Mayte Carracedo

Co-Founders and Chief of Development and Partnerships Officer at FundingBox

Mayte Carracedo is a Co-Founder and the Chief of Development and Partnerships Officer at FundingBox. With a diverse educational background, Mayte holds a degree in Political Sciences and International Studies from the University of Santiago de Compostela, a master's in European policies from ULB (Belgium), and an MBA from EAE. With over 20 years of experience in public funding for innovation, Mayte has played an active role in international projects. Currently, she leads the FundingBox Clustering Initiative, overseeing 40 projects centered around specific thematic areas aimed at enhancing their value within the company and its ecosystem of partners and stakeholders. Under her coordination, these thematic areas include 1) Trailblazers, focusing on AI, Blockchain, Data, and Next Generation Internet projects, 2) TechTransfer, 3) Manufacturing and 4) Digital Innovation Hubs. In addition to her role in project coordination, Mayte is tasked with expanding the FundingBox network by establishing collaborations with new partners. Her commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration drives her efforts to strengthen FundingBox's impact in the innovation ecosystem.

David Romero

Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics of the Tecnológico de Monterrey University

David Romero is a Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics of the Tecnológico de Monterrey University in Mexico and the Scientific Vice-chairman for the World Manufacturing Foundation. His research interests include: Circular Manufacturing, Service Engineering and Product-Service Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems and Human Systems, Advanced Production Management Systems, Green Virtual Enterprises, and Technology and Engineering Management in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He is a member of the Society of Collaborative Networks, the IFAC TC5.3 on Enterprise Integration and Networking, the IFIP WG5.7 on Advances in Production Management Systems, the IFIP WG5.12 on Architectures for Enterprise Integration, the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society, and the IEEE Internet of Things Community. Furthermore, he is an Agenda Contributor at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Council on "Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains", and a World Manufacturing Forum (WMF) Ambassador. He has published more than 200 journal and international conference articles. He serves on different technical and scientific committees and advisory boards in academia, industry, and government in the disciplines of business and industrial engineering. Nowadays, he is focused on promoting the concepts of the "Operator 4.0/5.0" and "Digital Lean Manufacturing"; the father of both terms. Prof. Dr. David Romero is a Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics of the Tecnológico de Monterrey University in Mexico and the Scientific Vice-chairman for the World Manufacturing Foundation. His research interests include: Circular Manufacturing, Service Engineering and Product-Service Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems and Human Systems, Advanced Production Management Systems, Green Virtual Enterprises, and Technology and Engineering Management in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He is a member of the Society of Collaborative Networks, the IFAC TC5.3 on Enterprise Integration and Networking, the IFIP WG5.7 on Advances in Production Management Systems, the IFIP WG5.12 on Architectures for Enterprise Integration, the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society, and the IEEE Internet of Things Community. Furthermore, he is an Agenda Contributor at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Council on “Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains”, and a World Manufacturing Forum (WMF) Ambassador. He has published more than 200 journal and international conference articles. He serves on different technical and scientific committees and advisory boards in academia, industry, and government in the disciplines of business and industrial engineering.

José Miguel Sousa

General Director of DTIM (Associação Regional para o Desenvolvimento das Tecnologias de Informação na Madeira)

Drago Gverić

Director at Innovation Centre Banja Luka

Over 15 years of professional experience in organisation and management of projects: management, coordination and supervision of projects and resources, organisation and coordination of staff and experts as well as of pool of backstopping teams, in implementation of greater complexity projects involving institutions, administrations, local communities and governments, media, journalists, and in monitoring of all project activities. Main fields of professional work are focused on Business Support oriented services, Business consulting. Drago manage work of Innovation Centre Banja Luka and it has been very active members and creator of start-up community in wide region of North-West BiH with result of given support to establishment of 116 new start-ups in the business incubator. Mostly working on establishment of Business Incubator, Centre for non-formal education, Start-up Academy, Life Long Learning concept and Project management for Innovation centre but also for start-up community and various types of Governmental, non-Governmental organizations. Beside business support digital transformation is one the focuses in work with special attention to Smart solutions like “Banja Luka Future City” program and eGoverrnance trough creation of the project for local government of Banja Luka e Assembly in order to digitalize work of local Parliament.

Antoni Pijoan

Managing Director EIT Manufacturing West

Bachelor's Degree in Physics Science at the University of Barcelona (1994) and Industrial Engineer at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia/University of Aberdeen (1998). Executive MBA (2008). After more than 20 years of international career developed in Spain, France, UK, Germany and USA working in engineering and consultancy, Antoni joined EIT Manufacturing in 2019 as Interim Director of Business Creation and finally Managing Director of EIT Manufacturing West. Previously he worked at Tecnalia and its affiliated Tecnalia Ventures promoting, selecting (conducting due diligences) and mentoring new tech-based Business Opportunities, and leading technology transfer projects. He had been member of different governing bodies such as Nobatek (RTO in Southern France), EIT InnoEnergy and EIT Health.

María José Núñez Ariño

Head of Information Technology Department at AIDIMME

Maria José Nuñez is computer science engineer from Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). She has overseen the Information Technologies department at AIDIMME for 22 years and has been working at AIDIMME (Metal-processing, Furniture, Wood and Packaging Technology Institute) since 1996. She has participated and coordinated European projects involving always industry as end users. In this way, most of the projects are industrial driven, analysing and developing applications easy-to-use representing SMEs needs and requirements. Her main activity in these projects has been technical management in the ICT part, always involving the manufacturing companies in industrial pilots as end users so that the results were as simple as possible and adaptable to the industries of the specific sector. In addition, she coordinates the funStep Interest Group that began in 1988 for interoperability issues in the furniture sector, leading the ISO 10303-236 “Product Data Catalog Exchange” standard (funStep) and represents UNE in the ISO TC184 / SC4 Industrial Data Committee.

Kulwant Pawar

Professor at Nottingham University Business School

Kulwant Pawar is a distinguished academic holding a chair in Operations Management at the University of Nottingham, as well as a Visiting Faculty chair in Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Indian Institute of Technology (IITM), Chennai, India. With extensive managerial and consulting experience across various sectors such as aerospace, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and fast-moving consumer goods, he specializes in new product design and development (NPD), manufacturing engineering, supply chains, logistics, and operations management. Having authored over 300 papers in respected international journals and conferences, Kulwant has chaired more than thirty-five international conferences and delivered over 20 keynote addresses worldwide. His research interests encompass collaboration in NPD teams, pharmaceutical R&D supply chain management, logistics and supply chain network analysis and configurations, and operations in diverse contexts and sectors spanning Europe, China, and India. From 2016 to 2018, he led a project on port logistics at Nottingham University's Ningbo Campus (UNNC). Engaged in over thirty major funded research projects, Kulwant has coordinated and managed numerous national, European, and international projects and networks. Currently, he leads a network of cold supply chains spanning 20 countries. Kulwant Pawar's contributions extend to editorial roles as well. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Logistics: Research & Application from 2002 to 2007 and sits on the editorial boards of several journals. As the founder and Chairman of the International Symposium on Logistics, held annually since 1993, and as the co-founder and co-organizer of the International Conference on Concurrent Enterprising (ICE), he continues to foster collaboration and exchange within the academic community. Furthermore, Kulwant is actively involved in international professional committees and boards, serving as an expert reviewer, evaluator, and consultant to the European Commission.

Alain Zarli

Senior Managing Partner at R2M Solution

With over 25 years of experience spanning various domains of Information and Communication Technologies, Alain Zarli has dedicated his expertise to the construction sector and collaborative research and innovation endeavors at national and European levels. Previously, he served as the Head of the "Innovation Numérique pour la Construction" division at the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) and later as the European Affairs manager at CSTB's "Technologies de l'Information et Diffusion du Savoir" department in Sophia-Antipolis, France. Presently, Alain holds the position of Managing Partner at R2M Solution and has served as the Secretary General of ECTP since 2016. His primary areas of interest encompass programming languages, product modeling, rule-based languages, distributed architectures, software components, and technologies for smart constructions. These interests are applied extensively across the built environment and the construction industry. Alain has led various FP5, FP6, and FP7 projects, including the IST ICCI, ROADCON, and REEB projects, which established a roadmap for ICT-enabled Energy Efficiency in Buildings and construction. He has long supported ECTP initiatives such as the E2B cPPP and contributed to committees focused on Energy & Efficient Buildings, Active Ageing & Design, and Infrastructures & Mobility, particularly in roadmapping and impact assessment. Furthermore, Alain serves as an expert reviewer for European R&D projects on behalf of the European Commission and has been actively involved in the European Commission Advisory group for ICT Infrastructure for energy-efficient buildings and neighborhoods aimed at carbon-neutral cities. He has led the "Open Data" Action Group within the European Innovation Partnership Smart Cities and Communities (EIP SCC) and provides expertise to the EIP SCC Operational Implementation Plan, particularly in the "Sustainable District and Built Environment" Action Cluster.

Paula Cabaço

President of Administração dos Portos da Região Autónoma da Madeira (APRAM)

Paula Cabaço serves as the Chairman of the President of Administração dos Portos da Região Autónoma da Madeira - APRAM. Born in Luanda, graduated from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia at the Technical University of Lisbon. Paula holds postgraduate degrees in Marketing and Public Management, along with an advanced course in Public Management. Prior to her current role, Paula served as the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture from 20 October until the conclusion of the previous Miguel Albuquerque government. Throughout her career, she has held various public positions, notably as the President of the Board of Directors of the Instituto do Vinho, do Bordado e do Artesanato da Madeira, IP, IVBAM. In this capacity, she garnered public recognition and acclaim for her efforts in promoting and disseminating Madeira Wine.

Dieter Uckelmann

Professor for Information Logistics at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences

Dieter Uckelmann has been Professor for Information Logistics at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT Stuttgart) since 2012. He has been appointed scientific director of the Institute of Applied Research at HFT Stuttgart in 2023. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig and received his Ph.D. at the University of Bremen, Department of Production Engineering, on the topic "Quantifying the Value of RFID and the EPCglobal Architecture Framework in Logistics". Since then, he is co-editor of the "International Journal of RF-Technologies: Research and Applications". His current research activities focus on applications of the Internet of Things in the areas of Industry 4.0, logistics, the Industrial Metaverse and smart buildings/cities. He leads a project on “Urban Digital Twins for iCity” and has done extensive research on smart public and industrial buildings. A second research stream is focused on digitalization in higher engineering education, where he is currently leading a project on “Artificial Intelligence in Education at HFT Stuttgart (KNIGHT)”. Both research projects are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. From 2005 to early 2012, he was managing director of the LogDynamics Lab at the University of Bremen. Prior to his academic career, he was managing director of several companies in the ICT industry.

Helena Rodrigues

Project Officer at European Commission

Helena Rodrigues has been working for the European Commission - DG CNECT since 2011. At the beginning she was working as a financial officer managing research and innovation projects. Currently she is a programme officer in the unit “Technologies & Systems for Digitising Industry”, being in the team responsible for the Digital Innovation Hubs in the Digital Europe Programme. Helena's main areas of expertise and experience include telecommunications, business and financial sector, digital economy.

Tal Soffer

Director of Technology and Society Foresight Unit and the Web Supported Academic Instruction Center, Tel Aviv University

Tal Soffer is a senior faculty member in the School of Education at Tel Aviv University. Director of two academic units: Technology and Society Foresight (TSF) and the Center for Web-Supported Academic Instruction - Virtual TAU. She has an extensive research experience of more than 20 years, in the field of Technology Foresight and its relations with societal implications: Education and cyber technologies specialization in online learning, community learning and Life Long Learning; privacy and cyber technologies; future of work and leisure and it's relation to occupations and skills. She has been involved in vast of Israeli and EU research projects as principal investigator and coordinator.

Henrique Martins

Associated Professor at ISCTE-IUL

Henrique Martins holds a Medical Degree, specializing in Internal Medicine, and possesses both a Master's and a Ph.D. in Management. Currently pursuing a Master's in Law, he focuses on exploring the legal implications of AI in Health, particularly in Public Liability. Alongside his academic pursuits, he serves as a Medical Doctor and University Professor at a Medical School and two Business schools. Henrique's teaching and research interests revolve around Digital Health, Leadership, and Management education for Medical Students and Health Professionals. He brings a wealth of experience, having served as the past president of SPMS, Portugal's Digital Health Agency, where he spearheaded national eHealth initiatives for nearly 7 years. Additionally, he held the role of Member States co-chair of the EU eHealth Network, the foremost policy body on eHealth in the Union. With over 4 years of experience as the Hospital Fernando Fonseca CMIO, Henrique led rapid digital transformation efforts, implementing an advanced EHR system and establishing a research center. Currently, he dedicates his expertise to academia, engaging in teaching and research at prestigious business and medical schools. Moreover, Henrique actively participates in individual consulting projects focused on Healthcare Transformation and Digital Health.

Juan Carmona

Head of Solutions Spain & Portugal at Philips

Juan Carmona, PhD engineer, with more than 12 years of professional career in innovation. The last 8 years specifically in Philips with a focus on the health care industry, in different roles as an information systems engineer, seeing the day to day of a hospital, in positions of technical consultant, product manager, also business development and now he is responsible for leading the strategic and innovative projects for the region of Iberia: Portugal & Spain.

Georg Dorffner

Professor at Department of Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, University of Vienna

Georg Dorffner received the M. Sc. degree from Vienna University of Technology, Austria, and the Ph.D. degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1989. Currently he is Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, University of Vienna, and heads the Neural Networks Group at the Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Vienna. His research interests are neural networks, time series analysis and economic modeling, signal processing, and connectionist models of conceptual development and language.

Germán Gutierrez

Integrated Health Solutions Business Director at Medtronic Iberica

Cátia CatiaFerreira

Executive member of the Board at Serviço de Saúde da Região Autónoma da Madeira (SESARAM)

Cátia Ferreira is the youngest Executive Board Member of SESARAM. The Board is entitled of managing around 6000 people, a budget of nearly 260 million euros, 3 hospitals and 47 primary care business units. As a member of the Board, she is entrusted to implement technological innovation, processes dematerialization and digital transformation (at clinical and non-clinical areas), guarantee a fully operational medical equipment park in-house, develop the business performance monitoring system, pursue environmental sustainability, upgrade the efficiency on purchasing processes and assets management.