Harnessing the potential of green digital solutions

As Chief Regulatory Officer for the GSMA, John Giusti is responsible for leading the organization’s public policy and industry advocacy agenda with governments, regulators and international institutions worldwide. He also oversees the GSMA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, and Mobile for Development activities, bringing together mobile operators, donors and the international development community to harness the power of mobile to achieve social impact.

Prior to joining the GSMA in 2011, Giusti spent 17 years at the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), working in a variety of capacities. Most recently, he served as chief of staff and senior policy advisor to Commissioner Michael Copps, where he provided legal, strategic and policy support to the Commissioner on all major agency actions, including the implementation of the National Broadband Plan. He also previously ran the FCC’s International Bureau, where he managed the agency’s relationships with its foreign counterparts and served as the its chief negotiator at meetings of the International Telecommunication Union, the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission and other multilateral organizations.

Giusti was educated in the United States, earning a Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications from the University of Florida. He has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 1994.

Pearse O’Donohue is the Director for the Future Networks Directorate of DG CONNECT at the European Commission, dealing with policy development and research supporting the Digital Single Market as regards 5G networks, IoT, cloud and data flows and conceptualising new and innovative approaches towards service platforms and next generation Internet.

Until October 2014, he was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice-President Neelie Kroes, previous European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda. He was responsible for advising the Vice-President on the development and implementation of policy on electronic communications, networks and services, as well as broadband, spectrum and other related policies such as Internet governance.

Prior to that, Pearse was Head of the Radio Spectrum Policy Unit in the European Commission, DG CONNECT.

Prior to joining the European Commission, Pearse held posts in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU in Brussels, and as Assistant Director of the Brussels office of the Irish Business & Employers’ Confederation.

Katie Collins is CNET’s Senior European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. She also writes regularly about tech for good and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a “living synth” by London’s Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.

Ilias Iakovidis PhD, Adviser on digital aspects of green transition, European Commission, DG CONNECT

Ilias works on maximising the positive impact of digitalisation on the green transition in cooperation with several Commission services and external stakeholders. He has initiated the European Green Digital Coalition, launched in 2021 by Commissioner Breton. Members of the Coalition have committed to work, with the support of the European Parliament Pilot project, on science-based methods to estimate the net environmental impact of digital solutions, and, to develop guidelines for deployment of such solutions in major climate critical sectors that lead to quantifiable emission reductions. Ilias also works on the Digital Product Passport as introduced in the Eco-design for Sustainable Product Regulation. The aim is to accelerate the transition to circular economy by supporting products’ sustainability and enabling sustainable business models (e.g. product as a service).

Before 2017, Ilias has contributed to the EU Agenda of eHealth and ICT for Active and Healthy Ageing for over 20 years. Areas he pioneered include digitally supported Integrated Care, ‘Virtual Physiological Human’ (digital twin of patient), Personal Health Systems and Electronic Health Records.

Luis Neves is CEO of the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) since 2017. Prior to that, from 2008-2017, Luis held the position of GeSI Chairman.

Under Luis’ leadership, GeSI has become a globally recognized “thought industry leader” organisation in the field of ICT- sustainability with strong focus on the enabling role and positive contribution of digital technologies to climate protection.

Before GeSI, Luis worked at Deutsche Telekom for over 15 years holding positions such as Head of Sustainable Development and Environment, VP of Corporate Responsibility and Chief Sustainability and Climate Protection Officer. Luis has also held positions and played relevant roles at European and international levels in organisations, such as the UN Global Compact Lead Group, Econsense -the German Sustainability Association, World Resources Forum Association and UNFCCC Momentum for Change Initiative. Luis was born in Portugal and obtained a degree in History from the University of Lisbon.

Veronika leads the Carbon Trust’s delivery team in Europe and specialises in corporate carbon footprinting, strategy development and data analysis. She works across multiple sectors to help companies set science-based targets, measure the carbon impact across their value chain, and develop comprehensive, bespoke carbon reduction strategies.

She has particular expertise working with companies in the ICT sector supporting them on their net positive calculations and methodology development. She has also helped shape some of the key reports and methodologies related to net carbon impact calculations, like the “Enablement Effect” report for GSMA, “Mobile Carbon Impact” report for GeSI, and also the “Avoided Emissions Framework”, which was developed together with WWF Sweden and the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE).

As part of the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC), Veronika leads the technical workstreams of the European Parliament pilot project that focus on developing metrics, methodologies, case studies and guidelines to support the aims of the coalition.

Veronika has an MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment from University College London. She is fluent in both German and English