GSMA Automotive & Mobility at MWC Barcelona 2021

Mr Abel Carbonell is the Head of the Electronics at Applus IDIADA. He studied Electronics Engineering in Barcelona’s UPC ‘Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya’. He’s having more than 25 years’ international experience in automotive engineering, testing and homologation services. In the recent years, he has been leading the global development of new services and test facilities for Connected and Automated Vehicles at Applus IDIADA where he manages a multidisciplinary team of engineers devoted to the design, integration and validation of electronics automotive systems. Recently, he has leaded the implementation of two open air laboratories in Applus IDIADA automotive proving grounds in Spain and UK, that will provide unique capabilities for connected vehicle testing.

Spencer Rosen is a senior business development and strategy leader with an extensive background in technology product sales, partnerships, operations and channel distribution, and currently serves as Head of Business Development for Connected Infrastructure at Harman. He joined the company via the acquisition of Savari in February 2021. Spencer built expertise in V2X, telematics, connected infrastructure, data science, artificial intelligence, usage-based insurance, and the connected car ecosystem from leadership roles over the past 12 years at Savari, Zendrive, Verizon Connect, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, and Verizon Wireless.

Across a blend of tech startup and global corporate experience, he has a proven track record of delivering strong revenue growth through multimillion-dollar programs for global automotive and telecom businesses including AT&T, Ford, GM, Honda, PACCAR, Tesla, Verizon, Vodafone, Uber and more. He draws on 20+ years of experience working with and at Silicon Valley tech startups to focus teams on solving real problems, achieving product market fit, and scaling.

As the global leader for New Venture and Innovation at NTT, Shahid is responsible for driving new digital experiences, offerings and technologies that create growth and transform people’s lives and companies.

Shahid brings over 25 years of experience leading large services businesses with a focus on business transformation. Most recently he was a managing partner at Imagine Wireless, a privately held consulting firm driving digital transformation. He was also a co-founder and COO of EQITII – a blockchain-based foundation that enables enterprise businesses to securely exchange and share data.

Prior to Imagine Wireless, Shahid was a Partner at PwC responsible for several digital businesses including IoT, Emerging Technologies, and Data & Analytics. He also spent 20 years at Accenture, as a managing director for Accenture’s North America Telecoms $1B+ business. Shahid is also a visiting professor teaching Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) course at McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University and is an appointee to the FCC Technological Advisory Council.

Shahid holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Elmhurst College and a master’s in engineering management, from Northwestern University.

Nicolas Damour is Senior Director for Strategic Partnerships at Sierra Wireless, responsible for innovation projects with industry partners and market adoption of next generation IoT technologies and services. He has been working at Sierra Wireless for twelve years, strengthening the company’s position as global provider of field-to-cloud IoT solutions that include hardware, connectivity and cloud services. He is currently chairing the GSMA IoT Terminal Steering Group.

Telecommunications Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain).

In 2000 he began his professional career at Telefónica I + D dedicated to the conceptualization and development of multimedia mobile services and smart networks. In 2008 he joined Huawei Technologies where, as Product Line Marketing Manager, he defined the requirements of different value-added services for the end user through the mobile operator and managed the Innovation Service Center between Huawei and Telefónica.

In 2010 he joined Telefónica On The Spot Services where he led the development of services and the definition of the company’s value proposition, developing music and Digital Signage services with the mission of activating the point of sale, digitally transforming spaces and the relationship of brands with customers. At the beginning of 2016, he became part of Telefónica’s global IOT area with responsibility for the IOT New Business and Innovation area at Telefónica with the aim of growing Telefónica’s IOT proposal through new innovative products and finding new IOT businesses globally for Telefónica (Wearables, Energy, Drones, Blockchain, etc.). Since 2020 he is part of the new company Telefónica Tech IOT & BD, leading external communication and positioning as well as its relationship with Industry Analysts and other partners.

Richard leads an international team developing new capabilities and revenue opportunities for the mobile sector. Most recently he lead the GSMA programme expanding the business reach of Mobile Identity services with 70 mobile operators in over 30 countries; the services are now being used by over a billion people worldwide.

With over 15 years of experience, leading vital projects in the mobile ecosystem, Richard has an exceptional understanding of the critical challenges faced by the industry. In the past, Richard led the GSMA IoT programme where he secured industry agreements to essential standards for M2M chipset design and remote SIM provisioning. These two are now widely deployed. Richard also has a wealth of experience working with governments and regulators.

In addition, Richard Cockle currently holds an advisory role with HR Tech consultancy SilverCloudHR, where he works with blue-chip companies to develop and implement their HR Tech strategies. Prior to the GSMA, Richard held several technology delivery roles in Vodafone and BT.

Mark recently joined IBM looking at global IoT, 5G, Edge, and AI technologies and business strategy. He has over 30 years of experience in executive roles at a broad range of telephony, infrastructure, and networking companies. Prior engagements include: global IoT strategy for J.D. Power, a global leader in insights and data analytics. Mark has also worked with Amazon Web Services (IoT), Cloud Technology Partners, TELUS, Freewave, and others. Previously he served at Vodafone as VP of IoT Americas. Mark is the Vice Chair of the board of the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Cambridge, and chairs the annual Connected Things Conference held at the MIT Media Lab. He also chairs the board at VR pioneer ROTU Media & Entertainment.

He is a frequent speaker on the topic of IoT/Connected Things at conferences and events. Mark has been a guest lecturer at MIT, Tufts University, Boston University, and other universities. At Tufts, Mark currently oversees four Master’s Candidates researching their thesis (capstone) projects on IoT topics and is leading his 16th Summer Practicum for a team of graduate students researching IoT issues.

He co-hosts the highly-rated “Failure the Podcast” series as well as many podcasts for MITEF Cambridge’s annual Connected Things conference. Previously, he co-hosted 29 podcasts called the “Tech Entrepreneur.

Javier Albares is a senior telecoms executive with +20y expertise in the telecom, media and internet space, currently working as Head of Industry Solutions for the Telco sector at HERE Technologies, the world’s leading location technology platform.

His main areas of interest are digital transformation processes and the impact of data and new technologies on business models. Javier also represents HERE at 5GAA (5G Automotive Association) where he is currently Vice-chair of Working Group 5 (Business models and GTM Strategies).

Prior to joining HERE, he worked for 8 years at GSMA, the association that represents the interests of mobile network operators, as Head of Innovation and as Head of Strategy. Based in Brussels and London, he used to travel extensively and meet with policy makers and C-level executives of telecom operators, Governments and digital ecosystem companies to identify future sources of value creation and collaboration opportunities at the edge of innovation (leveraging 5G, AI, Big Data, blockchain, and more)

He also worked for 13 years at Telefonica, in different Director roles in strategy, business development and mobile services, both in Europe and Latin America. Previously he worked 3 years as Telecom & Media corporate finance analyst for HSBC Investment Bank in London.

Javier holds an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD France, an MBA from IESE Business School and a double bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from ICADE-Comillas Pontificia University. He has also completed programs on Innovation at IMD Switzerland and on Artificial Intelligence at MIT Sloan.

Javier speaks English, Spanish and French.

Jim Misener is Senior Director, Product Management and the Global C-V2X Ecosystem Lead for Qualcomm. He develops and executes Qualcomm’s C-V2X deployment strategy across all global regions and works with roadside and automotive stakeholders, enabling software/hardware stack suppliers and internal teams to accomplish broad C-V2X deployment. Previously at Qualcomm, Jim led the automotive standards team and C-V2X was a major emphasis as well.

In addition to his roles at Qualcomm, Jim serves as a 5GAA board member, ITS California board member, the SAE C-V2X Technical Committee Chair and is active in TRB, which involves serving as an ITS Committee member, Vehicle-Highway Automation committee member and Automated Vehicle Symposium Enabling Technologies session organizer. Jim also serves as an Advisory Council member to the Carnegie Melon University/University of Pennsylvania/Ohio State National University Transportation Center, Mobility 21 and on the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Board of Governors.

Jim was an early pioneer in vehicle-highway automation and vehicle safety communication at the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) at UC Berkeley, starting in the mid-90s. He has served as the PATH Executive Director, Executive Advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton, and an independent consultant with clients ranging from Silicon Valley startups, the automotive industry and Federal and State government agencies. Jim holds BS and MS degrees from UCLA and USC.

Dr. Hermann Schindler (CEO Scalator Ventures) works in leadership and investment positions in technology fields like cybersecurity, privacy, user identity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous driving / ADAS, real-time 3D simulation (RT3D), augmented and virtual reality.

David Pollington is a Senior Director at the GSMA, providing technical & strategic steer across a number of GSMA’s key programmes, with extensive knowledge in identity and leading a number of projects with mobile operators and global companies on a worldwide basis.

Prior to joining the GSMA, David played a key role in the Vodafone R&D leadership, instrumental in driving many of the key technology transitions across the industry and has extensive knowledge in all aspects of mobile from device architecture and network topology through to mobile services and enablers.

David graduated from Imperial College, London with a Masters degree (MEng) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and has more than 25 years’ experience in the mobile industry.

Henry joined the GSMA in December 2013, and is responsible for the delivery of the Future Networks programme. A key programme of the GSMA’s strategic focus, to deliver industry scale for IP Communications and 5G, whilst considering Network Economic challenges for the Mobile industry as it transitions to a 5G Era.

Previously he worked for the SingTel Group and has over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector, both in Networks and IT portfolios and has been involved in the deployment of mobile networks in over 10 operations across 10 different countries. Henry designed and built Optus’ 3G + LTE mobile network, all IP network and managed the product development transformation. He was the creator and board member of the network sharing Joint Venture between SingTel Optus and Vodafone Networks Pty Ltd (Australia).

Henry has been a board member and Chair of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) and previously held an Executive Management Committee position in the GSMA.