Plenary Session 1: Geospatial Industry, Public Policy and Leadership
08:30 - 9:30
Sanjay Kumar
CEO Geospatial Media
and World Geospatial Industry Council
Scott Pace
Executive Secretary
US National Space Council
USA
Jack Dangermond
Founder and President
Esri Inc.
USA
Plenary Session 2: Realtime Analytics and the Location Economy
09:30 - 10:30
Moderator
KANWAR CHADHA
Exec Chairman- Binatone Global; Hubble Connected
Founder; Angel Investor
USA
Sunil Kumar
CEO
GroundTruth
USA
ANDY SRIUBAS
Chief Commercial Officer
OUTFRONT Media
USA
Arra G. Yerganian
Chief Brand Officer
Tivity Health
VIVEK SHARMA
Chief Strategy Officer
Brandscapes
Worldwide
USA
Rohan Verma
CEO
MapmyIndia
Plenary Session 3: Spatial Data Augmenting Realtime Geo-Intelligence
11:00 - 12:00
Moderator
Robert Cardillo
CEO
Cardillo Group
Former National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director
USA
Col Ali Al Shehhi
Space Reconnaissance Centre
UAE
LT COL RAJ AGRAWAL
Deputy Chief Space Force Enhancement Division
USA
MASSIMO C COMPARINI
Chief Executive Officer
e-geos
Italy
JAMES CRAWFORD
CEO/Founder
Orbital Insight
USA
Plenary Session 4: Integrated Geospatial Platform and Services: Towards a Digital Economy
12:00 - 13:00
Moderator
Alessandro Annoni
Head, Digital Economy Unit
Joint Research Centre
European Commission
Keynote Address
Timothy Petty
Assistant Secretary
Department of Interior
WILLIAM PRIEST
Cabinet Office
Digital Advisor
UK Government
DR. RON S. JARMIN
Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
U.S. Census Bureau
USA
Boon Khai Tan
Chief Executive
Singapore Land Authority
Singapore
James Steiner
Vice President
Oracle
IVAN DELOATCH
Executive Director
Federal Geographic Data Committee
USA
Location Data Platforms: Powering Anything Anywhere
14:30 - 15:30
Moderator
DIPANSHU SHARMA
Founder
Meditation.Live
USA
JAVIER DE LA TORRE
Founder and CSO
CARTO
USA
THOMAS WALLE
CEO & Co-Founder
Unacast
USA
Manlio Allegra
Co-Founder and CEO
Polaris Wireless
USA
Craig Hagopian
Co-Founder and CEO
Chalk Digital
Location Adding Competitive Advantage to BI Platforms
15:30 - 16:30
Moderator
Girish Joshi
Director – Americas
Geospatial Media
KARTIK CHANDRAYANA
VP Big Data Platform/Cloud- Salesforce
Founder- Twin Prime (Acquired by SFDC)
Siva Ravada
Senior Director
Oracle
Data Fusion and Realtime Analytics
14:30 - 15:30
Moderator
MARK REICHARDT
Director Strategic Opportunities
OGCCo-Chair, National Geospatial Advisory Committee, USA
Frank X. Avila
Director
Commercial GEOINT Discovery & Assessments Office
NGA
Dr. David J. Alexander
Senior Technologist for Resilience
Department of Homeland Security
USA
Patrick Cozzi
CEO
Cesium
USA
Carl Newman
Executive Officer (Deputy Director)
NOAA
Plenary Session 5: Investors: Mentoring and Driving Geospatial Innovation
17:00 - 18:00
Moderator
NIGEL CLIFFORD
Operating Partner
Marlin Equity Partners
UK
Rainer Sternfeld
Venture Partner
SuperAngel
Ashu Pande
Vice President - Product and Market Development
Fabric
Peter Rabley
Venture Partner
Omidyar Network
Plenary Session 6: Geospatial and Building Information Modelling: Driving Digitilization of Construction
and Engineering Industry
08:30 - 09:30
Moderator
NADINE ALAMEH
CEO
Open Geospatial Consortium
USA
Keynote Address
Steve Berglund
President & CEO
Trimble
USA
Bhupinder Singh
Chief Product Officer
Bentley Systems
USA
Ray O’Connor
CEO
Topcon Positioning Systems
Johannes Riegl
President
Riegl
USA
Lisa Campbell
CMO and SVP – Business Strategy and Marketing
Autodesk
Plenary Session 7: Business Models of Space Economy: Where is the Money?
09:30 - 10:30
Moderator
Anusuya Datta
Executive Editor
Geospatial Media
Keynote Address
Kevin O'Connell
Director - Office of Space Commerce
US Department of Commerce
USA
Payam Banazadeh
CEO & Founder
Capella Space
USA
John Serafini
CEO
HawkEye360
USA
Max Polyakov
Founder & CEO
EOS Data Analytics
USA
Ron Lopez
President & Managing Director
Astroscale U.S. Inc.
USA
Miniaturisation and Innovation in Sensors
11:00 - 11:45
Dr Stewart Walker
Managing Editor
Lidar Magazine
Anthony Baker
CEO
SatelliteVu
United Kingdom
Chris Charles McCormick
Chairman & Founder
PlanetiQ
Stéphane Germain
President & CEO
GHGSat
CANADA
Lightening Talk
11:45 - 12:00
Michael Jones
Senior Executive and Advisor
Niantic
USA
Advancements in Data Processing and Transmission
12:00 - 12:35
Moderator
Myrna James Yoo
Managing Editor
Apogeo Spatial
SHAYN HAWTHORNE
Senior Manager
Amazon Web Services
USA
CHRISTOPHER RICHINS
Co-Founder & CEO
RBC Signals
USA
BARRY A. MATSUMORI
CEO
BridgeComm, Inc
USA
Analytics – Handling all these Yotabytes
12:35 - 13:00
JAMES SLIFIERZ
CEO
SkyWatch Space Applications
Canada
Corentin Guillo
Founder and CEO
Bird.i
UK
Dr Frank de Morsier
CTO and co-founder
Picterra
Plenary Panel 8: Mapping in The Age of Autonomy
14:30 - 15:15
Moderator
Ed Parsons
Geospatial Technologist
Google
Miguel Amor
Chief Marketing Officer
Hexagon Positioning Intelligence
James Wu
Co-Founder and CEO
Deep Map
Steve Milton
Co-Founder and CPO
Moove.ai
USA
GANESH PATTABIRAMAN
Co-Founder and CEO
NextNav
USA
Plenary Panel 9: The Big Debate: Data Protection and Privacy Conundrum – Who and How Much?
15:15 - 16:15
Moderator
Sanjay Kumar
CEO Geospatial Media
and World Geospatial Industry Council
LEA SHANLEY, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Nelson Institute
University of Wisconsin-Madison USA
Dr. Michael Tischler
Director
National Geospatial Program (NGP)
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
USA
Kevin Pomfret
Director
Spatial Law Institute
ROB VAN DE VELDE
Director
Geonovum
The Netherlands
DEAN ANGELIDES
Corporate Director International
Esri
USA
Payam Banazadeh
CEO & Founder, Capella Space, USA
Payam Banazadeh is CEO & Founder of Capella Space, a Silicon Valley company building the largest constellation of commercial SAR satellites in order to provide hourly monitoring services of anywhere in the globe. Payam holds a management degree from Stanford University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas. Prior to starting Capella Space Payam was a project manager and flight systems engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has been awarded NASA Mariner Award, NASA Discovery Award, and NASA Formulation Award. Most recently Payam was selected to be on the prestigious “Forbes 30 under 30” list in 2017 and Capella has been recognized by New York Times, Bloomberg, and recently Inc magazine as one of the top 25 disruptive companies in the world.
Sunil Kumar
CEO, GroundTruth, USA
As the Chief Executive Officer of GroundTruth, Sunil Kumar is focused on continuing the company’s market expansion, growth, and innovation. Kumar, a founder of GroundTruth, previously served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, driving double-digit growth and profitability.
Before his start at GroundTruth (formerly xAd), Sunil was a founder of V-Enable, which provided voice search solutions to a host of carriers including Verizon and Sprint Cricket. Prior to that, Sunil was network architect at Cisco, working on router products and IOS architecture. He also worked at the University of New Hampshire’s Interoperability Labs and participated in the rise of the storage over IP industry, working with industry leaders to bring quality technology to the market.
Sunil received his BS in Mathematics from the University of Delhi, his MS in Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire and his MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Uri Tamir
Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Mobileye, USA
As Mobileye’s North American Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Uri Tamir leads the development of new markets for Mobileye’s latest advancements in collision avoidance technology, sensor’s data, and mapping. Uri oversees Mobileye’s push for smarter and safer roads and represent Mobileye in numerous research projects and partnerships with US DOT, State DOTs, and cities in North America.
John Serafini
CEO, HawkEye360, USA
John Serafini has over a decade of experience investing in and leading national security oriented technology companies. John is presently the CEO of HawkEye 360, the leading developer of space-based radio frequency (RF) collection, mapping, and analytic capabilities. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Allied Minds where he led the formation, financing, and management of HawkEye 360, along with other Allied Minds companies such as BridgeSat, Federated Wireless, and Percipient Networks (WatchGuard acquired). A former Airborne Ranger-qualified U.S. Army infantry officer, John is a graduate of the US Military Academy, Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Anthony Baker
CEO, SatelliteVu, United Kingdom
Anthony Baker is the CEO of Satellite Vu an earth observation company specializing in providing new insights from satellites into our global challenges such as climate change and ocean plastic pollution. Satellite Vu intends to launch an infrared satellite to detect the thermal emissions of targets, this data has applications such as the energy efficiency of buildings and measuring the pattern of life on a global scale. We are investigating how our satellite data can be used to identify opportunities and verification of sustainable finance products.
He has over 20 years’ experience in innovative satellite companies with roles in both commercial and government organisations. He has held roles as Chief Strategy Officer at Es’hailSat – The Qatar Satellite Company, Vice President at SES of Luxembourg, and employed at AsiaSat in Hong Kong, NATO in the Netherlands and OFCOM in London.
Steve Milton
Co-Founder and CPO, Moove.ai, USA
Steve Milton has spent the past 25 years on the cutting edge of AI / ML commercial product development. He has applied commercial principals and methods to a variety of domains including enterprise workforce optimization, e-commerce sales performance, speech recognition, bioinformatics, satellite imagery processing and gps location analytics. In each domain he has driven market leading products that exceeded customer expectations. Steve holds 12 patents in various ML techniques as applied to location analytics and continues to work with early stage and high growth technology companies, helping them to develop effective strategies and implement commercial systems effectively. He has participated in four IPO's and been the founder or initial team lead for three successful startups.
Renil Paramel
Co-founder and Senior Partner, Strategy of Things, USA
Renil Paramel is senior partner at Strategy of Things, a Silicon Valley-based innovation catalyst that brings science, breakthrough strategies and disruptive digital technologies to help cities become smarter and more responsive. He recently developed San Mateo County’s (USA) smart region strategy, created and launched its innovation lab (SMC Labs), and completed a smart streetlight strategy for a major regional utility company.
Renil has over 22 years of experience in professional consulting, serving clients in Business and IT divisions of various multinational companies and municipal organizations. Prior to Strategy of Things, Renil was a Vice President with Gartner Consulting, and worked for both Accenture’s and Deloitte’s Technology Strategy practices.
JAMES SLIFIERZ
CEO, SkyWatch Space Applications, Canada
James is a Co-Founder and CEO of SkyWatch, a fast growing startup on a mission to simplify access to satellite data. He is passionate about accelerating the commercialization of space and ensuring that Canada, his home country, plays a vital role in that.
Chris Charles McCormick
Chairman and Founder, PlanetiQ
Mr. McCormick has 30+ years of aerospace and communications engineering and management experience. His expertise has been focused on the development of entirely new mission capability, new components, miniaturization, and tightly coupled functions leading to the development of “Systems on a Chip” for space missions.
As Co-Founder and Chairman of PlanetiQ, Mr. McCormick is aiding in the space segment design with a focus on payload performance and spacecraft mission accommodation. He is currently performing system design work and management of the next generation of high-performance avionics and the fourth-generation Pyxis radio occultation receivers, after having co-developed the second- and third-generation receivers.
Mr. McCormick managed Moog Inc’s Space Sector after Moog purchased Broad Reach Engineering, the company Mr. McCormick founded and ran for 15 years. He oversaw more than 1,000 employees and over $200M in revenue, with facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Mr. McCormick has worked on the spacecraft system level design for numerous space missions, including as systems engineer for the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) program, for which he performed trade studies and utilized industry best practices to lead development of performance, cost, and schedule requirements and baselines. He was also instrumental in setting up international agreements, ground systems and ground stations.
Ron Lopez
President & Managing Director, Astroscale U.S. Inc., USA
Ron brings over 25 years of government and industry experience, encompassing systems engineering, program management, sales and marketing, technology/research and development management, and strategy formulation.
Ron started his career as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Air Force, serving as the focal point for Space Situational Awareness capability development at Air Force Space Command’s Space Control Division. He then joined Boeing and worked on various programs as a Systems Engineering Manager within Boeing Research & Technology and Phantom Works and led business development activities for the Network & Space Systems division throughout the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Astroscale, Ron led the Defense & Space Asia Pacific sales team at Honeywell Aerospace, helping the company achieve significant sales growth and expansion into new markets.
Ron earned a Bachelor of Science from The United States Air Force Academy in 1993.
Michael Jones
Senior Executive and Advisor, Niantic, USA
Michael is an executive at Niantic (Pokémon Go) and a venture investor at Seraphim Capital. He's an inventor, engineer, and leader in multiple billion-user products (Google Earth & Maps, SGI OpenGL). He innovates in the technology of AR & VR, serves on boards, advises governments, and speaks widely on technology and the future.
Stéphane Germain
President & CEO, GHGSat, CANADA
Stéphane Germain founded GHGSat in 2011 to answer a market need for consistent, high quality measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities worldwide.
Mr. Germain has over 25 years of experience in aerospace engineering, project management, and business development. He has held senior management positions over a period of 10 years in both small and large Canadian aerospace companies. Prior to these positions, he was a consultant for several years with Bain & Company, a leading international strategy consulting firm, working for Fortune 500 companies in industries ranging from forestry to aerospace. At the start of his career, he worked as an engineer and project manager at Spar Aerospace.
Mr. Germain graduated from Queen’s University (Canada) with a B.Sc. (Engineering Physics) in 1991 and a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD (France) in 1994.
THOMAS WALLE
CEO & Co-Founder, Unacast, USA
Thomas Walle is the CEO and co-founder of Unacast, the world's leading transparent and contextualized location data platform. Unacast built the Real World Graph® to empower companies and individuals alike to make smarter decisions by providing the most accurate understanding of human activity in the physical world. Prior to co-founding Unacast, Thomas was part of the founding team behind TIDAL, a music streaming company acquired by Jay-Z.
DEAN ANGELIDES
Corporate Director International, Esri, USA
Dean Angelides has worked with thousands of organizations to implement GIS technology to improve their operations and decision-making over his 40 year professional career. Nearly 30 years ago he co-founded a GIS services company located in California. He joined Esri in 2005
Robert Cardillo
CEO, Cardillo Group, Former National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director, USA
Appointed as the NGA’s sixth director in 2014, Robert led the agency through significant changes in both the global threat and technology landscapes, reinforcing its position as a vital component of the country’s national intelligence community. Robert began his career in national security with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 1983 as a photographic interpreter. In May 2000, he was selected to the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service. In 2009, Robert served as the Acting J2, a first for a civilian, in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 2010, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), James Clapper, selected Robert – who was then a Deputy Director of the DIA – to serve as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration. In this position, he was responsible for managing, editing and delivering the President’s Daily Brief to President Barack Obama. As Robert transitioned to the private sector, he continued his efforts to reduce barriers between commercial and academic innovation and the critical government missions that depend upon them to succeed. On the academic and research front, Robert is a Distinguished Fellow at Saint Louis University, a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s new Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a member of the Guidance Council of the Space Dynamics Lab at Utah State, and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In the commercial sector, Robert has joined the Board of Directors of AGI and the Advisory Boards of Beacon Global Strategies, Cesium, Cubic Corporation, HawkEye 360 and Peraton. Robert earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University and a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University.
Igor Starkov
CEO, EcoDomus, USA
Mr. Starkov is a computer scientist and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in software consulting and development. Mr. Starkov also has over 18 years of experience leveraging technology to improve construction project delivery and management of the built environment.
His experience in the AEC, IT, and Facilities Management arenas and his in depth knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM), Lean Construction methodology, and Energy Management issues provide him with the unique capability of providing versatile information-enabled solutions.
He brings particular expertise in Digital Twins and BIM for FM workflow analysis and in creating applications that combine relational databases with analytical and visualization capabilities. Prior to co-founding EcoDomus, Mr. Starkov co-founded Latista Technologies (now Oracle), the leading provider of construction field administration software solutions.
Ganesh Pattabiraman
Co-Founder and CEO, NextNav, USA
Ganesh Pattabiraman is the Co-Founder and CEO of NextNav, a pioneer in solving the location and timing problems in GPS Challenged environments (Indoor, Urban areas) across an entire metropolitan area and unlocking it’s potential for Commercial (Mobile Phones, IoT, Autonomous Systems), Public Safety and Emergency (E911) applications. He has over 20 years of experience in technology development and management at companies such as Qualcomm where he worked on Satellite, Terrestrial and Proximity based location systems. He has over 12 patents and a MBA from the Wharton School and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University.
VIVEK SHARMA
Chief Strategy Officer, Brandscapes, Worldwide, USA
Vivek Sharma is the Chief Strategy Officer at Brandscapes Worldwide Consultancy – a global marketing analytics and insight consulting company. Brandscapes leverages advanced data science tools and marketing & commercial expertise to distill actionable marketing insights.
Vivek’s 30 years of experience in fmcg spans Insights, Analytics, Strategy and General Management. He started at the Kantar Group and then moved to the client side at Unilever, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg - where he led the Insights Function before becoming the CEO of a Business Unit. He has traveled extensively across the globe and has lived in 6 different countries.
STEVEN HAGAN
Vice President, Development for Server Technologies, Oracle Corporation, USA
Steven has been at Oracle since 1994, and is vice president in engineering responsible for advanced technology development for areas of Spatial/Geospatial, Semantics, Graph Databases, Imaging, and portions of the Big Data, Cloud, and High Availability technologies within the Oracle product set. He is representing Oracle on the Open Geospatial Consortium board of directors where he actively pursues evolving the standards in support of customer geospatial needs and he is leading the development team that rapidly evolves Oracle product to keep pace with those standards. He is also an industry observer on the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM). Before joining Oracle, Steven spent several years at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he managed and led the engineering of the database products.
LT COL RAJ AGRAWAL
Deputy Chief Space Force Enhancement Division, USA
Lt Col Raj Agrawal is currently Deputy Chief, Space Force Enhancement Division, Office of the Principal Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force for Space. Lt Col Agrawal earned his commission from the USAF Officer Training School in 2001 after serving for eight years as a school teacher in Texas. He is a graduate of the US Air Force Weapons School, US Army Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officer School, a distinguished graduate of Air Command and Staff College and National Defense University, a graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and has a Ph.D. in Business Administration. The colonel has commanded at the squadron level, and his tactical experience includes leadership as a ground-based radar crew commander, operations training flight chief, and Initial Qualifications Training "Master Instructor." He also has extensive operational level experience having served at the 614th, 613th, 609th, 603d, and 607th Air and Space Operations Centers, leading mission areas including offensive space control, offensive cyber operations, strategic & theater missile defense, covert unmanned aerial systems, and Special Technical Operations.
DR. RON S. JARMIN
Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Census Bureau, USA
Dr. Ron S. Jarmin is the U.S. Census Bureau’s deputy director and chief operating officer.
Jarmin performed the nonexclusive functions and duties of the Director from July 2017 to January 2019 and previously served as the associate director for economic programs. He led the team for the 2017 Economic Census, overseeing a move to 100 percent Internet data collection and leveraging enterprise investments to minimize system, application, and dissemination costs. Data products from the economic census provide the foundation for key measures of economic performance, including the nation’s gross domestic product.
From 2011 to 2016, Jarmin served as the assistant director for research and methodology. He oversaw a broad research program in statistics, survey methodology, and economics aimed at improving economic and social measurement within the federal statistical system. Since beginning his career at the Census Bureau in 1992, he has also served as the chief economist, chief of the Center for Economic Studies, and a research economist.
Jarmin holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon. An elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, he has published papers in the areas of industrial organization, business dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology and firm performance, urban economics, data access, and statistical disclosure avoidance.
Scott Pace
Executive Secretary, US National Space Council, USA
Dr. Scott Pace is the Executive Secretary for the National Space Council. The Council is chaired by Vice President Michael Pence. He began this position in August 2017.
Dr. Pace was formerly the Director of the Space Policy Institute and a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs from 2008-2017. From 2005-2008, he served as the Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA. Prior to NASA, Dr. Pace was the Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
From 1993-2000, Dr. Pace worked for the RAND Corporation's Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI). From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Pace served as the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of Space Commerce, in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1980; Masters degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics and Technology & Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982; and a Doctorate in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School in 1989.
Dr. Pace received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2008, the US Department of State’s Group Superior Honor Award, GPS Interagency Team, in 2005, and the NASA Group Achievement Award, Columbia Accident Rapid Reaction Team, in 2004. He has been a member of the US Delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conferences in 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2007. He was also a member of the US Delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications Working Group, 1997-2000. More recently, he served as a private sector advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 2009, and 2011-17. Dr. Pace was a member of the NOAA Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) and served as a senior advisor to the Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board for the U.S. PNT Executive Committee.
Dr. Pace is a former member of the Board of Trustees, Universities Space Research Association, a former Trustee of the Summer Science Program Inc., a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
IVAN DELOATCH
Executive Director, Federal Geographic Data Committee, USA
Mr. DeLoatch serves as the Executive Director for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Secretariat. The FGDC leads and supports the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Strategy and supports the implementation of the Geospatial Data Act in the United States.
Mr. DeLoatch has over thirty-nine years of experience in environmental and geospatial technical and program policy serving all levels of government and the private sector. He has served in many leadership roles on interagency and international committees addressing geospatial and earth observation technical and policy issues. He studied at Bowie State University in the University of Maryland System.
Dr. Michael Tischler
Director, National Geospatial Program (NGP) - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), USA
Dr. Michael Tischler is the Director of the National Geospatial Program (NGP) at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The NGP provides the digital geospatial foundation for the United States, and is responsible for designing, planning, and executing the national topographic mapping program. Dr. Tischler provides management oversight and direction to the NGP including The National Map, the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center, the 3D Elevation Program, the National Hydrography Dataset, the US Topo Map Series, research activities performed at the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS), and geospatial data and information in response to natural disasters. Prior to joining the USGS, Dr. Tischler worked as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Geospatial Research Laboratory in Alexandria, VA providing strategic and technical oversight to a variety of basic and applied geospatial research projects
Corentin Guillo
Founder and CEO, Bird.i, UK
Corentin is founder and CEO of Bird.i, a startup that strives to make the best of the world's observation imagery. He brings over 15 years experience working with cutting edge earth observation satellite technology together with a drive to bring its value and insights to all; individuals and businesses alike.
Corentin began his career in the space industry in France before moving to England in 2009, and then Scotland in 2016. He has always wanted to impact our world and quickly developed his vision into a business with focus to innovate and disrupt downstream satellite technology applications, and create a mass market for the world's most incredible images.
Corentin is passionate about bringing together people from different cultures, skills and experiences. By building a company rich with unique perspectives, Corentin hopes to helps create a culture that empowers people to outperform and excel.
Arra G. Yerganian
Chief Brand Officer, Tivity Health
Arra Yerganian drives overall brand strategy for Tivity Health, creating a member-driven, comprehensive, differentiated and unified brand voice, while raising brand awareness. Passionate about storytelling, Arra connects tens of millions of consumers who are interested in improving their overall physical and mental health through initiatives focused on improving their fitness and nutrition through acclaimed programs like SilverSneakers & Nutrisystem. Additionally, he is responsible for the company's Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, via the Tivity Cares platform, enabling colleagues and partners to support community, environmental and global social initiatives.
Yerganian is an award-winning marketing & sales leader and has served as Chief Marketing / Chief Experience Officer for leading companies like Sutter Health, Benchmark Capital & Google Ventures backed One Medical, and University of Phoenix. He began his marketing career at Procter & Gamble, and served as International Market Manager. He contributes regularly to publications like Ad Age, Forbes, and numerous marketing journals. He is obsessed with creating frictionless and delightful customer and consumer journeys. Providing innovative, market-driven and value-added solutions has been his focus for more than 25 years.
Yerganian was recently honored at Lincoln Center, NYC with the CMO Officers Award. Presented by the International CMO Club, this award recognizes top senior marketing executives who demonstrate the ability to develop and enhance corporate branding beyond the marketing department, leading growth across functional areas.
Arra is a 14+ year active volunteer and Board Chair Emeritus of the Silicon Valley American Red Cross, and recent executive committee member of Rocketship Education, a nationally acclaimed charter school for inner-city children ages 4-11.
Arra and Taline, his wife of 20+ years have three children, ages 9, 14, and 18 and live in Silicon Valley.
Jon Walton
CIO, County of San Mateo, California, USA
Jon Walton’s passion is to look beyond the basics of traditional technology support. His vision of IT not only serves County employees, but also residents, visitors, and regional partners. Jon seeks to help bridge San Mateo County’s digital divide by bringing internet access to all its communities, regardless of geography or socio-economics.
Jon has over 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors and has won numerous accolades for technology excellence and visionary leadership. Working at a County in the heart of Silicon Valley, Jon understands the importance of collaboration with innovative businesses, governments, non-profits, and other community stakeholders. He rejects the idea of government as a dinosaur and strives to help the County utilize the newest technology to operate at peak efficiency.
Aside from being a self-described geek, Jon is passionate about spending more time at the beach with his kids and racing cars at local tracks.
BARRY A. MATSUMORI
CEO, BridgeComm, Inc, USA
Barry A. Matsumori is CEO of BridgeComm, Inc. His extensive background in the mobile wireless and Space 2.0 sectors spans numerous leadership roles, among them serving as senior vice president of business development and advanced concepts at Virgin Orbit, senior vice president of sales and business development at SpaceX and nearly two decades at Qualcomm, where he was vice president of wireless connectivity. He has also worked with several early stage technology companies in development and management capacities. Barry holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University and earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona.
Max Polyakov
Founder & CEO, EOS Data Analytics, USA
Max Polyakov is Ukrainian-American entrepreneur in the fields of space technology and IT, economist, public figure, investor and philanthropist.
Dr. Polyakov is Managing Partner at Silicon Valley-based Noosphere Ventures investment fund and founder/co-founder of several American space companies: Firefly Aerospace – small/medium launch vehicles and spacecraft, EOS Data Analytics – platform-as-a-service for remote sensing data analytics and EOS SAR – constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites.
Manlio Allegra
Co-Founder and CEO,
Polaris Wireless,
USA
Manlio Allegra is the Co-Founder and CEO of Polaris Wireless, and has led the company since its inception. Manlio provides overall strategic direction and oversees xx employees across five offices. He is also the company's lead salesperson, personally working with clients to ensure their needs are being met. Manlio is an industry thought leader, and has been quoted extensively in business and trade publications.
Manlio has more than 20 years of experience in international business development and general management with Fortune 500 and start-up companies, including Fiat, Eli Lilly, Warner Communications and Sega Enterprises. Prior to founding Polaris Wireless, Manlio founded three successful multi-million dollar software publishing ventures including TecMagik, a $23 million publisher of video games and computer entertainment software; International Development Group, a strategic marketing and software publishing services consultancy for the United States, European and Asian companies; and a joint venture with Sega for the North American market. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MSEE in Electrical Engineering from the Milan Polytechnic Institute.
Carl Newman
Executive Officer (Deputy Director), NOAA
Carl Newman served in the NOAA Commission Officer Corps, one of America's seven Uniformed Services for 17 years. He retired in January of 2016 and currently serves as the Deputy Director (XO) of the NOAA Hurricane Hunters.
Captain Newman completed 14 years of hurricane flights in the NOAA Hurricane Hunters (WP-3D Orion) - the world's premier research aircraft. This has included over 230 hurricane eye wall penetrations, and over 5,500 flight hours. His aviation experience as a P-3 Orion aviator has taken him from the shores of the United States, to the Persian Gulf, Asia, Antarctica, Alaska, Europe and the far reaches of Northern climes conducting airborne science experiments. Captain Newman graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1989, has conducted postgraduate studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, George Washington University, and attended the Senior Executive Fellowship at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Dr Frank de Morsier
CTO and co-founder, Picterra
Dr Frank de Morsier, CTO and co-founder, received the BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and the MSc degree in Information Technology with a Minor in Space Technologies from the EPFL, Switzerland, ranked as the world's 12th and Europe 2nd best engineering university. He holds a PhD in machine learning applied to remote sensing imagery from the EPFL-LTS5 and worked in the private industry in the field of remote sensing image processing since 2014. He is also a lecturer of the "Image Processing for Earth Observation" master course at EPFL. He has extensive practical and theoretical knowledge of machine learning and pattern recognition for image processing. Co-founder and CTO of Picterra, his focus is on the development and applications of machine learning algorithms for multitemporal and multi-sensors image analysis, with a special emphasis on approaches allowing to upscale processing chains while keeping end-user interactions within the loop.
Miguel Amor
Chief Marketing Officer,
Hexagon Positioning Intelligence
Miguel Amor is the Chief Marketing Officer for Hexagon's Positioning Intelligence division and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Geomatics and an M.B.A. Miguel began his career in the GPS industry in 1998 and joined Trimble Ltd. in 2003 in Spain. In 2008, he moved to Trimble's headquarters in Denver, Colorado, where he held several senior product management and marketing positions. Additionally, Miguel holds multiple patents in the GNSS and the positioning field.
Miguel joined VERIPOS (part of Hexagon) in 2015 as Vice President of Product Development for Correction Services in the land and marine markets. He assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer within Hexagon's Positioning Intelligence division in 2016 to oversee the product management and marketing of multiple brands and product lines. Hexagon's Positioning Intelligence division includes leading brands NovAtel, VERIPOS and AutonomouStuff, that together provide solutions for assured autonomy and positioning.