Speakers
Ajit Jaokar, CEO - futuretext- Chairperson
Ajit Jaokar is the founder of the London based publishing and research company futuretext (www.futuretext.com) focussed on emerging Web and Mobile technologies -including Web 2.0 and Mobile Web 2.0. His thinking is widely followed in the industry and his blog, the OpenGardensBlog (www.opengardensblog.futuretext.com), which was recently rated a top 20 wireless blog worldwide
In 2009-2010, Ajit was nominated as part of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet by the world economic forum. He hopes to
use this opportunity to further extend the pragmatic viewpoint of the evolution of Telecoms networks in an open ecosystem.
(Note: The Network of Global Agenda Councils plays a significant role in shaping the global agenda by monitoring global issues and elaborating recommendations to address them. Each Council, comprised of 15-20 Members, serves as an advisory board to the Forum and other interested parties, such as governments and international organizations. The Global Agenda Councils also act as the intellectual drivers of the World Economic Forum’s Global Redesign Initiative, an unprecedented international, multistakeholder and multimedia dialogue that aims to develop a 21st-century vision of global cooperation. Members of the G20, the UN and other International Organizations have pledged their support for this initiative. )
Ajit is best known for his books Mobile Web 2.0, Social Media Marketing. Two new books ('Open Mobile' and ‘Implementing Mobile Web 2.0’) are being released in 2009.
His consulting activities include working with companies to define value propositions across the device, network, Web and Social networking stack spanning both technology and strategy. He has worked with a range of commercial and government organizations globally including The European Union, Telecoms Operators, Device manufacturers, social networking companies and security companies in various strategic and visionary roles
His recent talks and forthcoming talks include: CEBIT 2009;MobileWorld Congress(2007, 2008, 2009); Keynote at O Reilly Web20 expo (April
2007);Keynote at Java One; European Parliament – Brussels – (Electronic Internet Foundation); Stanford University's Digital visions program;MIT Sloan;Fraunhofer FOKUS ; University of St. Gallen (Switzerland); Mobile Web Strategies (partner event of CTIA in SanFrancisco)
Media appearances include BBC – Newsnight – 3phone launch; CNN money; BBC digital planet
Ajit chairs Oxford University's Next generation mobile applications panel and conducts a course on Web 2.0, Social networking, Mobile Web
2.0 and LTE services at Oxford University.
Ajit lives in London, UK, but has three nationalities (British, Indian and New Zealander) and is proud of all three. He is currently doing a PhD on Privacy and Reputation systems at UCL in London.
Bryan Perez, Sr. Vice President and General Manager - NBA Digital
Bryan Perez is the senior vice president and general manager for NBA Digital responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NBA Digital portfolio which includes NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour digital television network, NBA.com, WNBA.com, NBADLeague.com, NBA League Pass, as well as the league’s broadband and wireless businesses. Perez oversees all aspects including programming, operations, editorial, ecommerce and marketing In 2010, NBA Digital launched more than 100 mobile apps simultaneously on Android, Blackberry and iPhone devices; along with launching applications iPad and set top box devices – Roku, Vizio and Google TV.
Benoit Schillings, Chief Technology Officer- Myriad Group AG
Benoit Schillings is Chief Technology Officer of Myriad Group AG. In this role he is responsible for the company’s technology strategy and focus on innovation.
Prior to joining Myriad, Schillings held the position of Chief Technologist at Nokia. There he was responsible for Nokia’s cross-device technology as well as Technology Advisor to Nokia’s CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. Schillings joined Nokia following their acquisition of Trolltech, where, as Chief technologist, he was responsible for leveraging Trolltech’s existing technologies and services.
Schillings is probably best known across the industry for his innovative work on the Be Operating System where he was a principal contributor to the launch of Be Incorporated, and designed, developed and implemented the technically acclaimed Be Operating System.
As CTO at Openwave Systems, he was responsible for the structure, and design of Openwave Phone Suite Version 7. In 2003, he was named Distinguished Engineer by Openwave for his influential work in the conception of “top to bottom” integrated software for mass-market phones.
Schillings is a Computer Science graduate of Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium.
Ray Sharma, Founder - XMG Studio
Ray Sharma is the Founder of XMG Studio, an award-winning, mobile games company. XMG is a leader in the areas of Customization and
Augmented Reality (AR) and has a portfolio of successful games including: Pandemica, (World’s first multiplayer AR game and 2009
winner of Best AR App of the year); the Drag Racer series (top drag racing franchise on the app store); LIttle Metal Ball (Apple-featured
game that reached #1 worldwide in the App Store) and Marine Sharphooter (XMG's first multi-million download game).
Mr. Sharma also co-founded and is presently Chairman of Xtreme Labs, a world-class mobile and web application developer. Previously Mr.
Sharma spent over 11 years in wireless technology investment banking research where he was the top-ranked wireless technology analyst for
five of eight eligible years. During his research career Mr. Sharma evangelized a vision that the mobile device represents a generational
shift in computing away from the PC. Mr. Sharma has been an active private company investor including investments such as XMG Studio,
Xtreme Labs, Extreme Venture Partners (through which J2Play was sold to Electronic Arts, Bumptop was sold to Google), Athabasca Oil (IPO),
Bridgewater (IPO), Mobile Diagnostix (sold to Bitfone then HP), and SiByte (sold to Broadcom).
Juan Lopez-Valcarcel, Global Director Digital Consumer Products-Pearson
Juan Lopez-Valcarcel is an international executive with over 12 years experience as an entrepreneur, manager and advisor to Media and Telecom companies.
He is currently Global Director Digital Consumer Products for Pearson, the leading Media and Education group that includes Penguin Books and the Financial Times. In this role, Juan oversees mobile development across the different business units and works with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world to develop compelling user experiences.
Previously, Juan was a VP in the Digital Media group at NBC Universal and General Manager for iVillage.com and YourTotalHealth.com.
Before joining NBC Universal, Juan was an Engagement Manager at strategy consulting firm Booz Allen, where he worked on more than 40 Media, Telecoms and Venture Capital projects in Europe, US and Latin America.
Juan holds a double degree in Corporate Law and Economics from ICADE (Spain) and received an MBA from INSEAD (France) with an exchange at Wharton.
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