 Claudio Bianco
Environmental Efficiency R&D Engineer, TIM (Telecom Italia)
Electrical engineer from Politecnico di Torino with a Master in Information and Telecommunication Technology from SSGRR (Scuola Superiore Guglielmo Reiss Romoli), Claudio joins CSELT (Centro Studi e Laboratori Telecomunicazioni) of Telecom Italia group in 1996, working in the energy and environmental efficiency area of the main Italian Network Operator. Claudio’s R&D and engineering activities cover innovative power and cooling systems, new energy storage solutions, ICT/TLC equipment power consumption analysis and management, cost accounting for energy systems, smart grids. Claudio is the TIM’s delegate at ETSI EE “Environmental Engineering” Technical Commette (chairing Working Group EE1 on mechanical and climatic conditions) and at ITU T Study Group 5 “Environment, climate change and circular economy” (co-chairing Question 6 on power and power backup solutions for future networks).
Claudio is also an active member of the Sustainable Development Working Group and Energy Task Force of ETNO (European Telecommunication Network Operators), of the European Union Joint Research Center (JRC) responsible of the Codes of Conduct for ICT (External power supply units, Digital TV services, energy consumption of Broadband equipment, Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Data Centres) and is also TIM’s liaison officer with RSE (Ricerca Sistema Energetico, the Italian publicly owned company carring out publicly funded national and international programs in the fields of electrical power, energy and the environment). Claudio is also actively contributing, since end of the 90’es, to the International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC), both as author/panelist and as member of the organizing team. |
Hakima Chaouchi
Professor, Institut Mines Telecom
Hakima Chaouchi is a Full Professor at Institut Mines Telecom following the completion of her PhD in 2004 from University of Paris VI in France and King’s College of London in the UK. In this capacity, she develops leading research in wireless and mobile communication, Internet of Things, Big Data, and network security. She works actively on IoT devices and technology heterogeneity control and interoperability, she also direct work on IoT data anomaly detection and more topics such as energy harvesting in Internet of things and efficient distributed security architectures. She was recently keynote at the French and japaneese research collaboration on IoT and Smart Cities and promotes the sustainable IoT, in fact deploying huge number of IoT devices requires energy and also affects the overall climate. She acts as ITU-T FG DPM co-chair of WG2 on the IoT and Smart Cities data processing and Management Framework. To date, she has co-published more than 100 international refereed scientific papers and books, most notably one of the first books on “Internet of Things” in 2010. Concurrent with these positions, she also acts as Scientific Advisor at the French Research and Innovation Ministry and she holds an International Executive MBA degree on “Leading Innovation in the Digital World” at Telecom Business School where she acquired strong competencies in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship in ICT such as design thinking and lean startup. Her career aspiration is to combine, and maximize to the fullest, synergies in research, education and creativity to further advance innovation for the best quality of life. |
 Kari Eik
Secretary General, OiER
Kari Eik is the Secretary General of Organization for International Economic Relations, Austria, Vienna (OiER), which host the UN Geneva Charter Centre of Excellence for Smart and Sustainable Cities in cooperation with UNECE. Leader of U4SSC Implementation Program, which supports cities and regions worldwide to apply the UN KPIs for Smart and Sustainable Cities, addressing major urban issues, solution, partnerships and investments for smart and sustainable city development. Vice Chair of ITU Focus Group “Environmental Efficiency for AI and other Emerging Technologies”. Board member of World Council for SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and municipalities. Vice Chair of International Real Estate Advisory Board (REM) UNECE. Initiator of Womenled2030, a high level Women Leadership Platform. |
Paolo Gemma
Chairman, Focus Group on on Environmental Efficiency for Artificial Intelligence and other Emerging Technologies (FG-AI4EE), ITU
Paolo Gemma is a senior specialist and representative of Huawei on issues related to energy saving and environmental sustainability.
Prior to joining Huawei, Dr. Gemma was working with Nokia Siemens Networks, where he was responsible for EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) and electrical safety areas. He also worked in the Siemens Communications Division. Dr. Paolo Gemma also plays an active role in international standardization activities. Since 1993, he has been engaged in ETSI (European Telecommunication Standard Institute) activities and he also participates in the development of EMC standards. In 1997, Dr. Gemma joined ITU-T Study Group 5 on Environment, Climate Change and Circular Economy as a Rapporteur and he is now the Chairman of Working Party 2 “Environment, Energy Efficiency and the Circular Economy”. He also acts as Vice-chairmen of the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative. In 2002, Paolo Gemma was appointed as the Secretary of the Committee ETSI TC EE and as of 2009 he holds the position of Chairman of the EEPS EE (eco Environmental product standard) working group. Paolo Gemma is a graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Genoa. |
 David Jensen
Head of policy and innovation, Crisis Management Branch, UNEP
David works for the UN Environment Programme on environmental security and peacebuilding dynamics. In particular, how natural resources contribute to local conflicts, how they fund armed groups, how they are damaged during armed warfare and how they can support peacebuilding efforts. A summary of his work and publications is available
here. Since 2016, David has been pioneering efforts to identify environmental applications of frontier technologies in conflict-affected countries and fragile states, including big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, block chain, virtual reality, and citizen science. He has been advising the UN Science Policy Business Forum on these topics since 2018 and was the co-author of a flagship discussion paper entitled
The Case for a Digital Ecosystem for the Environment as well as a Medium article:
Promise and Peril of a Digital Ecosystem for the Planet. David holds an MSc in Biology from Oxford University (UK) and an undergraduate degree in Geography from the University of Victoria (Canada). He is an Alumnus of the Peace Mediation Platform (Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) and a Beahrs’ Environmental Leadership Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He was also certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP). |
 George Kamiya
Emerging Technologies Analyst, International Energy Agency
George Kamiya is an analyst in the Strategic Initiatives Office at the International Energy Agency in Paris, where he coordinates the agency's work on digitalisation, automated and shared mobility, and tracking clean energy progress. He was a lead author of the IEA's flagship report on Digitalization & Energy and has contributed to the agency’s work on climate change mitigation and adaptation. He previously worked on environmental policy and management issues at Environment Canada, Health Canada, and the Vancouver Airport Authority. George holds a Masters in Resource Management (Energy and Transport) from Simon Fraser University and a BSc (Marine Biology) from the University of British Columbia. |
 Barbara Kolm
Director, Austrian Economics Center & Vice President Austrian National Bank
Graduate in Business Administration with a thesis in Economics; Professional career in management of private enterprises and non-profit organizations, accompanied by various engagements in entrepreneurial activities and in academia. Specialization in the efficiency, financing and questions related to the legitimation of public institutions, infrastructure development and public administration; Active participation in national and international debates related to such topics, and submission of economic analyses and case studies in budget and structural reform programs aimed at improving efficiency in these areas. Excellent knowledge of Austrian public administration on local/municipal as well as federal and national levels; geopolitical challenges for Europe. She serves on several supervisory boards e.g. Vice President of the Austrian Central Bank; Austrian Railways ÖBB; Vienna Insurance Group, Supervisory Board of Wiener Städitsche Versicherungsverein; Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien. Keynote speaker at international conferences, journal articles, interviews, lectures and teaching assignments. Founder and organizer of the Free Market Road Show, a forum for discussions and exchange of ideas provided by the Austrian Economics Center in co-operation with over 100 leading think-tanks and universities.
Speaker at international conferences 2019 exemplary:
-National Defence College, New Delhi, November
-US Airforce Base, Ramstein, September
-FreedomFest, Las Vegas, July
-European Economic Senate, June |
.jpg) Olga Memedovic
Deputy Director, Department of Trade, Investment and Innovation, UNIDO
Chief, Business Environment Cluster and Innovation Division, Department of Trade, Investment and Innovation, UNIDO
Oversees the portfolio of technical cooperation projects of over USD 42 million, delivered by seven professionals at UNIDO HQs in Vienna and over 120 project personnel in geographical regions: Africa, Arab, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Served UNIDO since 2000 in different capacities, as Acting Director for Strategic Planning and Coordination Department; Chief of Europe and Central Asia Programme; Senior Researcher in Strategic Research and Economics Department and Private Sector Development Department. She holds a PhD degree in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Ms. Memedovic has led various research projects, among which are the EU–LDC Trade and Capital Relations; Global Value Chains and Innovation Networks: Prospects for Industrial Upgrading in Developing Countries; Public Goods for Economic Development; and Pursuing Resource Efficiency in Europe and Central Asia. She is the author and main editor of several books, reports and studies on the issues of the globalization of labour markets, multilateralism and regionalism, technical barriers to trade, theory and measurement of comparative advantages, global value chains and production networks, industrial energy efficiency, resource efficiency, SME clusters, industrial parks and innovation systems, collective action and industrial policy, eco-industrial policy, and others. |
 Neil Sahota
IBM Master Inventor and World Wide Business Development Leader, IBM Watson Group
Neil Sahota (萨冠军) is an IBM Master Inventor and World Wide Business Development Leader in the IBM Watson Group. With 15+ years of business experience, he works with clients and business partners to create next generation products/solutions powered by Watson. Prior to this role, he was a Thought Leader Consultant and Practice Leader in IBM Global Business Services where he was responsible for the sales and delivery of complex consulting engagements spanning business strategy, new product development, revenue optimization, process improvement, and business and system integration. His work experience spans multiple industries including healthcare, life sciences, retail, travel and transportation, energy and utilities, automotive, telecommunications, media/communication, and government. Moreover, Neil is one of the few IBMers selected for IBM's Corporate Service Corps leadership program that pairs leaders with NGOs to perform community driven economic development projects. For his assignment, Neil lived and worked in Ningbo, China where he partnered with Chinese corporate CEOs to create a leadership development program.
He also actively volunteers with nonprofits for event management, fund raising, grant reviews, and site visits. Neil is an active member of the UCI Alumni Association and serves on the Board of Directors for the Orange County Marathon, supporting their work with the OC Kids program in fighting childhood obesity. |
 Joel Alexander Mills
CEO, AugmentCity
A champion for simulation and complex data visualization with a background as an Industrial Designer, Born and educated in the UK and moved to Ålesund, Norway 12 years ago. Passionate about using elegant technology and human centred design to reduce cost, find better solutions, increase safety and improve quality of life. After running successful businesses, 6 years ago he was asked to take over as the CEO of Offshore Simulator Centre (OSC), He transformed this business using simulation technology for the offshore oil industry as a key tool for Virtual prototyping and has been focusing heavily on proving the value in simulation, and driving the exponential growth of simulation with OSC at the forefront. Only 6 Months ago as well as running OSC he started a daughter company “AugmentCity” using the simulation and visualizing technology developed for the offshore industry and in tight cooperation of the United Nations smart cities program as a game changing tool for Smart cities. He is excited to see where this new journey will take us. |
