Our Experts

Virginia Cram-Martos CEO, Triagularity SàRL & Project Lead for a Blockchain project, Triagularity SàRL & Expert for United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business

Virginia Cram-Martos participates as an expert related to blockchain and other technologies. This includes being the leader for a project of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) that created a white paper on Blockchain in Trade Facilitation and co-leader of another white paper project on the Internet of Things and Trade Facilitation. In addition, she participates in blockchain fora of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the ISO, the EU and the World Economic Forum. Prior to Triangularity she worked for 25 years at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. During her last 11 years at the UN, she was a Director responsible for: trade facilitation, global UN electronic business standards, regulatory cooperation, national innovation frameworks and public-private partnerships.

Valerie Casarin Project Procurement Officer, European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (EURATOM Agency Fusion for Energy)

Since 2015, Valerie Casarin has been the Project Procurement Officer on the ITER site for the Poloidal Field Coils (superconducting magnets) fabrication at F4E. It is an industrial and project orientated environment whereby the series production is undertaken fully under the responsibility of F4E. She manages all commercial and legal aspects of the contracts related to the production (Engineering Integrator, Manufacturer and Tooling). This involves managing complex interfaces, building and maintaining strong commercial relationship with suppliers and coping with numerous project changes. From 2006 to 2015, she was based in the agency’s Barcelona office and took part in the major public procurement actions and strategy for the ITER project, managing all types of procurement procedures (Competitive Dialogue, Negotiated Procedure, Open Procedure). Prior to this Valerie worked in the DG Energy at the European Commission on the financial management of grants in the Renewable Energy sector.

Dr. Mutlu Cukurova Assistant Professor of Digital Technologies in Education, University College London UCL

Dr Mutlu Cukurova is an Assistant Professor of Digital Technologies in Education at University College London. His research broadly addresses the pressing social- educational challenge of preparing people for a future that will require a great deal more than the routine cognitive skills currently prized by many education systems. He is particularly interested in researching the potential of emerging Educational Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Learning Analytics to continuously support human development. He published over 50 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings of the field. He is a member of the UNESCO international expert group in AI and Education, a member of the working group of UCL Grand Challenges in Transformative Technologies, and a co-investigator of UCL EDUCATE which is the largest educational technology Research incubator in Europe. Dr. Mutlu Cukurova holds an MSc and PhD in Science and Technology Education.

Jana Chaloupková Member of the Certifying Authority, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic

Jana Chaloupková is a Member of the Certifying Authority of the Czech Republic. She has been working on the preparation of the payment applications and accounts for the ERDF programmes in the Czech Republic since 2014. She is responsible for regional operational programmes and programmes concerning enterprises and industry. Her main expertise is in the field of the N+3 rule, calculation of payment applications and monitoring of the financial implementation in the Czech Republic. Moreover, she is closely focused on financial instruments as she is responsible for the settings of FIs national rules. She also takes part in setting up the procedures for upcoming programming period 2021-2027.

Jorge Caballero Contract and Procurement Manager, European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (EURATOM Agency Fusion for Energy)

...

Oliver Cusworth Senior Policy Advisor, The European Investment Bank

Oliver Cusworth is Senior Policy Advisor at the European Investment Bank based out of the EIB Brussels Office with responsibility for Competitiveness and Innovation lending policy. He has ten years at the EIB with several previous roles in the Bank’s Luxembourg headquarters. Previously, Oliver Cusowrht has worked for the World Economic Forum in Geneva and the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

Giorgio Centurelli Strategic Coordinator of National OP “Governance and Institutional Capacity 2014-2020”, Italian Agency for Territorial Cohesion

Giorgio Centurelli is Senior expert, auditor and member of the European Commission expert group on the advisory platform FI-COMPASS. He has over 16 years of experience in Structural Funds and cohesion policies. He is expert in managing, implementing and in auditing activities of Operational Programmes co-financed by ESF and/or ERDF, also in the field of Financial Instruments for Structural Funds (mainly Microfinance or other instruments co-financed by ESF) and in the field of capacity building of Public Administrations. Since 2015 he has been in charge of the coordination of the National OP “Governance and Institutional Capacity 2014-2020” and also work with the Audit Authority of OP ERDF and OP ESF Emilia-Romagna. Since 2016 Giorgio Centurelli he has been appointed by General Secretary of Presidency of the Council of Ministers as a Member of National Technical Secretariat of Plans for Administrative Reinforcement (PRA).

Dermot Clynes Head, Organisation Development, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Ireland

Dermot Clynes is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Head of Organisation Development at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with a keen focus on the employee experience, staff capabilities and competencies. He is responsible for strategic organisational learning and development, talent management, post-entry education, continuing professional development and international training within the Department. Throughout his career in the Irish civil service and the European Commission, Dermot has been engaged with the wide spectrum of human resources policies and practices as well as vocational training matters. He is a graduate of the University of Limerick, Dublin City University and the Irish Management Institute/University College Cork.

Gary Crawford Vice President, Veolia

Gary Crawford is employed by Veolia as Vice President of International Affairs. He is based in Veolia’s Corporate Headquarters in Paris, France. He has over 25 years of experience in the waste industry and has held various operational, technical, and managerial positions. He is responsible for establishing active partnerships with key global stakeholders and institutions to support the Company’s current activities and developing business. He is focused on emerging growth markets associated with cross-cutting subjects such as the Circular Economy, Climate Change and Smart and Sustainable Cities. He is also responsible for identifying new business models for developing economies that deliver sustainable business value. He is a member of the Board of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and Lead Partner of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) as well as an Advisory Board Member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy and Food Initiatives.

Elijus Civilis Vice-Minister, Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania

Elijus Civilis is an on-hands global team player with proven leadership experience in digital transformation, strategic alignment, policymaking, delivery excellence, emerging technologies, capacity building, and talent enablement. His focuses lay on value realization through technology unlocked ecosystems and digital platforms. In the current role as Vice-Minister and Governmental CIO, Elijus Civilis is leading the Digital Lithuania agenda and policy making towards digitally advanced nation: a) sustainable digital economy b) smart society and c) effective digital government. Before this role, he spent more than twelve years at IBM in various leadership roles and countries. He also led a software development house with a focus on big scale digital transformation projects.

Gemma Castejón Martínez Managing Director, Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA)

Gemma Castejón (Industrial Engineer, Valencia, Spain) is the Managing Director of CETENMA from 2007. She has 18 years of experience in different private companies from industrial and agri-food sector, accumulating skills on industrial security inspection and international commerce, especially with Chinese market. In the last 11 years she is managing innovation, technology transfer and R&D projects for companies. She has participated in FP7, Eco-Innovation, LIFE, INTERREG and H2020 projects. Currently she coordinates VALUEWASTE.

Kevin Cunnington Director General of the International Government Service and Digital Envoy for the UK, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Kevin Cunnington became the Director General of the International Government Service and Digital Envoy for the UK in August 2019. Kevin was the Director General of the Government Digital Service from August 2016 to July 2019. Kevin has led a variety of large scale, and global, digital transformation programmes. He spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy. More recently he was the Global Head of Online for Vodafone Group and Business Transformation Group Director General at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).