2nd Citiverse Assembly

Martin  Brynskov

Founding Board Director and Standardisation Lead, Open & Agile Smart Cities & Communities (OASC)

Martin Brynskov, PhD (CS), is an academic and digital standardisation expert at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, also leading standards efforts at the Brussels-based Open & Agile Cities & Communities (OASC) global network, of which he is the former and founding Chair. His research explores how machines and people – and everything in between – perceive, conceptualise, reason about and act in the worlds they co-inhabit, as individuals, as organisations and as communities/systems of all sizes. He refers to this as Interaction Technologies unfolding in a Place-Based Computing paradigm. Dr Brynskov co-chairs the Danish Standards Committee S-491 on Data Management and Data Spaces through which he co-leads the efforts in Europe to produce harmonised standards for data spaces (CEN-CLC/JTC 25/WG 2) and represents Denmark in the United Nations standards work for IoT, Digital Twins and Sustainable Smart Cities and Communities at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T/SG 20).

SMaria Giuffrida
Director, United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC)

Maria Giuffrida is a Senior Research Analyst at Trust-IT Services, where she supports EU-funded research and innovation actions with a focus on communication, dissemination, stakeholder engagement and impact-driven community building in the areas of ICT, standardisation and open science.he coordinates StandICT.eu 2029, the fourth edition of the European initiative that funds and supports expert contributions to ICT standardisation, and contributes to shaping its outreach, sustainability, and ecosystem engagement activities. Maria also leads communication, dissemination and engagement activities for TerraDT.eu, supporting visibility and stakeholder mobilisation around Destination Earth-related digital twin developments, including the production of key communication and engagement outputs. Across her broader portfolio, she works with multiple European projects to translate technical results into clear narratives and practical engagement pathways, connecting research outputs with relevant industrial communities, policy discussions and multiplier networks. She holds an MSc in International Management from Bocconi University and a PhD in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Before joining Trust-IT, she gained academic research experience in digital innovation, including applications to supply chain management and logistics.

Bilel Jamoussi
Deputy Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU

Tunisian born, Dr Bilel Jamoussi is Deputy Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU in Geneva Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been leading the bureau’s standards-making activities into a new era characterized by rapid convergence and the need for increased collaboration with vertical sectors and partnership between developed and developing countries. Prior to 2010, Jamoussi worked for a Telecommunication equipment and solutions provider for 15 years in Canada and then in the United States where he held several leadership positions and was granted 22 US patents in diverse areas including packet, optical, wireless, and quality of service. He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English and speaks some Spanish and German.

Seizo Onoe
Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU

Seizo Onoe took office as Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 1 January 2023. Known in the industry as “the father of LTE” (Long-Term Evolution mobile broadband), he now aims for global outreach to bridge standardization gaps, deliver the benefits of technology widely and speedily, and ensure meaningful and affordable broadband access for everyone. Before his election as TSB Director by ITU Member States, he completed an over 30-year career with Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO. In 2021, he became Executive Vice President and Chief Standardization Strategy Officer for NTT Corporation and a Fellow of NTT DOCOMO. From 2017, he served as NTT DOCOMO’s Chief Technology Architect and President of its subsidiary DOCOMO Technology. From 2012 to 2017, he served as NTT DOCOMO’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, a Member of the Board of Directors, and Managing Director of R&D Innovation Division. Earlier, he served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of NTT DOCOMO’s R&D Strategy Department and Managing Director of the company’s Radio Network Development Department. Mr Onoe holds a Master’s degree in electronics from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering.

Kyoungjae Sun

Senior Researcher, ETRI

Kyoungjae Sun is a senior researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Republic of Korea, where he works in the Standard Research Division. He received his Ph.D. from Soongsil University, Korea. He is actively engaged in international standardization activities within ITU-T and ISO. In ITU-T, he currently serves as an Associate Rapporteur of Question 10 of ITU-T Study Group 20, which addresses IoT solutions for effective energy management in smart sustainable cities and communities. He also serves as an Associate Rapporteur of Question 12 of ITU-T Study Group 5, which focuses on climate action and adaptation to climate change through sustainable and resilient telecommunications/ICTs, including emerging technologies. He served as the editor of ITU-T Recommendation H.862.8, “Requirements and framework of occupational health service platform,” and currently serves as an editor of the draft Recommendation ITU-T Y.citiverse-reqts, “Requirements of citiverse platform for smart sustainable cities and communities.” Within ISO, he contributes to the development of standards on digital twins for manufacturing. His current research focuses on digital twins, digital health, and the citiverse.

AJan Wester
Director, LDT CitiVERSE EDIC

Mr. Wester is a board level executive with a vast experience in developing and managing complex public-private multistakeholder programs. At the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs he held several positions and was responsible for the Dutch national policy on digital transformation. In 2008 Mr. Wester was appointed principal strategist at TNO (National Applied Research Institute). Recently Mr. Wester was appointed director of the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC. A Pan-European organisation with 15 EU member states, dedicated to: create a common European infrastructure for Networked Local Digital Twins, on the crossroads of Geo Data, AI and Virtual Worlds, with the ambition of building the European “Citiverse”; enhance Capacity building through a common set of advanced products, services and facilities, validated from practice, that harmonize implementation by cities and regions of member states; creating economies of scope and scale through the advancement of interoperability, replicability and portability based on international open standards, European Values, fuelling European Digital Sovereignty.