Speakers

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Abi Swayne

Senior Innovation Grant Manager - Department For Transport

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Adam Parkinson

Founder & Director - GoLink Advisory Group

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Alastair Chapman

Sustainability and Performance Manager - Cardiff Council

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Aldo Gutierrez

Product Manager - Gaussion

Hi, I’m Aldo, Automotive Product Manager at Gaussion. I oversee all automotive-related projects, guiding them from initial concept through development and launch. With a background in research, product development, and manufacturing from my time at Jaguar Land Rover, I bring a deep understanding of the automotive industry. This experience enables me to seamlessly integrate Gaussion’s state-of-the-art technology into cutting-edge automotive solutions.

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Alex Holland

Director of Industry Solutions - Hitachi Europe

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Alistair Clabburn

Chairman and Founder - Mobilityways

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An Schrijvers

Programme Manager Innovation Procurement - VLAIO – Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

An Schrijvers holds a PhD in political science, European Union politics. After ten years in various research and teaching positions at Ghent University, she made the switch to Flemish science and innovation policy in 2011, first as senior policy advisor at the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation (VRWI), then at the Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VARIO). In September 2017, she joined the Programme for Innovation Procurement (PIO or PIP), a year after the Programme was officially launched. With the Programme, the Government of Flanders has the mission to stimulate all public sector organisations in Flanders to strategically use their substantial purchasing power (> 30 billion a year) as a catalyst for innovation. In 8 years, PIP established a portfolio of more than 120 innovation procurement projects, in different policy fields and sectors. The Programme clearly demonstrates its added value (confirmed in an external evaluation, carried out in 2022). Therefore, since January 1, 2024, the initially temporary pilot programme has become a structural, permanent innovation instrument within the larger Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). Since May 1, 2024, An Schrijvers has been PIP’s Programme Manager.

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Anastasia Vikhornova

Senior Strategic Designer - Digital Services Arup

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Andreas Zachariah

CEO - TravelAI Ltd

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Andrew Barr

President - Hitachi EMEA

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Andrew Carter

Chief Executive - Centre for Cities

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Andrew Collinge

Smart Cities Director - Jacobs

Andrew is Smart Cities Director, Europe at Jacobs. Operating at regional, city, community and asset-level, his team works on some of the most exciting digital masterplanning, service design and technology demonstration projects globally, from digitalisation of the U.K. Parliament, to the Glasgow City Region 5G Innovation Testbed, to King Salman International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

Prior to Jacobs, Andrew spent 14 years in senior data and digital roles in two of the most advanced city governments in the world, Dubai and London. He is a member of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance Steering Group and has led efforts for World Economic Forum to produce model policies in areas like open data and whole-of-lifecycle infrastructure management.

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Andrew Gilligan

CEO - Magtec

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Andrew Newman

Principal Data Specialist - Open Data Institute (ODI)

Andrew Newman is a Principal Data Specialist at the ODI. Andrew is an experienced data specialist with over 20 years experience of leading and managing data teams and initiatives at the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). Andrew has a broad range of data skills and experience, he has: built and operated geographic information systems; developed data standards and specifications; written and implemented data strategies; and defined and delivered major projects, transforming data infrastructures. Andrew is people focused and naturally takes an open and collaborative approach, bringing communities of people together to deliver services and drive change and improvement.

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Andy Guffogg

Sustainability Manager - Environment Agency

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Andy Lord

Commissioner - Transport for London

As Commissioner of TfL, Andy is responsible for ensuring the delivery of safe and reliable transport services to keep London moving, growing and to make life in the Capital better for residents, visitors and businesses. He is responsible for delivering the priorities and objectives set out in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and TfL Business Plan.

Andy joined TfL in November 2019, as Managing Director London Underground having started his career with British Airways as a sponsored undergraduate in 1989, gaining an honours degree in mechanical engineering from Manchester University. His career saw him take on roles across engineering, operations and customer service, culminating as Director of Operations and member of the Executive Leadership Team for just over seven years.

Prior to joining TfL, Andy was Executive Vice President at Menzies Aviation leading the business and operations for the UK, EMEAI.
Andy is also a NED at Defence Equipment and Support, Ministry of Defence.

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Andy Powell

Manager - Engineering Innovation - Environment Agency

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Andy Thompson

Portfolio Director - Thames Estuary Growth Board

Andy Thompson is our Portfolio Director for Renewable Energy, bringing a wealth of experience in international trade and investment. His previous roles include positions with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission and the Canadian High Commission in London, where he managed significant investment projects across industries such as Financial Services, Technology, Energy, and Defence and Security. At the Growth Board, Andy is responsible for advancing renewable energy projects, including the development of the Thames Estuary Hydrogen cluster and new district heat networks.

His personal interests in sports and travel often intersect, resulting in memorable moments which include attending the Rugby World Cup in France.

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Ankit Patel

Principal Consultant - Energy & Digital - ARUP

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Ankita Kapoor

Senior Programme Manager - Safetipin

Ankita is a Program Manager at Safetipin. She has a background in architecture and urban planning and works on data analysis, representation and formulation of recommendations for creating safe public spaces. Ankita also manages projects and partner relationships. With a keen interest in research on urban mobility, her work focuses on issues of gender and urban mobility. She is an alumna of CEPT University, Ahmedabad and has worked with L&T Constructions for over 3 years before joining Safetipin.

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Anna Watt

Transport Research Lead - Transport for West Midlands

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Anne Gray

Corporate Development Manager - Flexible Power Systems

I have worked for Flexible Power Systems (FPS) since 2020 and align totally with the FPS commitment to helping commercial fleet operators transition confidently to electric vehicles. But most importantly to achieve effective and efficient operational integration of BEVs. A Chartered Accountant by origin, I have spent most of my career working within and alongside businesses in many sectors and of varying sizes, in different countries and cultures, generally with a focus on market development and growth.

FPS develops innovative, automated, real-time solutions for commercial fleet operators looking to transition to electric vehicle fleet, with efficiency of integrated, optimised BEV operations core to us and our customers. Our shared charging infrastructure booking system and TRU load management solutions similarly drive maximum efficiencies within capacity constraints.

My corporate development role requires me to stay on top of market development, policy and regulations relating to road transportation emissions and fuel transition, including through active involvement in events, consultations and trade body memberships. On the back of that knowledge, I am involved in a broad range of development activities for FPS in the UK and further afield.

We find ourselves working in a fascinating space at a critical time, where collaboration across disciplines and modes is essential to solving complex problems. I believe we are all learning together on the theme of decarbonisation.

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Arnold du Toit

Investor - WeSprint

Arnold du Toit acts as and on behalf of a dual Family Office between UK-SA and DE. He is an industrial/deep tech investor and operator, specializing in transport, aerospace, and energy. The du Toit Family owns and operates WeSprint, an advisory firm acting on behalf of Private Equity and private/public funds. The dual Family Office holds equity in a small portfolio of property, technology businesses, and funds, with over £200m in assets under management.

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Ating Liu

Head of London Cancer Hub Capital Programme - London Borough of Sutton

Ating brings solid expertise and strategic leadership to transport infrastructure and area regeneration projects. She proactively navigates complex challenges, secures vital funding and investment, and builds strong partnerships that deliver transformative outcomes. With over 17 years of experience in this dynamic field, Ating collaborates with partners to identify opportunities, ensure successful delivery and benefits realisation, and drive positive change that makes a real difference in the community.

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Becky Wood

Non-Executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

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Ben Garratt

Deputy Director Public Affairs - Logistics UK

He leads the organisation’s Public Affairs team and strategy, advocates for the logistics sector in political, government and regulatory arenas, and provides Logistics UK and its membership with strategic advice. He also leads Logistics UK’s innovation workstream, engaging with members, policymakers and other stakeholders on the innovation priorities of the sector.

Ben was previously Head of Stakeholder Engagement at intercity train operator LNER, where he led LNER’s public affairs, internal communications and community investment teams. Prior to that, he was Head of Rail Communications at the Department for Transport, leading on a wide range of announcements and engagement opportunities; an Account Director at Westbourne Communications, supporting clients from energy and transport to welfare to work; Deputy Director of Labour Friends of Israel; and a Parliamentary Researcher in the House of Commons.

He studied Politics and International Politics at Degree and Masters levels, at the University of Liverpool.

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Ben Stevenson

Chief of Staff & Head of Sustainability - Bloom Services

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Benjamin Gibbons

CEO - Circular11 Ltd

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Bridget Wilkins

Head of Engagement, Adoption and Innovation - MHCLG

As Head of Adoption, Engagement and Innovation at Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Bridget’s passion lies in how to bridge the gap between people, policy and technology to revolutionise the planning system and built environment.

Her current role is focused on how to accelerate the adoption of a modern planning system including the scaling of the PropTech Innovation Fund – the largest UK Government investment into the sector to date

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Camila Rangel

Senior Research Data Scientist - Alan Turing Institute

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Carl Hopkins

Managing Director - Civil Water Management

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Carolin Gohler

President - The Landscape Institute

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Caroline Whitney

Director for England - Community Transport Association

As the Director for England, Caroline leads initiatives and projects that influence the community transport sector across the nation. In her role at the Community Transport Association (CTA), she is the technical lead for membership and Permits, ensuring that CTA enables the sector to operate safely and legally. Caroline’s expertise and passion are pivotal in shaping the community transport landscape in England, reflecting her commitment to enhancing community transport and building its impact in the transport sector.

Before assuming her current role, Caroline served as the Chief Executive of CVS Cheshire East, a local infrastructure organisation dedicated to representing and supporting the not-for-profit sector. Her career has involved creating and managing sustainable voluntary and charitable organisations. She possesses an understanding of the complexities involved in not-for-profit operations, including volunteering, charity development, and fostering relationships with statutory bodies. Her experience and skill set make her a vital asset in the community transport sector, where she continues to drive positive change and innovation.

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Carolyn Dwyer

Non-executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

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Carolyn Lang

Senior Associate (Technology, Media & Telecoms) - Pinsent Masons

Carolyn is a Senior Associate in Pinsent Masons’ Technology, Media and Telecoms team. She regularly advises clients on technology sourcing projects, data licensing, and data privacy matters. Carolyn is a core member of the firm’s team specialising in complex data sharing projects, advising on regulatory compliance issues and contractual arrangements. A recent highlight includes partnering with the UK Water Sector’s “Stream” project.

Carolyn is also a member of the Digital Twin Hub’s Governance Model & Trust Working Group.

She has previously been seconded to Royal London’s legal team and BP’s global data privacy team.

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Catherine McGuinness CBE

Non-Executive Director & IUK Nominated Director - Connected Places Catapult

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Charlotte Hills

Head of Innovation - HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd

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Chloe Treger

Research and Analysis Lead - Dark Matter Labs

Chloe leads Trees-as-Infrastructure, an initiative of Dark Matter Labs, in the UK – driving urban systems change at the intersection of natural ecosystems and institutional frameworks. A partnership-driven designer, she brings a strategic and interdisciplinary approach to transforming cities. Chloe holds degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford, as well as an MSc in Urban Planning and City Design from the UCL Bartlett School of Planning. Prior to her current role, she led research and analysis at Dark Matter Labs, contributing to a wide range of strategic projects.

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Chris Burr

Head of the Innovation and Impact Hub - Alan Turing Institute

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Chris Hughes

Solutions Architect - AWS

Chris is a Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, where he helps public sector transport customers to make the best and most efficient use of cloud technologies. He has worked with both national and local bodies and organisations across rail, road, and aviation, and on projects ranging from Internet of Things and digital twins to data strategy and data centre exits.

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Chris Jepson

Managing Director - Ocular Integration

As Managing Director of Ocular, Chris brings over 20 years of experience in the security industry, with 18 years dedicated to delivering high-security solutions at Ocular. Passionate about customer-driven innovation and collaboration, he focuses on creating smarter, safer solutions for critical infrastructure, public spaces, and transport networks across the UK and Ireland. His goal is to ensure that Ocular remains a trusted name, providing security and surveillance solutions that deliver peace of mind to customers as they work towards their future objectives.

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Chris Stanley

Head of Asset Data - Network Rail

Chris Stanley is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in the rail industry. His distinguished career began working in IT supporting & implementing various railway IT systems. He quickly progressed to lead one of the five national IT teams.
After a three-year hiatus from the rail industry, Chris returned to lead a variety of IT projects of varying scales. His expertise led to a secondment, during which he successfully delivered an externally regulated project aimed at enhancing asset data. This initiative resulted in the design and creation of five regional asset data teams, one of which Chris was appointed to lead.
In 2023, Chris was appointed Head of Asset Data for Network Rail. He holds a MSc in Information Capability Management from Cranfield University, a Postgraduate Award in Business Leadership from Warwick University, and is a member of the Institute of Asset Management.

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Christian Dangerfield

Managing Director - Motocargo

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Christopher de Saxe

Head of EV Transition - GoMetro

Christopher is Head of EV Transition at GoMetro, a London-based fleet management and telematics solutions provider. He leads the development and commercialisation of EV-FIT, a novel telematics-driven analytics platform to support the electrification of truck and bus fleets. Alongside this he also supports advisory projects in sustainable transport spanning Europe and Africa.
With a background in mechanical engineering, he has dedicated much of his career to pioneering research in heavy vehicle performance and decarbonisation at Cambridge University and at the CSIR in South Africa. In addition to his role at GoMetro, Christopher is a Board Member of the International Forum for Heavy Vehicle Transport & Technology, Honorary Senior Lecturer at Wits University in South Africa, and Senior Member at Robinson College, Cambridge.

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Claire Dorrian

Head of Sustainable Finance, Capital Markets and Post Trade - London Stock Exchange Group

Claire is responsible for the portfolio of sustainable finance products and services across London Stock Exchange Group’s Capital Markets and Post Trade business divisions. She is responsible for leading the development of London Stock Exchange’s sustainable finance cross asset class offering which includes equities, green and renewable funds, and fixed income. Claire is also responsible for developing the range of sustainable finance products and services for Capital Markets and Post Trade clients. She has played an important role in Group-wide sustainable finance initiatives such as the development of model guidance on ESG and climate disclosure, climate reporting training for listed companies and initiatives such as the Green Economy Mark. Claire is a member of an industry Taskforce on the Scaling of Voluntary Carbon Markets, and she led the work on the recent launch of LSEG’s Voluntary Carbon Market.
Claire’s background is in capital markets largely with a sustainability focus. She previously worked in the fund management industry for AIB Govett and ANZ.
Positioned at the heart of global financial markets, LSEG works across the investment and finance chain from issuers to asset owners, and across the financial, banking, trading, and advisory ecosystem. As such LSEG is uniquely positioned to support clients in achieving the transition to a sustainable and net-zero economy and was the first exchange group to commit to net zero emissions.

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Claire Spooner

Director of Mobility - Innovate UK

As Innovate UK’s Director of Mobility, Claire champions innovative sustainable solutions in the realm of mobility within the Net Zero Domain. She leads strategic transport initiatives aimed at accelerating the transition to a net zero economy, collaborating with industry, research institutions, and government bodies. Claire’s interests reach across all transport modalities, exploring innovations in AI and digital twins, connected and autonomous vehicles, sustainable aviation fuels, EV battery developments, sustainable shipping, hydrogen transport, skills development, aerospace, low and zero emissions propulsion systems, novel materials for low carbon infrastructure, and new transport modalities. She shapes the Mobility portfolio’s direction, guides strategic investments, manages programs, and fosters partnerships to develop cutting-edge technologies and services. By addressing transport challenges, Innovate UK’s Net Zero Domain contributes meaningfully to the global sustainability agenda and Net Zero targets.

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Clare Wildfire

Global Cities Lead - Mott MacDonald

Clare is Global Cities Lead with global engineering, management and development consultancy, Mott MacDonald. Having led regeneration, low carbon and sustainable innovation projects across the globe, Clare uses systemic thinking to push boundaries and, most importantly, improve people’s lives. From her 35 years’ experience in the sector, originally as a building services engineer on sustainable buildings, she combines her practical understanding of construction and development drivers with policy engagement, bringing insight into the technical, political, financial and behavioural aspects of sustainable development and healthy, resilient, low carbon living.
[Could also add this, I’m happy for you to decide] Clare co-created an industry-led collaboration of infrastructure organisations supporting the UK transition to net zero, including authoring a report ‘A place-based approach to net zero’ on the city-scale transition, which explores the challenges and opportunities facing city leaders.

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Claudette Forbes

Non-Executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

Claudette is passionate about combating poverty and deprivation in urban areas, having grown up in an inner-city area which was subjected to regeneration following race riots in the early 1980s.

She has held a numerous senior roles across local and regional government throughout her career which spans 30 years. With a reputation for successfully leading the development and implementation of city development, economic development, and holistic local area regeneration programmes, she is an adviser to local authorities, government, non-profits and partnerships.

Claudette currently holds a number of Non-Executive Director positions. She is also a faculty member of the Whitehall & Industry Group.

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Councillor Susan Aitken

Leader - Glasgow City Council

Susan Aitken was elected as Leader of Glasgow City Council in 2017, forming Glasgow’s first ever SNP-led City Government. She was first elected as a councillor for the Langside ward in 2012, following a career in public policy and communications. Susan was reappointed to a second term as Council Leader following the 2022 Scottish Local Government elections.

Under her leadership, Glasgow has hosted the UN Climate Summit COP26 and will host the Commonwealth Games in 2026. She was awarded Scottish Local Politician of the Year in 2019 for her work to end historic gender pay discrimination and Scottish Council Leader of the Year in 2021 for her leadership on climate issues. Susan was selected as one of 40 global city leaders for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Class of 2023. In February 2024, Susan was announced as chair of the global Resilient Cities Network.

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Craig Pennington

Chief Executive and Co Founder - Future Yard CIC

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Damian Bridgeman

Independent Board member - National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat)

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Dan Labbad

Chief Executive - The Crown Estate

The Crown Estate is a national landowner with a diverse portfolio focussed on supporting the UK’s net zero transition; biodiversity and nature recovery; as well as regeneration opportunities and economic growth across the country. Established by an Act of Parliament as an independent commercial business, it has generated more than £3.2 billion in profits to HM Treasury for the benefit of public spending over the last ten years.

Prior to The Crown Estate, Dan held a number of senior positions at the global property and infrastructure group Lendlease, including Group Chief Operating Officer and the dual roles of Chief Executive Officer, International Operations and Chief Executive Officer, Europe to oversee the disciplined expansion of Lendlease’s businesses in Europe, Americas and Asia.

Dan has actively championed sustainability throughout his professional life. Between 2001 and 2004 he was CEO of The Hornery Institute, a not-for-profit established by Lendlease employees and shareholders to focus on more equitable, resilient and sustainable communities. He has previously served as a director of the Green Building Council of Australia and more recently as Chairman of the UK Green Building Council.

In addition to his role at The Crown Estate, Dan is currently a Trustee of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and a Director of The Hornery Institute, trading as Studio THI.

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Dan Mansfield

Director - Transport, Local Authority Advisory and Lending - National Wealth Fund

Dan is a Director in the National Wealth Fund’s Local Authority Advisory and Lending function with responsibility for transport. Prior to joining the bank Dan worked in professional services advising on a range of transport and social infrastructure projects. His transport experience includes the funding and financing of transport infrastructure, rail and franchising, rolling stock procurement, zero emission vehicles and charging as well as other infrastructure and accommodation projects. Dan has worked on all aspects of the project lifecycle; from the development of detailed business cases, options appraisals and strategic reviews through procurement design and evaluation to financial and commercial closes and refinancings and post-deal operational reviews.

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Daniel Chick

CTO - Journey Alerts

Daniel brings over 25 years of experience building and scaling technology businesses. Spanning the entire corporate lifecycle, from IPOs to acquisitions, this has equipped him with a strategic perspective and unique understanding of applying technology at scale.

A passionate advocate for innovation, Daniel possesses a deep understanding of the Transportation and AdTech landscape, having been a key leader across numerous sectors including travel, transportation and affiliate marketing. Throughout his career, Daniel has been a champion for groundbreaking technologies in AdTech, Transportation and related sectors. He is not only an expert in scalable infrastructure, ad serving, machine learning, and cloud-based architectures – all crucial for building high-performance, data-driven solutions – but also a proven innovator with several pending patents to his name for innovative online tracking techniques.

This technical prowess is further complemented by experience in VC fund raising and working with large corporates in the real-time data and cloud computing space. As CTO, Daniel is dedicated to harnessing the power of technology and artificial intelligence to revolutionize transport information. His proven leadership, combined with a strong technical background, deep technical knowledge, experience securing funding and collaborating with major corporations, and a pioneering spirit in online technology, makes him instrumental in driving the company’s technological vision and innovation.

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Daniel Clarke

Director of Applied Technology - StirlingX

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Daniel Marsden

Group Product Manager - EON

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Danielle Aberg

Head of Social Value and Consulting - Thrive

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Danny Woolard

Director - VESOS Solutions Limited

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Dave Kennon

COO - Zeti Ltd

Extensive automotive industry experience encompassing vehicle finance, de-fleet and remarketing as well as dealer operations and the implementation of software solutions to improve business capability.

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Dave Martin

COO - RAD Propulsion Ltd

Dave is the Chief Operating Officer at RAD Propulsion Ltd with over 30 years’ experience building and managing teams to deliver complex, multi stakeholder technical projects in the marine sector. He has been with RAD Propulsion since its inception in 2018 and has been instrumental in helping to grow and develop the business during this time.

His expertise in marine electric propulsion systems is backed up by over six years of experience working in the marine robotics field as the engineering manager for a software engineering team at a marine autonomous surface vehicle development company, ASV Global. During this time, he was not only responsible for growing the software team from a small embryonic team of 1-2 engineers to a multi skilled team of 25+ software/research specialists but also the delivery of several multi-million-pound Government funded research projects which looked at various aspects of the control and operation of marine autonomous vehicles.

He has also worked for both large defence primes and marine leisure electronics manufacturers including Garmin and Raymarine. Dave has extensive practical first-hand experience of the challenges of developing products for the harsh marine environment after also spending eight years working in the commercial offshore oil and gas sector.

He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and is Association of Project Management trained.

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David Hughes

CEO - East West Rail

David’s path has been firmly rooted in the transport sector. From 2021 to 2024, he served as the Director General for Rail Infrastructure Group at the Department for Transport. In this role, he provided leadership and oversight for DfT’s portfolio of major rail investment projects. Before DfT, he held the position of Strategy and Programme Director at Transport for the North.

But David’s passion for transport goes back even further. He spent 15 years at Transport for London, where he led the development and planning of major rail infrastructure projects, including iconic ones like Crossrail and the Northern Line Extension. Additionally, he played a key role in upgrades across the London Underground network.

Prior to joining EWR Co., David has been at Arup as the Major Programmes Director. There, he focused on supporting and accelerating the delivery of significant national infrastructure and strategic change programmes.

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David Smith

CEO and Founder - CalCommute Ltd

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Davin Crowley-Sweet

Chief Data Officer - National Highways

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Dean Jones

Co-Founder & CEO - StirlingX

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Deepak Shukla

Senior Data and AI Specialist Leader - Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Deepak leads Data and AI for the UK public sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Driving growth and adoption of advanced data, analytics and AI products, his work impacts the operational excellence of customers improving citizen experience across transport and wider public sector.

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Denys Nazarenko

CIO Advisor - Kyiv City Council

Denys Nazarenko is CIO Advisor at Kyiv City Council, driving digital strategy and operational transformation to enhance public service delivery. With a systems-thinking approach, he explores complex urban challenges to deliver practical, scalable solutions that improve service efficiency and cost management. His work spans public safety, data governance, AI, and energy resilience, with a strong focus on cross-border collaboration to accelerate innovation. Denys applies global best practices to real-world challenges, enabling resilient digital infrastructure and tangible impact for connected communities.

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Dr Alison Vincent CBE

Chair, Digital Twin Hub Board, and Non-Executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

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Dr Annette Pass

Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser - Department for Transport

Annette has 25 years’ experience in the transport sector. After gaining her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Leeds, she joined the Highways Agency, now National Highways, where she held a variety of roles predominantly focused on leading and managing research programmes, together with communications and business improvement. She spent five years as Head of Innovation where she created National Highways’ Innovation & Research Strategy and guidance for managing pilots and trials on the road network. In 2023, Annette joined the Department for Transport as Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, promoting science and innovation across the Department and the transport sector.

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Dr Colin Birchenall

Chief Technology Officer of the Digital Office - Scottish Local Government

Colin is the Chief Digital Officer for Glasgow City Council and provides leadership for Glasgow’s Digital Strategy, which contains three missions: A Fair and Empowered Digital Society, An Inclusive Digital Economy, and Sustainable and Innovative Digital Public Services.

Colin is also the Chief Technology Officer for the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, a local government agency hosted by COSLA to support digital transformation across all 32 Scottish local authorities.

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Dr Jehan Kanga

Founder & CEO - Rux Energy UK Ltd (& Rux Energy Pty)

Rux Energy is founded and led by Dr Jehan Kanga, who discovered the advanced materials in their PhD at the University of Sydney, and following a trailblazing career at KPMG Australia has risen to become one of Australia’s most influential clean tech leaders, chairing the Hydrogen Industry Committee of the $250M Automation Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre and leading consortia decarbonisation projects in maritime and aviation across UK, Singapore and Australia. They have built strategic links to over 100 key industrial hydrogen groups over the last two years since the end of the pandemic and are now gearing the company for scale

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Dr Joanna White CEng MIET

Research, Development and Innovation Director - National Highways

Dr Joanna White is Director for Research, Development and Innovation at National Highways, where her teams provide technical advice, assurance and leadership on research, innovation, intelligent transport systems, connected and automated vehicles, energy and road design. As a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jo is the National Highways professional lead for this capability.

Jo is a huge advocate of STEM activities with schools and is passionate about inspiring people to get into the transport industry.

Outside of her work at National Highways, Jo is a Trustee of the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund.

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Dr Kay Inckle

Independent Board member - National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat)

Dr Kay Inckle is a social scientist with expertise in intersectional and social justice analysis of disability, mental health and gender along with qualitive, creative, user-led and accessible research methods. She is currently Campaigns and Policy Manager at Wheels for Wellbeing, a Disabled people’s cycling organisation who work for equitable access to cycling, active travel and multi-modal journeys for Disabled people. She is also a freelance research and evaluation consultant, strategic advisor to LOUD mobility, director at The Owl and The Lizard CIC, a Pilates instructor (qualified in programming exercise for disabled people) and writer.

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Dr Michèle Dix CBE

Commissioner - National Infrastructure Commission

Michèle Dix is a civil engineer with over 45 years’ experience, specialising in transport, in the public and private sector. She started her career with the Greater London Council before joining Halcrow Fox and becoming the Board Director for Urban Transport. She joined Transport for London in 2000 as the Director of Congestion Charging. In 2008 she became the Managing Director for Planning with responsibility for strategic planning and analysis, borough partnerships and the development of major projects across London. Michele also represented the UK on the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). In 2015 she became the Managing Director for Crossrail 2. Michele retired in 2021 and has since held a number of non-executive roles as a Director for the Major Projects Association, Crossrail International and the Restoration and Renewal Programme, an advisor on University College London’s Major Infrastructure Delivery MBA Board and as an ICE policy fellow.

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Dr Victoria Hills

Chief Executive - Royal Town Planning Institute

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Duncan Mears

Vice President EMEA - Hitachi Digital

Duncan is the European Vice President of Hitachi Digital Services. In this role Duncan is responsible for all client service delivery as well as developing our broader business portfolio.

Duncan is a senior executive with over 30 years’ experience in the IT and BPS industry. Duncan started his career as a systems programmer for Royal Sun Alliance where he became an IT Manager developing large underwriting and CRM systems. He moved into shared services where he managed the core business and IT operations for companies including Perot Systems (acquired by Dell) and Cable and Wireless.

In 2000 he joined Accenture where he became a Partner for almost 18 years. During this time, he led teams of up to 40,000 colleagues supporting the transformation and services/ IT outsource of world leading companies such as Lloyds Bank, BMW, Nissan Europe, HSBC, BP, Microsoft, British Telecom, Centrica, Schlumberger, E.On and GE.

More recently Duncan was a senior Director at Capita and prior to joining Hitachi Vantara was responsible for Cognizant’s c.$800m BPO and IT transformation business across the UK/I and mainland Europe.

In his spare time Duncan likes to mountain bike in Wales, scuba dive, ski and has a passion for fast cars. Duncan also supports charity work and is an active member of the Worshipful Company of Coopers (founded in 1501) where he has been a Liveryman for almost 15 years.

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Ed McCann

Senior Director Expedition Engineering - Past president of ICE - Expedition Engineering

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Eleanor Young

Director - Blackstock Partnership

Eleanor Young is a regeneration and development specialist with 30 years’ experience in the local and regional government sectors. For the past decade, Eleanor has been a founder and director of Blackstock Partnership, a micro consultancy specialising in strategic advice to
councils, developers, regional and central government bodies on all aspects of development and regeneration from strategy to the delivery of complex projects. Having started her career in Leeds City Council in 1995, Eleanor was formerly Senior Policy adviser on planning and
development to the Mayor of London from 2000 – 2008 being responsible for the production of the first London Plan, advising on major planning applications and leading teams to deliver major regeneration projects across London. Since then, Eleanor has worked in a range of
consultancy roles and become an expert in building cross sectoral partnerships to deliver new
infrastructure and homes

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Elvira Uyarra

Professor of Innovation Studies - University of Manchester

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Emily Macdonald

COO - Intelligen

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Emma Gibbons

Head of Client Development - You.Smart.Thing

You. Smart. Thing is the leading travel management platform for destinations, venues, and live events. Our map-based travel assistant enhances visitor experience & increases revenues whilst reducing the disproportionate carbon footprint created by travel.

As Head of Client Development, Emma support existing clients to increase the engagement of their visitors with their Travel Assistant, and to meet their organisational objectives including net zero targets, improved visitor experience, increased revenue and operational solutions. Emma leads the Regional Smart Travel Partnership strategy, enabling clients to work together to optimise the opportunities of the travel assistants through their local authorities, DMO’s and via innovation project funding.

You. Smart. Thing is Personalised, Accessible & Sustainable with nothing to download or install. Our Travel Assistant enables venues and events to optimise data capture, people flow, dwell time & revenue generation. The ‘You. Smart. Thing.’ travel assistant can be tailored to enable organisations to offer content-enhanced wayfinding and curated low-carbon door-to-door travel plans that nudge visitors towards net-zero travel. Easily embedded within web, mobile, ticket booking and customer relationship management systems, ‘You. Smart. Thing.’ adds an additional personalisation layer, allowing destination operators to capture and maintain the visitor relationship.

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Emma Pye

Founder and Director - Pye Management

Emma Pye is the Founder and Director of PYE-Management Ltd (Protect Your Environment), a Sustainability Consultancy specialising in the highway industry. She is a Chartered environmentalist, a Fellow of the IEMA, and is a Committee Member for ISO 14001 Environmental management systems for the UK.

Emma Pye has over 25 years’ experience working within the construction, highways and quarrying sectors. She is highly experienced in PAS 2080, carbon footprinting, ISO 14001 and sustainability strategies. Her knowledge, experience and vision provide support in a constantly changing environment, whose insight into current and future global concerns are addressing the needs of forward-looking clients and has a successful track record of implementing and managing environmental change and improvement.

Credentials:
RSTA Carbon Emissions Report Ed 1 2023
FHRG Guidance for the Application of GHG Scope 1 and 2 in Local Highway Authorities.
IWA 42:2022 Net Zero guidelines (participant)

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Eric Ritchie

Innovation Manager - Eiffage Kier Ferovial BAM

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Erika Lewis

Chief Executive Officer - Connected Places Catapult

Erika Lewis joined the Catapult from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in March 2024 as Chief Executive Officer.

In July 2023, Erika was appointed the CEO of the AI Safety Summit. This was a world first event and brought together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and experts in research to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action.

The Summit was the culmination of a busy 5 years in central government, Erika joined the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2018 to deliver the National Data Strategy. In October 2019, she moved to the role of Director, Cyber Security and Digital Identity, where she led on the economic support for the cyber sector, the development of security approaches for consumer IoT, the government work on Secure Connected Places and Digital Identity in the economy. In 2020, she also led DCMS on the Covid-19 response package for the Voluntary Sector and in 2023, led the initial transition programme for the newly formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Before moving into central government in 2012, Erika became a Project Director at the Competition and Markets Authority, where she was responsible for both merger and market investigations. Most notably, she ran an Energy Market Investigation and a Private Motor Insurance Market Investigation.

Erika was a part of the set-up team for the London Development Agency (LDA) in April 2000. Staying for 12 years at the LDA, she delivered regeneration programmes across London and was subsequently the Director of Strategy.

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Esra Kasapoglu

Director of AIDE - Innovate UK

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Eugene Bari

CEO - Ecomar Propulsion

Eugene is the founder of Ecomar Propulsion. He started the company after a “moment of epiphany” when he realised that the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy was a once in a century event. Since then, he has taken the company from a concept to one of the UK’s leading developers of innovation tech in maritime. He currently has 8 active patents and numerous publications – including scientific papers – to his name.

Over a lifetime working as a serial entrepreneur, he has launched businesses in the UK, Denmark, Australia and the US. Starting his first company at the age of 19.

He holds post graduate qualifications from Bayes Business School, London and a degree from Leeds University. He was appointed Associate Professor of Decarbonisation and Entrepreneurship by Exeter University in 2022 and continues to work with Universities in the UK and overseas.

Driven by the imperative to make the world a better place for all, he describes the motivation to succeed in terms of electricity. ” There are positive and negative poles and you need both to channel energy. I have decided to be positive and everything I do is a direct challenge to negativity.”

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Evan Jones

Lead Security Architect - Complete Cyber

With extensive experience delivering high-quality cybersecurity solutions across diverse industries, Evan is a trusted expert in all aspects of security. He actively contributes to the industry as a 2024 ERA ENISA Speaker in Rail Cybersecurity and as a leader of Complete Cyber, recently selected as one of the SMEs for the prestigious High Speed Two (HS2) Project. Beyond his technical expertise, he is deeply committed to promoting cybersecurity awareness and enhancing the industry’s reputation.

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Eve Roodhouse

Director of Strategy & Policy -

Eve joined the LGA in July 2024. Previously Eve was at Leeds City Council where she spearheaded the delivery of the city’s Inclusive Growth Strategy introducing pioneering work in a range of areas including the Leeds Inclusive Anchors Network, the Social Progress Index and the delivery of their vision for innovation as the council’s Chief Officer, Culture and Economy.
Before joining local government, Eve worked at NHS Digital for 15 years on the delivery of complex and large-scale IT change programmes including the first Prison Health IT system in England and the Child Protection Information Sharing Project – which included her working with the LGA.

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Gary Bray

Director - Roadside Technologies

Gary Bray is a dynamic and results-driven business leader with extensive experience in transformative technology companies in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) industry. As the Commercial Director at Roadside Technologies, he specializes in delivering next-generation sensor technology across multiple market verticals, driving business growth and stakeholder engagement at the highest levels. With a strong background in mobility, infrastructure, and connected technologies, Gary has held key leadership roles at both multinational organisations and technology start-ups, spearheading multimillion-pound projects and shaping business strategy. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Highway Engineers and holds an MSc in Civil Engineering. Passionate about innovation and sustainability, Gary is dedicated to leveraging cutting-edge solutions for a smarter and more connected future

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Gavin Starks

Co-Chair of Smart Data Council, Department for Business and Trade, and Founder and CEO - Icebreaker One

Gavin has created over a dozen companies, employing 100’s of people, and delivering $100M’s in measurable impact. He co-chaired the development of the Open Banking Standard and was founding CEO of the Open Data Institute. He has mentored, chaired, or been a non-exec of over 40 organisations across diverse sectors. He currently runs IcebreakerOne.org to help accelerate our Net Zero Future and co-chairs the UK Smart Data Council, shaping the future of data sharing at national scale to unlock value and address risks.

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Geoff Wade

Community Engagement Lead - Bus Network - North East Combined Authority

Professionally, following a 20-year career in the leisure industry now now leading community engagement for North East Enhanced Partnership (Bus Network). Never having owned a car and recently celebrating 3 years since my last journey in one as a passenger, all my work and personal travels are sustainable by bike and public transport and often documented on Twitter @MultiModalGeoff.

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George Economides

Head of Digital Twins - Department for Transport

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George Kibala Bauer

Senior Director, Climate Tech & Digital Utilities - GSMA

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Gergely Raccuja

Data Product Owner - National Highways

Gergely is a Philosopher and Data Product Owner. He read political philosophy, urban planning and Italian at University College London. As a graduate he created traffic models to appraise road schemes. After winning the Wolfson Economics Prize in 2017 he joined Amey Strategic Consulting to learn and apply data-led asset management to improve the UK’s transport systems and has advised rail, tram and road operators. Since 2021 he has been working at National Highways’ Digital Lab to create data products to help humans make better decisions.

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Gordon McCullough

Consortium Board member - National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat)

Gordon is the CEO of the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC), responsible for running the organisation and leading the call for inclusive research when designing products and services.

Before that, Gordon was CEO of Community Southwark for seven years (a membership and infrastructure organisation). During that time, he led and developed an organisation dedicated to animating, supporting, and championing voluntary and community organisations to give communities the skills to fulfil their potential. Prior to that, he was deputy director of the Institute of Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and head of research for the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA).

Gordon has held a number of public appointments with the Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency as well as a number of charity trustee roles. He is currently the chair of the 999 Club, a homelessness charity in South London.

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Graeme Craig

Director & Chief Executive - Places for London

Graeme is the Director & Chief Executive of Places for London. With career spent largely in operational and project management, Graeme joined Transport for London from Capita in 2004, initially to manage the operation of the central London Congestion Charging scheme. After a number of years as Director of Congestion Charging & Traffic Enforcement, Graeme led a TfL-wide transformation programme that included the creation of TfL’s first commercial development function. Taking on the role of Director of Commercial Development, Graeme led a new approach to property in TfL that culminated in the creation of a wholly owned commercial property subsidiary in 2022. Places for London is now a £1.7bn company that has 1,500 commercial tenancies across London and a pipeline that will see over 20,000 homes built across London, largely delivered through joint ventures with leading developers.

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Guy Newey

Chief Executive Officer - Energy Systems Catapult

Guy was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Energy Systems Catapult, the innovation business, in June 2022. Guy joined ESC in 2018 as Director of Strategy after working as an energy and political adviser to two UK Government Secretaries of State; Greg Clark and Amber Rudd. In Government, he was involved in many key decisions, including closing the UK’s coal-fired power stations, greater independence for the electricity system operator, and as an architect of the Clean Growth Strategy.

Before joining Government, he was Head of Policy at the challenger energy supplier, OVO Energy and Head of Environment and Energy at the influential think tank, Policy Exchange. He was previously a journalist, including three years as a foreign correspondent in Hong Kong for the international newswire, AFP. He is a non-executive director with UK100, a charity campaigning for greater environmental action by local authorities. He lives in Enfield, with his wife and two children.

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Gyula Törzsök

Portfolio Director - Thames Estuary

Gyula Törzsök is the Portfolio Director for Logistics, Digital, and Green Spaces at the Thames Estuary Growth Board, where he plays a pivotal role in turning innovative concepts into actionable and investable projects. Gyula is at the forefront of driving transformative economic growth within the Thames Estuary region, leveraging his expertise in strategic investment appraisal and partnership development across both public and private sectors.

Before joining the board, Gyula worked at Inner Circle Consulting, leading multidisciplinary teams in strategy development, risk management, and programme delivery. His extensive experience spans logistics, transportation, masterplanning, economic modeling, smart cities, and housing. His work has unlocked new revenue streams, improved efficiencies, secured grant funding, and delivered impactful solutions that positively transform communities.

A passionate economist, Gyula combines his professional focus with a deep personal interest in global economics and technology, exploring how digital solutions can shape a more sustainable and efficient future.

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Harriet King

Director of Product - Valerann

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Harry Kerr

Head of Design - Innovate UK KTN

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Haydon Bartlett-Tasker

Managing Director - CrossTech

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Henry Clifford

Rural Economy Team Leader, Adaptation & Rural Communities, Environment Strategy Directorate - Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Henry joined Defra in 2021 with a background in sustainability policy. He currently leads Defra’s Rural Economy Team with includes responsibly for delivering the government’s economic growth agenda in rural areas. Improvements in rural transport are central to delivering this goal and he and his team work closely with DfT to support rural outcomes in transport policy.

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Henry Fenby-Taylor

Head of Market Engagement - Spinvew

Henry Fenby-Taylor is a leader in digital transformation, research, and communications, with a focus on Digital Twins and cyber-physical infrastructure.
Henry represents Spinview, a company transforming building management with digital twin technology. Spinview’s visualisation and data capabilities drive cost savings, enhance asset efficiency, and create safer, healthier environments.
Henry has delivered world-leading transformational change, shaping policy for Innovate UK in the Fenby-Taylor review of Cyber-Physical Infrastructure. Henry works globally with governments to advance Responsive Infrastructure, integrating data, digital twins, and cyber-physical systems to benefit citizens, governments, and infrastructure owners.
Previously Head of Information Management at CDBB, he led the UK BIM Framework, drove national standards, and oversaw all UK research on information management.
Henry chairs the CIC 2050 Group, the future leaders group for the Construction Industry Council, which promotes the built environment to the next generation, tackles climate change, and advances EDI. He is also a core member of Zero Construct and a director of Women in BIM, actively advocating for inclusivity and change in the sector.
With a 19-year career spanning digital strategy, research, and industry transformation, Henry remains committed to driving innovation and progress in the built environment.

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Huw Morgan

CTO - GPC Systems

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Ian Coddington

Client Account Lead - Jacobs

Ian Coddington is a seasoned professional currently serving as Jacobs National Highways Client Account Lead. With a strong background in innovation and infrastructure, Ian has been instrumental in driving forward projects that enhance digital connectivity and sustainable transportation. His expertise in client management and project leadership has made him a key player in the industry, consistently delivering impactful results. Ian’s dedication to improving public infrastructure and his collaborative approach have earned him recognition and respect in his field.

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Ian Small

Technical Director Innovation - Expedition Engineering

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Jake Cornthwaite

Commercial Lead - Archangel Imaging

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James Close

Head of Climate Change - Natwest Group

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James Gibson

TMS - National Highways

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James Golding-Graham

Head of Decarbonisation and Innovation - England's Economic Heartland

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James Graham

CEO of Digital & Energy Services - Equans UK&I

James leads Digital & Energy Services, EQUANS UK which incorporates 5 business units focussed on shaping, designing, constructing and operating renewable energy & decarbonisation projects alongside delivery of real world digital solutions to optimise buildings and infrastructure.

James has worked with EQUANS for just under 10 years and he has held a number of key roles in that time, previously leading the UK commercial function across the public sector and energy business.

In recent years his focus has been on the energy transition required in order to deliver Net Zero for both the public and private sectors. James is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Chairs the Hydrogen Delivery Council’s Job, Skills and Supply Chains working Group.

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James Tichler

Department for Transport (DfT) - Head of Futures and Emerging Technology

James leads the Futures and Emerging Technologies team within the Department for Transport, within the unit headed by the Chief Scientific Adviser. James’ team look ahead to understand technology trends as they come across the horizon, work to understand what they may mean for DfT’s mission and then help colleagues across the business build this insight into their work. Activities include risks and opportunities analysis, triggering R&D and setting strategy both for the department and the sector. Current areas of technical focus include AI, quantum, digital connectivity and position navigation and timing technologies, with new work planned on robots and smart infrastructure.

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Jamie Bartley

CEO - Unyte Group

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Jamie Campbell

Design Research Lead - Rural Design Centre

Jamie works at the Rural Design Centre, helping to facilitate positive change for rural communities through research, design and innovation.

With extensive experience in user centred design, his work prioritises both people and planet, aiming to ensure that products and services are sustainable, accessible and impactful.

Over the past year, alongside colleagues, he has been quantifying and measuring the social impact of eight rural transport innovations, helping to inform inclusive and effective transport solutions for rural communities.

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Jennifer Stanley

Public Sector Transport - AWS

Jennifer works as Business Development Manager in the public sector transport team at Amazon Web Services. Prior to this, Jennifer worked in the UK Public Policy team leading the transport portfolio primarily focused on transport decarbonisation. Her career has focused on transport and energy policy, having previously worked at the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Department for Transport.

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Jenny Kavanagh

Chief Strategy Officer - Cranfield Aerospace Solutions

Jenny Kavanagh is at the forefront of aviation’s transition to zero emissions, leading the commercial exploitation of hydrogen fuel cell propulsion systems for aviation as Chief Strategy Officer at Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS).
With extensive experience in aerospace engineering, programme leadership, and corporate strategy, Jenny works closely with industry and government to help drive the regulatory, infrastructure and commercial frameworks needed for hydrogen-powered flight.
A mother of two, she is passionate about the aviation industry’s ambition to decarbonise and to help create a cleaner world for future generations.

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Jeyda Heselton

Founder & CEO - Fettle

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JJ van de Vyver

Engagement Manager - Visual Meaning

JJ van de Vyver is an Engagement Manager at Visual Meaning, where he applies systems thinking, knowledge graphs and visual methodologies to help organisations navigate complexity, connect their data and drive meaningful change. With a background in strategy consulting and finance, JJ has led large-scale transformation programmes, managed multi-million-pound client accounts and supported organisational development.

A registered Chartered Accountant (South Africa), JJ holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and is completing a Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship. His passion lies in improving the effectiveness of organisations, visualising complex ecosystems to support collaboration and facilitating grounded conversations.

Beyond his professional work, JJ is an advocate for personal development and mindfulness, having trained as a Chakradance facilitator and undertaken studies in plant medicine. He enjoys writing poetry, advocating for embodied stewardship of the planet and furthering the consciousness of human beings.

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Joe Miles

Founder - Atamate Building Intelligence

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Joe Tighe

CEO and Founder - Kleandrive Ltd

Joe Tighe is a seasoned financial executive and entrepreneur with over 37 years of expertise in commodities trading, derivatives markets, electronic trading systems, and artificial intelligence. Driven by a passion for sustainability, he has re-dedicated his career to building businesses that create meaningful environmental and social impact.

As the Founder and CEO of KleanDrive, a certified B Corporation, Joe leads a mission-driven company helping fleet operators transition heavy diesel vehicles to clean electric drive systems. KleanDrive leverages cutting-edge technology to deliver fast, safe, and cost-effective electric drivetrains—reducing emissions, improving air quality, and lowering operational costs.

Backed by an extensive industry network, Joe and the KleanDrive team are accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels through innovation, economics, and real-world impact in the cleantech and transportation sectors.

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John Davies

Managing Director Worldwide Public Sector - Amazon Web Services

John leads the Worldwide Public Sector (PS) United Kingdom, Germany, and International Organisations (UKGI) Sales Organisation— one of the most dynamic PS businesses at AWS. With over 25 years’ experience in the PS, John helps mission-driven organisations unlock innovation to address challenges, improve services, and deliver on economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

John has previously led several global sales teams including Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean PS, international healthcare, education, NPO, and government teams at AWS. Prior to AWS, he led an engineering team for a global hardware technology vendor. He was also a senior development and transformation leader in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and a director for field programme teams in the utilities sector. He is especially passionate about the opportunities that artificial intelligence and cloud computing at scale can bring to improve citizen and patient outcomes.

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John Priestland

Director - Priestland Consulting

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John Whaling

Lead Officer, Innovation and Commercialisaton - Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

John is a collaborative place leader with 25+ years’ experience of pioneering economic development and “making things happen” at the interface between public, private, and higher education sectors.

For the last 10 years, John has been convening and championing all aspects of the Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) innovation agenda and ecosystem, latterly as the Combined Authority’s Lead Officer for Innovation & Commercialisation. His primary role is to catalyse partnerships, policies, and programmes that maximise the LCR’s distinctive, world-leading assets and capabilities, in order to drive transformational regional/national economic growth and solve intractable local challenges. The LCR is now at the forefront of UK place-based innovation practice, with innovation a primary Mayoral priority.

He previously worked at the LCR Local Enterprise Partnership, Liverpool Vision, and St. Helens Council, where he led a series of successful programmes that included a national City Growth Strategy pilot, plus delivery of the landmark, multi-award-winning 20m Dream sculpture by Jaume Plensa overlooking the M62, commissioned by ex-miners as part of Channel 4’s “Big Art Project”.

Prior to local government, John spent 2 years working for the European Commission in Brussels, has also lived/worked in Germany, the USA, and Canada. He grew up in Edinburgh, and speaks German and French.

John is on the Board of Scottish innovation agency Interface, and in a voluntary capacity also the Chair of Future Yard CIC, whose mission is “to positively transform both Birkenhead and the nature of what a UK grassroots music venue does, based on the founding principle that music can change the world…”.

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Jon Little

Co-founder - Betastreets

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Jon Rains

Strategic Advisory Director - Innovation - Mott McDonald

Director and innovation professional with 25 years’ experience in the UK infrastructure industry with specialisms in systems thinking, digital, corporate venture capital, process and platforms. UK expert in the BSI, CEN and ISO innovation management standards committees contributing to ISO 56001:2024 and related suite of standards. Delivering innovation management advice for clients worldwide on Gigi projects, government departments and SME companies.

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Jonathan Barcroft

VirtualES’ Common Framework Manager - NESO

Jonathan Barcroft leads the Common Framework Workstream of the Virtual Energy System programme at National Energy System Operator (NESO). Jonathan joined National Grid in 2012. His background is in operational Power System Engineering and improving energy data processes. In 2015 Jonathan developed the export process for the first Common Information Model based day ahead model exchange from National Grid to CORESO. Since 2021 Jonathan has been part of the Innovation team at National Grid ESO leading projects investigating the risks of climate change to the power system and optimisation of operational planning.

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Jonathan Kelly

Senior Innovation and Accelerator Manager - HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd

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Jonathon Hoskin

Business Development Engineer - Ampetronic

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Joseph Webster

Carbon Reduction Project Coordinator - TfWM

My name is Joseph Webster, I am a 21-year old emerging professional within the transport industry. I joined TfWM as a project management apprentice in November 2023, and since then I have been working on the Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads project.

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Joshua Wood

Strategic Account Director, Construction & Transport - FYLD

Joshua Wood is FYLD’s Strategic Account Director, driving digital transformation across the construction, transport, and utilities sectors. With over a decade of leadership experience in the utilities and transportation industry, Joshua brings deep operational expertise and a passion for innovation to safety-critical industries.
At Thames Water, he managed complex operational budgets, led large teams, and implemented sustainable, safety-focused operations. Now at FYLD, Joshua is focused on delivering AI-driven solutions that enhance safety, efficiency, and operational performance, helping clients achieve measurable results and accelerate growth.
Joshua is known for his strategic vision and commitment to empowering organizations through smarter, safer, and more efficient operations.

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Julia Glidden

Chair - Pivotl

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Julian Jackson

Founder and CEO - VisionBridge

Julian Jackson is Founder and CEO of VisionBridge (visionbridge.org.uk), a social enterprise that champions assistive technology innovation and supports the development of particular technologies that will make a measurable difference to people’s quality of life; this includes digital wayfinding such as Waymap (waymapnav.com).

Waymap’s digital wayfinding solution is scaleable, innovative and appropriate for all abled and differently-abled citizens across multiple sectors. It offers a seamless, safe, sociable and sustainable assistance for those requiring extra help in moving around the built environment. VisionBridge is delighted to support Waymap’s continuing evolution.”

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Juliette Kariuki-Cobbett

Mobility and Human Insight Specialist - Cenex

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Kailash Manohara Selvan

CEO - SpatialCortex Technology Ltd

Kailash is the Founder and CEO of SpatialCortex, a safety technology company developing sensors and analytics that help workplaces protect staff from injuries, proactively, in safety critical sectors including transportation, railway, construction and maritime.

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Kate Mailer

UK Commercial Lead - EHAB

Specialising in risk and scheduling software, with three years of experience helping construction teams navigate project uncertainties. Recently specialising in weather risk management, working closely with contractors and clients to identify, apply, and proactively manage one of the most persistent and unpredictable challenges in the built environment.

As part of EHAB, the world’s first construction weather risk management solution, Kate and her team collaborate with leading UK contractors and clients delivering innovative solutions to improve project success. By leveraging cutting-edge data, AI-driven forecasting, and advanced risk modeling, EHAB helps the industry move beyond outdated contingency planning—providing accurate, actionable insights that prevent costly delays.

The business mission is clear: enhance how the construction industry manages weather risk, transforming what has traditionally been an uncontrollable variable into a measurable, mitigable factor. With weather-related disruptions costing the industry millions each year, her goal is to redefine risk strategies, ensuring greater resilience, efficiency, and financial stability for every project.

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Kellie Beirne

Chief Executive - Cardiff Capital Region

Kellie is Chief Executive of the Cardiff Capital Region and an innovation practitioner. Kellie is a Governor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and sits on the advisory boards for Swansea University’s Morgan Advanced Studies Institute and the Board of Cardiff University’s public value Business School.

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Kit Allwinter

Senior Inspector - Active Travel England

Kit Allwinter has worked across the UK’s public and private sectors to integrate walking, wheeling, and cycling while reducing the impact of motor traffic. With expertise in active travel, shared transport, and sustainable freight, he takes a holistic approach to improving daily life in communities. Currently at Active Travel England, Kit leads the development of Rural Design Guidance, setting quality standards for infrastructure. His work focuses on enhancing short-distance utility trips in rural areas, improving access to public transport, and supporting longer-distance routes and cycle tourism across the UK.

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Kjell Eriksson

Vice President - DNV

Kjell Eriksson is a Vice President in DNV with close to 40 years of international experience from the oil, gas, and energy sector. He has managed DNV’s operations in the Middle East, Asia, and Norway. He has served as Chairman of the Faculty of Engineering at NTNU, Norway’s largest technical university. He has also been part of two nationwide committees, one on growing the green economy, and one on industrial competitiveness. He is currently responsible for creating new services and business models building trust in digital and AI for industrial application.

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Kyriakos Kantarakias

Chief Executive Officer - Didimi

Dr. Kantarakias is the Founder of Didimi, the platform that allows architects and engineers to collaborate without losing data. Previously he worked at Palantir Technologies as a Deployment Strategist. He holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, where he was a President’s Scholar.

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Laura Fleming

Country Managing Director (UK & Ireland) - Hitachi Energy

Laura Fleming is the Country Managing Director of Hitachi Energy in the UK and Ireland, where she leads the company’s strategic direction, operations, and growth in one of the world’s most dynamic energy markets.

Laura joined Hitachi Energy in July 2022, with over 20 years of leadership in the energy sector in the development and commercialization of large-scale renewable and infrastructure projects throughout the UK and Europe. Before joining Hitachi Energy, she spent 10 years with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE).  

Laura is committed to driving the UK’s transition to a more sustainable, resilient, and efficient energy system. Under Laura’s leadership, Hitachi Energy has played an instrumental role in supporting the UK’s energy infrastructure and continues to support the UK’s ambitious net-zero goals by delivering cutting-edge solutions that power the future of energy. Key projects include offshore wind connections, smart grid solutions, and energy storage technologies—all crucial to ensuring the integration of clean, renewable power sources into the national grid.

Currently a board member of Renewable UK and a member of the Onshore Wind Taskforce, formed by Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, Laura’s primary motivation is to make the world a better place for everyone to live and work in, through collaborative and system thinking which together enable the creation of sustainable communities and the delivery of clean affordable power for all.   

Originally from the Netherlands, Laura holds a BSc in Town and Country Planning from Utrecht University and a Masters’ degree in Economic Development from Glasgow University.

Laura lives with her husband and three sons near Stirling. She enjoys hiking in the Scottish hills and gardening to switch off at the weekend.

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Lauren SeBlonka

Innovation Business Partner - Amey

Lauren SeBlonka leads the innovation portfolio for Amey Highways and oversees the Live Labs 2 project with North Lanarkshire Council, the ‘North Campus’ of the Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads. Her experience spans across innovation management, decarbonisation, impact evaluation and programme management in transport infrastructure.

She also co-leads part of the PIARC World Road Association Technical Committee 1.2 Contribution of Roads to Economic and Social Development, representing the U.K. in the global road community to develop best practice for road investment models that drive economic, social and environmental benefit.

With two degrees in Sociology and previous experience in the third sector, Lauren also brings a cross-disciplinary, multi-sector perspective, with a dedication to addressing inequalities and safeguarding a just transition to net-zero.

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Leo Scott Smith

CEO - Tended

Leo is the CEO and founder of award-winning safety technology company Tended. He has been the driving force behind Tended’s transformative solutions for safety-critical industries, including the company’s advanced geofencing solution. Developed alongside Network Rail, this solution can prevent accidents and near misses in the industry by giving better visibility over worksites and helping people regain situational awareness when they leave safe working limits.

In 2021, Leo was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30. He was also named Midlands Startup Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2019 Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

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Lian Hutchings

Head of Growth - Low Carbon Materials

I am Head of Growth at Low Carbon Materials (LCM), a green tech start-up/SME and Earthshot Prize Finalist (2022). We manufacture carbon negative aggregates to enable reduced embodied carbon in high emitting construction materials including asphalt and concrete. Net zero asphalt and concrete are a reality!

I have been with LCM since November 2022. Before that I was a Professor of Chemistry at Durham University, where I had been an academic for 29 years.

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Lolita Jackson MBE

Executive Director of Sustainable Cities - Sustainable Development Capital LLC

Lolita Jackson MBE is the Executive Director of Sustainable Cities at Sustainable Development Capital LLP, a multibillion-pound climate investment firm. She is the link to governments around the world, also working on business development and origination. Lolita previously worked for the NYC Mayor’s Office for 15 years in a variety of roles. She last served as the Special Advisor for Climate Policy & Programs, where she was the climate diplomat for NYC and lead for the administration regarding global work on divestment and climate finance. Prior to her appointment to that role, she was Deputy Director of External Affairs for the NYC Housing Recovery Office, Director of Outreach for the NYC Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency [the post-Hurricane Sandy resilience team], lead for operational city agencies for the Second Avenue Subway and Barclays Center construction projects, and Manhattan Director of Community Affairs. Prior to her tenure in the NYC Mayor’s Office, Lolita worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management for 12 years as a Vice President and helped manage a $10 billion product line.

Lolita is an Adjunct Professor at Penn in the Master of Environmental Studies Program, Senior Advisor at Penn Perry World House, a member of the British American Project U.S. Advisory Board, a GlobalScot, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, a board member of the Saint Andrew’s Society of NY, a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow, and President of the Penn Alumni Class of 1989. She was named to the City & State Energy & Environment Power 100 list for 2022 and was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021. Lolita is a professional singer, having performed on four continents and at Carnegie Hall. She is an alumna of the Penn School of Engineering, majoring in Applied Science with a concentration in Chemical Engineering.

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Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE

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Liberal Democrat House of Lords spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology. Former Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence which reported in 2018 with “AI in the UK Ready Willing and Able?” and its follow-up report in 2020 “AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency”. He co-founded and has co-chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI since 2017.

From 2023, a member of the Industry and Regulators Committee. He was the initiator of and subsequent member of the Special Inquiry Select Committee into AI in Weapons Systems whose final report “Proceed with caution: Artificial Intelligence in weapon systems” published on 1st December 2023.

Former member of the House of Lords Select Committees on Communications (2011-15), Risk Assessment and Planning (2020-21) and the Joint Select Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill (2021-22). Vice Chair for a number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including Data Analytics; Digital Inclusion; Digital Regulation and Responsibility; Digital Skills; and Intellectual Property.

A founding member of the OECD Parliamentary Group on AI and a former Consultant to the Council of Europe’s Ad-hoc Committee on AI (“CAHAI”).

He is author of the book, ‘Living with the Algorithm: Servant or Master?: AI Governance and Policy for the Future’. It identifies the risks associated with AI, including the potential for bias and discrimination, reputational harm, and the potential for widescale redundancy of millions of jobs and addresses current approaches to regulation and governance of AI internationally in both the public and private sector, how to meet and mitigate the challenges, avoid inadequate or ill-considered regulatory approaches, and protect society from the unforeseen consequences that could flow from unregulated AI development and adoption.

Since 2016, Tim has been Chair of Council of Queen Mary University of London and Chair of the Board of Trust Alliance Group (formerly Ombudsman Services), an independent not-for-profit group that provides dispute resolution for communications and energy utilities.

He is a Consultant on AI Policy and Regulation with global law firm, DLA Piper, where former positions held include, London Managing Partner

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Lorna Green

Chief Executive Officer - LYVA Labs

Bio: Lorna is CEO and co-founder of LYVA Labs. Having secured £10.5m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, LYVA Labs provides a range of support for innovative businesses including innovation workshops to help develop an idea, pre-seed investment to health & life sciences and deep tech start-ups in Liverpool City Region and innovation vouchers for collaborative R&D projects.

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Lorna Pimlott

Managing Director, Local Authority Advisory & Lending - National Wealth Fund

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Louise Harris

CEO and Co-Founder - Tramshed Tech

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Lucy Yu

Non-Executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

Lucy Yu is CEO and founder at Centre for Net Zero, Octopus Energy Group’s not-for-profit AI and data-driven research institute advancing tech-driven energy systems that benefit humanity. Centre for Net Zero’s research has been accepted by leading global proceedings, including the What Works Climate Solutions Summit, a high level conference for evidence-based climate policy, and the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), the world’s leading gathering of deep learning professionals.

Lucy has 20 years’ experience building and scaling global consumer-facing and deeptech ventures in artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and future mobility, climate and clean energy, and developing tech policy and regulation for the UK government (Cabinet Office; Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles; Department for Transport), European Commission, and the UN.

She is a co-founder of the Institute for Ethical AI & Machine Learning, and Chairs ADViCE (AI for Decarbonisation Virtual Centre of Excellence), a DESNZ programme for the development of innovative artificial intelligence technologies that support the transition to net zero. Lucy has been named an Asian Tech Pioneer (2024), Top 5 Star in GreenTech (2021), and Financial Times Top 100 Leader in Tech (2019).

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Luke Turner

Policy and Strategy Lead, Integrated National Transport Strategy, - Department for Transport

Luke Turner is a Policy and Strategy Lead working on the Integrated National Transport Strategy at the Department for Transport. Set to be published later this year, the Integrated National Transport Strategy will set the long-term vision for transport in England, focusing on how transport should be designed, built and operated to better serve all people who use it and enable them to live fulfilling lives. Luke has worked in various policy roles at DfT, including on the decarbonisation and climate adaptation of transport infrastructure and improving the efficiency of major infrastructure projects.

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Mark Enzer OBE FREng

Vice-Chair, Digital Twin Hub Board, and Member of Government Office for Science - Council for Science and Technology

Mark is a keen champion of outcomes-focused systems-thinking, collaborative delivery models, digitalisation, connected digital twins and the circular economy in the built environment. Mark is the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in the digitalisation of the built environment at the University of Cambridge, and he is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. As Strategic Advisor at Mott MacDonald, Mark provides advice to key clients on digitalisation and broader industry transformation. Previously, Mark was the CTO of Mott MacDonald and the Director of the Centre for Digital Built Britain, where he was the Head of the National Digital Twin programme

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Mark Hemsley

Head of Architecture - Rail Delivery Group

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Mark Wild OBE

CEO - HS2

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Martin Hochman

VP - Hitachi Vantara’s European Digital Services

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Martin Kent

His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific - Department for Business & Trade

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Martin Kochman

VP - Hitachi Vantara Digital Services

Martin Kochman is a VP in Hitachi Vantara’s European Digital Services business.

He specializes in running major data driven programmes and was responsible for ‘Optimise Prime’, the world’s biggest commercial electric vehicle trial.

The objective of the Optimise Prime project was to test the end-to-end impacts of the rollout of commercial electric vehicles and develop innovative solutions to accelerate the EV transition. This four year innovation project came up with practical ways of overcoming the up-front costs that are currently holding back many of the country’s biggest commercial vehicle operators from making the switch to EVs.

Martin is also leading other key data driven sustainability programmes within Hitachi, including the implementation of EV charge points and the creation of sustainability analytics and reporting

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Marvin Rees

Lord Rees of Easton -

Lord Rees of Easton, OBE, is a British Labour Party politician and former Mayor of Bristol (2016–2024), celebrated as the first person of Black African heritage to be elected mayor of a major European city.
Rees began his career with Tearfund, a leading international development agency, before moving to the USA to work with Sojourners, a social justice organization. Upon returning to the UK, he worked with BBC Bristol and later joined NHS Bristol’s Public Health team.
His tenure as mayor was marked by transformative political leadership, urban regeneration, and social impact, earning him international recognition for driving meaningful change. Key achievements include:
• Delivering over 14,000 new homes to address housing challenges.
• Leading Temple Quarter, one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects.
• Spearheading Bristol City Leap, a groundbreaking £1 billion public-private partnership to decarbonize the city’s energy system.
Beyond Bristol, Rees remains a global advocate for urban leadership, migration, and climate action. As Co-Chair of the Mayors Migration Council, he collaborates with city leaders worldwide to shape inclusive policies and create economic opportunities for migrants and refugees.
Rees is a Yale World Fellow, a graduate of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, and a UPenn Perry World House Fellow. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from Swansea University and serves as an Honorary Industrial Professor at the University of Bristol.
His lived experience—growing up as the mixed-race son of a single mother in 1970s and 80s Britain—fuels his lifelong dedication to social justice, urban transformation, and social mobility. Now, as Lord Rees of Easton, he continues to champion inclusive cities, climate action, and economic opportunity for all.

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Mary Kerr

Climate Finance Manager - Glasgow City Council

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Mat Hunter

Co-CEO - Plus X Innovation

Mat Hunter is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Plus X Innovation, building collaborative communities of innovators and entrepreneurs in cities across the UK. Through a rich mixture of workspace, specialist facilities and innovation programmes, Plus X Innovation’s hubs help place based economies to thrive.

Mat brings more than 30 years of global innovation experience to Plus X Innovation. A designer by training, Mat started his career in Silicon Valley, consulting to startups and corporates while at pioneering consultancy IDEO, where he became Partner.

He then spent 5 years advising UK Government on design and innovation, as Chief Design Officer at the Design Council, developing innovation programmes for the Home Office, Department of Health, and independent foundations, before entering the world of real estate and regeneration.

Mat has frequently lectured at leading business and art schools including Royal College of Art, Imperial College and London Business School, he is a graduate of Central St Martin’s & the Royal College of Art, Honorary Fellow at Arts University Bournemouth and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

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Matt Edwards

Head of Enterprise Data, Chief Data Officer - Anglian Water Services

Matt has worked in the water industry for over 20 years across a wide spectrum of roles in engineering, asset management, operations and customer management, and programme and change management. He is currently the Chief Data Officer for Anglian Water Services and supports the Digital Twin Hub through their strategic Board. Matt has previously served on a number of different external Boards such as the Data and Digital Board for the Government’s non-household retail Market Operator (MOSL) for England and Wales, and the National Infrastructure Digital Transformation Task Group.

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Matt Nixon

Project Manager, Carbon Reduction - Adur Worthing Councils

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Matt Prescott

Head of Carbon Strategy - Heathrow Airport

Matt is Head of Carbon Strategy at Heathrow where he is responsible for the development and delivery of its net zero carbon plan and works with colleagues from across the airport and wider sector to deliver solutions to aviation decarbonisation.

Matt is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

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Matthew Morgan

Director - Quality of Life Foundation

Matthew Morgan, Director and Co-Founder: With over 20 years’ experience in writing and communications, Matthew is responsible for setting the charity’s strategy with the Board of Trustees, overseeing its research and commercial services, and delivering lasting impact with the Quality of Life team. In making health and wellbeing central to the way we create and care for our homes and communities, he seeks to foster greater understanding and cooperation between local communities, the built environment industry and government at a local and national level.

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Matthew Short

Future Skills Advisor Future Skills Advisor - MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre

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Melissa Tallack

Stream Lead - Northumbrian Water

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Melissa Zanocco OBE

Chair, Digital Twin Hub Community Council and Capital Projects & Infrastructure Advisory - Accenture

Melissa Zanocco OBE, Capital Projects & Infrastructure Advisory at Accenture, is one of the instigators of ‘Our Vision for the Built Environment’ and ‘Our Share Understanding: a circular economy in the build environment’ and is committed to transforming the built environment sector to produce better outcomes for people and nature. She previously ran the Infrastructure Client Group, including the Data & Digital Task Group. She is Chair of the Digital Twin Hub Community Council as well as a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering / NEPC Materials Working Group, Green Construction Board Circular Economy Group and Construction Leadership Council Information Management Task Group.
She is also a member of the UN Women UK community, including as part of the delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women 2025, and Chairs the Allyship Working Group of the cross-industry Women’s Networks Forum.

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Meryl Levington

Director of Innovation and Industry Engagement - University of Strathclyde

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Mete Coban MBE

Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy - Greater London Authority

Mete Coban MBE became the Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy in July 2024, overseeing the Mayor’s world-leading climate action plan for the capital.

Before becoming Deputy Mayor, Mete was a Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering a £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis. He is best known for pioneering Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, providing clean, green, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profits.

Mete is widely credited with making politics more accessible to young people as the Founder of the youth-led charity My Life My Say. He led the Give an X voter registration campaign, which resulted in over 488,000 newly registered voters ahead of the UK General Election in July 2024.

In the New Year’s 2020 Honours List, Mete received an MBE for services to young people, recognising his efforts to make politics and democracy more accessible to the younger generation. Mete also serves as a Trustee at the London Marathon Foundation and My Life My Say.

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Michael Tinmouth

COO - ACUA Ocean Ltd

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Mike Newsam

Founder and Managing Director - Stellar Advanced Concepts

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Miranda Sharp

Partnerships - Kaiasm

Miranda Sharp, founder of Metis Digital, connects data and organisations to value, working with teams who are using data to realise efficiency and growth through new business models.
Miranda is seconded to DSIT working on the value of data policy, acts as a NED at TRL (the Transport Research Laboratory) and a trustee to the Centre for Cities think tank. She maintains a number of other advisory roles focused on financially sustainable and well governed ways of sharing data. Previously at the National Digital Twin programme, Ordnance Survey, Royal Mail and the award-winning SME See.Sense, she has worked with data as infrastructure for nearly 20 years.

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Natalie McIldowie

Client Delivery Director - Jacobs

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Nathan Hurdsfield

Head of Innovation - Department for Transport (DfT)

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Neil Henderson

Founder and Managing Director - The Virtual Tour Experts

Neil Henderson is a visionary leader in technology, web development, and project management, with over 20 years of experience shaping the future of digital media and virtual tours. As the Founder and Managing Director of The Virtual Tour Experts, Neil has been at the forefront of innovation, pioneering immersive virtual experiences that make spaces more inclusive and accessible for all. Under his leadership, The Virtual Tour Experts has delivered groundbreaking virtual tours for globally significant sites, including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault—praised by Bill Gates—and prestigious institutions such as the University of Cambridge. His commitment to accessibility has transformed the UK rail industry, setting new standards for inclusive travel through immersive 360° content.

A driving force behind the company’s mission, Neil blends technical expertise with a deep understanding of human-centred design. His work has earned The Virtual Tour Experts B Corp certification, solidifying its reputation as a socially responsible leader in digital innovation. Neil’s selection for the Future of Air Mobility Accelerator by Connected Places Catapult underscores his role in shaping the future of transportation through emerging technology. From advancing accessibility in public transit to redefining digital engagement, Neil continues to push the boundaries of what virtual experiences can achieve—ensuring that technology serves not just as a tool for exploration, but as a catalyst for inclusivity and meaningful impact.

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Nicholas Turner

Data and Digital Lead - Shift

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Nick Boyle

Technical Director - Balfour Beatty

One of Nick’s role in BB is to lead and share all technical and engineering good practice, lessons learnt & innovations in civil engineering in Major Projects & Highways across BB Group and wider industry. Nick is passionate about integrating design and engineering and utilising digital technologies to achieve the best overall solution for all. A chartered engineer and Fellow of the ICE with nearly 40 years of experience in civil engineering infrastructure at all stages of a project.

BB are founder members of i3P, the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Forum which is leading the way in collaboration across the whole industry. Nick is the Balfour Beatty representative since the early days at Crossrail as part of the Innovate18 industry initiative.

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Nick Graham

Chair - Freight Innovation Cluster's Advisory Board

Nick has had a successful 40-year career history within the Logistics Industry and has worked for several large logistics companies in leading roles; Transport Director for Wincanton and Warehousing Director for Stobart.
More recently Nick has had a corporate affairs brief interfacing with government and trade associations and is a thought leader on freight decarbonisation.
Currently Nick is a Non Exec and Board advisor in Sustainability and Logistics.
He is a fellow in the Institute of Logistics, has a master’s degree in business administration and a degree in Chemical Engineering.

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Nick Tune

CEO and Co-Founder - Optimise AI

Nick is CEO of OptimiseAI which he co-founded as a spin out from Cardiff University in 2023. OptimiseAI has gone on to win the 2024 Wales tech startup of the year and secure clients such as Network Rail, University of Wales, Luton Airport, and others. He is also a commissioner for the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales. Nick is passionate about utilising technology such as AI and digital twins to improve the sustainability of the built environment.

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Nick Watson

Director, UK - OCO Global

Nick is the UK Director for OCO Global, a boutique consultancy focussed on international trade and investment. Nick has twenty years’ experience in economics, international markets and corporate expansion. He has advised national and regional economic development organisations across every continent on export and FDI strategies. In the private sector, Nick has supported a diverse set of businesses – from tech startups to OEMs to life sciences – expand successfully into new international markets. Nick is retained as a non-executive director of three SMEs.

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Nick Wyllie

CEO and Founder - Botanic Energy

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Nuala Gallagher

Corporate Director of City Development - Liverpool City Council

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Olivia Mills

Chief of Staff - StirlingX

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Owen Wilce

Public Service Innovation Manager - Cardiff Capital Region

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Patricia Brown

Director - Central

Patricia’s strategic advisory and non-executive work spans disciplines, sectors and geographies. The common thread is connecting: ideas and possibilities, places and people, opportunities and ambition.

Her work has been a significant catalyst in urban change, beginning in 1990’s London where she leveraged private sector interest, especially real estate partners, in active stewardship in the improvement of the built environment. This led to game-changing initiatives, including landing BIDs into the UK, and championing tangible action on public realm, critical to liveability and quality of life, and fundamental to London’s economic competitiveness.

She sits on a range of profit and not-for-profit boards and is a strategic adviser to a range of land owners, developers, local authorities and infrastructure bodies as well as chairing a variety of partnership boards.

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Paul Bathgate

Co-founder and CEO - RailX Digital Solutions

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Paul Campion

Chief Executive Officer - TRL

Paul Campion has been the CEO of TRL since July 2019. TRL is a world-renowned research, consultancy and software company which started life as the UK Government’s Transport Research Laboratory and has been working to make transport safer, cleaner and better for over 90 years. Previously Paul was the CEO of the Transport Systems Catapult, a not-for-profit organisation created by the government as part of the catapult network to grow the UK economy by supporting the growth of innovation in transport systems. Paul’s earlier career was spent in a wide variety of roles at IBM helping companies and industries to transform through the application of new technology. He has done professional, management and executive jobs at UK, European and Worldwide level in the UK, USA, France and Switzerland.

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Paul Corcoran

Managing Director - InterimConsult

Paul has over 25 years board and executive-level experience, including CEO and Managing Director roles, across the transport, defence, and education sectors. He founded Interimconsult, a management and innovation consultancy, five years ago and has managed industry-wide initiatives including the delivery of the Rail Sector Deal and, most recently, the development and rollout of the Rail Sector Innovation Charter, a groundbreaking initiative that will improve the environment for innovation throughout the rail sector . He has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, MBA, and degree in engineering, and continues to provide board advisory services to tech start-ups in the transport sector.

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Paul Honeyben

Strategy Director – Local Government Finance and Improvement - London Councils

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Peter Hogg

UK Cities Director and Partner - Arcadis

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Peter Mildon

COO - VivaCity Labs

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Phil Ellis

Co-Founder & CEO - Beryl

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Philip Clarke

CEO - TUAL Technology

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Prof Judith Phillips OBE

Professor of Social and Environmental Gerontology - University of Stirling

Judith Phillips is Professor of Social and Environmental Gerontology within the Faculty of Social Sciences. Judith held the position of Deputy Principal for Research at Stirling from 2016 to 2024. Alongside her DP role between 2020 and 2024, Judith was Research Director for the Healthy Ageing Challenge delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Before joining the University, Judith Phillips was Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Director of the Research Institute for Applied Social Sciences at Swansea University which sought to strengthen social sciences across the University and embed a social science perspective in Engineering and Medicine. She was also Director of the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research for Wales and the School for Social Care Research in Wales.
Following a geography degree at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, she went to study at Stockholm University, Jesus College, Oxford and UEA, Norwich, where she worked as a researcher and a lecturer before joining the Centre for Social Gerontology at the University of Keele in 1993. Judith returned to Wales in 2004 to set up the Centre for Innovative Ageing at Swansea University. She holds several Fellowships in recognition of her contribution to Gerontology including a Gerontological Society of America Fellowship since 2004 in recognition of outstanding achievement and exemplary contributions to the field of Gerontology. Judith has been an active member of the British Society of Gerontology for 40 years and was its President between 2008-10. In 2021 she was awarded BSG’s highest honour the Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of her significant and lasting contribution to Gerontology. In 2013 Professor Phillips was awarded an OBE for services to older people Her professional standing is reflected in her election to various Councils of the Academy of Social Sciences (2019-2025); The Learned Society of Wales (2015-2018); Global Social Initiative on Ageing (Deputy Director, since 2017). She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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Professor Greg Clark CBE

Chair - Connected Places Catapult

Greg Clark is Chair of Connected Places Catapult. He is a British and Irish writer, Board Chair, Non-Executive Director, and advisor on cities, mobility, built environment, and urban innovation. He is the author of 10 books and 100 reports on cities, mobility, real estate, climate, urban economies, investment, and place leadership, and has worked with 400 cities around the world.

In the UK. He is Chair of Connected Places Catapult (CPC), the UK’s national innovation accelerator for transport, cities, and place leadership, and Chair of the Cities Commission for Climate Investment (3Ci), which convenes local leaders and investors to find innovative means to capitalise a just urban transition. He is a Board Member of Transport for London (TfL). He chairs TfL’s Land and Property Committee, which oversees TfL’s property company, Places for London. He is a Senior Advisor to New London Architecture, and Hon Prof of cities and innovation at Strathclyde University. Greg is also chair of the UK Government’s Secure Connected Places Advisory Group. He was previously Lead Advisor, Cities & Regions, Office of Deputy Prime Minister (2004-2010), Executive Director, London Development Agency, Chief Executive of the London Enterprise Agency, Managing Director of Greater London Enterprise, and he teaches regularly at LSE and University College London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).

Globally. Greg is Hon Global Fellow at the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He is the former chair of the OECD LEED Forum of Cities and Regions (1996-2016) and former Global Fellow on cities at the Brookings Institution. He has advised the World Bank, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and the HSBC Group on cities, sustainability, and financial innovation. He is currently working with the Inter-American Development Bank on the future of the cities of the Amazon, where 47,000,000 people live. Greg has chaired more than 20 International Advisory Boards and Committees for Cities; including New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Vienna, Oslo, Barcelona, Turin, Toronto, Auckland, and Cape Town. He is a member of the WEF Global Future Council on Cities & Urbanisation, and a member of the Bloomberg NEF Council on Cities.

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Professor Mark Westwood

Professor of Aeronautics and Head of Centre for Aeronautics - Cranfield University

Professor Mark Westwood is the Head of Centre and Professor of Aeronautics at Cranfield University.

Mark spent his early career at QinetiQ, working primarily in aerospace research and development across a range of civil and military technology demonstrator programmes covering navigation, guidance and control with extensive experience of simulation and flight test.

In 2012, Mark took the position of Head of Computational Aerodynamics at Aircraft Research Association, leading a sustained growth in industrial R&D activity partnered with a range of international aerospace OEMs and UK MoD/dstl.

Mark joined the Transport Systems Catapult in 2015 to lead R&D projects developing automated and autonomous vehicle technologies, with highlights including the HumanDrive connected and autonomous road vehicle project with Nissan as the lead OEM. In 2017 he moved to the position of CTO, and in 2019 as CTO of the newly formed Connected Places Catapult, led on the Catapults technology strategy and industrial research and development, resulting in the development of the Catapult’s activities in drones, Advanced Air Mobility and sustainable aviation.

He joined Cranfield University in late 2021 as Head of Centre and Professor of Aeronautics, where he leads a team of 45 academic and research staff. The Centre for Aeronautics is one of the world’s largest centres for postgraduate education and research in aircraft design, aerodynamics, advanced modelling and simulation tools and methods. Mark’s current research interests include sustainable aviation, guidance and control, air traffic management, simulation, and autonomous systems. He is also a member of the CAA’s Environmental Sustainability Panel, a specialist, non-statutory body providing expert technical advice to the CAA.

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Professor Sarah Sharples

Chief Scientific Adviser - Department for Transport

Professor Sarah Sharples is Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. She is a Professor of Human Factors in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham and from 2018 to 2021 was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and People.

She has led research in transport, manufacturing and healthcare, and currently leads the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Connected Everything Network Plus.

She founded and is co-director of the EPSRC Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), and has led research programmes examining implementation of new technologies in rail, highways and aviation.

She was President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors from 2015 to 2016.

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Ram Gokal

Co-founder and Chief Executive - Innervated Vehicle Engineering (IVE)

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Richard Carr

Technical and Innovation Director - Rail Industry Association

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Richard Dickins

Managing Director - Social Value Business

Richard is an experienced leader, founder, and managing director of Social Value Business and Social Value Quality Mark CIC. SVB is one of the UK’s leading social value consultancy and accreditation organisations. With 15 years of experience across the UK and EU, he has shaped social value policies, frameworks, and measurement tools for the public, private, and third sectors.

He has authored 30+ social value reports, helping organisations uncover over £5 billion in hidden value, and has supported 100+ clients in embedding social value principles. His expertise includes value-based strategic development, organisational change, maximising Social Return on Investment (SROI), integrating social value into tenders and procurement processes, social value auditing, stakeholder engagement, monetisation, and impact measurement. Richard has developed key methodologies used across industries, including the Social Value Maturity Matrix, National Social Value Index, and Total Value frameworks.

Richards’s clients include The Cabinet Office, Crown Commercial Services, International PLCs, and national charities such as the YMCA, NSPCC, and Shelter. He collaborates with Oxford, Cambridge, and Cranfield Universities to develop social value and social enterprise management best practices and support research and innovation in the field.

Richard specialises in qualitative and quantitative methodologies, social and economic value, market research, training, and mentoring. He has led large-scale, multiple partners and multiple million-pound social value initiatives and advised organisations on embedding and maximising social value within tendering and procurement strategies to drive measurable impact.

Furthermore, Richard has led the Social Value Quality Mark to become the most rigorous audit and accreditation organisation for Social Value across the UK.

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Richard Hutchins

Technical Director - PRG Scotland Ltd.

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Richard Osborne

Chief Technology Officer - Purple Transform Ltd

Richard Osborne is Chief Technology Officer at Purple Transform.

He has 25 years’ experience in the IT industry in a variety of technical, consulting, business development and sales roles.

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Rita Rinaldo

Head of Applications Projects and Studies Division - European Space Agency

Rita Rinaldo has been with the European Space Agency since 2001. She is currently with the Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness Directorate. She is currently in charge of the Applications Projects and Studies Division, where she is responsible for the initiation and management of space-based applications projects in many vertical sectors, including maritime, energy, mobility and agri-food.

She has a long experience in interfacing user communities and establishing partnerships with players including corporates, industrial associations, institutions/public bodies to promote innovation in the sustainable utilisation of space. She is engaged in supporting space and non-space companies in initiatives for developing commercial space solutions based on satellite telecommunication and navigation technologies or satellite data generating high socio-economic impact.

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Rob Cairns

Senior Innovation Manager - HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd

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Rob Chesworth

Head of Strategic Land - The Crown Estate

Rob Chesworth is Head of Strategic Land at The Crown Estate, which involves a portfolio of more than 30 sites nationally with a GDV of £14bn and the potential to deliver 28,000 new homes and more than 5m sq ft of space to support innovation, employment and new businesses. Prior to this, Rob was Head of Strategy at The Crown Estate, responsible for the development of group and business unit strategies as part of a wider transformational programme.

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Robert Jamieson

Principal Consultant - PPL

Robert is a Principal Consultant at PPL, a social enterprise management consultancy that works in partnership with organisations from across the public, private and voluntary and community sectors to deliver meaningful, innovative and sustainable change. He has extensive experience in managing complex innovation and systems change programmes.

Prior to joining PPL Robert worked at Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. There he led the design and delivery of a portfolio of programmes including work with Welsh Government to build capacity in place-based teams and to use Behavioural Insights to keep people safe during Covid-19.

Robert’s background is in policy and community engagement. His previous roles focussed on tackling food insecurity, increasing civic participation and exploring the impact of regeneration on local communities.

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Roger Bailey

Chief Technical Officer - Tideway

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Roland Cory-Wright

Flight Operations Lead - StirlingX

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Sanjay Daswani

Chief Commercial Officer - Global Nano Network

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Sarah Cameron

Legal Director - Pinsent Mason

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Sarah Hayes

Chair, Data Sharing Working Group, and Strategic Advisor - Connected Places Catapult

Sarah is a data and digitalisation expert and has worked across energy, ICT, water and transport sectors over the last twenty five years. She was the lead author of Data for the public good, a report about the need to share infrastructure data, which was published by the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) in December 2017. Sarah works as an independent consultant and has been involved in CReDo, the Climate Resilience Demonstrator project from its launch. Sarah chairs a weekly Data Sharing Working Group comprised of thought leaders and practitioners across the data sharing space, who discuss different data sharing initiatives and the requirements to advance the development of data sharing infrastructure.

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Sarah Windrum

Head of Cluster Development - Horiba MIRA

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Savina Chergarova

Account Manager - AWS

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Scott Cain

Associate - Connected Places Catapult

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Serena Marshall

Senior Researcher - DNV

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Shailee Howard

Partner - Mills & Reeve

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Sharon Payne

Regional Rural Mobility Manager - Transport East

Sharon is the Regional Rural Mobility Manager at Transport East, the Sub-National Transport Body for the East. She heads up an exciting area of work leading on delivering the national Rural Mobility Centre of Excellence with a wide range of stakeholders from across government, academia, tourism and business. The RMCoE focuses on the transport challenges faced by rural communities, building research and evidence to make the case for investment, an area omitted from much national and regional policy development in recent years.

Sharon’s extensive career in local government has led to a deep understanding of how to deliver sustainable transport changes in the public sector. This includes roles as strategic lead for behaviour change, road safety strategy, travel planning and the active travel delivery team at a large county council where she secured £1.5million to deliver one of eleven Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilots across England, and developing the Suffolk Air Quality Profile with Public Health and the District Councils.

Sharon led on a pan-regional European Regional Development Fund project which introduced one of England’s first mobile ticketing apps in 2012, still being used today by one of the leading bus operators, facilitating millions of purchases of bus tickets in the last decade.

Sharon also worked for the Department for Education during the Travelling to School Initiative as the Regional School Travel Advisor, managing the work of ten Local Authorities to successfully meet the challenging targets and objectives set by Government.

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Shweta Saxena

Founder and CEO - Aigizmo

Results-driven accomplished leader with over 22 years of experience in starting businesses and scaling them. Serial entrepreneur with product development background, advising Fortune 500 companies and startups on AI, digital, commercial and product strategy. Track record of international expansion and helping businesses with market and customer analysis. Proven track record in driving revenue growth, improving profitability, and leading cross-functional teams to achieve strategic goals. Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills with a passion for delivering AI, digital and technology product and solutions. Expert in defining business vision and adept at board collaboration, consistently achieving commercial goals.

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Simon Wilson

Director of Research - The Future Highways Research Group

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Simone Roach

CEO & Founder - We Are Power, Northern Power Women

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Sir Andrew Haines

Chief Executive - Network Rail

Since joining Network Rail in August 2018, Andrew has refocussed Network Rail to be on the side of passengers and freight users; that is easy to engage with and is an efficient and dependable partner; a company people are proud to work for; instinctively recognised as an industry leader.

Andrew has introduced a mindset that puts passengers first as well as a programme which has so far resulted in the creation of fourteen new routes, supported by five new regions. This new structure sets Network Rail up for deeper devolution and to be more responsive to the needs of train operators, passengers and freight users by bringing Network Rail’s 43,000 employees closer to those we serve.

Prior to joining Network Rail, Andrew served as Chief Executive of the Civil Aviation Authority from 2009. This followed a wide-ranging career in the rail industry, which included roles as Managing Director of South West Trains, and Managing Director of the Rail Division for First Group plc.

Following the publication of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail in May 2021, Andrew was also tasked with establishing interim arrangements for the creation of Great British Railways, alongside his role in Network Rail.

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Sol Anitua

Executive Director Infrastructure and Energies - The Crown Estate

Sol Anitua is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in strategic leadership and business development across various industries. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Infrastructure & Energies at The Crown Estate, she is also a Non-Executive Board Member for Fundacion Prodis. With over 20 years of experience in energy markets, banking, non-profit and strategy, Sol has held senior roles at prominent organizations such as Santander UK, Vitol, and Merrill Lynch, after starting her career at McKinsey & Co. She has also served as Chief of Staff at Plastic Energy, a cleantech company focused on advanced recycling of plastic waste, and led the pioneering work in launching the Codespa BBVA Microfinanzas Fund.

Sol holds an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, along with degrees in Law and Business from ICADE, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid.

Based in London, she is recognized for her strategic vision and innovative approach to complex challenges, and her passion for building diverse, cohesive, high performing teams.

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Sophie Eynon

Electric Vehicle Charging Hubs Programme Manager - Places for London

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Sophie Moule

Director of Marketing & Product - Bloom Services

Sophie Moule brings extensive experience in technology, data, and outcome-driven strategies to her new role in UK public sector procurement, where she is keen to apply innovative approaches to drive better results. With a strong background in PE tech, she has deep expertise in using data, OKRs, and digital tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Now moving into public sector procurement, she is passionate about innovation and understands the importance of transparency in delivering meaningful impact. Her values closely align with Bloom Procurement Services, particularly in promoting social value, sustainability, and the inclusion of SMEs to create more responsible and effective procurement solutions.

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Stephen Jones

Director - Core Cities UK

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Stephen McNulty

Founder - PRAM

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Steve Beel

CEO - Freeport East

Steve Beel is Chief Executive at Freeport East, one of twelve Freeports across the UK established by the UK Government. Freeport East aspires to be the UK’s leading centre for global trade, green energy, innovation and application of digital technology, which in its first two years of operation has attracted over £250m of new investment and created 2000 jobs.
Steve has over 20 years’ experience across energy & infrastructure, international diplomacy, economic development & trade. Prior to his appointment at Freeport East, Steve was a British diplomat and head of the UK’s development partnership with Zambia. Earlier in his career he worked at Ofgem as a Commercial Director where he was involved in many of the UK’s largest offshore wind and electricity interconnector projects, and before that at Hutchison Whampoa and PwC.

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Steve Brewer

Senior Research Fellow - Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology (LIAT), University of Lincoln

Steve Brewer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT) at the University of Lincoln. Current projects include the EU-funded SPADE project harnessing the power of drones for agriculture and the £4.9M EPSRC Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire (LINCAM) region, a global innovation centre for agricultural technology (agri-tech). Recent projects that Steve has been involved in include the UKRI- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded Internet of Food Things Network Plus, an interdisciplinary initiative which is working to reduce food waste, increase nutritional value and productivity, and reduce environmental impact across the supply chain.

To build on a successful track record in academia, Steve established Infoculture Ltd which has a track record of delivering insightful reports and events supporting information-driven digital transformation for a range of clients.

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Steve Erdal

CSO - Wordnerds

Steve Erdal is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Wordnerds, a flexible AI-powered customer feedback analysis platform offered standalone or as a managed service.

With a background in Corpus Linguistics, Steve has been dealing with the problem of understanding language at scale for over ten years. Wordnerds unites AI experts, data scientists, linguists and customer feedback experts to deliver next level understanding of customer feedback.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys getting things off high shelves and being hopelessly outwitted by his two children.

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Steve Evans

CEO & Founder - XeroE Sustainable Logistics

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Steve Mason

Sustainability Consultant - Scope Zero

Steve’s multifaceted background positions him as a leader in sustainability initiatives, strategic advisory roles, and environmental advocacy. He is a dedicated campaigner with a focus on public affairs, sustainability, and environmental issues.

His work focuses on transitioning companies, councils, and communities towards a sustainable future.

Steve contributes to achieving net-zero goals and sustainable development in his current role as an independent sustainability innovation and strategy advisor for Bloom Procurement Services through strategic thought leadership and inclusion of sustainability within supply chains.

He has a long history of campaigning against polluting industries and spearheaded the national network against fracking in the UK for five years. His pivotal role in the national advocacy campaigns was as a policy advisor and public affairs lead, collaborating with cross-party politicians, and NGOs – including Liberty, WWF, Friends of the Earth, and Rain Forest Trust.

Steve also led a consortium to buy the fracking company he campaigned against and was part of the leadership team that delivered the transformation away from fossil fuels to renewable energy and finding solutions for net zero.

This circular approach integrated environmental and social value into the local and wider economy, emphasising sustainability and responsible energy practices.

Steve continues to design tangible actions and events within the community, working in collaboration with non-profit organisations, businesses and grant funders.

Steve assists with broadcast and print media advocacy both at regional and national levels. His close connections with MPs, members of the House of Lords, and other policymakers continue to drive evidence-based sustainability advocacy through APPGs, online sessions and Select Committees.

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Steve Moore

Director of Projects and Programme Delivery - Environment Agency

Steve is Director of Projects and Programme Delivery within the Environment Agency and is responsible for the operational leadership of our approach to programme and project management.
Steve leads the delivery of circa 1000 projects creating new or refurbished assets, the core of which protect communities from the risk of flooding. Steve also leads the collaboration of our six primary contractor and consultant national frameworks. Through these, we aim to utilise the breadth of industry skills and experiences as part of our aim to learn from the best and deliver more sustainable and efficient projects that benefit people and their local environments.
Steve is Co-chair of the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Partnership (i3P), a group of Infrastructure Clients and Delivery Partners that evolved from Crossrail and now works across the infrastructure sector, aiming to drive collaborative innovation in addressing today’s challenges with tomorrow’s solutions.
Steve has a background in construction and engineering having worked for Tarmac Construction / Carillion for 20 years. He is the Head of Project Delivery Profession at the EA, actively supporting the ongoing development of staff and colleagues.
Steve is married to Karen with two ‘children’ Tara and Jack (26, twins). Steve enjoys football, music, food, and work, not necessarily in that order.

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Steve Phipps

Head of Materials Engineering - Balfour Beatty VINCI

Steve Phipps is a Senior Materials Engineer with Balfour Beatty and currently Head of Materials Engineering for Balfour Beatty Vinci on HS2 Area North.
Steve has over 30 years’ experience in highways and high-speed rail construction, including the technical management of concrete and cementitious products.
Steve sits on Britpave Council, contributing to many of their technical guidance and best practice publications. Steve has recently led the technical working group responsible for developing industry guidance on the use of digital monitoring and measurement.

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Steve Rotheram

Mayor - Liverpool City Region

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Steven Gillan

Director - Digital Reflections Ltd

From an early career as a heavy plant mechanic in the mining industry, Steve moved into the technology industry.
As the Founder and Director of Scottish start-up Digiflec, he is now leading the development of cutting-edge data collection systems and digital twin applications, all while ensuring its status as a trusted distributor of Lidar manufacturers.”

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Steven Niederer

Chair, Biomedical Engineering - Imperial College London

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Steven Puetz

Lead Account Manager - SimAnalytica Ltd

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Steven Wilding

Head of Climate and Green Economy - London Borough of Hounslow

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Stevie Revill

CEO - Urbantide

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Stuart Blackburn

Technical Operations Manager - Hydrologiq

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Stuart Patrick

Non-Executive Director - Connected Places Catapult

Stuart Patrick CBE has been central to the Scottish economy, business community, and the city of Glasgow for more than 20 years. He’s provided inspiring leadership as the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. Stuart began his career at Ernst and Young where he qualified as a chartered accountant and studied for an MBA with us here at the University of Strathclyde.
Stuart was a central figure in the strategies, investments, and promotions that enabled Glasgow to recover from de-industrialisation and to emerge as a city with a diverse business base, a high level of entrepreneurship, a proud and capable identity and a reputation on the global stage. Most importantly, Stuart inspired a highly committed cadre of capable business leaders who champion and support the city. He’s played a unique role in fostering the leadership capacity of Glasgow.

He holds a wide variety of public service Board memberships in Glasgow, including:

– Glasgow City Regional Partnership
– Glasgow Partnership for Economic Growth
– Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company (URC)
– City of Glasgow College
– Glasgow Science Centre
– Four Acres Trust

On top of this, Stuart holds prominent leadership roles as Chair of the Wise Group and Glasgow City of Science & Innovation and is co-Chair, with the Deputy City Leader, of the Glasgow City Centre Task Force. Stuart was appointed a non-Executive Board Member of The Scotland Office in 2020 in recognition of his business leadership role in Scotland’s largest city. In 2020, he also joined the Board of British Chambers of Commerce, further using the position to promote and advocate for Glasgow and its diverse business community.

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Susan Leadbetter

Associate - Liveable Places

Susan oversees the Gender Inclusive Design workstream. She is dedicated to making transport systems and public spaces accessible and inclusive for everyone, including women, girls, disabled people, and other underrepresented groups. Susan has led numerous research and design initiatives, engaging with end users and embracing co-design principles to ensure their voices shape the planning and design process

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Susie Mitchell

Programme Manager - Glasgow Riverside Innovation District

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Theo Blackwell MBE

Chief Digital Officer - Greater London Authority

Appointed in 2017 as London’s first Chief Digital Officer, Theo leads on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall.

His role involves:

Strategic leadership on the digital transformation agenda for London’s public services, across the GLA group and the wider public sector. Convening on behalf of the Mayor, across London local government to support the take-up of innovative, technology, and data-led approaches to service delivery and public engagement. Developing and promoting partnership between the public, private and community sectors to enable and support the development of new public service-oriented technology and innovation.

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Therese Landy

COO - EVSerious

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Tiernan Mines

CEO and Co-Founder - Hello Lamp Post

Tiernan Mines is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hello Lamp Post, the platform that brings AI-powered digital assistants to any place. Hello Lamp Post improves customer service efficiency, provides valuable location-based insights and makes it easier for people to access relevant information while shaping the future of their surroundings.

With over 10 years of experience in launching ventures and digital products, Tiernan is passionate about scaling technology for good – driving solutions that create a better, more connected world.

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Tim Chico

Professor of Cardiovasulcar Medicine - University of Sheffield

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Tim Dudas

Co-Founder - Openstead

Tim began his career as an architect in the UK, where he managed projects from initial concept through construction completion for both homes and commercial buildings. This experience honed his ability to maintain technical precision while effectively coordinating diverse teams of contractors, engineers, consultants, and clients.

Later at Design Council, Tim led innovation programmes for public and private sector clients. A standout project examined workplace impacts on employee health, conducted in partnership with Impact on Urban Health. The initiative focused on uncovering insights about employer knowledge, workplace culture, and working conditions.

Tim now leads a tech startup that provides critical data infrastructure for insurers and property owners to quantify the value of nature-based retrofits in mitigating physical risk and improving climate resilience.

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Tom Lee

Chief Engineer - HyHaul

With a strong background in systems engineering, including safety-critical systems in the aviation and defense industries, I bring expertise in precision, safety, and strategic innovation. Transitioning to the electric powertrains sector for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), I have focused on advancing sustainable and efficient transportation solutions. Driven by a passion for decarbonisation, I am committed to leveraging cutting-edge technology to address modern transportation challenges and support a more sustainable future.

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Tom McKenna

Business Development Manager - Alchera Technologies

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Tom Shrive

CEO - Machines for Construction

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Varsha Singh

Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist - UrbanShift

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Waleed Ahmed

COO - Transreport

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Willem-Frederik (WF) Metzelaar

Director Innovation Hub West - EIT Urban Mobility

In a period of 30 years transforming as an expert on the Energy Transition and former commercial director of a leading Dutch utility, Willem-Frederik transformed himself into a data entrepreneur. Launching and scaling several companies.

The last 3 years of his working life he deep dived into the European Mobility Transition of Cities, peri-urban and rural communities. Acting as regional director in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands for EIT Urban Mobility.

A family man, actively involved in society, supporting culture and art, with two feet firmly on the ground, he is also a volunteer at the Dutch Cyclists’ Federation (Fietsersbond). Heading for several years the bigger Rotterdam Region and scaling cycling lessons and graduate’s from tens to hundreds yearly. Recently he moved into the country and is now focusing on safe cycling in more rural areas. Also he is the proud initiator of the documentary ‘Rotterdam Cycles’; giving youth in Rotterdam a voice. Telling us why they find cycling

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Yiannis Maos MBE

Founder & CEO - TechWM

Yiannis is an award winning founder and serial entrepreneur. He has over 18 year’s experience in marketing and technology, where he’s helped a number of innovative organisations successfully scale. In 2023 he was awarded an MBE on the New Year Honours List for his services to the technology sector.

His career started at B2B SaaS company Rant & Rave, who he helped grow from a challenger brand to a market leader that eventually sold for £50m. Following this, he was chosen as the UK Chair for the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) which is the largest community of CX professionals in the world. In 2021 he helped San Francisco based Copper CRM, one the fastest-growing companies in the US, with their marketing strategy.

Yiannis also advises government and is a member of techUK’s Nation & Region’s Council and sits on the UK Tech Cluster Group board.

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Accelerate Innovation. Together

Speakers

Abi Swayne

Adam Parkinson

Alastair Chapman

Alex Holland

Alistair Clabburn

Anastasia Vikhornova

Andreas Zachariah

Andrew Barr

Andrew Carter

Andrew Gilligan

Andy Guffogg

Andy Powell

Ankit Patel

Anna Watt

Becky Wood

Ben Stevenson

Benjamin Gibbons

Camila Rangel

Carl Hopkins

Carolin Gohler

Carolyn Dwyer

Catherine McGuinness CBE

Charlotte Hills

Chris Burr

Christian Dangerfield

Craig Pennington

Damian Bridgeman

Daniel Clarke

Daniel Marsden

Danielle Aberg

Danny Woolard

David Smith

Davin Crowley-Sweet

Dean Jones

Dr Alison Vincent CBE

Dr Victoria Hills

Ed McCann

Elvira Uyarra

Emily Macdonald

Eric Ritchie

Esra Kasapoglu

George Economides

George Kibala Bauer

Harriet King

Harry Kerr

Haydon Bartlett-Tasker

Huw Morgan

Ian Small

Jake Cornthwaite

James Close

James Gibson

James Golding-Graham

Jamie Bartley

Jeyda Heselton

Joe Miles

John Priestland

Jon Little

Jonathan Kelly

Jonathon Hoskin

Julia Glidden

Juliette Kariuki-Cobbett

Lorna Pimlott

Louise Harris

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