability Action Center, the state’s first Independent Living Center. He went on to launch The LaMondré Pough Show Empowerment Radio and create the Best Buy Access Initiative for Best Buy Co. Inc., before joining TecAccess where he rose to VP of Sales and Marketing. A native of South Carolina, LaMondré was elected Chairman of the Student Advisory Board at Midlands Technical College where he studied Liberal Arts and English Literature. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Christian Humanities by The School of the Great Commission. Diagnosed before his second birthday with spinal muscular atrophy, LaMondré resides in Columbia, where he serves as the Chairman of Arts Access South Carolina and is a recognized leader and voice for the community of People with Disabilities.
My mission is to work as hard as possible to be the best man I can be intellectually, physically, and spiritually, so that I can be prepared to help others in the best way possible. Servant Leadership. I am competitive, driven and goal oriented. I want to make a difference and I work as efficient and hard as possible to achieve my goals.
Jeremy Lustman is a partner in DLA Piper’s Corporate and Securities group and leads the firm’s global Israel practice. Mr. Lustman spends most of his time physically on the ground in Israel, where he has developed a strong international network of Israeli companies, investors, entrepreneurs, bankers, accountants and local lawyers. He directly represents and oversees a significant number of key Israeli relationships that have touched upon more than 35 different international jurisdictions and more than 40 DLA Piper global offices. These clients cover virtually all sectors of the Israeli economy. More info on this bio and representation transactions can be viewed at: www.dlapiper.com/jeremy_lustman/ In addition, Mr. Lustman maintains a focused US-component of his practice that operates at the intersection of corporate, real estate and hospitality law. Mr. Lustman assists public and private companies, investment funds and cash flow lenders in business transactions, including M&A, debt financings, equity investments, and joint ventures. In addition, he has significant experience in the hospitality industry, including transactions on hotels involving franchise and management portfolios as well as joint ventures and equity investments in hotel/resort projects. Mr. Lustman graduated from Yeshiva University, summa cum laude, in 1996, and from Georgetown Law School, cum laude, in 2000. He is a member of the bars of Maryland and the District of Columbia. Mr. Lustman has served the community in a number of capacities. He currently sits on the board of Simcha Layeled, an Israeli nonprofit institution focused on assisting disabled and seriously ill children. He is also a past board member of American Friends of Yeshivat Sha'alvim and of Hillel at University of Maryland College Park, and a past executive officer and board member of the Kemp Mill Synagogue, in Silver Spring, Maryland.
James Thurston is an international technology policy leader. As G3ict’s Vice President for Global Strategy and Development, he leads the design and implementation of new worldwide advocacy strategies and programs to scale up G3ict’s global impact. He has experience applying both technology and public policy to important social and economic challenges, ranging from promoting the inclusion and human rights of people with disabilities worldwide to using technology to increase the competitiveness of aging U.S. industrial centers. He has broad policy and management experience in both the private and public sectors and at the federal, state, and international levels of government.
Peter has an accumulated financial markets experience of over 35 years. His career began with a small Danish bank in 1986 and by the mid 1990’s he was working for Saxo Bank, one of the pioneers of the online trading industry where he became the Global Co-Head of Sales Trading and Technical Analysis. He was then seconded to Synthesis Bank, now Saxo Bank Switzerland, to establish their presence in the online trading world before leaving in 2006 to establish JP Fund Services. Peter’s capital markets background sets him apart from many other fund services executives, with a bias towards solution finding, his experience is key in helping investment managers find the right balance of trading counterparts and technology, liquidity, hedging and banking facilities for funds/blockchain companies. Peter has also launched trademakers via JP Fund Services in Switzerland a portfolio platform for alternative investments.
Lori Golden is Ernst & Young, LLP (EY) Abilities Strategy Leader, driving efforts to build an enabling, inclusive environment for people of all abilities. She advises the firm's over 1,000 member AccessAbilities professional network, leads initiatives to enhance accessibility in EY offices, communications, meetings, trainings and technology, educate EY people on abilities issues and create new recruiting and employment models. Lori’s helped build innovative programs including WorkWell@EY on ergonomics; EY’s Neurodiversity Centers of Excellence; and We Care, helping colleagues support colleagues struggling with mental illness or substance misuse. A frequent speaker on disabilities employment issues, Lori serves on the US Department of Labor's Circle of Champions, the Disability: IN Global Roundtable, the Autism at Work Employer Roundtable, is Vice Chair of the Board of TransCen and served on the Board of Directors of the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) and its Corporate Advisory Board. Lori is a winner of EY’s Chairman’s Values Award and a two-time winner of the firm’s Better Begins with You Award. She has been with Ernst & Young 22 years and is a graduate of Harvard University.
Sarah Stites is the Development Officer for Caritas Aregak Foundation, an NGO devoted to the support and advancement of youth with special needs in Gyumri, Armenia. Among other initiatives, Caritas Aregak runs Aregak Bakery, Armenia's first café to intentionally train and employ young adults with disabilities. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Sarah is a dual citizen passionate about intercultural exchange, human dignity, and empathy.
Haibin ZHOU is the Founder and Executive Director of Easy Inclusion, the coordinator of ILO Global Business and Disability Network China Chapter, Chief Supervisor of Inclusion China and board member of Beijing Baixingyizhong Legal Service Centre for Persons with Disabilities. In2012- 2016, he worked in International Labor Office in China and Mongolia as National Programme Coordinator, and coordinatd UN Partnership on Rights for Persons with Disabilities in China and ILO Global Business and Disability Network in China. Before joining ILO, he works in WuHan Evening News as a reporter in 2008 to 2011, and reported on news of Hubei Province and Wuhan City governments and Communists’ Party Committee and National People’s Congress. Mr. Zhou gets a Master degree in Human Rights and Democratization in University of Sydney, Australia and a master degree in International Law in Institute of International Law in Wuhan University, China. He also gets a Graduate Certification on International Relations in Johns Hopkins University–Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies and BA in International Law in Northwest University of Politics and Law.
For over five years as COO of Ruh Global IMPACT, Richard has leveraged his unique background in Executive Management, Design Engineering, Robotics, Electronics, System Design, Accessibility, and Master Planning. Richard worked for many years as a Walt Disney Imagineer and has designed and built fully immersive, accessible, and engaging smart environments worldwide. He has created and managed projects from single rooms to complex 2,200-acre multi-facility environments. He now regularly contributes to Accessibility & Inclusion best practices and strategies for corporate and government agencies globally. Richard is active with Accessibility & Inclusion advocacy in both the public and private sectors. Richard understands the complexities through firsthand expertise with designing and managing projects for; Accessibility, Smart Environments, Machine Learning, AI, Robotics, IoT, Enhanced End-user Experiences, and Integrated VR & AR Systems.
Coco Airlie Consulting was formed by Rhona Morrell in 2017. She is a business mentor for the Prince's Trust, a founding member of Ark2030 a global UN decade of change initiative to reverse climate change by2030, a founding member of Women Who Do Wonders, podcaster and private investor. Rhona works across global clients in FMCG, Apparel, NFP, Retail goods and brands, what she does best is delivering projects and SOW’s with pace, tenacity & integrity, her ability to engage at all levels is exceptional and she is not afraid to dig deep and ask the right (sometimes hard!) questions. Rhona also provides a due diligence process for potential investors, that allows key questioning for investors to analyse and assess potential partnerships. Due to Rhona’s experience, she is well equipped to help investors with startups. Rhona is an excellent project and change manager and experienced in Stage & Gate & Innovation. Currently working on AI, FMCG, Charity & Networking initiatives.
Bachelor degrees in Biology and Agronomy at University of São Paulo State - USP, master's degree in Animal Production at USP and doctor of science in Agroecosystems Ecology at USP. Worked as Environment Manager in a multinational automotive company. Was researcher at the Institute of Animal Science of APTA - Sao Paulo Agency for Agribusiness Technology between 2007 and 2010. He is currently a researcher at Embrapa Southeast Livestock in São Carlos, São Paulo. Has experience in Animal Science with emphasis in Sustainable Production Systems mainly in methane emissions and mitigation strategies. Is a member of the Technical Committee in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication - MCTIC for the preparation of the Brazilian National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. Participates in the Technical Advisory Group on enteric methane of the FAO/ LEAP - Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership. Was a member of the International Management Committee of the LANDMARK Research Network of the European Union. Is a reviewer of IPCC and World Bank reports. Since January 2014 he has held the position of Assistant Director of Research and Development at Embrapa Southeast Livestock.
Managing Partner at CarbonBlue Ventures, Cofounder of Polkabase, Expert of Web3 Ecosystems such as Polkadot and Tezos. Charlie is a specialist of Blockchain and related applications. He is the co-founder of PolkaBase with active engagement in Chinese Polkadot community. Charlie has more than 7 years of experience in blockchain industry with emphasis in community building, ecosystem development and growth marketing. He has successfully incubated and supported multiple polkadot projects to into global level. Organizer of TEDxHangzhou, Organizer of ThingsCon Shanghai. Alumni of Aspire Academy Harvard leadership program.
Darren is a Global Program Manager at Eli Lilly and has also been leading the Enable Employee Resource Group (ERG) since 2015. Darren is currently driving a global disability strategy to create a disability confident culture. Its first major focus is to improve accessibility in physical and digital environments
Ztudium VP Partner Brazil - Latin America. Reseacher at the Productive Chains and Knowledge Management Group - Production Engineering Department - Poli / USP / CNPq. Researcher at the C. A. Vanzolini Foundation: Smart Cities (Conecticity). Post doctorate in Production Engineering. Theme: Blockchain and Social Business. Social cryptocurrencies and solid waste management. PhD Professor in Technological Innovation and Organizational Strategies. Master in Economic Law. MBA in Branding. C0-founder and former director of marketing and sales at CIMCORP - TELNET. Former General Manager of CAD CAM at Villares. Business Partner of IBM and INGRAM MICRO in Digital Business Transformation and Blockchain. Director of the consultancy and services company LF1 Technological Innovation and Organizational Strategies.
Olivia is an AI Ethicist who works with entrepreneurs to bring ethical analysis into technology development. She believes there is strength in human values that, when applied to artificial intelligence, lead to robust technological solutions we can trust. She holds a BA from the Honors College of Baylor University in Philosophy and Entrepreneurship, as well as a MSc in Philosophy, concentration in AI Ethics, from the University of Edinburgh. Currently, Olivia works as the Chief Executive Officer of Ethical Intelligence where she leads a remote team of over thirty experts in the Tech Ethics field. She is on the Founding Editorial Board of Springer Nature's AI & Ethics Journal, Save the Children US External Ethics Committee, and is co-chair of IEEE's AI Expert Network Criteria Committee.
William is a General Partner at SOSV, a US$700m+ venture capital fund known as "the Accelerator VC” with a >30% net realized IRR, where he is the Managing Director of Chinaccelerator, SOSV’s global Internet accelerator and the first accelerator in China and Managing Director of MOX, the mobile only accelerator platform with 130m smartphone users in SE Asia. SOSV is the #3 most active lead Investor in the world in 2018 according to Crunchbase. William joined SOSV from SingTel Innov8 Ventures where he was Managing Director supporting China investments. While at Innov8 he led investments including Yodo1 (mobile games), GMobi (mobile phone platform), DemystData (fintech), Lekan (children's media platform), and Massive Impact which was acquired by GMobi. Previously, William was a Partner at Softbank China & India Holdings, a venture capital firm backed by Softbank and Cisco. While at SoftBank he led investments in Silk Road Telecom (SRT) - in mobile enterprise cloud SaaS, Playspan - a payment platform acquired by Visa (NYSE: V), Punch Entertainment - a Vietnam mobile game developer acquired by DeNA (Tokyo: 2432), and Peacesoft - a Vietnam eCommerce and payment platform backed by eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and MOL Group (NASDAQ: MOLG). William spent 11 years as an equity research analyst most recently with Deutsche Bank where he was responsible for Internet and Telecom Equipment in Asia and China technology, media and telecom. William was an active angel investor with 39 investments 2004- 2014. In 2006 he was ranked #3 All-Asia analyst for Technology/Software and IT Services by Institutional Investor Magazine Asia. In 2005, he was ranked #1 stock picker in Technology, Media and Telecom, and #3 overall for Hong Kong/China by Starmine Thompson Reuters. He currently sits on the boards of advisors/directors for Neonan, Yodo1, DYAD, GMobi, Silk Road Telecom, iTalki, kineticOne, Angelvest (天使谷), Angelcrunch (天使汇), AAMA Shanghai and Techyizu. He holds a BA from Bowdoin College.
Principal at I Design Access, LLC and international architectural designer consultant for major infrastructure projects with a focus on inclusive design. Her experience comes from working for clients such as the International Paralympic Committee, national sports organizations and a variety of architecture firms. She has been involved as a consultant to oversee different sizes of projects from Olympic/Paralympic Stadiums and airports to smaller sports facilities, hotels and temporary infrastructure. The projects have taken place in Europe, Asia and The Americas in a dozen different countries. She is a Paralympic swimmer and former member of the USA Team for the London 2012 Games. She is currently a board member of the Americas Paralympic Committee as the Athlete Representative for the region. She is also serving as a Commissioner for the Houston Planning and Houston Airport Commissions. She has experience as a keynote speaker in several conferences, universities and interviews on different media outlets on issues related to inclusion and architecture.
Marcelo is a blockchain pioneer in Brazil. He founded flowBTC, one of the first exchanges in Brazil, in 2015. In 2016, he started Finchain, a blockchain solutions and investments firm that provided services to startups, funds and large companies in Brazil. Prior to that, Marcelo worked at Deutsche Bank as the Head of Equity Trading in São Paulo. He has an MBA from the University of Michigan and Economics bachelors degree from UFRJ.
An innovative thinker and technology evangelist with 11-years of experience in designing, delivering and capitalising innovation projects, deeply collaborating with public, private and academic stakeholders. Experience of delivering more than 20 multi-million digital & innovation projects across transport, energy, environment, healthcare & social care, agriculture, and pharmaceutical sectors underpinned a variety of novel business models and trendy technologies (AI, AR/VR, edge computing). Led team to create incubation/innovation centre from scratch. Focus on business cases, incubation, and early stage investment. In-depth knowledge of smart city planning, autonomous vehicle testbeds & HMI, precision farming, healthy ageing, energy trading, IoT cyber security and urban resilience. Connected to wide networks across UK local governments, incumbents, SMEs and universities.
Subhash is a recipient of the "UK Tech Nation Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa" in Digital Technology and he is an Alumni of UK DIT’s “Global Entrepreneur Programme” where his company Lemon Advisors UK is recognized as an “unique disruptive technology of exceptional global potential”. He has over 02 decades of senior level corporate experience and over a decade of running his global entrepreneurial venture. He is the Founder & MD of Lemon (www.lemonadvisors.co.uk), a global tech advisory firm and Technoplat (www.wearetechnoplat.tech), a global venture builder firm, operating out of London, UK and Singapore. In addition, Subhash is also the President – Global Partnerships as well as on the Board of Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) , a SpaceTech Data company, incubated out of University of Edinburgh. He is an Advisor and Board Director at i4t UK Ltd., a Retail Tech company having customers across geographies. He is an Ambassador of Tech Nation UK and is also a judge at Tech Nation’s Rising Star 3.0 Programme." He is also a Mentor at UK Tech Nation, Natwest, Level39 and a host of other global incubators.
Khalid is a FinTech entrepreneur and advisor. He is a Board Member of CoinMENA, a fully- regulated crypto assets exchange. He is also a Board Member of Oqal – Bahrain Chapter, which is the largest and most active angel investing network in the GCC. Additionally, he is a Member of the Finance, Insurance & Tax Committee of the Bahrain Chamber. He was previously the Founding CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay, which is the largest FinTech platform in the MENA region bringing together around 100 different stakeholders from the public and private sector. Prior to that, he was a Business Development Manager in the Bahrain Economic Development Board focusing on promoting Bahrain's financial services sector and attracting new investments into the sector. He also worked in Ernst & Young’s advisory practice and in SEI in London, within the investment management unit. Khalid has attained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Exeter (First Class Honours) and Master’s Degree from Imperial College London, both in the United Kingdom.
Othmane Zrikem is a Moroccan-French Data Science & Digital technologist. He is the Chief Data Officer and part of the founding team at A/O PropTech, where he designs and executes innovative investment strategies combining data-driven methodologies and financial engineering. Previously, Othmane was Lead Strategist at the largest Data & AI consulting firm in Europe employing over 220 Data Scientists worldwide. During his tenure at Ekimetrics he advised several Fortune 500 companies about transformation and their Data Science & AI strategy implementation roadmap. Othmane is a board member and business angel in several European AI and FinTech Startups. He is a guest lecturer for Masters degree at Centrale Paris, ESSEC Business School and the Science Po School of Journalism. He also regularly speaks at technology events. Othmane has written over 50 business publications covering AI, SmartCity, FinTech and Data Science. Othmane holds a Master of Science in Management from EM Lyon and an Econometrics Bachelor from Sorbonne University. Othmane currently lives between London, Paris and Berlin.
Darryl is an Accessible Computing Innovation Manager in the Accessibility Office at Intel. He works at the intersection of technology and human experience helping discover new ways for people with disabilities to work, interact, and thrive. Darryl’s mission is to connect his passion for AT innovation with Intel’s disability inclusion efforts to enable people to reach their full potential, regardless of ability.
David is a Costa Rican Political Scientist with his MBA and masters in diplomacy. He is also a leader, advocate, social media specialist, and communication strategist. David has experience in public policy implementation, development, evaluation, and consultancy services for NGOs like UNESCO and others linked to the European Union. David ́s professional background is mainly in work with minorities, ensuring they have access to their rights. His primary focus is to expand Ruh Global IMPACT's vision across the globe and impact the lives of People with Disabilities both in developed and developing countries. He has spoken in Latin America and the US on disability inclusion and accessibility. He has been asked to be a Visiting Professor on these topics and the Future of Work for The University Del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. David recently was a keynote speaker at the Future of Work and the Employment of Persons with Disabilities in one of the first conferences on this topic in Colombia. David is fluent in Spanish and English and often advocates for Americans (Latin, South, and North America) that speak Spanish. 15 to 20% of the US population are Spanish Speakers, and this group is often disenfranchised in the US.
Dr. Amir Guttman founded Aviv Venture Capital and serve as its managing partner since 2001. Aviv is a venture capital fund focusing on Israel-related revenue stage technology companies (www.avivvc.com). In addition, Amir teaches courses on the process of venture creation and new business models in the MBA programs of Arison School of Business at IDC, Israel. Prior to founding Aviv, Amir served for 6 years as member of the senior management of Discount Investments Corp (DIC). He initiated and executed a wide variety of investments, business development and M&A activities and served on the boards of portfolio companies including Given Imaging (NASDAQ: GIVN), Tambour (TASE), Maxima (TASE), Tradanet Electronic Commerce (a joint venture with GE Information Services), SDL Technologies, the Incubator for Entrepreneurship at the Weitzman Institute of Science, and others. Amir earned his Ph.D. and Master Degrees in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley, California. He holds a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from the Tel Aviv University.
Jordy Vos is Team Leader Digital Construction at engineering consultancy firm Witteveen+Bos. He is based in Singapore, where his team is focussing on the digitalisation and automation of the Cities, with a strong focus on the construction processes. The technology of 3D-concrete printing is one of their key focus areas, with their design-to-manufacturing workflow as one of their main value propositions. Jordy worked on a wide range of innovative design, engineering, and construction projects around the world related to Smart Cities. As such, he is involved in 3D-concrete printing since the very first steps of the technology. He is for example involved as consultant in the development of 3D-concrete printing technology for The Housing Development Board. This 3D-printing project was visited by Singapore’s Minister Mr. Lawrence Wong and reached national news in September 2019. Besides, he helped many other industry stakeholders to embrace digital technologies, and jointly developed a strategic roadmap for the Building Construction authority of Singapore.
Nachi Das is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, business leader and former Wall Street executive, with nearly 30 years of experience in capital markets in New York, Asia and Europe. Nachi lives in Tokyo and New York and is actively investing in and building ventures in fintech, security/privacy, digital wellness/health, biotech, real estate, hospitality and leisure industries. Current ventures include building India’s first digital neobank for the unbanked, a security and privacy venture, wellness ecosystems and ventures in Japan, biotech ventures and disruptive digital health devices across Asia and the US. He has spent the last 25 years in Tokyo, New York and Europe in global leadership roles in investment, financing, fintech, structuring, risk management and portfolio management in Lehman Brothers, Barclays, State Street and fintech startups in the US. He has been an early contributor and mentor to the rapidly growing tech and venture ecosystem in New York . Nachi started his career developing critical, real- time telecom technologies for India’s first digital, telecom exchanges. Nachi has an MBA from International University of Japan (joint with Dartmouth University, USA) and London Business School and a BE in Electronics Engineering from NIT, Trichy, a top ten engineering institute in India.
Ivo van den Brand is the Global Brand CSR Lead for Huawei Consumer Business Group. As part of this role, Ivo is among other things the end-to-end program owner of StorySign, an award-winning free mobile app designed to use AI technology to help deaf children learn to read. Ivo is also a passionate ambassador for Huawei’s TECH4ALL program, a long-term digital inclusion initiative aimed at empowering people and organizations around the globe.
Aditya Malik is a successful tech-entrepreneur, CEO and MD of Talentedge, one of the leading new age, technology driven interactive education companies. Aditya believes in the prowess of a strong workforce and hence has meticulously built a team on the basis of their core expertise and their determination to work with passion. He holds an MBA from the University of Pune & is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Apart from his present role at Talentedge, he also serves as the Senior Partner at Lumis Partners (A private Equity fund). Prior to this, he worked as Senior Vice President & Head- Migrations and Quality , SVP & Head HR at Bank of America. He has also served as Assistant VP, GE Consumer Finance SBI cards, and VP Operations at GECIS. The diversity of roles that his career spans across fields like sales, ops, risk management and HR, at the national and international level, has endowed him with a 360 degree experience. This has held him in good stead in his start up entrepreneurial journey.
Angel has extensive experience investing in early-stage Technology ventures being currently invested in more than 40 companies in Europe and the US, in sectors such as, but not limited to Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Data Tech, Software Enterprise, SaaS, Data Analytics, etc... Angel is Founding Partner of Lanta Digital Ventures, Elevation Ventures and other companies. Angel holds several board member and senior advisor positions in VC/PE backed companies providing strategy and corporate advise in Technology, Internet, Fintech and Energy industries. Prior to that Angel was shareholder and Executive at Fractus, a European sucessful Technology start-up. Fractus was an early pioneer in developing internal antennas for smartphones, tablets and other wireless Internet of Things devices and holds an intellectual property rights portfolio of more than 40 inventions protected through over 120 patents applications worldwide. Its intellectual property and patent portfolio is widely recognized within the industry – licensees include Samsung, LG, HTC, Blackberry, Motorola, Sanyo and Sharp. Angel is occasionally teaching about entrepreneurship at different Business Schools. Angel holds an Economics and Business Administration Degree and an Executive Program from Stanford University, USA Angel loves hiking – his most memorable trips have been to India, Nepal, Kenya and Tanzania.
Robinson Hernandez has nearly 20 years of experience working at the intersection of business and government. He is currently the Executive Director of The Urban Tech Hub @ Company Ventures – a one-of-a-kind space purpose-built to support & materially advance entrepreneurs and companies seeking to address NYC’s most pressing urban challenges. Previously, Robinson served as an Executive Director in the Mayor’s Office & as Deputy Commissioner of Small Business Services for NYC, where he led a mayoral task force on regulatory reform and economic development to change how the City of New York interacts with small business owners. Prior to this, he was a Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Department of Buildings and also worked at the Mayor’s Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses. Earlier in his career, he had roles at the General Electric Financial Management Program, Ernst & Young, and at the business/government tech startup govWorks.com.
Asad Sultan is a twenty-five year veteran of the investment banking industry, including fifteen years in Asia. Asad Sultan is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Malayan Ventures, a company that provides bespoke cross-border advisory services for investment and execution of high-value projects in Malaysia. He is also Senior Adviser at JT Capital Asset Management.
Dr. Hila Oren is the CEO of the Tel Aviv Foundation. The Foundation serves as a driver of progress, elevating the City’s quality of life through education, the arts, sports, social services, the environment, and innovative urban projects. It has established more than 600 projects and raised over $550 million worldwide, thereby touching the lives of more than 450,000 residents and one million visitors and commuters to the city. Dr. Oren was thinker-in-residence in Christchurch, NZ. She is an expert on Smart Cities and a speaker around the world, giving lectures and workshops in Smart City Barcelona, and numerous major cities. Previously, Oren founded and served as CEO of Tel Aviv Global - an initiative powered by the Mayor's Office, developing and implementing a national project to elevate Tel Aviv’s positioning as Israel’s Global City – a leading international business center that specializes in innovation – promoting and marketing the city’s tourism. During her term, the Startup City vision was formed: a municipal strategic plan for investors, entrepreneurs, tourists, and students, connecting a city platform with a private initiative. As a result, Tel Aviv-Yafo was awarded the title 'Best Smart City in the World' in 2014. Dr. Oren is a board member of the Haifa Port and former member of the Board of Directors of 'Amidar' National Housing Company. She serves on the Executive Committee of Future Mobility, the board of the Daniel Rowing Center, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College, and the Advisory Board of the Charney Forum for New Diplomacy. Oren's PhD thesis from the Haifa University is about global branding of Tel Aviv. She holds a BA and MBA from Tel Aviv University and completed a program at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2020, Dr. Oren was Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in NYC.
James Aggrey Orleans is an experienced leader, with 25 years of experience in financial services and technology in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia. He has been working in the block chain and defi space for 3 years now and is currently head of business development at NimbusPlatform.io.
Dr. Céline Chi Hae Wong supports CSP as a Fellow, in particular in communication projects. She works at UBS within Global Wealth Management Digital Strategy & Business Execution. Prior to this role Céline has run her own Fintech Venture Capital fund out of Singapore after a successful exit of her startup digital payment company. She is a former BCG consultant with international work experience. In her free time, Céline recharges her batteries with sport activities, most preferably kitesurfing or supporting the family foundation.
Atsushi has 30 years’ experience in the tech/consumer industry in a variety of roles. During his 12 years in SoftBank, Atsushi worked closely with Masayoshi Son, founder of Softbank, holding various executive positions in the Softbank Group. These include Global Business Strategy SVP for global startup investments and JV formations, Bharti SoftBank India CEO, MySpace Japan CEO, InMobi Board member, SingTel JV Board member, Yahoo! Japan CMO and SVP of SoftBank Mobile. Hike Messenger, which he funded with an Indian partner, reached 100M registered users and $1.4B company value in 5 years. Prior to SoftBank, Atsushi played a key role in propelling the use of technologies as DoCoMo AOL Chief Marketing Officer, Coca-Cola Senior Brand Manager and Consultant for retail, manufacturing and distribution at Accenture. In 2016, Atsushi joined Mistletoe Inc. in Japan as Co-CEO before relocating to Singapore in 2017 to set up Mistletoe’s global headquarters there. As Managing Director of Mistletoe Singapore, Atsushi’s passion is in building the startup ecosystem in Singapore and the region. Atsushi received his B.Eng in Industrial Engineering and M.Eng in Mechanical Engineering (Robots and AIs) at Waseda University.
