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ITU Workshop on "ICT Innovations"
Geneva, Switzerland, 20 – 21 March 2012	Contact: tsbfginnovation@itu.int and tsbworkshops@itu.int

Biographies


Asok Chatterjee, Ericsson Master’s degree in Radio Physics and Electronics from University of Calcutta, India, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa, Canada. Nearly 30 years in various branches of the telecommunications industry Currently the Vice President of Industry Relations with Ericsson Co-Chairman of WP1, SG13, ITU-T for the 2009-2012 Study Period Member of US Delegation to ITU-R SG5 WP5D [working on IMT-Adv standardization] One of the founders of 3GPP. Currently the Chairman of 3GPP Project Coordination Group Member of the ATIS Delegation to Global Standards Collaboration meetings Was a Member of the US Delegations to WTSA 2008 in Johannesburg and WTDC 2010 in Hyderabad
Filippo Dal Fiore, MIT Senseable Lab Dr. Filippo Dal Fiore (www.filippodalfiore.com) is a research affiliate at the MIT Senseable City Lab, as well as a co-founder and co-director of the Currentcity Foundation. He previously served as co-head of partners relations and technology transfer at the Senseable City Laboratory, from which Currentcity was spun-off, together with his previous start-up in the telecom sector, History Unwired. Dal Fiore's academic background is in social sciences, and he has focused his multidisciplinary work on the impact of ICT on innovation practices and human behavior. He has authored several scientific publications, including the book E-learning (McGraw-Hill), and the American Behavioral Scientist special issue on innovation networks. Dal Fiore holds a PhD in applied economics from the Free University of Amsterdam, ranked 11th in the world for Econometrics (IDEAS). In the recent past, Dal Fiore has been appointed as expert by the European Commission-DG Information Society, has consulted with Masdar City, and has been invited for guest lectures at universities and conferences in Europe, USA and Asia. Filippo speaks 5 languages and is a junior fellow at the Aspen Institute Italy.
Raffaele De Amicis, Managing Director, Fondazione Graphitech Dr. Raffaele De Amicis is the Managing Director of Fondazione Graphitech, he holds a MEng in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. on Surface Modeling in Virtual Environments from University of Bologna, Italy. He has been research fellow at the Industrial Applications Department of Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) in Darmstadt, Germany and senior researcher at the Interactive Graphics Systems Group, at TUD - Technical University of Darmstadt. He has been involved in several projects funded by the European Commission, NATO/OTAN - North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Governmental Fund and by several industries. His interests are in CAD, virtual reality, virtual engineering, geovisual analytics, and science and technology policy. He has authored 3 books, contributed to 15 scientific texts, and he is author or co-author of more than 120 scientific papers. He also serves as Consulting Professor, in undergraduate courses related computer graphics, at the Department of Information and Communication Technology at the University of Trento, Italy. Since 2005 he belongs to Experts Board Member Panel for Mathematics and Information Technology and Industrial and Information Engineering of the Italian Committee for Evaluation of Research of the Ministry of Education. His research interests are in computer-aided design, virtual reality technology applied to computer aided design, advanced 3D interaction techniques and computer supported co-operative work, multimodal interactions and semantic interpretation of 3D shapes. His on-going research foresees work on the visualization of very large amount of multidimensional data that are made interactively available to users looking for decision support. Within this topic his focuses are on the area of interactive visualization and intelligent complexity reduction within virtual environment.
Jarmo Eskelinen, Vice-Chair of Smart Cities Portfolio Working Group Jarmo Eskelinen is the CEO of Forum Virium Helsinki, an innovation company devoted to the success of better digital services. Forum Virium activities are based on public-private partnership, key partners ranging from the City of Helsinki to Nokia, IBM, Siemens, the Finnish Broadcasting Company and innovative SME’s. The main project areas are Smart City, Wellbeing and Media. User-Driven Innovation forms the base for the service development. Jarmo has previously held positions as the director of Media Centre Lume in the University of Art & Design Helsinki, as the program director of the Helsinki 2000 European City of Culture, and as an entrepreneur in media and event production company PopZoo Promotions, which he founded in 1993. Jarmo has originally studied architecture and worked in the practice in the 80’ s and early 90’s.
Corina Gardner, Programme Manager, GSMA Development Fund Corina Gardner has been managing the development and growth of the MDI initiative since June 2010, she has managed the program design, external consultations and relations, recruiting, events, and partnerships. Previously, Corina has had a career focused mainly on international development, working with USAID, State Department, and various consulting companies she has spent 8 years managing, implementing, and advising on foreign aid projects throughout Africa and Central Asia. Corina has a BA from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK.
Roya Ghafele, Director, Oxfirst Dr. Ghafele is the Director of Oxfirst Limited, a boutique consulting firm specialized in the economics of innovation. Within the University of Oxford, she holds Fellowships at the Said Business School, the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre and St. Cross College. Prior to founding Oxfirst Limited, she had a Lectureship in international political economy with the University of Oxford and a Research Scholarship with the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley. In 2002 she was selected as the only Austrian in several years to represent the Republic of Austria within the United Nations. Subsequently she worked as an Economist with the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In this role she offered strategic advice on Intellectual Property, Trade and Innovation to Governments in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2000 she started her career with the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where she moved from a five year long experience as a ballet dancer. Her Ph.D. was awarded the Theodor Koerner Research Prize by the President of the Republic of Austria. Dr. Ghafele was trained at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, the Sorbonne and Vienna University. During the course of her studies she was four times awarded the Vienna University Grant for Excellence in Studies. She is fluent in German, English, French, Italian and Persian.
Pieter Geldenhuys, Vodacom Pieter read Electronic Engineering at North-West University, and completed his MBA in 1996. In his academic capacity he has taught Strategic Technology & Innovation Management at a MBA level for more than 15 years at North-West University and the University of Pretoria. Pieter is a keen commentator in the public space with dozens of public and television appearances, and more than a 800 National radio appearances under his belt. He uses his ability to identify opportunities in the changing technological, telecommunication and social landscape to assist companies in not only preparing for the future but to be an active agent in creating the future. As Director of The Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation (ITSI), he is involved in numerous Innovation and Technology strategy innovation efforts. He has been utilized as a Technology Strategy Consultant at Vodacom since 2006.
Jose Hernandez-Munoz, Telefonica Digital Jose M. Hernandez-Muñoz received his MS degree in Telecom Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in 1987. Most of his professional activity has been linked to Telefonica R&D. During his career, he has collaborated in a number of international projects, and in the recent years he has been working on Wireless Sensor Networks and advanced mobile applications. He was professor of Telematics at the Carlos III University of Madrid till 2007, and his current responsibilities and areas of interest are centered on the business strategies related to the Smart Cities and the social impact of technology. Nowadays, he is coordinator of the SmartSantander EU project (INFSO-ICT-257992).
Mark Kaplan, Founder, Soliunited.com Soli is a global messaging and web services company. The company provides a direct response platform and global messaging network to trusted brands. The Soli messaging network has three patent pending innovations. The first is a mobile commerce platform for informal trade, mobile statement crediting and short code automation. Soli is Coca-Cola's global messaging partner. Mark is an interactive marketing veteran. He is a messaging specialist with a background of innovations that include PayPal's Text2Buy, the first text for purchase of physical goods system and AT&T Text2Save, the first mobile statement crediting initiative in the United States. Mark has created messaging platforms that have powered clients such as ESPN, Nike Jordan, P&G and CondeNast.
Robert Shaw, Head Innovation Division, BDT, ITU Mr Shaw is the Head of the Innovation Division in the ITU Development Sector where he provides thought leadership on innovation knowledge and systems. In that role, he promotes the role of innovation both for the ITU’s products and services as well as an element of national socio-economic development, particularly as this relates to the supporting role of ICTs as platforms for innovation. More information is available at “Innovation @ ITU” (innovation.itu.int). The ITU is an intergovernmental treaty organization with 191 Member States based in Geneva, Switzerland, responsible for the global development of telecommunication networks and services worldwide. Mr Shaw began his career at the ITU over 25 years ago and has previously headed the ITU’s Human Capacity Building Division as well as the ICT Applications and Cybersecurity Division. During this period he has represented ITU in numerous national, regional and global conferences and activities. He has authored and presented papers at numerous conferences. He has a Masters Degree in Telecommunications from the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands.
Carlo Tortora Brayda di Belvedere, CEO and Chairman, Gorilla Corp. Carlo is a Chartered Engineer and a social entrepreneur. In 1992 Carlo founded, and was CEO of Advanced Alchemy, an international channel development agency serving the leading manufacturers in the ICT sector, including IBM, HP, Cisco, BT, Telefonica, Telenor, Alcatel Lucent. In 2006 Carlo launched Alchemy World, an NGO based in East Africa focusing on delivering poverty alleviation and economic growth through private sector development and entrepreneurship. During this time he was Economic Advisor to the Ethiopian Government and worked with ILO, and UNICEF. He remains Non Executive Chairman of Alchemy World, and heavily engaged in Social Responsibility. Currently, Chairman and CEO of Gorilla Corporation, an international group of companies with activities that include Technology Marketing, SMB Private Sector Development and through Optima Consulting is involved in Telecommunication Sector Privatization. Carlo is a special constituent member of the World Economic Forum, and a strategic advisor. His work in this field makes full use of his extensive political capital and he remains deeply committed to improving the state of the world.
Daniele Trinchero, iXem Labs, Politecnico di Torino Daniele Trinchero (Laurea Degree in Electronic Engineering, 1993, pHd degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering , 1997) works at Politecnico di Torino, Italy, where he is Director of the iXem Labs. He is associate to the Institute of Electronics and Information and Telecommunication Engineering (IEIIT) of the CNR. He teaches courses on basic electromagnetic theory, radio planning, Internet of Things, electromagnetic compatibility, and electromagnetic field measurements. His research interests are in the following fields: Wireless Sensor Networks, Geographical Wireless Networks, Internet of Things, Long Distance Communications, Antennas, Electromagnetic Field Propagation, Electromagnetic Field Measurements, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Microwave Devices, Frequency Selective Surfaces, Shielding Devices, Wireless Solutions for Digital Inclusion of Developing Regions. In 2008 he was assigned an Award by the InterAmerican Development Bank for the construction of a Telemedicine and distance learning wireless network in Eastern Ecuador. In 2009 together with a research group of the University of Qatar, he was granted by the Qatar National Research Fund for studies devoted to the reduction of water losses in water distribution networks.