Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel
MK Mr. Ofir Akunis
Israel's Minister of Science, Technology and Space
Ofir Akunis was born in Tel Aviv in 1973. Prior to entering politics, he served in the IDF as a military journalist in the Department of the Head Educational Officer, and earned a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science. A former spokesman for the Likud, he served as Media Consultant to Likud Chairman Netanyahu, Advisor to the Minister of Finance, and Advisor to the Minister of Justice. He was elected to the Knesset in February 2009, serving as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Chair of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, and a member of various other committees. In March 2013 Ofir Akunis was appointed Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. In December 2014 he was also appointed Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection. In May 2015 he was appointed Minister and in September 2015, Minister of Science and Technology. He is married and a father of two.
MK Mr. Yuval Steinitz
Israel's Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources
Dr. Yuval Steinitz was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources in 2015. Minister Steinitz kept his leading role on behalf of the Israeli government in the international campaign against the Iranian nuclear program and is overseeing the Israeli Atomic Energy Committee from the previous government. Prior to his current position Minister Steinitz was the Minister of Intelligence (2013 - 2015), and as number of the 2009 – 2013 government, the Finance minister. Before joining the governmenthe he was also a pivotal member in the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Before to joining politics, Dr. Steinitz was a philosophy professor in Haifa University, where he focused on metaphysics and philosophy of science. He holds B.A and M.A (with honors) from the Hebrew University, and Ph.D from Tel Aviv University.
Eli Groner
Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office
Eli Groner is currently serving as Prime Minister Netanyahu's Director-General, a position he assumed after being confirmed by the Israeli Cabinet in June 2015. The Director-General manages Israel's federal bureaucracy, and is responsible for formulation and implementation of most domestic policy decisions. Among other responsibilities, Mr. Groner is the Israeli head of the China-Israel Joint Economic Task Force, oversees the National Cyber Bureau, and was designated by the government to lead Israel's National Intelligent Mobility Initiative. Prior to assuming his role as Director-General, Mr. Groner served as the economic attaché to Washington, a position also requiring Cabinet confirmation. His time in the public sector was preceded by two years at Tnuva and six years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Groner graduated from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and has an MBA from New York University.
Dr. Anat Lea Bonshtien
Chairman and Director, Fuel Choices and Smart Mobility Initiative Prime Minister's Office
Dr. Anat Lea Bonshtien serves as the Chairman and Director of the Fuel Choices and Smart Mobility Initiative as of January 2017. Prior to this, she served as the Technology and Regulation Manager of the Initiative. In addition, Dr. Bonshtien serves in the Board of Directors of the Capsula Israeli Smart Transportation Center. She is also a member of the National Science Committee for Energy under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Dr. Bonshtien is a former Mimshak Fellow, a science and policy fellowship program which integrates scientific knowledge with decision making. Dr. Bonshtien holds a MSc and a PhD in Biochemistry from Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Ratan N Tata
Former Chairman, Tata Sons
Ratan N Tata was the Chairman of Tata Sons, one of the two promoter holding companies of the Tata group, from 1991 till his retirement in 2012. He was also chairman of the major Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. During his tenure, the group’s revenues grew manifold, totaling over $100 billion in 2011-12. Mr. Tata is also associated with various organizations in India and overseas. He is the chairman of two of the largest private-sector-promoted philanthropic trusts in India. He is a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry. He is the president of the Court of the Indian Institute of Science and chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He also serves on the board of trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California. Mr. Tata serves on the board of directors of Alcoa, and is also on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, JP Morgan Chase, Rolls-Royce, Temasek Holdings and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Mr. Tata received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975. The Government of India honored Mr. Tata with its second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. He has also received honorary doctorates from several universities in India and overseas.
Dr. Young Tae Kim
Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF)
Ole Harms
CEO, MOIA - Transportation on Demand Services
Ole Harms, CEO of MOIA, Transportation on Demand Services, an economist by scholar, testifies on himself that he hates traffic jams and therefore is motivated to develop an on demand transport solutions. Previous to MOIA, Harms served as Executive Director, Head New Business Models & Mobility Services at Volkswagen Group, and was in charge of Volkswagen Group Mobility Strategy, New Mobility Services, Smart City/ Urban Solutions, E-Mobility, Autonomous Driving Business Models, Global Partnerships/ Alliances & Ventures.
Dr. Youngcho Chi
Chief Innovation Officer Strategy & Technology, Hyundai Motors Group
Dr. Chi is the Chief Innovation Officer in charge of the Strategy & Technology at Hyundai Motor Group. Previously, Dr. Chi was the Executive VP in charge of the Corporate Strategy at Samsung Electronics where he was responsible for the corporate level strategy for 10 years. His focus was in formulating corporate strategy on new businesses, M&A, platform & services, and industry disruption issues. Prior to this, he worked at Accenture as Manager Partner of Telecom Industry in Asia-Pacific. In the pat he also worked at McKinsey & Company and AT&T Bell Laboratories. He has 30 years of global ICT industry experience. Dr. Chi studied Engineering at Seoul National University. He obtained B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Fracture Mechanics from Brown University.
Luca de Meo
President of the Executive Committee and CEO, SEAT
Luca de Meo is an Italian business executive with more than 20 years of experience in the automotive sector. He held positions of responsibility at Renault, Toyota, Lancia, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen AG, AUDI AG and SEAT. He serves as president of SEAT since November 1, 2015, and is also a member of the Supervisory boards of Ducati and Lamborghini.
Mr. de Meo holds a degree in Business Administration from the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi di Milano. He also serves as a visiting professor at SDA Bocconi school of management, in Milan, Italy.
Eran Sandhaus
Vice President Services, Delphi Electronics & Safety
Eran Sandhaus is vice president, Services, Delphi Electronics & Safety. He assumed responsibility of Delphi’s Services business unit in February 2017, which includes oversight of the company’s automated driving and cloud connected services global activities. Sandhaus is based out of Mountain View California and reports to David Paja, president, Delphi Electronics & Safety. Prior to Delphi, Sandhaus held multiple executive and senior leadership roles since 1996 at Cypress Semiconductors, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Marvell Semiconductors leading business and product development in the networking, mobile and IoT market segments. During this time Sandhaus led teams globally and was based in Israel, Dallas Texas, Shanghai China and Silicon Valley California. Sandhaus received a bachelor’s of science degree in electrical engineering from the Technion, Israel Institude of Technology in 1998 and a master’s degree in business administration from the Technion in 2001.
Andreas Schamel
Director Global Powertrain Research & Advanced, Ford
Ford appointed Andreas Schamel as its first European-based director of Global Powertrain, Research and Advanced Engineering on 2012. In addition, Schamel has been leading the European Ford Research & Innovation Center in Aachen, Germany, since 2009 where he is also based. Prior to his current positions Schamel was chief engineer Powertrain Research and Advanced Engineering Europe, in parallel with his role as managing director of the Ford Research Centre. Previous to this, he worked as chief engineer, Engine Research, Research and Advanced Engineering for Ford Motor Company, based in Dearborn, Mich. USA. Before his placement in North America Schamel was manager, Gasoline Powertrain Research and Advanced Engineering Europe, and led the development of gasoline direct injection technology for Ford. Schamel has been with Ford since 1987, starting in component analysis computer aided engine engineering at the company's Development Centre in Cologne. His background in engines spans 21 years, with primary qualifications in mechanical engineering, an M.Sc. in advanced automotive engineering and a PhD focusing on valve spring dynamics, both from Loughborough University of Technology, England.
Ola Altera
Strategic Advisor, Sustainable Innovation
Ola Alterå is a Strategic Advisor at Sustainable Innovation and previous CEO of the company. In previous positions Altera served as a country representative in Kenya, for the UN Agency UNIDO, and as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communication, Swedish Government, with responsibilities including energy policy and state-owned companies. Altera led the process of setting up the ambitious Swedish national targets on a fossil fuel independent vehicle fleet by the year 2030, as well as zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045. Earlier this year Altera presented a report for the Swedish Government proposing a strategy and incentives for the transition to a circular economy. He holds an MSc in Engineering Physics from the Chalmers University of Technology, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mats Rosenquist
Director External Research Collaboration, Volvo Group Trucks Technology
Mr. Mats Rosenquist is the Director External Research Collaboration at Volvo Trucks and has been at the Volvo group since 1990 active in the area of intelligent transport systems. Rosenquist held a variety of positions in Volvo, as Technology Strategy and Innovation and Site Asia. He specialize in Intelligent Transport Systems & Services (ITS), Aftermarket Services, Fleet management and Traffic and Traveller information. Rosenquist holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Lu Haifeng
General Manager, SAIC Israel Innovation Center
Mr. Lu Haifeng is the General Manager of SAIC Israel Innovation Center. SAIC, ranked No. 46 in 2016's Fortune 500, is a well-known public listed company and the biggest auto corporation group in the People’s Republic of China. With the master degree of Mechanical Engineering and EMBA, Mr. Lu has twenty years’ experience in automobile sector globally. Mr. Lu has led R&D teams globally in leading vehicle OEMs as well as components companies within SAIC. Mr. Lu is also an expertise to lead production, purchasing and quality teams.
Amir Zalzberg
Head of Transportation and Fuel Divisionת Ministry of Environmental Protection
Amir Zalzberg is the head of the Transportation and Fuel Division at the Ministry of Environmental Protection. He is in charge on formulating policy to reduce harmful emissions to air from transportation and fuel combustion. Amir is an expert in fuel properties and their effects on emissions and he is a member of technical committee 310 (oil products) at the Standards Institution of Israel. In addition Amir is an Atmospheric Chemistry lecturer at the Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem. Mr. Zalzberg holds a M.Sc. (Magna Cum Laude) in Atmospheric Sciences and a B.Sc. (Magna Cum Laude) in Atmospheric Sciences and Environmental Studies both from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Bracha Halaf
Acting Chief Scientist Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, Israel
Dr. Bracha Halaf is the Chief Scientist and Senior Manager of Oil Replacement Program at the Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water resources. Bracha also serves as the Head of the National Coal Ash Board and a member at the Natural Gas Authority Council. Prior to that position she was the Scientific Advisor to the Director General of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Mr. Shaul Zemach. In 2009, Dr. Halaf received her Ph.D in Biophysics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. In addition, Dr. Halaf holds M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Dr. Nili Mandelblit
Director of Aerospace, Transport, Nano materials and production, Research infrastructure, ISERD
Dr. Nili Mandelblit is the director of the Space, RI, Transport and NMP programs in ISERD. Nili holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After her Ph.D., Nili conducted a post-doctorate research in Paris, France in the Ecole Polytechnique, CREA. During the years 1998-2009, Nili conducted a career in the High Tech industry as Director and A-VP of marketing and business development in international software companies. In 2008-2009, Nili also served as a lecturer at the Ben Gurion University MBA program. Nili joined ISERD in March 2010.
Daniel Zucker
Head of Local Market Implementation, Fuel Choices & Smart Mobility Initiative
Daniel Zucker is head of Local Market Implementation at the Fuel Choices & Smart Mobility Initiative within the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Daniel leads the Initiative efforts' to promote the usage of both CNG and electric transportation and coordinates between the different ministries in this aspect. In addition, Daniel coordinates the progress of the Israeli National Plan for Smart Mobility. Daniel holds a M.Sc in environmental science from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and a M.A in public policy from the Hebrew university of Jerusalem.
Eyal Rosner
Founder, Beyond Mobility
Eyal is the head of the National program serving as a catalyst for reduction of global dependency on oil by establishing Israel as a center in the field. Eyal is heading the steering committee and responsible for the operation including synchronizing nine government's ministries. Eyal's background include 20 years in the investment and business world, including 4 years as the CEO of a $3 billion privately owned company, control among others El Al – Israel Air Line.
Eyal was responsible for the purchase of EL AL, Tambour paint and Granite and served as a board member. Prior, Eyal was VP at Bankers Trust for 5 years and a navy captain.
Peter H. Harris
Chief Customer Officer, Volkswagen Group
Peter has been with the Volkswagen Group since 2010 and is currently driving the digital transformation across the Group with focusing on Customer, Retail & Marketing.
His primary focus is on building new digital capabilities across the Group that:
1) Enable all group brands to personalise the relationship with their customers via 1:1 digital engagement strategies including a new group loyalty program
2) Merge the on-line and off-line retail experience into seamless digital customer journeys across all touch points
3) Use smart data and analytics and new digital platforms to provide a 360 degree view of the customer to address their future mobility needs
Prior to Volkswagen, Peter held senior marketing and brand positions with both Vodafone Group and The Coca-Cola Company.
Paul Smith
Director, Future Mobility Hubs, BP
Paul Smith is the Director for Future Mobility Hubs, a position he has held since January 2017 where he is responsible for identifying and developing material, scalable and sustainable mobility opportunities for BP’s Downstream business in a low carbon, digitally enabled future.
Paul started his career at Johnson & Johnson as a graduate in the marketing department. Paul spent the first decade of his career in brand management, building businesses and brands in personal care (J&J), retail (J Sainsbury) and brewing & pubs (Carlsberg).
In 2012 Paul joined BP as Head of Strategy for the UK fuels business, responsible for guiding the retail business towards a consumer-centric strategy including the expansion of the partnership with Marks & Spencer. Paul has since led development of strategy across BP’s European retail business.
Paul is passionate about innovation and new business development with a particular love of retail and consumer facing businesses. He graduated with a degree in history from the London School of Economics.
Eric Partington
Director of Product and Technology Planning, Lear E-Systems
Bart Biebuyck
Executive Director, FCH JU
Bart Biebuyck is the Executive Director of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a public-private partnership aiming at facilitating the deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe.
Before the FCH JU, Bart Biebuyck was at the Fuel Cell department of Toyota Motor Europe where he held the position of Technical Senior Manager. His expertise in the automotive industry includes extensive knowledge related to the deployment of new technologies in the European market. It is as part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) program in Berlin that Bart worked at reinforcing European trials for the Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle. He also had the opportunity to develop and expand his know- how in Japan, where for two years he worked on the PSA-Toyota Small Vehicle Development Project which resulted in the launch of the Toyota AYGO in 2006.
In addition to his industrial experience, Bart has been politically active in his local town since 2006. In 2013 he became the vice president of the City Council, responsible, among others, for the local economy and education.
Dr. Zhang Wensong
Senior Vice President and Chairman of Engineering and Technology Committee, Didi
Dr. Zhang Wensong is senior vice president and chairman of Engineering and Technology Committee at Didi, where he is responsible for infrastructure and platforms, also smart transportation business. He is also the founder and developer of the Linux Virtual Server project, which is well known open source project for load balancing. Prior to joining Didi, he had worked in Alibaba Group for nearly seven years, and served as vice president of Alibaba and CTO in AliCloud.
Gunnar Heipp
Director of Strategic Planning Projects Department, Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG)
Gunnar Heipp is currently the Director of Strategic Planning Projects Department within the Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG), the Public Transport Company of Munich. He is responsible for all the development of metro, bus, tram systems, as well as the development of MVG as a multimodal and fully integrated mobility provider. Until 2002 he was a Project Manager for large scale infrastructure projects and responsible for international relations at the Karlsruhe public Transport system.Gunnar Heipp is an active member of the German association of Public Transport (VDV), a member of the Planning Commission of VDV, an appointed member of the German Academy of Urban and Regional Planning as well a fellow in the German Association on Regional and Urban Planning (SRL). Moreover, he is an active member of UITP and has supported UITP’s activities since 1999 with numerous speeches. Since 2007, he is a member of the UITP Sustainable Development Commission, and from 2013 to2017, Gunnar Heipp served the community as Chairman of the UITP Commission on of Sustainable Development. Gunnar Heipp, holds a master in civil engineering with majors in urban, regional and transportation planning from the University of Karlsruhe (Germany). Besides that, he studied urbanism and regional planning at the Trondheim Technical University (Norway).
Dr. Joachim Kolling
Head of Energy Services, BMW Group
Dr. Joachim Kolling specializes in delivering future automobile and mobility concepts and serves as the Head of Energy Services at BMW Group. He joined the BMW Design unit in 1992 and worked on ergonomics for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce. In 2003 he founded and headed the design project management unit in charge of implementing new design processes for all BMW Group brands. From 2005 on, Joachim was responsible for BMW Group´s Advanced Design Studio.
In 2008, Joachim joined the BMW Group project i team and accounted for the first design concept of the Mega City Vehicle as well as the associated new forms of collaboration and creative processes.
He entered BMW Mobility Services in 2010 and was responsible for BMW Group´s car sharing projects including DriveNow. 2015, he took a new responsibility for businesses around Energy Services including the foundation of Digital Energy Services Joint Venture together with Viessmann Group.
He was born in 1964 in Cologne, Germany, and studied aerospace technology at the Technical University of Munich. His PhD is in the field of Computer Simulated Human Behavior in Automobile Ergonomics.
Virgilio Cerutti
Vice President Group Business Development, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Mr. Virgilio Cerutti has been Vice President Group Business Development at FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) since February 2013. He served as CEO at several Magneti Marelli’s Business Lines and he served as CEO for Latin America for the entire Magneti Marelli Group from 2008 to 2012. He held several position within Fiat Group as Vice President Purchasing and Vice President Corporate Initiatives. Prior to these positions he held positions at Teksid, Lear Corporation, Officine Giordano and Trade Component Systems. He holds an High School Diploma in Engineering from the Engineering School C. Olivetti of Ivrea, a Degree in Political Science from the University of Turin, as well as a Master in Business Administration from the University of Bologna.
Hagai Zyss
CEO, Autotalks
Hagai has spent over 20 years driving cutting edge technologies from definition to profitable business. Before joining Autotalks, Hagai served as VP R&D at EZchip. Previously, Hagai served in various executive positions at Ceragon Networks. In his last role as the Executive VP of Products Business Line, he was responsible for the bottom line success of a complete mobile backhauls business product line, with annual revenues of $350M. During this period Ceragon became the largest independent supplier of wireless backhaul solutions. Prior to Ceragon, Hagai served 7 years at the Electronic Research Department, a top research and development unit of the Israeli Defence Forces. Hagai holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. (cum laude) in Electrical Engineering from the Tel Aviv University.
Albert Cheung
Head of Global Analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)
Albert manages the global research team at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the leading provider of independent research on transformation in the energy sector. Albert’s group is responsible for BNEF’s research in renewable energy, energy storage, energy smart technologies and advanced transport, as well as cross-sector modelling. Albert joined BNEF in 2009 and has previously led the company’s product management group, as well as its energy smart technologies analyst team. Albert holds a MEng in Electrical and Information Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
Shahar Dave Waiser
Founder and CEO, Gett
Shahar Waiser is a serial entrepreneur. In 2000 - Founded Russian entity of Comverse and served as its first CEO with a $300M record in total sales. In 2005 founded and successfully sold Loyalize, a social engagement & loyalty start-up based in SF (acquired by Viggle). In 2010 he founded Gett (GetTaxi) on-demand service operating in 52 cities, including: NY, UK, Israel, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Gett is expected to hit $500M in Revenues by Dec’15 and keep growing by 300% per annum. In 2013 Gett was selected by FORBES as one of the fastest growing companies in the world.
Oren Shoval
CTO / Co-Founder, Via
Oren Shoval is the co-founder and CTO of Via, a fully dynamic, on-demand transit network currently operational in NYC. He is a former strategy business consultant at McKinsey, and has spent 10 years in the Israeli Air Force developing and deploying real-time avionic systems for fighter jets. Oren holds a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science where he focused on finding simplifying patterns in complex biological phenomena. He also holds an MSc in electrical engineering and a BSc in physics and math.
Omer David Keilaf
CEO & Co-Founder, Innoviz
Omer has spent over 15 years driving cutting edge technologies from inception to commercialization. Before founding Innoviz Omer led the system and product definition efforts at ConsumerPhysics, building the world’s first handheld molecular sensor for mobile devices. Previous roles include leading the system architecture and engineering teams at bTendo (acquired by ST Micro) and Anobit (acquired by Apple). Omer spent 7 years in the elite technological unit of the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces, where he served in leading and critical roles involving large scale technological systems. He holds a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, all from Tel Aviv University.
Elliot Katz
Chair, McGuireWoods
As Chair of McGuireWoods’ Connected and Automated Vehicle practice, Elliot counsels automakers, global tech companies, and municipalities on legal and policy issues pertaining to these types of vehicles, and the greater mobility ecosystem. An advocate who recognizes the important societal and economic benefit of highly automated vehicles, Elliot regularly speaks at automated vehicle events throughout the US and around the world, and has recently discussed his views with media outlets such as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Forbes, and Bloomberg.
Scott Corwin
Global Future of Mobility leader, Deloitte
Scott Corwin, Managing Director at Deloitte, works closely with leaders across a wide range of industries to successfully develop and implement strategy-based transformations, specifically around globalization, advanced R&D/technology innovation, and new business models, among others. He also leads Deloitte’s Future of Mobility initiative that aims to systematically explore different scenarios about the potential evolution of the extended automotive, transportation, and mobility ecosystem. Corwin holds a BA in international relations from Brandeis University and an MBA from the NYU.
Michael J. Granoff
Founder and President, Maniv Mobility
Michael Granoff is founder of Maniv Mobility, which became the first Israel-based venture capital firm exclusively focused on the new mobility future with its $42 million close in 2017. The Maniv portfolio of startups, most out of Israel, includes companies developing sensors, software, data monetization, autonomous systems, over-the-air updates, virtualization, localization, automotive cyber-security and more. Aside from several startup boards, Mr. Granoff serves on the board of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), a Washington, DC-based policy and advocacy organization he helped establish in 2004. Past board roles included that of electric car network developer Better Place. He has been involved in three US Presidential campaigns and in 2010 received Brandeis University’s Asper Award for Global Entrepreneurship.
Mr. Granoff holds a B.A. from Tufts University, an MBA and JD from Kellogg, Northwestern University.
Ben Volkow
Co-founder & CEO, Otonom
As founder and CEO of three successful companies, Ben brings an extensive track record and rich entrepreneurial experience. Prior to founding otonomo in 2015, Ben served for four years as a Business Unit General Manager at F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV), which he joined after the acquisition of Traffix, where he was Co-Founder and as CEO. As the founder and CEO of Traffix, Ben has built a multi-million-dollar global business, working with partners and tier-1 service providers around the world. Before founding Traffix, Ben managed R&D groups in Sendo (UK), which provided advanced mobile data solutions. Prior to Sendo Ben has filled various roles in Panasonic Mobile Communications (UK), which included building their first European market products. Ben was also Co-founder of VC-backed Sedona Networks, a provider of advanced network solutions.
Daisy Cai
Partner, Baidu Ventures
Daisy Cai, Partner at Baidu Ventures, is leading Baidu Ventures’ technology investments globally. Prior to joining Baidu Ventures, Daisy was China Partner at TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm with AUM $23Bn. She sat on TA’s investment committee and manages TA’s China portfolio. Ms. Cai was with Goldman Sachs Investment Partners in Hong Kong where, she has been leading TMT and consumer investments in Greater China.
She holds six U.S. patents in semiconductor chip design. Ms. Cai earned a Bachelor of Engineering from Tsinghua University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Doron Myersdorf
CEO & Founder, StoreDot
Mr. Myersdorf brings vast experience in business and technology management to StoreDot. Prior to founding the company, he served as senior director of SanDisk SSD Business Unit (NASDAQ: SNDK), establishing and managing the division in Israel, building product strategy, marketing and business development, resulting in sales to leading laptop makers amounting to over $100M in revenue in under 3 years. Previously, he was VP Flash and Operations of msystems, a flash memory global leader, where he managed strategic sourcing of $1B annually, resulting in annual revenue of over $1.5B. Doron’s diverse record also includes founder and CEO of InnerPresence, a Silicon Valley security software company, and co-founder and VP business development of Siftology, a pioneer in interactive media search. Earlier, as a partner at Tefen – Semiconductor Operations Management, Doron managed West Coast US operations, in charge of the design and setup of over 40 semiconductor, pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing facilities worldwide. Doron holds PhD in R&D Management (1994), MSc in information systems (cum laude, 1991) and BSc in Industrial Engineering Management (cum laude, 1989) - all from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Rani Wellingstein
CEO & Co-founder, Oryx
Mr. Wellingstein is the CEO & Co-Founder at Oryx Vision. Rani’s previous venture, Intucell, was sold to Cisco in 2013 for $475m, after becoming the world leader in Self Optimizing Networks (SON) for mobile operators within less than 5 years since inception and with only $6m of equity funding. Rani served as VP and GM in Cisco for 3 years, before joining David Ben Bassat as a founder in Oryx. Before Intucell, Rani has co-founded Celltick, a leader in mobile advertising solutions, and was in the founding team of NKO, a VoIP pioneer that was acquired by ECI.
Shaul Meridor
Director General, Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources
Shaul Meridor is General Manager of the Infrastructure, Energy and Water ministry in the Government of Israel. Previous to Shaul Meridor’s current position, he held the position of Deputy Director of the Budget Department of the Finance Ministry and led the economic plan & reforms of infrastructure sectors such as energy, transportation, aviation, water & agriculture. During his tenure he initiated many reforms and managed them from idea to execution, among them: Sheshinski committee, Gas export, Israel railways reform, The light-rails in Jerusalem & Tel Aviv and Open skies.
Shaul Meridor holds a BA in PPE (Philosophy, Political Science & Economy) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Dror Meiri
VP of Business Development, ADAKSY
Dror Meiri, Vice President of Business Development. Dror is hands-on, visionary business development and strategic planning executive with over 20 years of experience in creating value and achieving growth of technology based companies. Before joining AdaSky, Dror served as Vice President of Business Development for Wilocity (acquired by Qualcomm). Prior to that, Dror held positions in business development, product marketing, R&D management and system engineering at various start-up companies. Dror holds a B.Sc. (with honors) and an M.Sc. in electrical engineering, from the Technion– Israel Institute of Technology, and an Executive MBA from Kellogg School of Management. He has also been awarded several patents in different fields.
Oren is the Co-Founder and CEO of ElectRoad. Prior to ElectRoad, Oren served as Chief electronic engineer at ElOp, Electro-Optics division of Elbit Systems and led the excellent group for real-time processors. He was a Director of R&D department at ElOp, led the innovation process and absorption of new technologies. Oren has M.E in system engineering from the Technion and B.Sc in Electrical Engineering.
Yisrael Dancziger
Director General, Ministry of Environmental Protection
Mr. Dancziger was appointed director general of the Ministry of Environmental Protection on August 2015.
Mr. Dancziger Founded and managed several hi-tech companies, including Digital Fuel, which was sold to VMware on 2011.
Dancziger is an active board member of several organizations that works on behalf of children, youth, and families at-risk, and to promote employment in the periphery. This organizations includes: The Israeli Public Forum for Youth Villages and Boarding Schools for Children at Risk, Shekulo Tov, and the Sachi program.
One of the founders of the Kulanu political party, headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.
Dancziger is a leading lecturer in the fields of Judaism, entrepreneurship, management, and social action. Author of: Entrepreneurship: An Israeli Story (Hebrew, self-published in 2013).
Mark Joseph
Global Chief Development Officer, Transdev North America
Mark Joseph is the Global Chief Development Officer of Transdev North America, a company he has built into the largest multi-modal transportation company in North America, operating bus, rail, paratransit, shuttle and taxi companies under contract to 200 cities, counties, airports and universities. Under Mr. Joseph’s leadership, the company has grown significantly through new contracts and lines of business, as well as renewals of existing contracts and acquisitions. An entrepreneur and innovator, Mr. Joseph is passionate about improving quality of life and economic growth in cities and communities through well-designed, multi-modal public transportation
Robbie Diamond
Founder, President & CEO, Securing America's Future Energy
Robbie Diamond is the Founder, President and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE). In 2006, he came together with Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, and General P.X. Kelley, USMC (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the Marine Corps, to form SAFE’s Energy Security Leadership Council, a group of prominent business leaders and retired senior military officers dedicated to combating the nation’s dangerous dependence on oil. Since then, SAFE and the ESLC have been at the forefront of the energy policy debate, successfully helping to shape legislation in 2007 and shepherd a new, comprehensive energy bill through the Senate Energy Committee in 2009.
Diamond is also the President and CEO of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security dangers caused by the nation’s dependence on petroleum. The Coalition was launched in November 2009, and as its first official act, released the Electrification Roadmap, a sweeping report outlining a vision for the deployment of a fully integrated electric drive network.
Lauren Sager Weinstein
Chief Data Officer, Transport for London (TfL)
Lauren Sager Weinstein is chief data officer for Transport for London (TfL), where she is responsible for driving decision-making and improved customer services through provision of data products and services. Lauren oversees TfL’s business intelligence / data science strategy, TfL’s data technical platform development, as well as support for data products and services. Lauren has worked for TfL in various roles since 2002, and has worked on projects such as the launch of the contactless payment system across London’s transport network, and recently led TfL’s pilot of collecting depersonalised WiFi Data for analysis. Originally from Washington, DC, USA, she has degrees from Princeton University and from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Igal Raichelglauz
Co-Founder & CEO, Cortica
Igal is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cortica, the leader of AI technology for autonomous platforms. Before founding Cortica, Igal was the CTO of speech recognition company LCB, and prior to that held several technical positions at Intel. Igal started his career in an elite intelligence unit in the IDF, and following this, was the CEO and co-founder of Figment, the first advanced messaging platform based on SMS. Igal started his Ph.D. research at the Technion in the field of cortical neural networks, but his PhD was never completed; instead, Cortica was founded. Igal has received multiple technical and innovation awards and holds over 50 patents.
Jarmila Plachá
Head of ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab, ŠKODA AUTO
Jarmila Plachá is Head of ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab. Her mission is to help ŠKODA AUTO create future customer driven mobility solutions and support ŠKODA AUTO on its journey to become a Mobility Service Provider. Ms. Plachá spent her 15+ year career in senior managerial roles in telco and the banking sector. She has gained a wealth of experience in marketing, advertising, communications, business strategy and product management, having managed large multinational teams across several countries.
Gloria Roberts Boyland
Corporate Vice President of Operations & Service Support, FedEx Corporation
Gloria Roberts Boyland is Corporate Vice President of Operations & Service Support at FedEx Corporation, a $60B global transportation service provider. Operations and Service Support is responsible for evaluation and leadership of priority operational developments, service quality improvements, customer experience improvements, and new service offerings.
She holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Mrs. Boyland currently sits on the board of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and the Memphis Brooks Museum, and is a member of the U.S. Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation.
Prof. Jens Nielsen
Systems and Synthetic Biology, Chalmers University of Technology
2017 Samson Prize Award Winner
Jens Nielsen has a PhD degree (1989) in Biochemical Engineering from DTU, and was appointed full Professor there in 1998. In 2008 he was recruited as Professor to Chalmers, Sweden, where he is currently directing a research group of more than 60 people. Jens Nielsen has published so far more than 600 papers that have been cited more than 42,000 times (current H-factor 102). He is inventor of more than 50 patents and he has founded several biotech companies. He is member of the seven academies including National Academy of Engineering and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Jean-Marie Tarascon
Professor at the College de France holding the chair “Chemistry of solids – Energy"
Professor at the College de France holding the chair “Chemistry of solids – Energy". Much of his early career was spent in the United States where he developed (1994) the plastic Li-ion technology. When he was back in France in 1995, he created the European network of excellence ALISTORE-ERI of which he was head until 2010 prior tobecame in charge of the recently created French network on electrochemical energy storage (RS2E). Prof. Tarascon present research is devoted to Li-ion, Na-ion batteries and other chemistries with emphasis on developing new eco-efficient synthesis processes and developing novel reactivity concepts. He is the author of more than 650 scientific papers, and detains about 85 patents. He received many honours, with the latest being the 2017’ CNRS innovation medal.
Gill Laser
CEO, CAR2GO and Active Chairman, GoTo
Gil Laser has 20 years’ experience managing technology and shared mobility companies. He is the CEO of CAR2GO and Active Chairman of GoTo. Prior to that he was the CEO of Pioneer for 8 years. As the CEO of CAR2GO, Israel’s leading carsharing operator since 2008, Gil expanded its operations into new cities in Israel and into Europe. He led the Electric vehicle project in Haifa which will be launched this week and he created GoTo, the technological spinoff of CAR2GO. GoTo is the world’s Mobility As A Service technological platform. GoTo helps carsharing and mobility operators launch and grow their business by grouping them under a global brand and providing them with the best technology, operational knowhow, group benefits and additional revenue from new users and products. GoTo’s technology is installed in thousands of cars and is building the mobility platform for autonomous vehicles. Gil is a lecturer in various universities and is finishing a Phd in Philosophy at the University of Tel Aviv. Gil holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University, an MBA from Baruch College as well as a BA in Marketing from Hamichlala Leminhal.
Alex Starns
Technical Program Manager, Lyft
Alex Starns was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota and traded the snowy winters for sunny California to study at Stanford. After a Bachelors and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, Alexworked briefly at a Pharmaceutical company in San Diego before joining Google in 2007.
He came to Lyft earlier this year after a decade at Google managing Street View driving operations in the Asia/Pacific region.
Alex is a Technical Program Manager at Lyft's newly announced Level 5 Engineering Center in Palo Alto, California and is focused on the operational implications of autonomous ridesharing and the scaling challenges that will arise as the industry matures.
Amiram Ohayon
Business Development Director, Egged
Amiram Ohayon is the business development director of Egged, the leading public transportation company in Israel and one of the big bus operators in Europe. He is responsible to lead Egged to new markets and activities, including light rail operation, smart transportation with door-to-door-on-demand solutions for the public transportation passengers, operation of alternative fuels buses and more. He has 20 years of management experience in local and international utilities projects, PPP tenders, operation and public transportation. Before joining Egged he was responsible for the international business development of Mekorot. Amiram holds a B.A. (hons) in Economics from Ben Gurion University, and MBA (hons) from Tel Aviv University.
Alex Barth
Vice President of Business Development., Mapbox
Alex is an open data expert with years of practice in developing and implementing open data strategies and solutions on behalf of multinational organizations like the United Nations and World Bank. At Mapbox, he leads our business development team and oversees partnerships, strategic expansion into new markets, and corporate development. Before joining Mapbox, Alex was a developer and strategist for Development Seed. Prior to that, Alex managed information technology for an international development organization in Central America, where he became involved in the Central American open source community.
Keren Fanan
Global Head of Growth, Gett
Keren Fanan is Gett's Global Head of Growth, responsible for rapidly scaling the next generation of Gett products - Gett Delivery and Gett Together.
Keren began her career in R&D as a Product Manager, liaising between technology departments and leading release lifecycles from kickoff to deployment.
After 5 years in tech, she made the transition from R&D to operations, and quickly became addicted to the lightning-fast pace of real time operations.
Keren held various leadership roles at Gett, across partnerships, marketing and major operational initiatives.
Keren holds a BSC in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tel Aviv University.
Michele Ziosi
Head of Institutional Relations Europe, Middle East, Africa Asia Pacific, CNH Industrial, Italy
Michele Ziosi is responsible for CNH Industrial Head of Institutional Relations in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific since 2014. CNH Industrial is global leader in the capital goods sector that designs, produces and sells agricultural (New Holland Agriculture; Case IH) and construction equipment (Case and New Holland Construction), trucks, commercial vehicles, buses (Iveco; Ivecobus) and specialty vehicles, in addition to a broad portfolio of powertrain applications (FPT Industrial). Before joining CNH Industrial, Mr. Ziosi was Head of Institutional Relations and Regulatory affairs at Philip Morris Italy. His responsibilities included the development, management and implementation of regulatory affairs strategy with special focus on national and EU regulations, WTO/Free Trade Agreement, market access of innovative new generation products. Previously, Mr. Ziosi was Responsible for Local Public, Government and Regulatory Affairs and Environmental Policies for Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) Spa in Rome and manager of European Institutional Relations at the Fiat Group Representative Office in Bruxelles and Environmental Policy Manager at FGA Representative Office to the EU in Brussels. For many years Mr. Ziosi led the Italian Association of Natural gas for transport (NGV System Italia). Michele Ziosi was born in Italy where he studied Management Engineering. After his studies he joined the Fiat Group working as Project Manager for CNH in Berlin and as Business Development Manager for FPT Industrial in Lyon.
Dror Jerushalmi
CEO & Co-founder, Valens
Dror Jerushalmi draws upon over 20 years of high-level international business development, marketing and management experience in the semiconductor
industry to steer Valens on a path of growth and success. Dror defines the company’s market penetration and business strategies, as it establishes its HDBaseT technology as the global standard for digital connectivity. Under his leadership, the company has completed rounds of financing, continues to introduce several families of products, and has reached significant milestones.
Dror is currently overseeing HDBaseT’s successful introduction to the automotive market, to optimize in-vehicle connectivity.
Previously, Dror was Director of Business Development at Saifun Semiconductor (acquired by Spansion), a provider of intellectual property (IP) solutions for the nonvolatile memory (NVM) market. Before that, he was Vice President of Marketing at Emblaze Semiconductor (acquired by Zoran Corporation), where he established
the company’s reputation as an industry leader recognized by customers, press and analysts. He also held Business Development and Marketing management
positions at Tioga and DSPG.
Torben Fog
Business Manager, Head of e-Mobility Solutions, E.ON Denmark
Mr. Fog, is currently serving as head of e-Mobility Solutions at E.ON Denmark. Managing strategy, business and people, providing differentiating customer oriented solutions and delivery capabilities within the e-mobility commercial operation and all its complexity. Responsible for full-scale charging network operation, R&D, business modelling and related financial results as well as industrial and scientific partnering, solution architecting and implementation in Denmark. Further, key resource on E.ON system integration and solution roll-out in Europe. Past and present includes program managing complex large scale automation and control projects both within land-based energy systems and within marine engineering applications – working currently 8 years within commercial e-mobility operation and additionally 15 years in the maritime and energy sector.
Mr. Fog holds an Executive MBA, PhD and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Jim Adler
Managing Director & Board Member, Toyota Al Ventures
Mr. Adler is managing director and board member at Toyota Al Ventures, where he is making early stage investments in talented, tenacious entrepreneurs from around the world in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous mobility, data, and cloud. Mr. Adler also serves as VP at Toyota Research Institute. Prior to Toyota, Mr. Adler served as Principal Program Manager at Microsoft by acquisition of Metanautix, where he led products and marketing. Metanautix was a big data analytics startup funded by Sequoia Capital and Workday. He also served on the The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (DPIAC) providing advice at the request of the Secretary of Homeland Security and the DHS Chief Privacy Off.
Gilles Normand
SVP, Electric Vehicle Business, Renault Group
Gilles Normand started his career at Renault, in 1988, at Product Planning department before moving to Sales & Marketing Division. In 1998, he was appointed Vice President, Commercial Coordination, for Renault Mercosur.
In 1999, he joined Nissan in Japan to take in charge the Sales & Marketing for Latin America and Caribbean. In 2003, he was appointed President of Nissan Motor Espana prior to becoming Corporate Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Middle East, Africa & Latin America in 2006. In 2009, he was appointed Corporate Vice President, in charge of Africa, Middle East and India for Nissan, Infiniti and LCV Business Units and in charge of Europe for Infiniti and LCV Business Units.
In April 2012, he became Senior Vice President, Chairman of Asia-Pacific Region of Renault Group.
Since 1 January 2017, Gilles Normand has been Senior Vice President, Electric Vehicle of Renault Group. He is a member of the Renault Management Committee.
Prof. Laszalo Palkivics
Hungarian State Secretary, Hungary Government
After serving as Minister of State for Higher Education for two years, Mr. László Palkovics has been Minister of State for Education in Hungary since 2016. He has also worked as Government Commissioner for coordinating research and development of autonomous and electric vehicle systems since 2016. He has held senior research positions at Technical University of Budapest and College of Kecskemét. He pursued an international industrial executive career with Knorr Bremse. He completed his master and Ph.D. in engineering vehicle mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Budapest. Mr. Palkovics is Doctor and Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Yoram Turbowicz
Board Member, Champion Motors
Dr. Yoram Turbowicz is a Board Member of Allied Holdings & Champion Motors. He served as Chief of Staff, at Prime Minister's Office, The Government of Israel. Dr. Turbowicz also served as Chairman and General Manager of several public companies. He was the first head Commissioner of the Antitrust Authority, The State of Israel. He is Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Harvard Law School. Bachelor of Law, (LL.B.), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.