MWC23 Barcelona – Smart Mobility Summit

Mark joined IBM in 2021 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 a global leader in insights and data analytics and 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.

Gopi leads Axiata Group Enterprise strategy, emerging businesses, technology platforms, and branding to grow regional Enterprise client segments. For 25+ years, Gopi has worked across the IT, telecommunications and insurance industries in driving transformation programs, product portfolio redesign and innovation.

Prior to Axiata, Gopi was with Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology group based in Hong Kong. As a Managing Director for the Technology Consulting practice, he worked on large technology and management transformation programs for regional clients. Prior to joining Accenture, Gopi was the Chief Executive Officer of Telekom Malaysia R&D and Head of B2B Product Management. He also served as a Manulife Malaysia Independent Non-Executive Director for Technology, overseeing areas of fintech, insurtech, digital & analytics strategies & advisory.

Gopi has a Ph.D in Next Generation Networks from Australia’s Monash University. He also holds an MSc. in Microwaves & Optoelectronics and a B. Eng in Electrical & Electronics, both from University College London.

Gopi is based in Kuala Lumpur.

Taherah joined DASSAULT SYSTEMES in 2016. She is Vice President Global Business Services Industry, which includes Logistics and Financial Services. DASSAULT SYSTEMES has presence across multimodal forms of transport within the end-to-end supply chain. Taherah works with a team of highly experienced individuals and is responsible globally for driving the strategy on these segments, to understand the industry needs & challenges, define the vision, go to market and value proposition. Together her team work closely with our key customers and internal stakeholders to design the solutions of the future and meet customer needs globally. The Business Services Industry is developing solutions that are disrupting these industries through DASSAULT SYSTEMES world renowned virtual twin capability.

Prior to joining Dassault Systemes, Taherah spent over 25 years in Financial Services taking a consultative approach to her customers on multi factor risk and portfolio optimisation solutions as well as big data/AI technology. Taherah graduated with a BSc (Hons) Degree in Biochemistry and an MBA from Imperial College, London.

Alan Hicks is the CTO of Manna Drone Delivery. Alan leads Manna’s technology function and team, and sets the direction and future vision of the platform. Whenever time allows Alan has his sleeves rolled up and is also coding the platform. Alan is an experienced technology leader who specialises in distributed systems and Internet technologies. He has built and led distributed teams of engineers working on cutting edge technology systems. In 2007 he joined CarTrawler, then a small company with just 25 people. He stayed with the business in a technology leadership role until 2019 at which point it had scaled to be the world”s largest online car rental distribution technology platform with more than 500 staff.

Having more than 15 years’ experience on the Telecom and Digital industry as strategic consultant and 9 years on a Mobile Operator as CMO & CCO has been exposed to basically everything on such industry. Working and living on more than 8 countries in Europe, Middle East and North Africa helped building a multicultural and language ability for leadership and execution on all circumstances. Strategic thinker with a very practical ground and execution. Key experiences cover basically all branding, marketing, communication, customer analytics and behaviors as well as all commercial aspects.

Passionate about new technologies and their impact on business transformations, Nicolas Lesconnec is in charge of Partnerships for Soracom in Europe. Sitting at the crossroads between hardware and cloud, Soracom’s managed IoT connectivity services make it easy for customers to connect to their cloud of choice and control their own networks, devices and data at global scale.
After spending the first 10 years of his career in the Internet industry, Nicolas has been working in the IoT space for the last 10 years.

Prior to joining Soracom in 2021 he was the Services & Solutions Director for Lacroix City, an industrial company providing Smart Mobility equipment and services, and before that led the Sigfox Technology Adoption team from 2015 to 2020.

Marcus Fromm is a managing director at Accenture and is based in Switzerland. His focus areas include mobility, logistics and aviation – including the development of strategic solutions underpinned by supportive technologies that enhance business performance. He has over 20 years’ experience and has published a number of articles in business and industry publications. Marcus is also a volunteer as part of the advisory group for advanced trade technologies for the United Nations Economic Commission in Europe. Before joining Accenture, he pursued a career as an aerospace engineer and worked for the NASA Mars Surveyor program in the United States.

Dr. Riclef Schmidt-Clausen is Senior Vice President Domain Intelligent Cockpit & Body at CARIAD, the software company of Volkswagen Group. In this role, he is responsible for Function Development in the field of Infotainment & Body, among them Digital Assistant, Navigation, Entertainment, App Store and In-Car Apps, Mobile Key, Personalisation, as well as Mobile Apps. From 2009 to 2021, he was Managing Director of e.solutions GmbH, a joint venture between Elektrobit GmbH (subsidiary of Continental) and Audi Electronics Venture GmbH, which develops infotainment software solutions for the VW Group. Prior to this, Dr. Schmidt-Clausen held various leading positions at AUDI AG and also worked as the Volkswagen Technical Representative in Tokyo for Audi Electric/Electronics, while completing his doctorate degree at the Technical University Darmstadt.

Ramaswamy (Ram) Iyer is currently SVP of Connectivity at HARMAN. Ram is a proven leader with deep experience in defining emerging 5G Edge, V2X and Connected technologies and distilling them into value-add solutions for the Automotive, Smart Cities and Telecom industries. Ram has been with HARMAN for 6 years, most recently, as VP of Road Side Units where he has been driving HARMAN’s advance to the forefront of the V2X, MEC and Smart Infrastructure landscape. Prior to joining HARMAN, he held Engineering and Management roles with Motorola and Microsoft. Ram earned an MS in Communications Technology and Policy from the University of Strathclyde – Glasgow and a BE in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

In his role as Chief Commercial Officer at ioki, Benjamin Pfeifer is paving ioki’s way from start-up to international new mobility scale-up. End customers and public transport authorities alike benefit from his customer-centric and market-strategic thinking and his many years of experience in the mobility industry. As part of the management team, he sets new impulses for the national and international growth agenda of the DB subsidiary and implements them in an agile and results-oriented manner. Before joining ioki in 2019, Benjamin Pfeifer held leading positions in sales and business development at Lufthansa subsidiaries Miles & More and Lufthansa Cargo.

Yoshinori Kitatsuji implemented and operated the academic high-performance network in Asia-Pacific: APAN. He has been a delegate of 3GPP for SA (Service and System Aspect) WGs, as a KDDI representative and developed Aerial Basestations with helicopters/drones in Japan. He currently develops businesses and prime technologies for smart mobilities and cities.

Dharminder, has extensive expertise in (Industrial) IoT, manufacturing and energy security – including utilities, Oil & Gas, automotive, smart city, airlines and airports. He is a member of ENISA’s (The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) expert group for Industry 4.0/IoT and member of the World Economic Forum Oil and Gas initiative. As the subject matter expert, he has technical expertise and direct exposure to these topics, as a leader in Palo Alto Networks. He is based in Amsterdam and works closely with customers and partners globally for understanding their pain points and needs. With over 20 years of IT/OT experience he is bridging the gap between IT/OT and the business needs. Dharminder also speaks extensively on ICS/SCADA security across Europe and beyond.

Previous joining Palo Alto Networks Dharminder was leading IT-Operations and implemented four software-defined data centers, which provided him first-hand experience with the fact that security automation is moving beyond prevention and detection technologies: cyberattacks are inevitable we must learn how to recognize the often-subtle signs of an attack as well as respond effectively and swiftly to limit the damage that security breaches could do to the businesses.

Peter is the Director Architecture & Solution Enablement at TONOMUS, NEOM’s first subsidiary company. He is responsible for designing and delivering communication infrastructure for NEOM. This infrastructure enables the current build of the region and supports NEOM as a cognitive city of the future.

Peter’s expertise is within strategy development and execution. Prior to relocating to the GCC, he held various positions in Asia Pacific, delivering multi-project, complex infrastructure solutions. Peter has worked for some of the world’s most established technology and communications companies, including Cisco, Microsoft, IBM and NBN.

Claudia Bacco is the Assistant Editor for Air Traffic Management magazine, part of the Key Publishing portfolio of publications.

She joined the magazine in this role in January 2020 and led the redesign and refocus of editorial topics. ATM goes beyond the control tower to touch on connected aspects of the modern aviation industry, such as telecommunications, networks and data management. UTM/UAM now carry a headline position in the editorial coverage of ATM, including the importance of the telecom service provider role for connectivity and services to the UAS/UAM aircraft.

In addition to her editorial expertise, Claudia has a wealth of corporate marketing, branding & positioning experience within technology companies such as Nokia, Juniper Networks and Frequentis. She brings 20 + years of high tech B2B marketing expertise. Thought leader – published editor and industry conference speaker.

Kapil is the CEO and co-founder of Ericsson Drone Mobility – a convergence of Telecom network intelligence and Aviation to fly drones securely and safely, beyond visual line of sight.

An entrepreneur in the Telecom industry for over two decades, Kapil has global experience. An advocate for sustainable technology, he has led Ericsson’s support to UNICEF and ITU connecting remote schools to internet. Passionate about key digital transformations, he is driving the vision, strategy and investment efforts for Ericsson Drone Mobility.

Telco Professional with 20+ years of experience in different roles within the intersection between Technology and Commercial.

Currently working as 5G Innovation Manager within the Danish TDC Net; a team where we, in close collaboration with our Network

Partner Ericsson, explore potential revenue opportunities for TDC Net around future 5G related opportunities.

Patrique Zaman is an out of the box thinker and a serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of Avy, an innovative drones-for-good manufacturer based in Amsterdam. Founded in 2016 (supported by the European Space Agency and the Technical University of Delft), Patrique’s goal was to develop life-saving technology in the field of sustainable aviation. Today with a team of 50 people, Avy is driven by the mission of flying drones for good.

Ralph Schepp is co-founder and COO of Droniq GmbH, a joint venture of DFS the German Air Navigation Service Provider and Deutsche Telekom.

The 45-year-old is driven to create the future by bridging upcoming next generation technology to the market. Prior to Droniq, Ralph led the units Spectrum and Technology Strategy for the Deutsche Telekom Group as Vice President for technology innovations. 2016 Ralph initiated the project “Connected Drones“ which was the origin of today‘s Droniq.

As COO of Droniq Ralph continues to pursue his passion for identifying, developing and bringing disruptive ideas to market. At Droniq he leads technology, IT and product development. In this role Ralph benefits from over 15 years of professional experience in information and communication technology (ICT).

Ralph holds a Master in business administration of Lüneburg university. He has three kids.

Kapil is the CEO and co-founder of Ericsson Drone Mobility – a convergence of Telecom network intelligence and Aviation to fly drones securely and safely, beyond visual line of sight.

An entrepreneur in the Telecom industry for over two decades, Kapil has global experience. An advocate for sustainable technology, he has led Ericsson’s support to UNICEF and ITU connecting remote schools to internet. Passionate about key digital transformations, he is driving the vision, strategy and investment efforts for Ericsson Drone Mobility.

Chris has over twenty years of experience in the aerospace industry and 16 years of history working with Analytical Graphics, Inc., an aerospace software company. He’s had various roles at the company, from systems engineer to account executive, with a focus on scheduling and communications systems. In 2014 Chris co-founded OneSky as a subsidiary of Analytical Graphics, Inc. to focus on UTM solutions. Chris manages business relationships for OneSky and is responsible for customer outreach and industry engagement. He works with various organizations, such as GUTMA, ASTM, ICAO, AUVSI, Small UAV Coalition, etc., to understand the state of the art in drone technology and keep up to date on regulatory progress. Chris has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech. He is also a commercially rated multi-engine aircraft pilot.

Telco Professional with 20+ years of experience in different roles within the intersection between Technology and Commercial.

Currently working as 5G Innovation Manager within the Danish TDC Net; a team where we, in close collaboration with our Network

Partner Ericsson, explore potential revenue opportunities for TDC Net around future 5G related opportunities.

Since 2014, she has been the technical lead for several areas of focus within the GSMA such as 5G, IoT, automotive, aviation and more. Looking at how to best utilise new technologies and services from the constantly evolving mobile networks, like 5G-Advanced.

Barbara is also leading several activities and communities with the GSMA members, like the activities related to smart mobility, including automotive and advanced air mobility. The latter by leading the GSMA Drone Interest Group and the Aerial Connectivity Joint Activity, to investigate and help the mobile industry to create a trusted solution for commercial unmanned aircraft. Exploring features and capabilities of 4G and 5G needed for the aviation.

Barbara has over 20 years of experience in the mobile industry. Before joining the GSMA, Barbara worked in R&D in several areas of telecommunications. She also participates and actively contributed to, several standards.

Jeff has been leading the connectivity strategy and business development activities in the Airbus Zephyr programme for the past 2.5 years. Jeff brings together strategist, marketer and business development skills with over twenty five years’ experience progressing through customer service, technical management, product development, management, marketing, MIS, business development and senior strategic roles across APAC, EMEA and the US.

Jeff also serves as the HAPS Alliance Vice-Chair of the Marketing and Communications Working Group.

Jeff has been leading the connectivity strategy and business development activities in the Airbus Zephyr programme for the past 2.5 years. Jeff brings together strategist, marketer and business development skills with over twenty five years’ experience progressing through customer service, technical management, product development, management, marketing, MIS, business development and senior strategic roles across APAC, EMEA and the US.

Jeff also serves as the HAPS Alliance Vice-Chair of the Marketing and Communications Working Group.

Florence Verzelen is Dassault Systèmes’ Executive Vice President in charge of lndustry, Marketing & Sustainability since 2018. Her role is to grow the portfolio of solutions & significantly increase the revenues of Dassault Systèmes in the 12 industries it serves, in order to achieve sustainable growth and rapid business development. To this end, she focus on creating “forward looking” industrial solutions that will help all industrial players to transform through digitalization. Florence has also created the sustainability function within Dassault Systèmes, with the vision that digital solutions can help transform the industries to help them become more sustainable. She is also leading Dassault Systèmes’ service organization, transforming its business model towards “outcome based” solutions.

Before this latest appointment, Florence was working at Engie, a world leader in the energy sector – holding different positions, as Business Development Vice President, Engie Qatar CEO, Performance Plan Vice President and finally Engie Europe COO.

Florence has an extensive experience in both public & private sector, having held different positions in the European Commission and the French Administration.

She is also an experienced board member, with board position at PSR and currently at Air France; CNES, the French Space Agency and lnstitut Montaigne, the leading think tank in France. Florence is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique / Corps des Mines.

Mischa Dohler is now VP Emerging Technologies at Ericsson Inc. in Silicon Valley, working on cutting-edge topics of 6G, Metaverse, XR, Quantum and Blockchain. He serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the FCC and on the Spectrum Advisory Board of Ofcom.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET); and a Distinguished Member of Harvard Square Leaders Excellence. He is a serial entrepreneur with 5 companies; composer & pianist with 5 albums on Spotify/iTunes; and fluent in several languages. He has had ample coverage by national and international press and media, and is featured on Amazon Prime.

He is a frequent keynote, panel and tutorial speaker, and has received numerous awards. He has pioneered several research fields, contributed to numerous wireless broadband, IoT/M2M and cyber security standards, holds a dozen patents, organized and chaired numerous conferences, was the Editor-in-Chief of two journals, has more than 300 highly-cited publications, and authored several books. He is a Top-1% Cited Innovator across all science fields globally.

He was Professor in Wireless Communications at King’s College London and Director of the Centre for Telecommunications Research from 2013-2021, driving cross-disciplinary research and innovation in technology, sciences and arts. He is the Cofounder and former CTO of the IoT-pioneering company Worldsensing; cofounder and former CTO of the AI-driven satellite company SiriusInsight.AI, and cofounder of the sustainability company Movingbeans. He also worked as a Senior Researcher at Orange/France Telecom from 2005-2008.

With Satellite Engineering background, Laith is specialist in space commercial and infrastructure business emerging, as well as developing government affairs advocacy, policies, and strategies. He covers regulatory compliance, international affairs, government relations and market access; and he facilitates lawful interception and maintain state security compliance.

Laith supports regulatory, commercial, and competitive intelligence on satellite telecommunications policies and processes, and he works closely with governments to ensure services compliance with local rules and regulations, as well as coordinating and securing landing rights, licenses and all sorts of telecom authorizations and approvals.

Before devoting his work fulltime to OneWeb, Laith has worked as a consultant for major telecom players providing advice and advocacy on global satellite, mobile, Internet, data and cloud regulations.

Laith has contributed to the implementation of international agreements affecting technology innovations and best practices in national regulatory processes in the region. He assisted satellite operators to introduce and manage their services by conducting a complete market research, engaging with national governments, and influencing local policies and regulations.

Laith is active in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), he participates in its conferences and events to help engage its practices internationally and in the region on issues related to telecom public policies.

Michael leads Volocopter’s global Strategy team and is in charge of global profit and loss for the company’s VoloDrone heavylift cargo drone. He is one of the bright minds who are shaping Volocopter’s vision and business model. Michael is also a member of the company’s Senior Leadership Team, which is guided in large part by his five-year tenure. Prior to Volocopter, Michael held multiple consulting and leadership positions that allowed him to sharpen his strategic thinking skills. He holds an MSc from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).