GROW Tech that Matters 6 & 7 June 2023 The Egg, Brussels, Belgium
Digital
23
Supporting partners:
Invest Europe
Plug and Play
Eye-Able

Speakers

GREAT NAMES WITH GREAT IDEAS! 

Eva Maydell
Member of the European Parliament

Biography

Eva Maydell MEP (EPP)

Member of the European Parliament

Eva Maydell is a Member of the European Parliament and President of European Movement International, the largest organisation of associations and civil societies in Europe.
 
Maydell´s policy priorities include innovation and the use of new technologies as well as supporting entrepreneurs and sustainable investments in Europe. In the European Parliament, she is a member of the Industry and Economic Affairs Committees, Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Japan and member of the Delegation for Relations with the U.S.

MEP Maydell is the EPP Group Rapporteur on the Chips Act and the rapporteur on the Chips Joint Undertaking, a massive new planned EU public-private partnership for microchips. MEP Maydell is also the lead rapporteur in the Industry Committee on the AI Act, the first-ever general law on Artificial Intelligence, the Single Market Emergency Instrument as well as the EPP Group rapporteur on the NIS 2 Directive on cybersecurity. 

Eva Maydell is a Board Member for World Economic Forum’s Digital Europe program and a member of the WEF Global Future Council of Europe. Maydell has been awarded the European Parliament's MEP of the Year Award twice and has been featured in FT's 'New Europe 100' ranking of CEE's emerging change-makers, European Forbes' 30 Under 30 list, POLITICO’s 40 most influential MEPs and “POLITICO 28” list of people who shape Europe. 

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Jan Goetz
CEO & Co-Founder, IQM Quantum Computers

Biography

Jan Goetz

CEO & Co-Founder, IQM Quantum Computers

Jan is a quantum physicist and co-founding CEO of IQM, building next-generation quantum computers. IQM has assembled an exceptional team of international quantum experts developing on-premises systems for HPC and special applications. IQM has raised €128 million in Series A2 funding (in 2022), largest ever funding round raised by a European quantum computing company. Jan did his doctorate on superconducting quantum circuits at TU Munich and worked as a Marie-Curie Fellow in Helsinki at Aalto University, where he holds the title of docent. In 2020, Capital magazine selected him as one of 40 under 40 in Germany and he received an entrepreneurship award from the KAUTE Foundation. Jan is in the Board of the European Innovation Council EIC, the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC, and member of the German Federal Economic Senate as well as a Digital Leader and Global Innovator at the WEF.

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Aude Jalabert
Head of Brussels Office, Infineon Technologies

Biography

Aude Jalabert, LL.M., LL.M. Eur. (Munich)

Head of Brussels Office, Infineon Technologies

Aude Jalabert is Head of Office at Infineon Technologies, a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer, and greener.

With more than 8 years of experience in the area of semiconductors, she has led Infineon’s Trade Compliance Team before taking over as head of the Brussels public policy office.

Ms Jalabert holds law degrees from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas as well as Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich and started her career in the aeronautics industry as a legal counsel.

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Federico Menna
Chief Executive Officer, EIT Digital

Biography

Federico Menna

Chief Executive Officer, EIT Digital

Federico is EIT Digital’s Chief Executive Officer since March 2023. Prior to that he was the Chief Operations/Finance Officer as well as interim Chief Executive Officer since November 2022. He is responsible for the overall management of the organization, including the development and implementation of strategic objectives and directions. He is also in charge of EIT Digital’s operational and financial processes as well as the supervision, coordination and management of EIT Digital support functions such as IT, HR, Communications and legal. In addition, he is driving the acquisition of new EU-wide private and public activities, partnerships and income streams.

Federico joined the organisation in 2015 as innovation analyst and from 2017 to 2019 he led the Innovation and Education Operations team responsible for supporting the key EIT Digital processes related to the EIT grant cycle as well as the operational activities of the Innovation and Education pillars. From to 2020 to 2022 he acted as EIT Digital’s Head of Staff and Operations.

Prior to joining EIT Digital, Federico worked for several years for Vodafone Group where he was in charge of new technology transfer from trials and pilots to commercial deployment; in his most recent assignment, he led the pre-commercial pilot and the subsequent commercial launch of the 4G technology into some of the main Vodafone markets in Europe, including Italy and the UK. 

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Christiane Kirketerp
Head of Unit Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Policy, European Commission DG CNECT

Biography

Christiane Kirketerp

Head of Unit for Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Policies, European Commission DG CONNECT

Christiane Kirketerp de Viron has been the Head of Unit for Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy policies in the European Commission´s DG CONNECT since July 2022. Prior to this she was Member of Cabinet for the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, where parts of her responsibilities concerned the digital transformation of the European Commission as well as the cybersecurity of EU Institutions, Bodies and Agencies. During the Juncker Commission, Christiane served as Member of Cabinet for the European Commissioner for Research Innovation and Science, Carlos Moedas.  

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Eugenia Forte
Program Manager, Takeoff Accelerator, Plug and Play

Biography

Eugenia Forte

Program Manager, Takeoff Accelerator, Plug and Play

Eugenia graduated from the Polytechnic of Turin in Mechatronics Engineering with a thesis at the University of San Diego and with a Master in Business Administration at the Collège des Ingénieurs.

She has worked several years in CNH Industrial where she was involved in Industry 4.0, Agile development and Open Innovation strategies, managing relationships between startups and corporates in the Digital area.

Given her passion for the startup ecosystem, she took on the role of mentor and advisor at several entrepreneurial entities, becoming Business Developer at a social impact startup accelerator before joining Plug and Play with the role of Program Manager at Takeoff Accelerator.

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Gabriele Mazzini
Team Leader on the Artificial Intelligence Act
European Commission, DG CNECT

Biography

Gabriele Mazzini

Team Leader on the Artificial Intelligence Act
European Commission, DG CNECT

Gabriele Mazzini is the Team Leader on the Artificial Intelligence Act at the European Commission. He designed and led the writing of the proposal and is currently focusing on the negotiation of the AI Act with the Parliament and the Council. Before joining the European Commission Gabriele held several positions in the private sector in New York and served in the European Parliament and the Court of Justice. He holds a LLM from Harvard Law School, a PhD in Italian and Comparative Criminal Law from the University of Pavia and a Law Degree from the Catholic University in Milan. He is qualified to practice law in Italy and New York.

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Kirsi Nuotto
Chief Human Resources Officer, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Biography

Kirsi Nuotto

Chief Human Resources Officer, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Kirsi Nuotto is passionate about enhancing cultural transformation, international talent acquisition, leadership and developing people and well-being in organizations. Currently she is leading the strategic programme New Work at VTT, paving the way for the Future of Work and building the world’s most meaningful place to work. She is also a regular speaker on Future of Work, on leadership and well-being. In addition to her CHRO role at VTT she is a member of the board and chair of the people committee at Fintraffic and a member of Auntie advisory board. Kirsi is a graduate from the University of Helsinki, Finland with Master of Arts (French & Spanish philology and Communications).

She is the CHRO and Executive Leadership Team member at VTT, one of the leading technological research centers in Europe. Prior to joining VTT Kirsi has extensive experience in leading people agenda and transformation in various global companies and industries. Previously she has served as CHRO at Cargotec and Outotec and in a senior HR role at GlaxoSmithKline and as a board member at Posti.

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Prof. Eric Tschirhart
Special Advisor to the rector 'UNIVERSEH | European University'

Biography

Prof. Eric Tschirhart, PhD, MBA

Special Advisor to the rector "UNIVERSEH | European University" and "Université de la Grande Région"

Eric Tschirhart is full professor of physiology at the University of Luxembourg, special advisor to the rector, coordinating ‘UNIVERSEH European University’ and ‘Université de la Grande Région’. UNIVERSEH is an alliance of five universities, from five European countries, selected in July 2020 to conduct a new way of collaboration in the field of Space within the new “European Universities” initiative promoted by the European Commission. Prof. Tschirhart has a PhD in Pharmacology and an MBA. Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry and public research institutions, he joined the University of Luxembourg in 2002, participated in the expansion of Life Sciences in Luxembourg, before taking serial managerial positions at the University of Luxembourg, in research, finance & administration, technology transfer, fundraising, and academic organization as vice-president.

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Dan Bogdanov
Chief Scientific Officer, Cybernetica

Biography

Dan Bogdanov

Chief Scientific Officer / Director of the Information Security Research Institute
Cybernetica

Dr. Dan Bogdanov met his first significant privacy challenges while working with the data collection systems of the Estonian Genome Foundation. This pain inspired him to start researching cryptographic solutions for privacy problems. He is the inventor of Sharemind, a secure multi-party computation system for collecting, sharing and processing private data. Sharemind is a new kind of computer that analyses digital data without seeing the individual values. This achieves beyond-the-state-of-the-art data protection, as has been demonstrated in various applications processing tax, education, genomic and financial data. He has a deep and practical experience in understanding the power of data along with the importance of individual and corporate privacy, governmental data security and integrity. He is now working on digital identities as the Chief Scientific Officer at Estonian cybersecurity company Cybernetica.

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Natalia Olson-Urtecho
Director, Governments, Plug and Play Tech Centre

Biography

Natalia Olson-Urtecho

Director, Governments, Plug and Play Tech Centre

Natalia Olson-Urtecho is a serial entrepreneur, public policy expert & urban planner. She is the Government Director at Plug and Play. Appointed to the U.S. Innovation Advisory Board to advise Congress and the White House on competitiveness and innovation. She served in the Obama Administration as the SBA Regional Administrator.

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Leopold Summerer
Head of Advanced Concepts Team, European Space Agency ESA

Biography

Leopold Summerer

Head of Advanced Concepts Team, European Space Agency ESA

Leopold Summerer is a physicist, who obtained his PhD from the Technical University of Vienna. He has research stays in France, Germany, and Japan, and contributed to more than120 scientific publications.

Currently, Leopold Summerer heads ESA’s Advanced Concepts and Studies Office in the agency’s Technical Directorate, where he is responsible for the Discovery and Preparation element of the ESA Basic Activities.

Isabel Obieta
Programme Manager for Responsible Electronics, EIC

Biography

Isabel Obieta

Programme Manager for Responsible Electronics, EIC

Isabel obtained a Master Degree in Physics (Semiconductor Physics) from the University of the Basque Country (Spain) and subsequently, earned a Doctoral Degree in Science (Microelectronics-Materials for Sensors) from the University of Navarra (Spain).

She started her career at AT&T Microelectronics transferred to AT&T-Bell Laboratories (USA) in the field of modelling and simulation of electronic components. Back in Spain, she joined one of the leading manufacturers of Power Discrete components, as an R&D Engineer and later, became Manager of Engineering and Production of the Wafer Fab, what gave her a wide picture of the microelectronics industry. At that position, she started her links with the European Commission as the representative of the group in Eurimus (Eureka Initiative for promotion of microsystem uses) Technical Committee.

Several years later, Isabel transitioned to Project Management in the field of Materials and Microtechnologies for Electronics in the largest technology center in Spain, Tecnalia, where she has initiated, managed and coordinated several new initiatives like the Nanotechnologies Program or the Printed Electronics Platform. She has also been Director of several Business Areas leading their market-technology and IP strategy. During all those years, she has been managing a large portfolio of European and private projects in the field of Micro-Nanofabrication, Functional Surfaces, Sensors and Printed Electronics.

All along her career, she has combined her job with activities as expert in innovation by performing Technology Due Diligences, evaluating new business opportunities for Venture capitals and Family offices or as Innovation Radar Expert for EU projects. She holds a title in Expert in Management of Innovation and Technology from Deusto Business School.
In September 2022 she joined the European Innovation Council as Programme Manager for Sustainable Electronics.

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Daniel Carew
Deeptech Investor, ex. Principal, IQ Capital

Biography

Daniel Carew

Deeptech Investor, ex. Principal, IQ Capital

Daniel joined IQ Capital in 2019 and has deep-tech venture capital experience from several funds. Originally an engineer, he completed a PhD in Chemistry, was in Management Consulting and then moved into venture capital. He enjoys early-stage technology investing in engineering breakthroughs to help change the world for the better.

Daniel’s main areas of interest are within AI, Advanced Engineering (including Space, Quantum, Robotics, Climate, Defence), Industrial Supply Chains (Industry 4.0, IoT, Cyber), Materials (Chemistry, Semiconductor, Electronics). Daniel is responsible for sourcing new deals, deal execution and continuous tracking of the market and relevant trends in deep technology sectors, as well as advising portfolio companies.

He sits on several boards including Oxford Space Systems, Dataswift, NuQuantum, TOffeeAM, Opteran.

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Yongkuk Jeong
Assistant Professor in Production Logistics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Biography

Yongkuk Jeong

Assistant Professor in Production Logistics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Yongkuk Jeong is an assistant professor in production logistics at the Department of Sustainable Production Development in KTH Södertälje. He received his PhD in Engineering (Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering) from Seoul National University in South Korea in 2018. He has experience in production and logistics simulation with various shipbuilding companies in South Korea during his PhD. He developed a modelling method and a simulation program that can simulate production processes and logistics flows together. His research interests are digitalization in production logistics and manufacturing simulation.

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Thomas Neubert
Founder, Transatlantic AI eXchange

Biography

Thomas Neubert

Founder, Transatlantic AI eXchange

Thomas Neubert is driving forward the transatlantic exchanges on AI, particularly supporting start-ups and medium-sized companies in Germany and the USA. He is an entrepreneur and global go-to-market expert who has founded several successful companies, including Transatlantic AI eXchange (TAIX) and WowDAO. TAIX, founded in January 2021, is a platform aimed at improving the global economic, social, and academic exchange between the USA and Germany in the field of AI. WowDAO is the first decentralized autonomous organization for the AI community, providing a blockchain-based, complete ecosystem of AI inventions. In addition to his entrepreneurial projects, Thomas has worked at Intel, Deutsche Telekom, and Logitech, where he was involved in numerous startup initiatives advancing desktop video conferencing, Robotics, VR/AR, Internet of Things and Datacenters. He is also a founding member of GABA, a non-profit business network, and co-founder of SVMC, the Silicon Valley Marathon Club. As an advisor, mentor, and investor, Thomas is committed to help individuals and startups achieve their potential.

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Romana Stanciukaite
Transaction and Relationship Officer, European Investment Fund

Biography

Romana Stanciukaite

Transaction and Relationship Officer, European Investment Fund

Romana Stanciukaite is a Transaction and Relationship Officer responsible for implementing EIF portfolio guarantee products across various policy thematics in all EU countries. Her primary focus is promoting and advising both financial institutions and alternative lenders on the guarantee products targeted at skills and education as well as cultural and creative sectors. Romana holds an MSc Political Economy degree from LSE. Prior joining EIF she was working in horizontal banking supervision at the European Central Bank.  

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Riccardo Masucci
Director of Security and Technology Policy, Intel

Biography

Riccardo Masucci

Director of Security and Technology Policy, Intel

Riccardo Masucci is Director of Security and Technology Policy at Intel. He currently leads Intel’s advocacy on EU semiconductor and industrial policy and works on public funding to semiconductor manufacturing investments. He is the Chair of working groups on cybersecurity in influential industry associations such as DigitalEurope and the Cyber Coalition. He is also Visiting Scholar in Technology Policy at Duke University (US). He previously held the role of Global Director of Privacy Policy coordinating Intel’s policy work in Europe, India, LatAm and China, and contributed shaping Intel’s AI policy strategy. Prior to Intel, he served as policy advisor on justice, home affairs and environment in the European Parliament. Riccardo enjoys skiing, running and cycling.

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Jani Kangas
Strategic Innovation Management, Nokia Bell Labs

Biography

Jani Kangas

Strategic Innovation Management, Nokia Bell Labs

Jani is passionate about high-tech industries, their business models and strategies. By training he is an engineer, but during the last decade he has worked in several commercial senior executive roles internationally. His strength is the ability to maneuver in the cross section of technology, business and strategy as well as people. 
 
He leads Strategic Innovation Management and value creation activities for Nokia Bell Labs and together with customers. He maximizes the impact of the research portfolio and accelerates value creation by identifying market trends and business opportunities and enabling the channels towards innovation commercialization. Nokia Bell Labs does research beyond connectivity and they work on breakthrough technologies for AI, software systems, robotics, and future industrial & enterprise solutions. 

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Samira Nik
Programme Manager for Quantum Tech and Electronics, EIC

Biography

Samira Nik, PhD

Programme Manager for Quantum Tech and Electronics, EIC

Samira obtained a PhD in Materials Science from the Applied Physics Department of Chalmers University of Technology, specializing in superconducting quantum devices, nanoelectronics and materials characterization.

After her postdoctoral fellowship in nanoelectronic devices, she became an R&D project manager in one of the leading foundries in the semiconductors industry in Sweden, where she developed the expertise to create proof-of-concept of innovative piezoelectric sensors and energy harvesting devices. Samira learned even more about the practical obstacles that scientists and startups face through her role in the cleanroom management team in one of the largest nanoelectronics hubs in the world, IMEC, Belgium.

Samira transitioned from technical to policy work with becoming Project Manager - Innovation in the European Standardization Organizations (CEN-CENELEC). In this role, she worked very closely with the European Commission and National Standardization Bodies for creating a stronger connection between R&I communities and industry.

Since April 2022, Samira works a Programme Manager for Quantum Technologies and Electronics in EC European Innovation Councils and SMEs Agency, where she is responsible for developing visions for technological and innovation breakthroughs, the active management of EIC quantum technologies portfolio and supporting EIC beneficiaries in shaping European quantum ecosystem. 

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Harald Schöning
Vice President Research, Software AG

Biography

Harald Schöning

Vice President Research, Software AG

Dr. Harald Schöning is Vice President Research at Software AG, responsible for all publicly funded research projects at Software AG. He is member of the steering board of the German national platform “Industry 4.0” as well as co-chair of the research advisory board of this platform. Dr. Schöning is member of the board of ITEA and the Big Data Value Association BDVA He holds a diploma and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. For thirty years, he has been working for Software AG, in various roles including developer, project lead, and chief architect, and in various areas, from databases over semantic technologies, to SOA and business process management and beyond. He has served as expert and reviewer for the European Commission and German ministries in several contexts. He has authored and co-authored several text books and many technical papers. Dr. Schöning is inventor and co-inventor of more than 60 patents.

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Diva Tommei
Chief Innovation, Education and Marketing Officer

Biography

Diva Tommei

Chief Innovation, Education and Marketing Officer

Diva studied Genomic Biotechnology at La Sapienza University in Rome and holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Cambridge. She attended the Singularity University Graduate Studies Program (GSP) at NASA Ames to study the impact of exponentially growing technologies on our societies. Before being appointed as CIEO/CMO Diva was the Head of the EIT Digital Accelerator. In 2021 she worked as Investment Director for IT/ICT startups in Enea Tech after her first role in EIT Digital as Node Director for Italy in 2020.

Diva is also the founder of a robotics startup committed to transforming the power of indoor spaces by creating smart, accessible and connected products that is still operational to date. Today she sits on the board of SECO, a publicly listed Italian company, European leader in the field of embedded engineering. 

She was nominated as "Top 50 European Women in Tech" by Forbes and has given three TEDx talks on the Italian startup ecosystem, the future of hometech and the global climate crisis. She was one of 40 people to be selected for the 2020 class of the European Young Leaders program (EYL40) led by Friends of Europe and has been a mentor of the Young Women’s Network as well as a member and curator of the Global Shapers association of the World Economic Forum and a Social Innovation Fellow of Meridian. She was awarded the Young Global Innovator Award in 2017 by the MIT Tech Review and has won the Pleiade International Award in Innovation & New Technologies bestowed by the House of Representatives in 2019.

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Florian Pennings 
Director EU Government Affairs - Cybersecurity, Microsoft

Biography

Florian Pennings

Director EU Government Affairs - Cybersecurity, Microsoft

Florian Pennings works for Microsoft on EU Cybersecurity Policy. He believes collaboration and multi-stakeholder management is essential to ensure strong cybersecurity. This requires constant engagement and open discussions among peers. Before joining Microsoft, he worked in national and European government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. He coordinated strategic and tactical cooperation with industry and public stakeholders. At Microsoft he contributes to public discussions concerning EU cybersecurity policies like Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and Cybersecurity Certification, leveraging his operational and strategic national and European experience. He strongly believes that cooperation is built on trust and common interests, not on differences.

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Claudio Piovesana
Co-Founder & CEO, A-dapt

Biography

Claudio Piovesana

Co-Founder & CEO, A-dapt

Claudio Piovesana is a seasoned Italian entrepreneur and former CEO with over 15 years of experience in global media sales. He is widely recognized for his achievements in the media industry, having served as a senior management executive at leading companies such as The Wall Street Journal and Lagardere Active in Paris. Since 2019, Claudio is the co-founder of A-dapt, a Social Impact company owning a highly scalable video format called Adaptive-Media®, which uses Emotion AI to adapt interactive videos to people based upon human factors such as attention, positivity and self-confidence. 

As an expert in sales, society and human behavior, cultural intelligence, and sustainable business management, Claudio is passionate about creating and scaling innovative businesses worldwide. Throughout his career, Claudio has received numerous accolades for his contributions, including being a Webby 2022 winner and a SXSW 2023 nominee. He is fluent in six languages and has an exceptional track record in leading global media sales, launching WSJ magazine in 2008, running EMEA sales for Dow Jones, and serving as CEO at Lagardère Global Advertising.

Today, Claudio is responsible for bringing the adaptive-media format to the world's leading brands, governments, education and training companies and commercially scaling the technology. His vision for the future of digital content is centered on immersive, personalized, emotionally engaging content that adapts to viewers' emotions in real time.

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Johannes Triebs
Partner, Earlybird X

Biography

Johannes Triebs

Partner, Earlybird X

Johannes is a partner at Earlybird UNI-X. He is particularly excited about extraordinary teams with breakthrough technology solutions and can support them with his strong academic and industry network. Before joining UNI-X he founded 5P Capital and was active as Managing Director and Chief Engineer in various positions in startups and academia in the fields of R&D, prototyping, industrialization, testing, production and consulting for automotive, mobility and machinery engineering products and processes (PEM and WZL Aachen University, production.net AC, PEM Motion, Velocity). He studied mechanical engineering in Aachen, Berkeley and Zurich and holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Aachen University.

- Since 2020: Partner, Earlybird X 
- Since 2018: Founder, 5P Capital GmbH
- 2015-2020: Managing Director, production.net AC GmbH, production of customized electronics
- 2014-2020: Vice President Engineering, PEM Motion GmbH, engineering of e-mobility solutions
- 2014-2021: Chief Engineer, PEM Aachen University Aachen, research on e-mobility production
- Holds a Phd in mechanical engineering, Aachen University

Website

Anna Wnuk
Head of Community of European Women in VC

Biography

Anna Wnuk

Head of Community of European Women in VC

Head of Community of European Women in VC, a platform associating women in the venture capital space in Europe. Building the biggest European community of female General Partners managing venture funds, working for the idea of "diversity and inclusion". Public speaker.

Member of the team of the first venture fund in Europe, founded and managed by women. Co-author of the first report measuring the level of funding for venture funds managed by women in Central and Eastern Europe, co-author of the methodology and the first report measuring the level of funding for venture funds managed by women in across European Union and UK.

Over 10 years of experience in public affairs since before joining the Fund had worked as a Head of the Office of Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland in year 1995-2005. Many years of experience in corporate governance and project management, currently sit on supervisory boards of tech companies, supporting them in the field.

Grew up in Norway, and spend plenty of her adult live in Kenya working with a several NGOs in the region.

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Sean O'Reagain
Deputy Head of Unit, "Industry 5.0", European Commission's DG RTD

Biography

Sean O'Reagain

Deputy Head of Unit, "Industry 5.0" at the European Commission's Directorate General for Research and Innovation

Sean O'Reagain is Deputy Head of Unit, "Industry 5.0" at the European Commission's Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). 

In DG RTD, Mr. O'Reagain was previously responsible for policy and actions to promote sustainable industrial innovation and for the Joint Technology Initiatives with industry and the European Technology Platforms. Prior to that, he managed the benchmarking for competitiveness and innovation programme in the Commission's DG GROW. 

Twitter

Tero Ojanperä
Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Silo AI

Biography

Tero Ojanperä

Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board at Silo AI

Dr. Tero Ojanperä has versatile abilities and background at the intersection of technology, business, and creativity. He is a co-founder and executive chair of Silo AI, the largest private AI lab in the Nordics, and Professor of Practise, Aalto University, Finland. Tero is a co-author of Platform Strategy: Transform Your Business with AI, Platforms, and Human Intelligence. Previously, he was Nokia’s CTO and Chief Strategy Officer and served on the Nokia Executive Board.

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Valérie Bossoutrot
AMS Group HR, Imaging Subgroup, STMicroelectronics

Biography

Valérie Bossoutrot

AMS Group HR, Imaging Subgroup, STMicroelectronics

Valérie Bossoutrot is Group HR for Analog MEMS and Sensors, supporting Imaging subgroup in STMicroelectronics. Her role as HR business partner is to enable the deployment of the strategy of the company thanks to talent acquisition and development.

Many European stakeholders in the semi-conductor industry are facing a lack of talents whose skills and competencies are critical to meet their business requirements. Tackling these challenges is one of her main drivers as HR. In her current role, her focus is dealing with fostering people empowerment to support their professional journey.

Prior to STMicroelectronics, she was leading HR transformation in Air Liquide Innovation Division. She also has experience in Future of Work related projects such as innovation in workplace to further develop cooperation and collaboration across organization. She spent several years in USA, leading R&D teams. Valerie has a phD in Atmospheric Chemistry.

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Salvatore Moccia
Head of the EIT Digital Master School

Biography

Salvatore Moccia

Head of the EIT Digital Master School

Salvatore Moccia is Professor of Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship and Creativity. Since 2022 is the Head of Master and Doctoral School at EIT-Digital. Previously, he held several experiences as Manager and Consultant in different fields, including strategic development of higher education, operational development of international organizations, strategic communications and digital innovation and transformation. He is also an entrepreneur in the Digital-Tech, being the co-founder of several digital magazines dedicated to different technologies. He is the author of several books and articles on digital technologies.

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Ingrid Rigler
Deputy Head of Unit Innovation and EIT, European Commission

Biography

Ingrid Rigler

Deputy Head of Unit for Innovation and the EIT at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

Ingrid Rigler has spent the last 20 years of her professional life working for the European Commission. Her main field of expertise are EU education policies and programmes as well as EU interinstitutional relations. Since 2021, she has been Deputy Head of Unit for Innovation and the EIT at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.

Yohann Bénard
Public Policy Director, EU Digital & France, Amazon

Biography

Yohann Bénard

Public Policy Director, EU Digital & France, Amazon

Yohann Bénard is Amazon’s Public Policy Director EU, Digital. He started his career in blue chip French governmental bodies, serving as judge with the Council of State, then advisor to the Prime Minister and deputy chief of staff to Economy & Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Before joining Amazon, Yohann held senior business and corporate roles in the telecom industry (Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia).

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Marco Brancati
Chief Technical & Innovation Officer, Telespazio

Biography

Marco Brancati

Chief Technical & Innovation Officer, Telespazio

Marco Brancati graduated in Electronic Engineering at the "Federico II" of Naples. After three years of experience in Selenia Industrie, in 1990 he moved to the Telespazio Group where since mid-2016 he has held the role of Chief Technical & Innovation Officer, responsible at transnational level for Innovation, Technological Governance and Group IT. Previously he was SVP of the Network & Connectivity BU, responsible for TLC and TV products and programs for the Telespazio group. In 2011 he completed his Executive Leadership Program at Imperial College London.

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Eric Braun
Co-Founder & CFO Eye-Able

Biography

Eric Braun

Co-Founder & CFO, Eye-Able

Eric Braun is an accomplished economist with a profound understanding of the intricate dynamics between digital accessibility and economic viability. Over the past years, he has diligently served as the Chief Financial Officer and one of the founding members of an innovative enterprise committed to revolutionizing the accessibility of digital content.

His multifaceted research centers on the dual objective of enhancing digital accessibility for all individuals while concurrently enabling businesses to realize positive economic outcomes. His work illuminates the potential for better structured, accessible content to increase digital participation, thereby engaging a broader audience base. Eric's philosophy is rooted in the belief that digital accessibility should not merely be an afterthought, but a central principle in the design and implementation of technology. His efforts to foster a digital environment that upholds inclusivity promise to empower everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to fully benefit from digital resources and services.

As a speaker, Eric Braun brings with him not only his technical expertise and economic acumen, but also his compelling vision for a more inclusive and economically sustainable digital landscape. His talk will undoubtedly inspire the audience to perceive and act upon digital accessibility from a fresh perspective. Eric's insights, honed over years of diligent research and application, promise to be a game-changer in the current dialogue surrounding digital accessibility.

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Co-Funded by the European Union