Professor Ed Candy, Chief Technology Officer, 3 Group
Ed is one of the founders of 3G technology, chairing the original forum which set the standards. He has over 30 years' experience in the electronics industry and enjoys teaching links with many universities.
Ed Candy joined the Hutchison Group of Companies in 2000. As Global Technology Director, his main responsibilities have been the development of Hutchison 3G's technology, network design for '3', and the associated standards. As from 1st January 2007 he became the Global Technology Strategy Director for Hutchison Whampoa Europe Ltd.
Ed has a wealth of experience, which he has built up in previous roles both as Technical Director at Orange, and Group Development Director at Simoco International. At Simoco, Ed was in charge of directing the product development and technical activities and created a high tech, world leading, digital radio R&D team.
Ed also acted in an advisory capacity to the UK government through his role as Chairman of 3G Technical Advisory Group prior to the 3G spectrum auction in April 2000. He is a visiting Professor of Strathclyde University, a fellow of IEE and a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Houston Spencer, Vice President Business Strategy & Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent
Houston Spencer has written and spoken extensively on the unprecedented competitive dynamics transforming the communications industry, and has assisted telecoms operators, internationally, in drawing out the service and network implications of the competitive trends in their markets.
Houston first entered the communications industry in 1991, working with satellite ground systems in the Australian outback. After five years with strategy consultants McKinsey & Company, helping clients in diverse industries grapple with major upheaval. He was also a core member of the McKinsey research team that generated the best-selling The Alchemy of Growth.
Houston returned to high tech in 2001. He joined Alcatel’s Asia Pacific headquarters, in Shanghai, then moved to Paris, in 2003, to help establish Alcatel’s global Marketing team. In his current role, Houston has undertaken a major repositioning of Alcatel-Lucent’s business in North and West Europe.
Along the way, Houston has served on the editorial boards of several professional journals, including The McKinsey Quarterly and The Business Communicator. He is a member of the CMO Council’s European Advisory Board and is an advisor to AIESEC International. Houston holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in social science and comparative theology. He is both an Australian and an American citizen.
Dominique Le Foll, Vice President of Engineering, Amino Communications
Dominique joined Amino in 2006 as Vice President of Engineering, bringing to the company over 25 years of experience in developing Telecom solutions. Dominique is responsible for the development of Amino’s award-winning line of IPTV high definition Set-Top boxes.
Over the course of his career, Dominique has achieved great success using disruptive technologies to create diagnostic product lines for Digital TV, DSL and ISDN test systems as well as TVoIP and VoIP. He has architected and engineered test solutions which have been deployed by companies such as DT, FT, BT, EutelSat, BBC, Verizon, AT&T and TWC. Dominique has also won several patents in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Prior to joining Amino Communications, was Vice President of Architecture for JDSU Test Communication Service Assurance division (SAS). Dominique spearheaded a new project that developed a solution for the market of broadband testing. His unique strategy was to implement the Open Community development strategy over the 6 R&D sites to rapidly offer a new generation of web base OSS dedicated to broadband SAS. Since, the solution has selected to grow in the new Triple Play market and has been utilized in TVoIP deployments and VoIP service assurance applications by major Telecom and Cable operators worldwide.
Dominique studied Computer science at the ESAT (Arcueil-Paris), an engineering school sponsored by the French DOD where he specialised in Operating systems and low level software programmation.
Patrick Parodi, CMO & General Manager, EMEA, Amobee
Patrick Parodi is responsible for Amobee’s business in EMEA, as well as the company’s overall marketing activities. Patrick has over 15 years of experience in the wireless and interactive media industries in over 20 markets worldwide. Patrick has held management roles at Alcatel, PacketVideo, Diveo Broadband Networks, Skytel, Teleworx and TVAnswer (Eon Corporation).
A staunch activist in the world of mobile entertainment, in 2004 Parodi was elected Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (www.m-e-f.org), the leading global trade association representing both the mobile and entertainment industries.
Ian Neild, Futurologist, BT
Ian Neild is a disruptive evangelist who presents on technology trends and social / business impacts. He writes the BT technology timeline along with Ian Pearson, which lists possible technology changes and their impact from 5 to 50 years forth. The 2005 version is used extensively by many companies around the world to help them to think about future strategy in business.
Ian has co-authored numerous patents, written many technical papers; appeared on various radio / television shows and spoken at many conferences around the world. Currently he is working on an area dubbed the "Internet of Things" looking at disruptive technologies within BTs foresight team and working on his doctorate at UCL. His talks are always entertaining and informative, which makes him a popular choice for keynotes around the world.
Marc Watson, Commercial Director, BT Vision
Marc Watson is commercial director for BT's next-generation TV service, BT Vision. Marc is responsible for all BT Vision commercial activities including programming, content acquisition and commercial-interactive areas.
A qualified barrister, Marc worked head of legal and business affairs at publisher Northern and Shell until 1999. Here he was responsible for a number of celebrity magazine editorial acquisitions, TV-channel distribution negotiations, provision of legal advice and business development.
In 1999 he joined Reel Enterprises Ltd, a company specialising in rights negotiations, channel development, interactivity and sport. At Reel Marc acted as media rights negotiator for the Football League, the Scottish Premier League and the NFL in Europe. He also worked on content acquisition for BT and Telewest Communications, as well as advising
Channel 4, ITV, BBC, ITV, National Geographic, Fox International Channels and Flextech Television amongst others.
Peter Cochrane, Futurologist & Consultant, Cochrane Associates
Peter is a seasoned IT professional with 40+ years of technology and operational experience. An internationally sought after author and consultant renowned for his out of the box thinking as a futurist, business guru, and an agent of change who invests in new business starts.
Currently Peter serves on the board of six companies in the UK & USA. He is involved in the creation and deployment of new technologies and is investing in start up companies in the technology and e-World. Peter is engaged in the transformation of corporations and speaks regularly at industry and international conferences. Peter's consulting activities span four continents and he also Contributes to academia and government bodies.
Simon Saunders, Chairman, Femto Forum
Professor Simon Saunders is one of the world’s leading authorities on femtocells and is currently chairman of the Femto Forum. As chairman Simon works to drive the uptake of femtocell technologies through open standards, market education and ecosystem development. He is an independent wireless communications specialist with more than 20 years industry experience. Simon has consulted for a range of companies including O2, Ofcom, NTL, BT, Motorola, BBC and many others. He is the author of books and articles and is a regular speaker at industry conferences. In May 2007 Simon was appointed to Ofcom's Spectrum Advisory Board.
John Yeomans, Director, FirstCapital & Stream UK
John is a Director at FirstCapital, a boutique investment bank for venture-backed technology businesses, and a non executive with Stream UK, a digital media streaming and solutions business. He advised Multimap on its sale to Microsoft, and Centric Telecom, a private equity backed managed network business on its sale. Previously he was HSBC’s Global Head of Telecom, Media and Technology corporate finance.
Clients included Hutchison, Telenor, NTT DoCoMo, MTNL, OTE, Orange, Esprit Telecom and MSI. At KPMG he was a strategy consultant with BT, C&W, Hughes, Vodafone, Globalstar and Oftel among the clients. He also spent ten years in growth technology ventures including a start up, an MBO, a university spin out and Mitel, first obtaining venture capital in 1981. He has a starred first degree from Trinity College, Cambridge in Electrical Sciences.
Ian Pearson, Futurologist, Futurizon
Ian Pearson graduated in 1981 in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from Queens University, Belfast. He spent four years in Shorts Missile Systems, in many different disciplines from mechanical engineering to battlefield strategy simulation. He joined BT Laboratories in 1985 as a performance analyst, and has since worked in network design and evolution, cybernetics, and mobile systems. Until the end of 2007 he remained as BT’s Futurologist, concentrating on mapping the progress of new developments throughout information technology, considering both technological and social implications. He now does exactly the same things, but as an independent, so is now able to give an unbiased view unconstrained by any corporate line.
As a futurologist and consultant, he lectures extensively on his futures views. In between conferences, he writes extensively on topics such as machine consciousness, human evolution, women’s issues, social trends and advanced computing technology.
Ian has received many awards for his papers, written several books and has made well over 400 TV and radio appearances. He is a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society, the World Academy of Art and Science, the Royal Society of Arts, the Institute of Nanotechnology and the World Innovation Foundation. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Westminster.
Tudor Aw, Partner, KPMG
Tudor is a Partner in KPMG’s London office having just completed a four year secondment in the US where he was based in Washington DC and New York. He has over 20 years of audit, and consulting experience, working with clients in the communications and media sectors where his main focus has been on helping clients manage risk, evaluate strategic opportunities and achieve operational improvements.
Tudor leads KPMG’s digital services which encompasses development of thought leadership material and delivery of solutions to clients on the topics of convergence and digital content. Tudor has worked extensively on projects in the US, UK, Belgium, Germany as well as Antigua, Australia, France, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan and Singapore.
John Varney, Founder & Director, Maximum Clarity Ltd
John Varney is a 30-year veteran of the broadcast industry, is founder of Maximum Clarity Ltd, helping executives understand the possibilities offered by technology in the areas of business development, internal processes and services.
John has invested in and is board advisor to several telecoms and media start-up businesses, based in Europe and the US. John spent the previous 5 years as CTO for the BBC, responsible for the overall technology vision, strategy and delivery for the Corporation.
Previously with Granada, he was instrumental in the launch of digital broadcasting in the UK and part of the leadership team in Corporate M&A. While with Granada, he also acted as adviser to Channel 7 in Australia and the Australian Government.
Mike Short, Vice President - Research & Development, O2
Mike's career spans 34 years in Electronics and Telecommunications, with the last 21 years in Mobile Communications. Mike has chaired the Mobile Data Association since 1998, leading the Association acting mainly as spokesperson on Public Policy.
He was appointed VP Technology for O2 Group in 2000,
Mike's focus today is on Third Generation mobile , Mobile TV, Mobile data applications and steering Telefonica O2 Europe's Group Research and Development in mobile.
In the last 5 years Mike has also been appointed Visiting Professor at Surrey University, De Montfort and Lancaster Universities, and to the Boards of Coventry University Board and Ravensbourne College . He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in 2008 for services to the Mobile Communications industry He is a Fellow of IET/BCS/CIPS/RGS and a Member of the Royal Television Society.
Giles Rhys Jones, Director - Interactive, OgilvyOne
A board member of OgilvyOne, Giles is responsible for interactive strategy across key clients including BT, Yahoo and IBM. Giles has also helped to drive the interactive agenda across the company, marketing and new business.
Giles is passionate about connecting brands and customers to drive business growth, having worked in multiple communications disciplines. Giles’ experience ranges across all channels from corporate identity and digital communications to ATL and DM for clients ranging from BT, IBM and HP and British Airways. Giles specialties are Integrated Marketing Strategy, Digital Consumer Trends.
Giles believes that the proliferation of technology has fundamentally changed how consumers and brands interact, and not only through digital channels. The digital consumer is just a fallacy, they are just consumers, and they are digital. Consequently interactive thinking needs to be at the heart of marketing strategy.
Christian Goswami, Director, Openwave Systems
Chris Goswami has worked for 22 years in the telecoms industry, formerly with Magic4 (the well known providers of messaging clients). Chris played a key role in coordinating Magic4's involvement in new Messaging technologies.
Chris now leads the Product Management Team for Openwave’s end to end solutions, providing business cases and Product Management for areas of strategic interest. Previously Chris was responsible for the mobile-data testing business at The NCC Group in Manchester. He was a member of key management staff leading up to the successful sale of The NCC Group to Barclays Private Equity.
Chris is an experienced speaker and has regularly spoken for Informa, IIR and IBC conferences on such topics as Messaging, User Experience, and IMS. In the early nineteen-eighties, Chris was involved in some of the earliest research into CDMA systems, now the basis for 3G mobile networks worldwide.
Chris holds a First Class Degree, MSc, and PhD in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications from Manchester University.
David Marshall, Marketing Manager, Plantronics Ltd
David Marshall joined Plantronics in June 2005 as a Senior EMEA expert with responsibility for the management and development of the headset and wireless office portfolio relevant to the business markets, as well as developing relationships with key industry partners. He is now focussed on the Telecommunications market, taking advantage of his fixed and mobile background.
Before joining Plantronics, Marshall was head of product management for mobile operator Orange UK, serving innovative products and services for the business market, basing them on customer insight.
Prior to joining Orange, Marshall was EMEA head of notebooks at Dell where he defined the EMEA Latitude brand strategy, spearheaded the launch into the PDA market and drove the consumer notebook business across EMEA. Previously Marshall held a number of positions at blue chip technology companies including Panasonic UK, AEG Olympia, Epson and British Telecom.
Neil Fairbrother, Director, Pod3 TV
Neil Is an award-winning marketer with many years of experience. Previously Neil created Liquid Bandwidth as a sub-brand of start-up telecoms company Neos and as Marketing Director steered the brand to exit, garnering several awards along the way. The company was sold 24 months after launch for £15 million to Scottish & Southern Energy plc.
In 2007 he was ranked in the top 10 most innovative entrepreneurs in the UK in the Sunday Observer's Courvoisier Future 500 for the successful pod3.tv webTV company.
In his spare time Neil enjoys motorbikes (Harley, Honda), cycling, yachting (RYA Yachtmaster), climbing (MLTB SPSA) & hill walking and badminton.
Andy Stevenson, CEO, Fujitsu Telecommunications
As Chief Executive Officer Andy has corporate responsibility for the growth and development of Fujitsu’s telecommunications products and services in Europe.
While the Chief Operating Officer at FTEL Andy led the transformation of the business from an £80 million marginal business into a £250 million profitable enterprise. Fujitsu today is the number one Broadband Access technology company in the UK and as of mid 2005 has designed, manufactured, installed and maintains over 4 million DSL customer for various UK and mainland European carriers. Fujitsu also captures the number 2 spot in the highly competitive UK network infrastructure support services.
Andy’s background is in design and technology. As Engineering Director in the late 90's, Andy was responsible for the development of Fujitsu’s Broadband Access portfolio, which now provides the main product revenue stream for Fujitsu‘s telecommunications business in Europe.
Andy joined Fujitsu in 1993 following a career with Alcatel in France and in Germany. While at Alcatel, his background in Software Engineering led him to act in strategic consultancy roles for the headquarters’ Tools and Technology Group and as a primary software architect of the early SDH Cross Connect systems.
Prior to Alcatel, he spent several years in two advanced software technology companies developing advanced CAD/CAM system tools.
Andy has two children and lives in Solihull. His hobbies are reading, golf and squash.
Mark Curtis, CEO, Flirtomatic
Mark Curtis set up his first company in 1989, a below-the-line media promotions specialist called Curtis Hoy. In 1993 he started an offshoot, CHBi to explore digital media marketing, which rapidly became one of the UK’s leading interactive agencies, building web and other digital solutions for clients such as Allied Domecq, Carlsberg, NatWest and Yellow Pages.
Mark sold the company to Razorfish in 1998 and moved into the position of head of skills for Razorfish globally, responsible for over 2000 staff.
In 2001 Mark set up Fjord, a digital innovation company developing new cross platform ideas for clients like Nokia, Orange and Yahoo! Flirtomatic was launched in 2006 and Mark now holds the position of CEO.
Mark has also written a book on the effect of digital media on society called “Distraction”.
Antonio Vince Staybl, CEO, GoFresh
Antonio Vince Staybl, Austrian, born in Munich in 1969. Before founding Gofresh GmbH with two partners, he worked as Marketing Manager at iobox Deutschland, where he launched the first mobile music co-ops of Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and others.
The Founder and CEO of Gofresh was responsible for the launch of the world's first mobile-only music album from Gofresh's own mobile music label. With the launch of itsmy.com in 2006, Staybl again realised one of his Mobile Entertainment visions - user generated content offering every mobile phone user in the world his own, free personal mobile homepage. He is determined to re-define the future of the digital world mobile.
Jim Brooks, Principal Associate Consultant, Capgemini
Jim Brooks is a Principle Associate consultant in the Consulting Services division of Capgemini's Telecom, Media & Entertainment (TME) industry practice. Based in the UK, Jim is responsible for business development, using his broad media experience to advise clients about the strategic opportunities presented by the converging telecom and media industries.
Jim began his career in advertising and worked for 12 years within many of the blue chip advertising agencies -- including Ogilvy's, McCann and JWT. Since leaving JWT, Jim has spent more than 13 years as an independent consultant, launching new business initiatives within traditional and new media channels across the TV, satellite, Internet and mobile markets.
Since taking the lead role 5 years ago in the creation, trial and development of TV text voting, Jim has focused on the ability of new media channels to deliver highly relevant, timely and permission-based content, utilising unique channels or leveraging the synergy of convergence. Jim is active in developing business cases and use case frameworks for mobile to achieve full media and marketing channel status.
Jim holds a BA in Advertising and Marketing from Cardiff University.
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