We are shaping a better digital future society

Audrey Tang, a civic hacker and Taiwan’s Digital Minister in charge of Social Entrepreneurship and Open Government, is known for revitalizing global open source communities such as Perl and Haskell.

In the public sector, Audrey served on Taiwan’s K-12 curriculum committee and national development council’s open data committee; and led the country’s first e-Rulemaking project.

In the private sector, Audrey worked as a consultant with Apple on computational linguistics, with Oxford University Press on crowd lexicography.

In the third sector, Audrey actively contributes to Taiwan’s g0v (“gov-zero”), a community focusing on creating tools for civil society, with the call to “fork the government”.

Andrew Axelrod serves as Chief Strategy Officer for the UN Foundation. In this role, he leads organizational strategy development, resource mobilization and allocation, business planning and implementation, information technology and digital services, and is responsible for the organization’s ongoing operational effectiveness. Andrew also serves as Board Chair for DIAL, an initiative working to create a more inclusive digital society for the world’s most vulnerable people.

 Andrew graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Commerce and holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Andrew W. Wyckoff is the Director of the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) where he oversees OECD’s work on innovation, business dynamics, science and technology, information and communication technology policy as well as the statistical work associated with each of these areas.

Carlota Perez studies the socio-economic impact of technical change and the historical context for growth and development.

She is currently Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, Professor of Technology and Development at the Nurkse Institute, TalTech, Estonia. Her long career has combined civil service, academic research and teaching, and she has acted as consultant for several governments; for international organisations such as the EU, UNIDO, CEPAL, the Andean Pact, the World Bank, and the OECD; and for many global corporations including IBM, Cisco, Telefonica and Ericsson. Author of the influential Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages (Elgar 2002).

Dr Daria Gołębiowska-Tataj is #1 business growth strategist through innovation, entrepreneurship and Network Thinking™. She helps develop business growth strategies for multinational companies, venture capital funded start-ups and private equity-backed mid-size companies, cities and entire countries.

At the WEF, she has been helping shape the Davos agenda. As a Chairwoman of High-level Advisors to European Commissioner for Science & Innovation, she leads the policy reflection €100 billion Horizon Europe budget. In 2006, Daria was recognized by FORTUNE Magazine as one of 17 emerging global women business leaders. 

Jeff Merritt is an expert in the area of smart cities, emerging technologies, and government innovation with more than two decades of experience driving social change in the U.S. He currently serves as Head of IoT, Robotics and Smart Cities for the World Economic Forum in San Francisco, California.

He served as New York City’s first-ever Director of Innovation. Key highlights from his career include laying the groundwork for the world’s largest, fastest municipal Wi-Fi network; orchestrating the launch and roll-out of the world’s largest city top-level domain; and leading the creation and adoption of new guidelines and tools to promote the responsible and equitable expansion of IoT.

Dr Joan Clos is the former Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). He held this office from October 2010- December 2017.

He was twice elected Mayor of Barcelona, serving two terms from 1997 until 2006. He was Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Trade of Spain between 2006 and 2008. Prior to joining the United Nations, he served as the Spanish Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Dr Joan Clos is also widely credited with inspiring far-reaching investment programmes for Barcelona. One of the most ambitious was the “Barcelona@22” programme, which gave the city’s dilapidated industrial zones a facelift.

John Hoffman is CEO and Director for GSMA Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the GSMA. In this role, John oversees various lines of business, including the GSMA’s portfolio of award-winning trade shows and conferences, its online, print and broadcast media properties, industry research services and a range of network managed services.

John is a member of the Future Trends Forum, Bankinter’s global think task focused on issues impacting Spanish society and businesses. He serves on the GSMA Ltd. Board of Directors as well as the Board of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation.

John is the author of the “Wireless Evolution Insider” as well as “GPRS Demystified”.

Mariana Mazzucato is winner of the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She was named as one of the “3 most important thinkers about innovation” by the New Republic and is on The Bloomberg 50 list of ‘Ones to Watch’ for 2019. Her highly acclaimed book The Entrepreneurial State: debunking public vs. private sector myths was on the 2013 Books of the Year list of the Financial Times. Her new book The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economy was shortlisted for the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year prize. She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led inclusive growth.

Mats Granryd is Director General of the GSMA and a Member of its Board. In this role, he leads the GSMA in supporting its global membership through a range of industry programmes, advocacy initiatives and industry-convening events.

Mats is a strong proponent of sustainability and led the mobile industry in becoming the first sector to broadly commit to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016. Mats chairs the Working Group on Digital Gender Divide to address the digital gender divide and foster the equal inclusion of women and girls in broadband access and use.

Mats holds an M.Sc. from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Michelle Greenwald is a unique blend of corporate executive, graduate business school marketing professor, entrepreneur and author. She was a Senior Vice President at Disney, a Vice President and General Manager at Pepsi, and Business Director at Nestle.

Michelle curates visits for global firms to leading innovators in diverse fields at Inventours™. Has written the book Catalyzing Innovation, that provides a systematic way for firms to innovate with 950 cross-sector, global examples categorized into 63 different types of innovation. She is also a contributor for Forbes Magazine, being the CMO of the Network Column re: Innovation & Marketing Strategy.

Rahilla Zafar is a Managing Director at ConsenSys helping open the Middle East market where the company is currently the official blockchain advisor to the city of Dubai.

She has conducted research, co-author, and edit The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change. 

Rahilla previously was based in Afghanistan and Pakistan working for the International Organization for Migration, the NATO-led mission and government initiatives focused on humanitarian outreach. 

She has contributed to numerous publications from the Financial Times to Quartz and for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative.

Renata Avila, (Guatemalan), is an international Human Rights lawyer, specialising in the next wave of technological challenges to preserve and advance our rights, and understand better the politics of data and their implications on trade, democracy and society. She is currently writing a book on digital colonialism and designing international policies and prototyping technology for a democratic future. She is a member of the Coordinating Collective of @Diem_25, Board member for @creativecommons and co-convener of the Progressive International. She is a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and Technology and a Steering Committee Member of the Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) for the OECD.

Dr Pollock is an expert in data management and analysis with more than fifteen years of experience working with organisations on the technical, legal and social challenges using and sharing information. A recognized global expert on digital policy and open data, he is also a serial entrepreneur and a published researcher, and has worked with G7 and G20 governments, IGOs such as the World Bank and the UN, businesses and CSOs.

Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Member, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University (www.saskiasassen.com). Her latest book is Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy (Harvard University Press 2014) now out in 18 languages. She is the recipient of diverse awards, including multiple doctor honoris causa, the Principe de Asturias 2013 Prize in the Social
Sciences, and made a Foreign Member of the Royal Academy of the Sciences of Netherland.

Alexis is the CEO of SciTech DiploHub, the public-private partnership in charge of Barcelona’s science and technology diplomacy and professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policies at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. He has 10 years’ experience as a senior advisor on science diplomacy for ministries of Foreign Affairs, Science, and Education across Asia and Europe and is a member of the board of numerous private ventures and nonprofit initiatives in the fields of Engineering, Higher Education and Public Diplomacy. He holds a Master in Computer Science, an MBA from Ecole de Management de Normandie, and a Postgraduate degree in Diplomacy from the United Nations Institute.

Alicia Richart holds a degree in Industrial Engineering, an MBA and a Master in Corporate Finance. The initial years of her career were spent as a process engineer for Totalfina ELF. She became a strategy consultant in industry, energy and telecoms at Accenture from 2005 to 2011. In 2012, Alicia joined the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, leading the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Spain, as well as the Industry 4.0 Program. After 3 years in the public service, she joined Cellnex Telecom as Public Affairs Director. In June 2017, Alicia was appointed as General Director of digitalES. She was recently named Digital Champion by the Vice President of the European Commission and Counselor of RED.es.

Anna Cucurull is CEO of A Piece of Pie, a global strategic consultancy she founded 15 years ago in Barcelona, today with offices in London and Bogotá.

Applying its own Business Anthropology method, the consultancy brings a unique, highly collaborative and multidisciplinary focus combining business and human behaviour. At the company’s helm, Anna has led successful initiatives including a GE-Intel joint venture in the health sector, the future of real estate with Solvia, and new mobility concepts for the auto industry.

Previously, Anna was a director at Accenture and CEO of Canal Metro. She holds a degree in mathematics and has given numerous seminars on competition and innovation strategies.

With expertise in Innovation in Cities, Smart Cities, Economic promotion, Public-Private Partnership. Anna is an Engineer with background in strategic and change management consultancy at Accenture, with experience in entrepreneurship in UPC, and she joined the Barcelona City Council with the 22@Barcelona urban transformation project. Currently, she is Digital Innovation Director and designs and implement the Barcelona Digital Innovation Strategy and policies. She also advises on innovation and articulates the implementation of the digital and innovation strategy across municipal areas and agencies, leads the Barcelona’s i-Lab, and collaborate with institutions like the World Bank or the European Commission.

Arantza Ezpeleta holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering and an MBA. She began her career at Telefónica R&D. In 1998, she joined EHN as a Renewable Energy Project Manager and in 2002 was promoted to European Business Development Manager. When ACCIONA acquired EHN in 2003, Arantza successfully led the company’s international expansion process while continuing to develop and manage renewable energy projects. In 2008, she was appointed International General Manager for ACCIONA Corporation and became Director of the Chairman’s office in 2014. In 2016, Arantza became the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at ACCIONA S.A. and is also a member of the Corporate Steering Committee.

Artur is Deputy Director of the i2cat Foundation, a research and innovation centre about the Internet. He holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Barcelona, specialised in technological cultures. He also created CANET, the first research centre on the Internet at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Within the Foundation, Artur developed several European projects focused on the convergence between the Internet and the audiovisual and culture. Currently, his line of research focuses on the design and implementation of living labs, new innovation structures open to the entire citizenry. In 2007 he launched the Citilab, the first European citizen lab. Nowadays, he is a member of the leadership of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).

Boyd Cohen, Ph.D., is an urban strategist focused on the areas of urban innovation, entrepreneurship, smart cities and the Internet of Mobility. He has published 3 books (Climate Capitalism, 2011; The Emergence of the Urban Entrepreneur, 2016; Post-capitalist Entrepreneurship, 2017).  He is a Fellow at the Singapore University of Social Sciences in their  Fintech and Blockchain group. In 2017, he co-founded iomob, a blockchain startup seeking to decentralize the mobility sector by providing an open protocol for the Internet of Mobility (IoM).  He is also leading the  Blockchain Cities Alliance which focuses on promoting the adoption of blockchain in smart cities.

Carme Torras leads a research group in assistive robotics at the Robotics Institute (CSIC-UPC) in Barcelona and writes science fiction stories that promote ethics in artificial intelligence (AI). An IEEE and EurAI Fellow and member of Academia Europaea and the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, Carme was awarded the Narcís Monturiol medal. She currently serves on the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Research Agency. Her award-winning novels La mutació sentimental and Enxarxats address the ethical dilemmas raised by robotics, AI and social networks. La mutació sentimental has been translated into Spanish and English along with course materials on ethics and social robotics and AI.

Isaac is a State Chartered Economist and Trade Expert. LL.M. (Master of Law) Autonomous University of Madrid and nowadays is Chief Cities & Communities Officer at Cabify. Before he has been President of INECO as well as General Director for Internationalization in ICEX. 

Previously, was the economic and commercial advisor of the Embassies of Spain in Ankara (Turkey), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). Issac is currently a visiting professor of the MBA programme at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Observatory of the Spanish Multinational Company of ESADE, and Non-Executive Director of Center for Technological and Industrial Development. 

Fran Chuan is an entrepreneur, worldwide corporate advisor, coach, thinker, writer and keynote speaker. His main goal has been accompanying organizations in their cultural transformation to obtain innovative results aimed at encouraging innovation as a culture. Through InnoQuotient online platform and based on the questionnaire developed by professors Rao & Weintraub in Babson, Fran performs the diagnoses of the organizational culture in the face of innovation. Based upon said information, and together with professor Rao, he carries out studies, publications and lectures on the Culture of Innovation. He is collaborator at Babson College, IESE and EDEM, is coauthor of The Discipline and Culture of Innovation (2012), and author of Authenticity (2018).

Francisco Javier Gimeno Blanes is a Telecommunications Engineer, with a Diploma in Taxes and Business Administration and PhD in Communications Technologies. He is currently National VP of the Spanish Red Cross, President of the Valencian Red Cross and professor at Miguel Hernández University. Javier has devoted nearly half of his 25-year career to industry in Spain and abroad, holding various managerial positions. In academia, was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Director of the School of Engineering. Over his 13-year professorial career, he taught 2000 hours in 16 different courses and oversaw more than 40 thesis projects. He has also presented at 29 conferences, published 13 articles, created one university spin-off, and registered 2 patents.

Jesús Hernández Galán is PhD of Forest Engineering. He also has a master in business administration and a master in environmental management from the “Open University”.

Due to his academic experience, he is the Senior Professor of masters in accessibility and design for all at the “University of Jaen”, Executive masters in social economics at EOI and director of Universal Accessibility Courses at the “Official College of Architecture and Polytechnic Universities of Madrid”.

In 2003 he became Director of Universal Accessibility for “Foundation ONCE”. He is also president of the “Technological Platform eVIA” and Vice-President of the “European network for accessible Tourism ENAT”.

Technical Engineer, and Graduate in Psychology. After working for some years as a Clinical Psychologist in a General Hospital, he was elected Mayor of Manresa in 1979. In 1988 he began to work in the European Commission in Brussels, where among other projects, he had lead EURES employment services, and later Director for Governmental Cooperation with North Africa and Middle East Countries. For five years
he worked as a Director in the European Parliament.
In June of 2004, he was named General Secretary of the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia. In September 2005, the Government entrusted him to start up the “BIOCAT” (Biotechnology) and from January 2007 to May 2013 has been CEO of TicSalut Foundation (ICT Health), since then and till December 2017 Director of “mHealth” at Mobile World Capital Barcelona. He is currently Director of the Digital Health Observatory of the ECHAlliance, and external expert of the European Institute of Technology-Health (Munich).

Joana Barbany holds degrees in journalism, business sciences and knowledge management. She is a board member of ACCIEP, the Catalan Association of Communication, Research and Political Strategy. Her professional career focuses on digital communication and strategic and organisational consulting. After serving on the Sant Cugat del Vallès City Council as councillor for Communication, Information and Citizen Assistance, she became the councillor for Communication, Citizen Assistance, City Promotion and Technology in 2013. She became deputy mayor of Economic Promotion, Innovation and Open Government in 2016. Two years later, Joana was appointed Director General for Digital Society of the Catalan Government.

Josep Blat has been chair of our department and director of the Polytechnic School, both of which he founded around 2000. He was previously at Universitat de les Illes Balears where he was chair of the Department of Maths & CS (1988-94). He received his Ph.D. from Heriot-Watt University (1985) and developed post-doctoral work at Université Paris-Dauphine. He heads the Interactive Technologies research group, with activity in graphics, HCI and learning. He has coordinated a number of European projects, with a focus on media technology research, mainly the Digital Cinema projects, currently working on Web 3D.

Josep Maria Martorell is the Associate Director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Dr Martorell has a PhD in Computer Science by Ramon Llull University and a degree in Physics by the University of Barcelona. He has ample knowledge of the research environment, with a twelve years’ experience in this sector, five of which as Director General of Research of the Government of Catalonia.

Since April 2016 he is Associate Director of the BSC.

Mabel developed her work through intense research on images with important theoretical implications. Her work is engaged in the use of advanced technology modes of image production. In 2011, she represented Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in the 54th Venice Biennale with 180 degrees using the city as the main theme of the image characterized by the simultaneity of perceptions and events. Mabel currently works between Barcelona and Milan. Her work has been widely shown at renowned art museums locally and worldwide, including Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, Museu Colecçao Berardo in Lisbon, Luxembourg Forum d’Art Contemporain, The Agency in London, and Reykjavik Art Museum among others.

Malcolm Bain is a lawyer (partner at Across Legal, Barcelona), specialising in all legal aspects of the information society, including IT/IP law, privacy, e-commerce and technology transfer. He is advising public and private entities on the protection and promotion of digital rights for citizens, technological sovereignty and open standards and technologies.

Mara Balestrini is a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher and CEO of Ideas for Change, an innovation agency advising cities, businesses and institutions. She has authored over 25 publications and coordinated projects such as Making Sense EU, Bristol Approach and #DataFutures. Mara earned a PhD in Computer Science from the Intel Collaborative Research Institute on Sustainable Connected Cities (ICRI-Cities) at University College London (UCL). Her work has been awarded by several publications and featured in international media such as the BBC, The Financial Times and El País.

Maria Eugènia Gay Rosell is President of the Barcelona Bar Association, VP of the Spanish Bar Council, Chair of International Relations of the Catalan Bar Council, President of the Intercollegiate Association of Professional Associations of Catalonia, President of the Mediation Commission of the European Bars Federation and Deputy Director for Collective Members of the UIA. She specializes in civil procedural law and practices in the areas of family, estate, civil liability, property law, associations, foundations and professional bars. She holds a Master in Mediation and is a member of the Catalan Association of Experts on Inheritance Rights (ACEDS) and the Catalan Association of Democratic Lawyers (ACJD).

Marc Cortes is a strategist, entrepreneur and lecturer focused on the digital economy. An expert in new digital business models and digital transformation, he also serves as Partner and GM at RocaSalvatella, a consultancy firm focused on transformation and acceleration of digital business and is Associate Professor of Marketing at ESADE. Renowned columnist and speaker, Marc has authored two books on new online media in relational marketing, and ‘nanoblogging’. He co-authored the book ‘From 1.0 to 2.0: keys to understand new marketing’) and ‘Analysis of sectoral positioning in social networks’, a methodology edited by RocaSalvatella in 2013.

Maria Mora is the Director of Innovation at Foment del Treball, the Confederation of  Catalan Companies. She runs Foment Up, a program fostering strategic partnerships between startups and established
companies. She is also a member of the board of the Digital Society Committee at CEOE,  the Spanish Business Confederation of Employers.

In 2017, Maria represented Spain in the US Department of State’s premier International Visitor Leadership Program. She is a member of the Catalan Labour Relations Council and was Councilor for the Economic,
Social and Work Council of Catalonia from 2007-2012. She holds a degree in Law, specialising in labour law.

Marieta del Rivero has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the digital, consumer and telecom sectors. She currently serves as Independent Board Director at Cellnex and on the advisory boards of Mutualidad Abogacía and the IoT agency Made in Mobile. Marieta is also President of International Women Forum Spain, board member of the Spanish Directors Association (AED) and Partner at Seeliger y Conde, an executive search firm. Previously she held various leadership positions in the mobile industry including CEO of Nokia Iberia, VP at Nokia and Global Marketing Director at Telefónica. In 2017, Marieta published a book on smart urbanization and how digital tech can improve the quality of life in cities.

Marta Balenciaga received the MS degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid in 1996. She has been the co-founder of several startups in both the telco and the IT sectors. She has led different projects in collaboration with national and international companies. In April 2018, she joined the Department of Critical Infrastructures at ADIF (public company in charge of the Railway Infrastructures in Spain), where she works towards the definition, implementation and deployment of a specific model of critical infrastructures protection, covering both physical security and cybersecurity. During two 4-year terms, she has been a member of the Government Board of the Public Corporation of Telecommunication Engineers of Spain, acting since June 2018 as Dean of the Board.

Mateu Hernández is the CEO of Barcelona Global, a non-profit independent association made up of more than 875 members with the mission to make Barcelona one of the best cities in the world for talent and economic activity. An international expert on local development. He is and has been advisor of several cities like NY, Oslo, Torino or London and organizations like the Smart City World Expo and Congress or the OECD. He has been the CEO for economic development for the city of Barcelona and CEO of its local development agency, Barcelona Activa. He is Graduated in law by the University of Barcelona, Master in Public Policy by the UPF, and PADE at IESE.

Miguel Ángel Cabra de Luna holds a Doctorate in Juridical Science and a degree in Business Administration. He also holds a National Defense Diploma from the Spanish Centre for National Defence Studies. Miguel has been Secretary General of the Spanish Red Cross and has held several high-ranking positions in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. He is currently Director for Social Relations, International Affairs and Strategy at Fundación ONCE, and also represents many national and European organisations including the CEPES, the EESC, the SEE and the EFC. Miguel has published many books together with other experts as well as numerous scientific articles on issues related to social economy, foundations and non-profit organisations.

Miguel Vicente is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Barcelona Tech City, an association of digital internet companies that promotes Barcelona as a global tech hub. Prior to this, Miguel co-founded the Antai Venture builder in 2012, giving rise to multiple successful ventures including Wallapop, Cornerjob, Glovo, Deliberry, Media Digital Ventures and more. Miguel serves on the board of Barcelona Global and A-Digital and is the Spanish Ambassador for The Next Web. He is the co-founder and mentor of the Connector Startup Accelerator, as well as the recipient of numerous awards including the FomentUP Entrepreneur Award from the Spanish President, Best Young Spanish Entrepreneur, and the Adigital Award for Professional Excellence.

Nuria Oliver has over 20 years of experience in human behaviour modelling and prediction from data and human-computer interaction. She holds a PhD in perceptual intelligence from MIT. She worked as a researcher at Microsoft Research, was the 1st female Scientific Director at Telefonica R&D and Director of Data Science Research at Vodafone. Nuria is a Fellow of the European Association of AI, the IEEE and the ACM, and member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academia Europaea. Her work in 180 scientific publications has received more than 15000 citations, including best paper nominations and awards. She also advises the Spanish Government, European Commission and World Economic Forum on AI and Big Data.

Paloma Domingo Garcia holds a degree in Physics and a PhD in Computer Science. In January 2018, she was nominated as Director General of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). Previously she was Director of the Science Park of Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, where she developed her professional career and gained experience in innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship. Before that, she taught at the Computer Science Department of Carlos III University and previously joined Eritel (Telefonica Group) as Director of Knowledge Engineering and Software Development.

Pepe Serra Villalba has served as the Director of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona since 2012. Formerly, he was Director of the Museu Picasso Barcelona, Deputy Director of Museums and Cultural Heritage for the Catalan Ministry of Culture, Head of Public Programmes and Cultural Services at Fundació Caixa Catalunya, and Exhibition Department Coordinator at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Pepe has also co-directed and taught in the Museum Studies Graduate programme at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona; and held teaching positions at Universitat de Barcelona and Boston University.

Pilar Conesa is a Smart City pioneer, founder and CEO of anteverti and curator of the Smart City Expo World Congress. With more than 25 years of executive experience in ICT companies and public organizations, she served as CIO for the Barcelona City Council and as General Director of Public Sector and Health at T-Systems. She is also a member of several advisory boards and juries for international awards as the World Smart City Awards, Rethinking Paris or Le Monde-Cities. Pilar was the first woman to be recognized as IT leader with the honorary prize of the Catalan Night of Telecommunications.

Pilar López holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Major in Finance from ICADE University (Madrid, Spain). She began working at JP Morgan, the US banking Corporation, in Madrid, London and New York, where she became Vice President. She joined Telefónica in 1999, working in a number of finance and strategy positions across the European and LATAM businesses, including Financial Controller in Telefónica Móviles, Strategy Director in Telefónica de España, Chief Financial Officer of O2 Plc. (London), and Chief Financial Officer for Telefónica Europe (Madrid). She is Non-Executive Director of INDITEX, Board Member of ONCE Foundation and Junior Achievement Foundation, as well as counsellor of the Association for Management Progress (APD). Member of the Board of Governors of the US Chamber of Commerce in Spain and ESIC Business School.

Head of Digital inclusion and Training Service in the General direction of Digital society, Department of Digital Policy and public administration of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Speaker of the science and Technology Section of the Ateneu Barcelonès. Bachelor’s degree in History, specializing in Social Anthropology (University of Barcelona). Certified in social sciences (University of Barcelona). 

A representative of the Parliament of Catalonia in the Social Council of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and its Board of Governors Member of the Social Council of the Foundation for innovation in the Social Action Secretary of the Advisory Board of the accreditation of competence in ICT (ACTIC).

Sara Gómez has a PhD of Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and has developed my career in both private companies and Public Institutions. In December 2008 she was elected Director of the ETSI of Industrial Design at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, a post that was held until 2012 when she became Vice-Rector for Organisational Structure and Quality. Since May 2016, she is also a counsellor at The Royal Engineering Academy of Spain.

Xavier Ferras is Associate Professor of Operations Management, Innovation & Data Sciences at ESADE. He is also Executive Director of Business Custom Programs. Xavier holds a PhD in Business Management, an MBA and degree in Telecommunications Engineering. From 2013-2018 he was Dean of Business and Communication at the University of Vic. Prior to this Xavier directed the ACCIO Centre for Business Innovation. He has been an executive board member of several research and technology centres, spoken at over 300 conferences on strategy, innovation and tech management, and contributes regularly to La Vanguardia and Expansion.

Xavier Marcet is the President of Lead To Change, a consulting firm focused on strategic innovation for businesses, governments and universities. He is also the founder of big data startup 8Wires as well as the Barcelona Drucker Society, where he serves as President. He has done consulting work on strategy, innovation and corporate entrepreneurship in large companies, universities and institutions in France, England, Italy, Poland, USA, Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Morocco. Additionally, Xavier teaches strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship at the Barcelona Business School. He is the author of several books on innovation, the most recent being Cosas que aprendemos después, published in 2018.

Xavier Pont is co-founder and CEO of the Ship2B Foundation. Graduated from ESADE and MBA from IESE, he has been a serial social entrepreneur in various initiatives. He has also been a director in the public sector in charge of regional entrepreneurship and innovation policies. He is currently an active member of the Board of the Borges Group and the organic supermarket Veritas, among other companies.