TitleEtc:General Counsel and Head of Compliance, Emirates Investment Authority, United Arab Emirates
Bio:Najwa Attiga is a seasoned senior U.S.-qualified attorney based in Abu Dhabi. She is an International Corporate Attorney whose principal areas of practice are Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Investment Funds, Private Equity, and Dispute Resolution.
Educated in America, Ms. Attiga brings multinational and multifaceted academic and business experience. She personally founded and managed multiple legal departments and teams over the past 25 years in the USA, MENA, and GCC regions.
She currently holds the position of the General Counsel of the Emirates Investment Authority and she is the Founder of the Arab Women Lawyers Group Middle East, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting women in the legal profession in the Middle East.
Ms. Attiga earned her Master of Laws Degree from Columbia University in New York City. She was selected to the Legal 500 GC Powerlist Middle East in 2019.
Ms. Attiga was recently named as one of the most influential women in the Arab World by CEO Middle East in March 2020.
TitleEtc:Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union, Switzerland
Bio:Doreen Bogdan-Martin was elected Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau in November 2018 and took office on 1 January 2019.
She is a strategic leader with 30 years’ high-level experience in international and inter-governmental relations, and has a long history of success in policy and strategy development, analysis, and execution.
She was one of the architects of the annual Global Symposium for Regulators and leads ITU’s contribution to the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. She serves as Executive Director of the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, and is leading ITU’s collaboration with UNICEF and others on the GIGA project to connect the world’s schools.
She holds a Master’s degree in International Communications Policy from the American University in Washington, DC and a post-graduate certificate in Strategies for Leadership from the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.
TitleEtc:Founder & Managing Partner, Cloud Strategy Solutions, USA
Bio:Matt Bramson is an entrepreneur and executive with diverse experience building technology companies with a focus on telecom software as a service. Matt’s hallmark is applying innovation to product and distribution strategy. With this approach he has contributed to several remarkable successes. As head of sales he helped build an IVR service bureau into a groundbreaking and diversified youth marketing company. As head of business development for a national CLEC, Matt built the first SaaS brokerage and fixed mobile converged commercial service offerings plus worked directly with the Chairman, legendary investor Carl Icahn, to develop inventive sales tactics that generated millions in new revenue from large enterprises. As chief revenue officer he built a small ITSP into a leading CPaaS and UCaaS provider. Today he is the managing director of Cloud Strategy Solutions, a management consulting firm that helps companies achieve significant revenue growth where others have failed.
TitleEtc:CEO - International, Telstra, Singapore
Bio:Oliver Camplin-Warner is CEO – International at Telstra, where he is responsible for the company’s wholesale and enterprise sales and service internationally. Based in Hong Kong, Oliver has nearly two decades of experience in telecommunications and technology in Australia and the United Kingdom. Oliver joined Telstra in 2012 as a Director in Telstra Operations, where he was responsible for Telstra’s Platinum business which provides in-home and remote technical support for consumers across Australia. Oliver also led Telstra’s Major Accounts customer management team, which was responsible for providing connectivity and technology solutions to enterprise, government, and non-profit customers. Oliver has two young children, and together with his wife Alisa are co-founders of the charity Finnan’s Gift. This charity was set up in memory of their late son Finnan and serves to raise awareness and much needed funds for congenital heart disease.
TitleEtc:Co-Founder, Zayo Group, USA
Bio:Dan Caruso was Chairman and CEO at Zayo Group, a company he co-founded in 2007. Zayo was Dan’s third fiber bandwidth startup. Dan joined Metropolitan Fiber Systems (MFS) as it began to scale and was part of the exec team that launched Level 3. All three exited for > USD 10B. Dan also led the take private of ICG, which achieved a 25X return and led to the ideation of Zayo.
Beyond his role at Zayo, Dan is an avid supporter of Colorado’s and Chicago’s entrepreneurial community. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Endeavor Colorado and serves on the boards of Colorado Thrives, University of Chicago’s Polsky Center, and CU Boulder’s Chancellor Strategic Advisory Council. Dan holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Illinois.
TitleEtc:President & CEO, Vantage Data Centers, USA
Bio:As president and chief executive officer of Vantage Data Centers, Sureel Choksi is responsible for the company’s vision, strategy, and overall leadership in addition to sitting on the board of directors. With more than 23 years of experience as an executive in the Internet infrastructure industry, Choksi is an accomplished leader who has transformed Vantage from a regional data center owner and operator to one of the fastest growing global providers.
Prior to Vantage, Choksi was an operating executive at Silver Lake Partners and the CEO of Elevation Data Centers. He also previously held several executive roles with Level 3 Communications, including CMO, CFO, president of wholesale markets, executive vice president of services, group vice president of corporate development, and treasurer.
Choksi attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School with concentrations in finance, accounting, and entrepreneurial management, and a Bachelor of Applied Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
TitleEtc:Co-Founder & CEO, EDJX, USA
Bio:John Cowan is co-founder and CEO of EDJX, the intelligent edge computing platform for real-time IoT, M2M, and mobile apps. He is regarded as the company’s business model visionary, and he is the author of the company’s overall commercial and corporate strategies. John is approaching 20 years’ experience leading early-stage company strategy execution, including raising and managing venture capital, identifying and executing potential mergers and acquisitions, and recruiting and developing high-performance teams and advisory boards.
Before founding EDJX, John created 6fusion. Under his leadership, 6fusion raised over $30M in venture capital, completed the acquisition of Markitx.com, launched a global business with WorleyParsons, and helped create UCX, the IT industry’s first-ever commodity exchange for cloud computing contracts, supported by the CME Group in Chicago.
Mr. Cowan presently serves on the Board of Directors of 6fusion USA, Inc., Requis LLC, EDJX, Inc., and was previously a member of the Board of Managers for UCX, LLC.
TitleEtc:Chief Investment Officer, IFC, USA
Bio:Eric Crabtree is a Chief Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. He is the Global Sector Lead for Data Centers and Towers at IFC, and has led investments in the TMT sector (mobile telephony, telecommunications towers, broadband, IT services, and data centers) across emerging markets over the past 20 years. IFC provides both equity and debt financing instruments, has approximately USD 100 bn in assets, and invests USD 500 mn a year in digital infrastructure. Crabtree holds a B.A. in Economics and Russian from Oberlin College, and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.
TitleEtc:Chief Strategy Officer, NTT Global Data Centers, United Kingdom
Bio:John leads Strategy & Corporate Development for the Global Data Centers division of NTT Ltd. His primary focus is on investment and funding strategy to drive expansion in both existing and new markets across all regions. John has global responsibility for underwriting and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships as well as strategy research and market intelligence.
John has more than 20 years experience gained in various roles across the investment, telecoms, and data center sectors and previously worked for AXA Investment Managers, DCE, Virgin Media, and Worldcom. John studied international business at Newcastle Business School, UK and ESCEM Tours, France.
Global Data Centers is a division of NTT Ltd. and incorporates the former DPA, e-shelter, Gyron, NetMagic, NTT Indonesia Nexcenter, RagingWire, and other NTT Communications group Data Center divisions. The combined global platform is one of the largest in the world, with over 160 data centers spanning more than 20 countries and regions including North America, Europe, Africa, and APAC.
TitleEtc:CEO & Founder, Diffraction Analysis, Hong Kong SAR China
Bio:CEO and founder of Diffraction Analysis, Benoît Felten is a recognized expert on issues related to next-generation access. Felten’s expertise stems from an understanding of the business model issues of fixed network rejuvenation and from there expands into all aspects impacting the business model: technology choices, service opportunities, go-to-market strategies, regulation, etc. He also analyzes public policies aiming at promoting the deployment of fiber rich networks.
Before starting Diffraction Analysis, Felten was a Director of Access Network Research at Yankee Group where he led the company’s research efforts in the NGA field. Prior to that, Felten was a telecoms consultant for eight years, and even further back worked at deploying and selling fiber access to businesses in Belgacom's French subsidiary.
Felten lives between Hong Kong and Paris. He complements his day job by blogging about the economic and social impacts of next-generation access on www.diffractionanalysis.com and tweets under the handle of @fiberguy.
TitleEtc:Chief Executive Officer, Colt Technology Services, United Kingdom
Bio:Appointed to the role in May 2020, Keri is responsible for executing Colt’s strategy which centres around transforming the way the world works through the power of connectivity. Before becoming CEO, Keri was Colt’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), leading global teams across sales, presales, and marketing, as well as working closely with the wider organisation to ensure Colt delivered for its customers.
Prior to joining Colt, Keri held several leadership roles at Ciena but was most recently its Vice President and General Manager EMEA, responsible for guiding Ciena’s EMEA service provider and enterprise customers, as well as partners.
Keri is passionate about promoting inclusion and diversity, also leading Colt’s Diversity Council, to ensure Colt is a business where everyone feels they can bring their true selves to work.
Keri lives in London with her husband and two children.
TitleEtc:General Counsel, Colt Technology Services Co., United Kingdom
Bio:Caroline Griffin Pain is General Counsel at Colt with global responsibility for the Legal and Regulatory teams, the Country Manager organization, and Sustainability. She is responsible for corporate governance at Colt and acts as Secretary to the Board, Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee. Dedicated to building a more diverse workplace, Caroline Chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Council. Caroline is proud to lead Colt’s Sustainability Strategy, championing Colt’s environmental agenda. She is Chair of the Corporate Compliance Committee, dealing with Whistleblowing and Ethics and is responsible for implementing and monitoring Colt’s anti-bribery programme.
Caroline joined Colt from a Reuters joint venture, Radianz, where she was Company Secretary having previously spent nine years at Rea Brothers Group plc, a quoted financial services group, where she was General Counsel. Caroline qualified as a solicitor in 1990.
TitleEtc:Principal, Strategy&, USA
Bio:Dan Hays is an advisor to executives in the technology, media, and telecommunications sector for Strategy&, PwC's strategy consulting business. He is a principal with PwC US, based in Washington, D.C. As a senior member of PwC’s Strategy& consulting practice, Dan works with communications and information service providers, network equipment and device manufacturers, distributors, software companies, and media firms worldwide to drive growth, boost profitability, and set new standards for market leadership. A prolific author and speaker, as well as often-quoted industry expert, Dan’s writing includes leading thinking on the communications industry, growth strategies, and network operations. Dan is a frequent guest columnist and often-quoted industry expert in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, Fierce, Broadcasting & Cable, RCR Wireless News, and Wireless Week. Dan holds an Electrical Engineering degree with high honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
TitleEtc:, , USA
Bio:Peter Hopper joined Abry in 2020. Peter is responsible for sourcing and leading transactions for Abry’s flagship growth equity, senior equity (ASE), and heritage funds. His areas of focus include telecommunications, communications infrastructure, and tech-enabled services. Prior to joining Abry, Peter co-founded and served as CEO of DH Capital, LLC. During his 19-year tenure as CEO, Peter established DH Capital as the preeminent advisory practice in the data center, cloud, and managed hosting sector, advising on transactions totaling more than USD 10.4 billion. Peter holds a B.S. from Lehigh University.
TitleEtc:Director-General, Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Bureau, MIC, Japan
Bio:Takuo Imagawa received his BAS and MA in system science from the University of Tokyo, and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1997. He joined the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications (MPT) in 1990, and has been engaged in various policies in the field of information, media, Internet, telecommunications, and digital transformation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications (MIC).
His experience in academia highly contributes to his theoretical background in policy making. He taught economics at Osaka University as an associate professor, and also served as a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo, etc., and an economic advisor for several local governments. His research interests include information economics, industrial organization, urban economics, and corporate finance. He is the author of many books and articles in the field of information and economics.
TitleEtc:Global Head, Business & Human Rights, Verizon, USA
Bio:As the leader of Verizon's Business & Human Rights Program, Nicole drives efforts to respect and promote human rights across the company and works to identify innovative solutions to human rights challenges. In this role, Nicole supports Verizon's ESG strategy and initiatives. Nicole previously led the Yahoo Business & Human Rights Program.
Prior to joining Yahoo, Nicole worked as an attorney at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in New York; as an international policy fellow at Human Rights First, examining issues of business and human rights and national security law and policy; and as a human rights consultant to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Nicole also worked at the UN in the Office of the Legal Counsel, as well as at the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Special Department for War Crimes in Sarajevo.
Nicole co-teaches a course on Corporate Sustainability and Transnational Business and Human Rights at Fordham University School of Law.
Nicole received her LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University School of Law; her J.D. from Boston College Law School; and her B.A., magna cum laude, in Politics and Sociology from Brandeis University.
TitleEtc:EVP-Chief Product & Platform Officer, AT&T, USA
Bio:Mo Katibeh is the EVP-Chief Product & Platform Officer of AT&T Business. He has responsibility for the group’s portfolio-wide P&L with $36 billion of annual revenue as well as its cutting-edge integrated platforms, products, and solutions including mobility, 5G, edge compute, Internet of Things, SD-WAN, cybersecurity, cloud connectivity, and wholesale. He also oversees pricing, distribution strategy, compensation, analytics, and AT&T Business’s digital platforms and portals.
Previously, Mo served as EVP-Chief Marketing Officer for AT&T Business, where he was responsible for marketing strategies including branding, advertising, and global events. Mo and his team led the transition of AT&T Business to positive revenue and EBITDA growth. This pivot to growth was enabled by $1.6 billion year-over-year revenue growth in Strategic & Managed and Business Mobility solutions and driven by innovations across product, distribution, compensation, pricing, and digital initiatives.
TitleEtc:Executive Vice President, Chayora Holdings Limited, Hong Kong SAR China
Bio:Ms. Yali Z. Liu has over 20 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in global Internet, cloud, and data centre development driving transformation supporting business and customer demands worldwide. She was Executive Director at Verizon responsible for global network planning, engineering, and network product development.
Yali joined Chayora in 2020 as Executive Vice President responsible for Network and Strategy, supporting delivery of large scalable high performance data centre campuses in China. Prior to joining Chayora, she was Vice President of ChinaCache where she was instrumental in driving carrier-neutral data centre and building the first Internet exchange (CHN-IX) in mainland China.
Yali is Vice Chair of the Advisory Council of PTC.
TitleEtc:Principal, FibeReality, LLC, USA
Bio:Mark Lutkowitz, Principal, at fibeReality, LLC, has over 35 years of experience in gathering and analyzing intelligence on optical and wireless equipment/services, including in telecommunications, datacom, consumer, automobile, AR/VR, and other market sectors. Recently, he led the effort in the publication of the report, Verizon’s 5G Enterprise: Hoarding mmWave for Viability, which was the first source in the space to state the primary objective of 5G wireless as being operations-centric in nature, compared to previous generations that were applications-driven. With an intense concentration on demand-side, primary research, Mark has consulted to some of the largest manufacturers in the world and has authored countless studies. He also regularly provides guidance to the investment community. Known for his provocative views, Mark is a frequent speaker at industry events.
TitleEtc:SVP - International Business, HGC Global Communications Limited, Hong Kong SAR China
Bio:Ravindran Mahalingam is currently the Senior Vice President – International Business Division of HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC).
He is a key member of HGC’s Management Committee and directly report to the Chief Executive Officer. The International Business Division, led by Ravindran, which is one of the major sources of revenue for HGC.
He manages the business unit’s overall revenue, development and strategic planning. He is leading the business into digitalisation from network and technology base, in particular the deployment of the Software-Defined Network (SDN) in the international networks. He has also actively involved in-country network strategy and business models roll out as part of building a ubiquitous network across South East Asia.
Ravindran joined the company in 2002 and began his work in the Southeast Asia region. He then took up the role to expand the company’s business in EMEA. Under the leadership of Ravindran, HGC established the first regional office in London, and extended operations to various parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Ravindran returned to HGC headquarter in Hong Kong and took over the management of the International Business Division for the new HGC, in 2017.
Prior to joining HGC, Ravindran oversaw Teleglobe’s voice and data business.
For more, visit www.hgc-intl.com
TitleEtc:Chief Marketing Officer, EdgeConneX, USA
Bio:Phillip has over 20 years of international marketing, strategy, and business development experience working in the Data Center, Telecom, and Technology sectors for leading service providers. Prior to joining EdgeConneX, Phillip most recently worked for Equinix in various capacities in both marketing and business development. In addition, Phillip had stints at CoreSite, Verizon, MCI, Nortel, and Globalstar. Phillip was also a partner and founder of a tech consulting firm focused on international technology transfer and venture funding of university developed technology.
Currently serving as the Chief Marketing Officer at EdgeConneX, Phillip is focused on developing, evangelizing, and executing the marketing strategy and ecosystem development for the company. Phillip also serves on the advisory boards for Apomaya and Infrastructure Masons.
Phillip holds a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of California San Diego, and a Masters in Multinational Commerce from Boston University.
TitleEtc:Chief Executive Officer, Databank Ltd, USA
Bio:Raul Martynek is CEO of DataBank and a 25+ year veteran of the telecom and Internet Infrastructure sector. Prior to DataBank, Raul served as CEO of data center operator Net Access (acquired by Cologix), as CEO of global managed hosting company Voxel (acquired by Internap), as the Chief Restructuring Officer of fiber carrier Smart Telecom (acquired by Digiweb), and CEO of telecom and Internet provider InfoHighway (acquired by Broadview Networks). Raul has served in industry-related asset management roles, most recently as a Senior Advisor for Digital Bridge Holdings LLC (which invested in DataBank), and prior to that, as a Senior Advisor at Plainfield Asset Management, a $4B hedge fund that evaluated investment opportunities in the telecommunications and Internet sector. Mr. Martynek earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University and received a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
TitleEtc:Managing Director & Head of Data Centers Investments, Digital Colony, USA
Bio:Jon Mauck is a Managing Director at Digital Colony. Mr. Mauck has 20 years of experience investing in, advising, and operating communications infrastructure businesses. Mr. Mauck leads the data center investment strategy at Digital Colony and is responsible for the identification, evaluation, consummation, and management of new investments in the data center sector on a global basis.
Previously, Mr. Mauck was a partner in IO Data Centers, a privately held data center company, that developed and operated over 1.5 million square feet of data center space across North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Mauck was also a Managing Director and the Global Head of the Technology Infrastructure group at Citigroup’s Investment Bank.
Mr. Mauck currently serves on the Board of Directors of Vantage North America, Vantage Europe, and Scala Data Centers.
Mr. Mauck was an attorney focused on mergers and acquisitions and received a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in Economics from George Mason University in 1993 and a Juris Doctor, with distinction, from Boston College in 1997.
TitleEtc:Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Stanford University, USA
Bio:Nick McKeown is the Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, and Sequoia Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University. His research work has focused mostly on how to improve and scale the Internet. From 1988-2005, he focused mostly on making the Internet faster; since 2005, he has focused on how to evolve networks faster than before. He co-founded several networking startups, including Nicira (SDN and network virtualization), and Barefoot Networks (programmable switches and P4). He co-founded the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), the Open Networking Lab (ON.Lab), and the P4 Language Consortium (P4.org), and an educational non-profit called “CS Bridge” dedicated to teaching high school students worldwide, in-person, how to program. Nick is a member of the NAE, the AAAS, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK). He received the ACM Sigcomm Lifetime Achievement Award (2012), the NEC C&C Prize (2015), and an Honorary Doctorate from ETH (2014).
TitleEtc:Executive Vice President TM WHOLESALE, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Malaysia
Bio:Amar brings over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry to his position at TM WHOLESALE, where he heads the company’s global and wholesale business segment. His vast experience makes him well-positioned to lead his team in the diverse sectors such as sales, marketing, customer experience, and relationship management, with a strong foundation in financial skills.
In addition to this, Amar is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant Australia (FCPA Australia) and a former Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) and was listed in Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Australia’s Top 40 Young Business Leaders in 2012 for his outstanding leadership qualities. In 2019, Amar was named to Capacity’s first annual Power 100 listing, made up of 100 of the most influential people in the wholesale carrier community.
Amar sits on the boards of several subsidiaries of TM Group under TM WHOLESALE cluster including as Chairman of Fiberail Sdn Bhd and ACASIA Communications Sdn Bhd.
TitleEtc:Chairman & CEO, BENYA, Egypt
Bio:Ahmed Mekky is a prominent figure of the ICT industry, enjoying more than 20 years of collective experience in the telecommunications and technology fields. His cognitive vision for the future and his relentless contributions to the industry positioned him as a central figure within this sector.
Building on his successful career and diversified experience, in 2008, Mekky co-founded GBI, the region’s first-ever privately owned telecommunications service provider that operates its own neutral submarine cable connecting the MENA region to Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Mekky continued his tireless pursuit of advancements within the industry, shifting his focus in 2016 to his next mega-venture, Benya, with the vision of building the most successful and reliable ICT infrastructure provider adopting state-of-the-art technology solutions in the Middle East and Africa.
Mekky was named in the Global Telecoms Business (GTB) Power 100 list and awarded Industry CEO of the Year at the Telecom Review Summit 2019.
TitleEtc:Co-Founder & Chief Technical Liaison, Syntropy, USA
Bio:William B. Norton serves as NOIA Network’s Co-Founder and Chief Technical Liaison, driving the Internet industry towards a fully encrypted and performance-tuned* Internet for everyone. He developed software that monitored the core backbone for the Internet, the U.S. Gov’t-sponsored NSFNET, and served as NANOG’s first chairman (1994-1998) through the transition to the commercial Internet of today. Mr. Norton served as Co-Founder and Chief Technical Liaison for Equinix (1998-2008), and a founding team member for ConsoleConnect, sold to PCCW in 2018. He wrote “The Internet Peering Playbook: Connecting to the Core of the Internet” and spent five years consulting across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and currently resides in Palo Alto, California.
TitleEtc:Managing Director, GIC Real Estate, USA
Bio:Kristin is a Managing Director on the investment team at GIC Real Estate. She is responsible for private equity investments in the U.S. real estate sector overseeing direct and fund investments and leading GIC Real Estate’s global data center investments. Kristin joined GIC in 2008 and is based in San Francisco. Prior to working at GIC, Ms. Leung served as Vice President at Morgan Stanley where she covered U.S. REITs. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Kristin worked in the consulting practices of PricewaterhouseCoopers and FTI Consulting focused on restructuring troubled companies.
TitleEtc:VP Employee & Community Impact, Equinix, USA
Bio:Bruce Owen is Vice President of Employee and Community Impact and is responsible for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB), Employee Wellbeing, and Community Impact. He is passionate about ensuring the Equinix workforce mirrors the communities it serves and that all employees are able to say “I am safe, I belong, I matter”. Bruce has been with Equinix for more than 10 years and served in leadership roles across multiple functions in both EMEA and now in the U.S. He is originally from South Africa, but lives in California with his wife and two daughters.
TitleEtc:Chief Product Development Officer, Verizon Partner Solutions, USA
Bio:Nicki oversees the growth and expansion of the 5G ecosystem, convening partners, and developing products, platforms, and services for Verizon’s various business units. Previously she was Chief Engineering Officer and Head of Wireless Networks. Prior to that she was Chief Technology Officer of Verizon Wireless, responsible for planning, operations, and engineering of the nation's largest and most reliable wireless networks. Palmer began her career at Bell Atlantic in 1990. She is active in a number of organizations including the National Academy Foundation, and is a passionate advocate for promoting education and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), especially for young women. She has been recognized as one of the industry Women to Watch by Fierce Wireless, a Top 100 CIO/CTO Leaders in STEM by STEMCONNECTOR, and as one of the Most Influential Women in Wireless. Nicki has also been honored by Working Mother magazine as a Power Woman.
TitleEtc:Ambassador of Montenegro To UN, Government of Montenegro, USA
Bio:Professor Milica Pejanovic-Djurišic is currently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Montenegro to UN. Before, she served as Minister of Defence in the Government of Montenegro.
With a Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering, Professor Pejanovic-Djurišic continuously pursues her academic career as a full professor in Telecommunications and Wireless Communications at the University of Montenegro. Her research results have been published in more than 200 research papers, studies, and books, and she has been leading and coordinating many international and national research projects. Professor Pejanovic-Djurišic also has considerable industry experience as President of the Board of Telekom Montenegro (1999-2002), as well as President of the Board of the first Montenegriin Internet provider. She has been working as a consultant in the field of telecommunications, being engaged as an expert for the European Commission, ITU, and participating in a number of global professional associations and initiatives in the field of info-communication technologies.
TitleEtc:Head of Global Connectivity Policy and Planning, Meta, USA
Bio:Robert Pepper helps lead Meta’s global connectivity policy and planning activities focusing on new technology development and trends, deployment, and adoption of connectivity infrastructure, including subsea, terrestrial networks, and related infra. Pepper previously was Cisco’s Vice President for Global Technology Policy for more than a decade working with governments globally helping them develop digital. Pepper was Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development at the FCC for 16 years where he led teams designing and implementing the first U.S. spectrum auctions, developing policies promoting the development of the Internet, implementing telecommunications legislation, and planning for the transition to digital television. His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University. He currently is a Board Trustee of the Internet Society and a member of UK’s Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board. Pepper received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
TitleEtc:Principal Program Manager, Azure Networking, Microsoft, USA
Bio:Yves is a Principal Program Manager for Azure Networking (WAN, Edge) and Azure Orbital. Yves drives a range of solutions allowing the best public and private connectivity to the cloud for customers across the globe and now off planet with Azure Orbital. Azure Orbital platform which enables satellite operators to communicate to control their satellites, process data, and scale operations directly with Microsoft Azure.
TitleEtc:Co-Founder & CEO, Cloudflare, USA
Bio:Matthew Prince is co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world's largest networks, which spans more than 200 cities in over 100 countries. Matthew is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, winner of the 2011 Tech Fellow Award, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law. Matthew holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and awarded the Dubilier Prize for Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Illinois Bar, and earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago and B.A. in English Literature and Computer Science from Trinity College. He’s also the co-creator of Project Honey Pot, the largest community of webmasters tracking online fraud and abuse.
TitleEtc:Chief Information Officer, EdgePresence, USA
Bio:Bill Radford is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of EdgePresence, where he leads the design, implementation and network operations for the company. Prior to joining EdgePresence, in a career spanning more than 26 years, Bill has held positions in operations, infrastructure deployment and information technology. Most recently, Bill held positions with Time Warner Telecom, Level 3 Communications, Central Credit Services and ICG Telecom. He has extensive experience in managing technical and security operations centers for global data centers and fiber networks.
TitleEtc:Marketing Manager, Serverfarm, USA
Bio:Avner Papouchado has been the guiding force behind Serverfarm since its inception. Known for his intense business acumen, Papouchado has a proven track record of successful real estate investments. He has served as Red Sea Group’s North American CEO since 1993 and is an active member of the executive management team responsible for the company’s worldwide investment strategy.
A certified pilot, Papouchado received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the New School for Social Research in New York.
Papouchado's attention to detail, precision, and efficiency is evident in Serverfarm’s solutions such as InCommand, a cloud-based platform that offers a unique capability to take all physical assets in IT, facility, and data center environments and present them as a virtualized service.
Papouchado continues to innovate across the globe with groundbreaking acquisitions and deployments. He is a trailblazer in data center digital transformation, paving the way for wide-scale enterprise adoptions of next-generation technologies, including 5G, IoT, edge computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
TitleEtc:Founder & Chief Executive Officer, NJFX, USA
Bio:Gil Santaliz is the Founder and CEO of NJFX, as well as the visionary behind developing NJFX as North America’s preeminent international hub for subsea communications, interconnecting many international carriers across three continents with multiple predictable, private backhaul and U.S. termination options.
In order to satisfy the market, Mr. Santaliz developed the concept of “Tier 3 by the Subsea”, a purpose-built facility for high- and low-density data center space as well as colocation of subsea systems interconnecting global backbone networks to unique metro fiber assets providing safe, diverse and unique backhaul options. This is a paradigm shift from traditional backhaul to the nearest metro without consideration of potential bottlenecks found in congested areas such as New York and Northern New Jersey.
TitleEtc:Chief Strategy & Development Officer, Equinix, USA
Bio:As Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Equinix, Eric Schwartz directs corporate strategy, business development, technology and innovation, hyperscale initiatives, and corporate development. This includes driving effective and holistic strategy and decision-making across the company to support both strategic and tactical elements of growth and expansion. As a part of this role, Schwartz oversees the company’s capital investment program; strengthening Equinix’s position as the world’s digital infrastructure company. He previously served as President of the EMEA region and was instrumental in overseeing Equinix’s expansion to Europe and the Middle East.
He joined Equinix from BellSouth where he was Vice President of IP Communications and led the development and implementation of advanced technologies including VoIP.
Mr. Schwartz is a former member of McKinsey & Co., where he consulted with telecommunications and financial services companies around the world on strategic issues. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.
TitleEtc:Founder, SUB.CO/Cloudscene/Megaport/NEXTDC, Australia
Bio:Bevan Slattery is recognized as one of Australia's leading technology entrepreneurs having founded some of Australia's most successful technology companies including peering and telecommunications business PIPE Networks, Australia’s largest data center operator NEXTDC, global elastic interconnection specialist Megaport, submarine cable operator and Indigo cable investor SubPartners, and pan Asian telecommunications infrastructure-based telecommunications provider, Superloop. Bevan's entrepreneurial success is highlighted in having listed a record five (5) companies on the Australian Stock Exchange and received many industry awards including EY Champion of Entrepreneurs Award in 2016, National Charles Todd Medal, and the Pearcy Foundations Benson Award as well as recently inducted into the Commsday Australian Internet Hall Of Fame.
TitleEtc:Chief Executive Officer, Digital Realty, USA
Bio:A. William Stein (Bill) is Digital Realty’s Chief Executive Officer and serves on its Board of Directors. Under Bill’s leadership, Digital Realty has executed a series of transformational transactions that have sharpened the company’s strategic focus and significantly enhanced its product offerings. He has overseen a quadrupling of the company’s total enterprise value, as well as its inclusion in the S&P 500 Index. Prior to being named CEO in 2014, Bill served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer. He also served as Chair for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), and currently on the Board of Directors for Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., and The Real Estate Roundtable. Bill has an A.B. from Princeton University, a JD degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a MS from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
TitleEtc:Associate General Counsel & Director of Ethics and Legal Compliance, Intel Corporation, USA
Bio:Carol Tate is Associate General Counsel and Director of Ethics and Legal Compliance at Intel Corporation. Carol manages the company’s ethics program and global network of business champions, oversees ethics and compliance due diligence and integration for Intel’s mergers and acquisitions, and manages the company’s legal compliance effectiveness program. Prior to Intel, Carol served as Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of McCarthy Building Companies and the VP, Investigations and Compliance at Flextronics. Before working in house, Carol worked as a Senior Attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, and an associate in the commercial litigation departments of Wildman Harrold and Thompson Coburn LLP. Carol received her Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School.
TitleEtc:CEO & Founder, Edgevana, USA
Bio:Mark Thiele has a 30 plus year career as an IT executive, building global infrastructure for companies like HP, VMware, Brocade, Gilead, and Ericsson. Over the last five years, he has become a globally recognized name in the edge space, where he is an active practitioner, content contributor, and speaker. As the CEO for Edgevana, Mark is working on simplifying access to global infrastructure resources, including data centers, edge, and network resources.
Mark is also very involved in the industry, he is co-founder of Data Center Pulse, and former Chair for the IDCA Technical Committee, Board member for the Cloud Native Compute Foundation, and is currently an advisor/board member to a number of startups.
TitleEtc:, , USA
Bio:John Veizades has more than 30 years of experience in Internet technologies and in building scalable solutions for networking and security.
At Megaport, John heads up the engineering and product teams. John started his career working on one of the first Internet routers while a student at the University of California, Berkeley. He has held engineering and product management roles at many of Silicon Valley’s iconic companies including Google, Xerox, Apple, Cisco, Juniper, and others, working on everything from early TCP/IP implementation on desktop systems to large-scale infrastructure components to support the world’s largest service providers.
TitleEtc:Global 5G Strategy Lead, Accenture, USA
Bio:Jefferson authored the best-selling book, “The Future Home in the 5G Era,” the first book written with a user-centered 5G story. Jefferson is Accenture's Global 5G Lead. For two decades, Jefferson has worked with network operators, OEMs, content owners, and technology providers to create executable growth strategies through the end-to-end product lifecycle.
Jefferson builds businesses on his belief that success comes from big picture thinking mixed with detail-oriented execution. His ability to identify new technology patterns helps his clients navigate constant change.
Jefferson is a regular speaker at Mobile World Congress and CES and has appeared on CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Mobile World Live TV. His perspectives are featured in publications that include The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, New York Times, Washington Post, and BGR.
Jefferson holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.
TitleEtc:Founder & Principal, XFORMA LLC, USA
Bio:Joe Weinman is the author of Digital Disciplines: Attaining Market Leadership via the Cloud, Big Data, Social, Mobile, and the Internet of Things, which was the Amazon number one new release in the computer and technology industry. He is also the author of Cloudonomics: The Business Value of Cloud Computing, and a co-editor of Fog and Fogonomics: Challenges and Practices of Fog Computing, Communication, Networking, Strategy, and Economics. He has held a number of executive positions at Bell Labs, AT&T, HP, and Telx (now Digital Realty), and serves on the advisory boards of EDJX, Syntropy Networks, RampRate, and the Seton Hall University Stillman School of Business. He has been awarded 27 U.S. and international patents. He received his BS and MS in Computer Science from Cornell University and UW-Madison, respectively, and has completed executive education at the International Institute for Management Development, Harvard Business School, and MIT Sloan.
TitleEtc:Director & Professor, SHIFT, School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Peoples Republic of China
Bio:Yang Yang received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Radio Engineering from Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 1996 and 1999, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in Information Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2002. He is currently a full professor at the School of Information Science and Technology, Master of Kedao College, and Director of Shanghai Institute of Fog Computing Technology (SHIFT), ShanghaiTech University, China. He is also an Adjunct Professor with the Research Center for Network Communication, Peng Cheng Laboratory, China, as well as a Senior Consultant for Shenzhen SmartCity Technology Development Group, China. Before joining ShanghaiTech University, he held faculty positions at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Brunel University, U.K., University College London (UCL), U.K., and SIMIT, CAS, China.
Yang's research interests include 5G/6G, fog/edge computing networks, service-oriented collaborative intelligence, IoT applications, and advanced testbeds and experiments. He has published more than 300 papers and filed more than 80 technical patents in these research areas. He has been the Chair of the Steering Committee of Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications (APCC) since January 2019.
TitleEtc:Assistant Professor, School of Entrepreneurship & Management, ShanghaiTech University, Peoples Republic of China
Bio:Wen Zheng is an Assistant Professor of School of Entrepreneurship and Management at ShanghaiTech University. Wen received her Ph.D. in Business Administration (Strategy and Entrepreneurship) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2019. Her research interests lie at the intersection of innovation strategy, entrepreneurship, and international business. She has presented her research at several conferences, such as the Academy of Management Annual Meeting and Strategic Management Society Conference. She is a member of the Strategic Management Society and the Academy of Management.