Speakers
Abrahamsen, Mette, Network Manager, Service Cluster Denmark, Denmark
Mette Abrahamsen is working as the network manager of the national innovation network Service Cluster Denmark. Mette Abrahamsen has more than ten years of experience developing and executing innovative project and initiatives in public and private organizations. Her previously employments counts Head of Division, Economic and Business Affairs, MindLab unit of innovation in policy development and strategy, People & Innovation Manager at Arkitema Architects and Team Manager at the Danish Technological Institute. Mette Abrahamsen holds a Master of Public Administration and MA. in Scandinavian Languages and Literature and Information Science.
Ammitzbøll, Klaus, Head of Section at the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, Denmark
Klaus Ammitzbøll is Head of Section at the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. He works with initiatives promoting the employment of postgraduates in companies. His responsibilities include the Danish Industrial PhD Programme and the Knowledge Pilot initiative.
Binder, Michael, Director, Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), Austria
Michael Binder is Director for Strategy at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) since 2005. Previous stations of his work life were the Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Economy and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. Michael holds a master's degree in business studies at Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Black, Donald, Senior Advisor, Enterprise Ireland, Ireland
Donald Black is a Senior Advisor in Enterprise Ireland’s International Services Division. Donald, who previously worked in an international services company, was involved in the establishment of EI’s service division three years ago and has since led the effort to roll out new services and programmes to Irish service companies.
Enterprise Ireland is Ireland’s lead agency providing business supports to Irish owned enterprises. It draws on its international marketing, management development and innovation specialists to provide supports which will assist Irish companies to innovate and succeed in export markets.
Blind, Knut, Berlin University of Technology; Fraunhofer FOKUS, Germany
Prof. Dr. Knut Blind studied economics, political science and psychology at Freiburg University. In the course of his studies he spent one year at Brock University (Canada), where he was awarded a BA. Finally, he took his Diploma in Economics and later his doctoral degree at Freiburg University. Between 1996 and 2010 he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, Germany, as a senior researcher and at last as head of the Competence Center "Regulation and Innovation". In April 2006 Knut Blind was appointed Professor of Innovation Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Berlin University of Technology. Since May 2008 he holds also the endowed chair of standardisation at the Rotterdam School of Management of the Erasmus University. From April 2010 he is leading the new research group "Public Innovation" at the Fraunhofer Institute of Open Communication Systems in Berlin. Besides numerous articles on standardisation he published further contributions on intellectual property rights and further innovation aspects in refereed journals.
Bommer, Rolf, Deputy Head of Unit, Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Germany
Rolf Bommer is working as Deputy Head of Unit Cluster Initiatives in Bavarian Ministry of Economic. He has previously worked as an analyst in the bank sector and as research fellow at the Economics Department University of Konstanz. Rolf Bommer has a PhD in economics.
Büscher, Reinhard, Head of Unit for Support for Industrial innovation, European Commission, Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry
Dr. Reinhard Büscher is a Head of Unit at the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a PhD, in Economics. Before joining the European Commission in 1989, he worked for nine years at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Germany. In the European Commission, he has worked in a number of different areas - as a Member of Commissioner Bangemann’s Cabinet, as special Adviser for Industrial Aspects of the Information Society, as Head of Unit for Standardisation, Head of Unit for Industrial Aspects of Electronic Commerce and Head of Unit for E-Business, ICT industries and services. Since January 2008, he has been Head of Unit ‘Support for Industrial Innovation.’
Christensen, Thomas Alslev, EPISIS steering group, Head of Department, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Denmark
Thomas Alslev Christensen has worked as Head of the Department for Innovation Policy at the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation since 2005. His team was responsible for the two national strategies on service innovation “Innovation in the service sector” in 2008 and “Future services in Denmark” in 2010. He is also responsible for the Danish participation in the EU-funded EPISIS project. Thomas Alslev Christensen has previously worked in the Nordic Council of Ministers, The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office. He has also been external associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. Thomas Alslev Christensen made his PhD in 1992 from the Copenhagen Business School.
Edvardsson, Bo, Professor, CTF-Service Research Center, Karlstad University Sweden
Bo Edvarsson is Professor and Director in CTF-Service Research Center at Karlstad University in Sweden. Mr. Edvardsson has done highly regarded research on service management and service marketing, value creation, customer relationship dynamics, new service development, service culture and service strategy. He has acted several time as invited visiting professor (Arizona State University, National University of Singapore, University of Auckland) as well as an invited Key-note speaker at a number of conferences (THE RESER 2008, Service for The Future ISS National University of Singapore 2010, Second International Conference on Service Science and Innovation 2010). Mr. Edvardsson
Ekblad, Anders, Manager, Volvo Group
Mr. Anders Ekland is an international operations executive with a proven track record in global business environments. He has repeatedly taken an idea and built a successful product and an effective organization around it. He leads by example and manages teams by providing a creative, learning and a supporting environment. Experience of Anders ranges from strategic consulting to product-oriented organizations. Able to effectively form a structure in both start-ups and in large companies, establish accountabilities and diligently deliver on results.
Ganz, Walter, Director,Fraunhofer Institute of Industrial Engineering, Germany
Walter Ganz is the Director and member of board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering in Stuttgart and has worked there since 1990. He is supporting the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in Germany regarding the development of research programmes and activities in the field of “Innovation in Services”. Walter Ganz is also a member of the European Commission’s “Key Technologies Group” and “Business Related Services Group”. As an expert he is used in the areas of service topics both at European, national and regional level. Walter Ganz serves on various advisory boards. He is for example member of the Board of RESER “European Association for Research on Services”. Walter Ganz previously employments count Assistant researcher at Max-Planck-Institute Frieburg and Researcher at Infratest – ICT Research Centre Munich.
Gautray, Jacques, Senior Project Manager, OSEO, France
Mr. Gautray has a PhD in electronics and he started in OSEO as an expert in contact with SMEs for the evaluation and financing process of innovative projects in electronics (Hardware and Software) at head office level for 8 years. He then moved to manage 3 regional departments for 7 years in Nord Pas de Calais, Champagne Ardenne and Paris. He has a long experience with start-ups, incubators, European funding policy and the innovation network all over France. From 2003 to 2005, he was OSEO national coordinator for IRC network and was the contact point for the IRC project officer.
He joined the Department of European Partnership in September 2008 as a senior project manager and is in charge of three EU projects:
· KIS PIMS - services in renewable energy,
· REMake – Eco innovation in recycling and resource efficiency,
· GreenConServe – services in intelligent and sustainable buildings.
· NCP for SMEs since 1st of April 2011
He has participated in a few EU workshops such as HiGrowth SMEs policy and how to cope with innovation in services. He is also representing OSEO in the EPISIS project.
Grünfeld, Leo A., Director, Menon Business Economics, Norway
Leo A. Grünfeld has a PhD in economics from the University of Oslo and MA in economics from the University of Michigan. Leo A. Grünfeld has extensive experience of work directed towards the financial industry, public administration, major corporations, and research.
Hintze-Schomburg, Rüdiger, Head of Department, Ministry for Economic and Labour Affairs , Germany
Mr. Hintze-Schomburg has been the Head of the Industry Department at the Ministry for Economic and Labour Affairs of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany since 2007. He is responsible for the management and coordination of the Aviation Cluster Metropolitan Region of Hamburg that was one of the five winners of the “Spitzencluster” Competition held by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research in 2008. He is further concerned with strategy development for networks, technology and innovation support, and economy-oriented policy development for the aerospace and maritime industry in Hamburg. Following the Change of his Ministry to the Hamburg Ministry for Economy, Transport and Innovation his Section finishes a reorganization-process. Further on it will be responsible for Cluster governance and –development on behalf of the Hamburg Clusters Renewable Energy, Life Science, Aviation Industry, Maritime Industry and E-Mobility. Rüdiger Hintze-Schomburg has been with the public administration of the City of Hamburg for over 10 years, holding positions such as Deputy Head of the State Authority for Aviation at the Ministry for Economic and Labour Affairs (2004–2007) and in the Working Group “Scientology” at the Hamburg Ministry of the Interior (1998–2004). His academic background is in law, he is a fully qualified lawyer.
Hulkkonen, Juha, Business Development Executive, IBM Global Business Services
Mr. Juha Hulkkonen (MSc, MBA) has more than fifteen years of experience from consulting and solution business operations in IBM Finland and IBM's international organisations. Mr Hulkkonen is currently responsible for Business Development in IBM Global Business Services. His past positions include Business Operations for Global Business Services in the four Nordic countries, Country Manager for Global Business Services in Finland and Practice Leader for Business Consulting Services in the Nordics. Juha has gained living knowledge in establishing new services business practices and leading transformation of acquired professional services practices. As a member of IBM's global Smarter Cities Technical and Strategy Communities. Juha contributes to IBM's current innovation programs.
Juha has lead several service innovation and service transformation projects for enterprises and contributed as a member and a chairman in several public-private innovation and research programs. At the moment Juha is the chairman of The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries' BestServ Forum project. BestServ Forum is a research and development forum for industrial services business. Juha also is the chairman of the Advisory Board for Services and Logistics client unit of State Research Center of Finland.
Kallio, Janne, Head of Digital Marketing, Suunto, Finland
Janne Kallio is leading the digital services into a new era in Suunto. The vision is to create customer centric solutions that are driven by innovation and latest technology. This involves high tech instruments, utilizing mobile applications, embowering cloud connectivity, enabling ecommerce and efficient support tools to drive unique added value throughout the consumer journey. Janne Kallio has been in Suunto for four years in various positions related to Suunto service & software offering. He has a long background on ICT in for example in public sector IT consulting and managing software company as CEO.
Kox, Henk L. M., Senior Economist, Netherlands' Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the Netherlands
Henk LM Kox is a senior economist at Netherlands' Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). CPB is the main economic think tank of the Dutch government, specialised in policy-relevant economic research. Before 1999, Kox held positions as assistant professor at the universities of Tilburg and the Free University in Amsterdam. Current research focuses on the empirics of international trade, and services markets. He wrote widely about the economics of services markets. Further information is available at http://works.bepress.com/henk_kox/.
Kuusisto, Jari, Head of SC-Research Institute, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland
Dr. Jari Kuusisto is Head of SC-Research Institute at the Lappeenranta University of Technology. Jari is also visiting scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and visiting Professor at the University of Sussex.
On business context Jari is the director of European Touch Ltd. a research based consulting firm. Current activities range from EU-level policy projects to innovation management development in business context. Specific focus areas include intangibles management, service innovation, user-driven innovation, and policy development. Most recent assignments include: innovation policy and programme development with the OECD, EU Commission, Nordic Council of Ministers, Tekes – the national innovation agency of Finland, Commonwealth of Australia, and Austrian Innovation Agency.
The on-going assignments focus on service innovation, and user-driven innovation and indicator development for user innovation.
Lehtinen, Lea, Director, Service Business and Marketing, KONE LLC
Lea Lehtinen has more than 15 years experience in Service Business operations and development from Consulting, Logistics and Mobile Phones industries around the world. For past 8 years she has worked for KONE Corporation first as head of Global Service Innovations department and recently as Service Business Director for KONE Middle East. KONE is one of the global leaders in elevator and escalator industry. U.S. based business magazine Forbes has recently ranked KONE the 39th most innovative company in the world. KONE is also the only elevator and escalator company that has make it to the top 50.
Lehto, Petri, Head of Division, Innovation Department, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Finland
Petri Lehto is Head of Division at the Innovation Department of Finland's Ministry of Employment and the Economy. His responsibilities include demand and user-driven innovation policy. The objective is to enlarge the scope of the innovation policy of Finland by bringing in new innovation actors and new instruments for the policy. Petri Lehto has extensive background also on industrial and competition policy. He holds a Ph.D. in economics.
Leimeister, Jan Marco, Professor, University of Kassel, Germany
Prof Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister, University of Kassel Jan Marco Leimeister is a Full Professor of Information Systems and holds the Chair for Information Systems at Kassel University where he is also the director of the interdisciplinary research center for IS design (ITeG).
He holds an MBA and a PhD from Hohenheim University and received his post-doctoral lecture qualification (Habilitation) from TUM - Technische Universität München. Jan Marco runs various research groups and manages several publicly funded research projects and his work has been awarded various prizes, such as the TUM Research Excellence Award in Innovation & Leadership or the Integrata Foundation Award for Human-oriented IT Innovation Design. Jan Marco's teaching and research areas include service engineering and management, IT innovation management, collaboration engineering, e‑health, ubiquitous and mobile computing, and IT management. For more information please visit http://www.wi-kassel.de
Lämmer-Gamp, Thomas, Consultant, Kompetenznetze Deutschland, Germany
Thomas Lämmer-Gamp is working as a consultant at the international technology cooperation and cluster policy department of VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH in Berlin, Germany. Being an expert for developing and implementing public funding programs, he has been working with regional and economic development policy topics for more than twelve years. Thomas has gathered his experience at two international consultancy companies and the Saxonian State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour (German Federal State Government). Prior to his current engagement he served for two years as a technical advisor for international cooperation at the South African Department of Science and Technology.
MacAulay, Brian, Director Innovation Index, NESTA, UK
Brian MacAulay is an economist with over 15 years of experience in advanced conceptual and practical work. Highly specialised in all areas of economics, in particular micro and industrial economics. Brian MacAulay works as Director Innovation Index at NESTA on a National project initiated by UK government for improved measure of UK innovation. Project explores new methodologies and metrics for measuring innovation in changing UK economic environment. Commissioning new analysis as well as primary research, project is a significant advance in international innovation research. Previously Brian MacAulay has been a lecturer in Economics at London Metropolitan University.
Martikainen, Mikko, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Finland
Mikko Martikainen is working as Ministerial Adviser at the Innovation Department of Finland's Ministry of Employment and the Economy. His main focus at the moment is public service innovations. Here the objective is to benefit from public private partnership by using the creativity of the private service producers to introduce new innovations, learn to use public procurement to support innovations and involve the customers in the design and production of public services. Mikko Martikainen has previously worked at the Confederation of Finnish Industries.
Martinsson, Irene, EPISIS steering group, Senior Programme Manager,Vinnova, Sweden
Dr. Irene Martinsson is working as Senior Programme Manager for Innovation in the Service Society at the Swedish Innovation Agency where she has a number of years experience in innovation research and commercialization as well as developing service innovation policy. Dr. Martinsson has also worked broader and defined a Ministry Commissions uniting the innovation/research/education policy areas. Her policy-oriented competence has been proven during numerous international assignments as expert, project manager, and during policy consultations. Currently Dr. Martinsson is appointed national expert on service innovation by the European Commission, and is also consulted as expert by the United Nations. She is responsible for the Swedish participation in the EU-funded EPISIS project. Dr. Martinsson is innovation management expert and appointed member to several board of directors. She holds a PhD in Management from Stockholm University.
Mayo, Allan, EPISIS steering group, Head of Department, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, United Kingdom
Allan Mayo is Head of the UK’s Department for Business Services Policy Unit. His team was responsible for the publication of the Government report on “Supporting Innovation in Services” in 2008 and, in March 2010, for an interim report on “Professional and Business Services: A 2020 Vision for Growth”. He was actively involved in the Government’s Plan for Growth, published in 2011. He is engaged in European policy networks, participating in the EPISIS project. At the European Commission’s invitation, Allan Mayo also Chaired the European Panel of Experts on Service Innovation which examined the potential for service innovation to meet the challenge of Europe 2020, namely securing smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the Panel reported to Vice President Tajani in February 2011.
Meier zu Köcker, Gerd, Managing Director, Kompetenznetze Deutschland, VDI/VDE-IT, Germany
Dr. Gerd Meier zu Köcker made his PhD in Material Science in 1995 and joined VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH in 1999. Since 2007 is acts as Director of the Agency Competence Networks Germany, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), which supports the best German regional networks and clusters in Germany. In the same year he also became Director of the Institue for Innovation and Technology, Berlin. Besides of his scientific work in technical and socio-economic areas, he is deeply involved in various projects dealing with clusters, competitiveness and innovation policy issues. Cluster benchmarking, the management of clusters as well as cluster policy matters are one of his main scope of work since many years.From 2007 – 2008 he was active Member of the High Level Advisory to the EC and contributed to the European Cluster Memorandum, in 2009 is joint the European Commissions’s European Cluster Policy Group. He is also serves on various advisory boards (European Cluster Obeservatory, TACTICS, REG X, PRO INNO PARTNERING Council or the French Network Euro-Mediterranean Innovation)
Mikkanen, Pirita, Executive Vice President, PhD, GreenStream Network, Finland
Pirita Mikkanen has more than ten years of experience in industry and more than five years of experience in consultancy. She has wide experience in management, development and implementation of strategy and innovation processes for industry and public entities. In addition, she has established companies and participated management teams of several others. She has been managing and implementing quality systems (ISO 9001, 14001) and been profoundly involved in environmental policy and permit processes as well as permit requirements within companies and as a service provider. Prior to her industrial career, she worked as a research scientist in renewable energy sector for international industrial alliances.
Dr. Mikkanen holds a Ph.D. on applied physics from the Helsinki University of Technology. She has published ca 20 scientific articles and over 80 seminar papers. Mikkanen also has a patent granted on combustion related invention.
Mikola, Anssi, Managing Director, Megaklinikka, Finland
Anssi Mikola (M.Sc. Int. Marketing) is Partner, Managing Director at Megaklinikka. His past positions include Managing Consultant at Nordic Healthcare Group Oy where his responsibilities related to R&D and international benchmarking of internal efficiency of elective surgery. In addition he has acted as a partner at C-Quest Oy/Ltd (Helsinki/London), as Wireless Partnership Manager at RTS Networks Plc (London) and as Managing Director (Owner) at Polydata Oy (Helsinki, Istanbul, Moscow).
Miles, Ian, Professor, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, the United Kingdom
Ian is Professor of Technological Innovation and Social Change at Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Manchester Business School, and also Head of the Laboratory of Economics of Innovation at ISSEK, Higher School of Economics, Moscow (where he spends two months each year). Ian Miles graduated in psychology from the University of Manchester in 1969, and received a higher Doctorate in Social Science from the same University in 2011. After almost twenty years as a researcher at the University of Sussex’s Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), he joined University of Manchester’s Programme of Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST – now absorbed into the Manchester institute of Innovation Research,. MIoIR) in 1991. He is also a director of the Centre for Service Research at MBS. In addition to research on service innovation and Knowledge-Intensive Business Services, his work has encompassed foresight and futures studies, information technology studies, and social indicators. Numerous works are available online, in addition to many more conventional publications.
Mischke, Jan, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), Switzerland
Dr. Jan Mischke is a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey's business and economics research arm, based in Zurich. He joined MGI in 2010 to lead work on the theme of Growth and Renewal in Advanced Economies. Recent research includes efforts on growth and renewal in Europe and several European countries, on key trends shaping advanced economies, and on service trade.
Prior to joining MGI, Jan worked for 10 years as a consultant and associate partner with McKinsey. During that time, he gained broad exposure to the European market landscape. He served clients in 12 European countries in a broad range of industries, including telecoms, logistics, high tech, automotive, media, and financial services.
Before joining McKinsey, Jan completed a master’s degree in electrical engineering after studies at RWTH Aachen and Imperial College London. He earned a Ph.D. (Dr. sc.) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich.
Modig, Sara, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden
Sara Modig is Senior Adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications. She manages the cross-ministerial team that coordinates the work with the National Innovation Strategy. Ms. Modig was awarded the 2nd Service Innovation Promoter Award by Almega, employer and trade organization for the Swedish service sector in 2010, for her work with the Swedish Service Innovation Strategy. With an education in economics and political science, she has worked with a broad set of innovation policy issues as an analyst, detached national expert and adviser in both Swedish and EU administrations since the mid-nineties.
Movin, Staffan, Director, Marketing Technology Center, MTC, Sweden
Staffan Movin is director for the foundation Marketing Technology Center, MTC. MTC promotes value-creating interaction and learning between business and research in the areas of market, innovation, service development and business enterprising. Staffan Movin runs several projects that link the business needs with the knowledge and expertise within academia. Within service innovation Staffan Movin presently leads a project that focuses on how business can improve their benefits from service innovations. This project is the third consecutive project with industry members focusing on service innovation. The projects have been running for more then ten years, with strong engagement from leading international companies and top researchers. Staffan Movin has previously worked as management consultant within service management and applied research. He has written several books and articles covering service, ICT, leadership and innovation.
Pilvinen, Heikki, Chairman of the Board, Megaklinikka, Finland
Heikki Pilvinen (Licenced dentist,EMBA) is Partner, Chairman of the board in Megaklinikka. His past positions include e.g. Managing Director at Hoffmanco Health Consulting as well as at Executive Medical Center EMC Oy. Executive Medical Center EMC Oy has created a totally new concept for the management of health risks arising from unexpected and uncontrolled sickness in the top management and group of top executives in corporations with full pension liability.
Rami, Bernhard, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany
Dr. Bernhard Rami is Deputy Director-General responsible for key technologies for growth in the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since November 2010. He has been employed in the Ministry for more than 30 years and has been engaged in areas like environmental research, microsystems technology, space and European research policy. In particular he was involved in the implementation of the 6th EU Research Framework Programme and the preparation of the German position towards the upcoming 7th EU-FRP from 2000-2005.
From 2005 - 2009 he was Director-General in the DLR/German Space Agency responsible for planning, budget and European space policy matters.
Sabalza, Xabier, University of the Basque Country (Spain)
Dr. Ing. Xabier Sabalza is electrical engineer from the Institut National Politechnique de Grenoble (France), Ph.D. in control systems from the University of Mondragon (Spain), and MBA from the University of the Basque Country (Spain). He is currently Director of Innovation and Information Society in the Ministry of Industry of the Basque Government. His professional experience comes mainly from the private sector, where he spent more than 15 years in R&D responsibilities in the machine-tool industry in the Danobat Group, and later as the Director of a R&D center in the ICT sector linked with the University of Deusto (Spain).
Smith, Cathy, Broadcast journalist, SpeakEasy, Belgium
Cathy Smith is a British broadcast journalist. She is a former Brussels based correspondent for both the BBC and GMTV and was a main presenter of Channel Four News in the UK. She is a founding partner of the Brussels based communications company SpeakEasy. She now specialises in media training, presentation training and conference moderating for a wide range of international clients. Cathy also presents European Journal, a weekly magazine programme for Deutsche Welle TV.
Tanninen-Ahonen, Tiina, Director, Service Innovation, Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.
Tiina is the Director of Service Innovation unit in Tekes. Her main areas of responsibility are academic service research and service related innovation policies. She has been the main architect of Tekes strategies in service business and service innovation since 2001. She is responsible for implementing the latest strategy theme on services “Value creation based on service solutions and intangible contents”.
Tiina was a member of CREST Working Group R&D in Services funded by DG Research in 2007. Tiina is also an executive director of Tekes Serve Innovative Services programme (2006–2013), a total budget 224 milj.€.
Vad, Torben, Partner and executive director, DAMVAD, Denmark
Torben Vad is a founding partner and executive director at DAMVAD and has worked as a consultant for more than 10 years. Also he has experience from research positions at the Max Planck Institute for social studies in Germany and from analyst positions in an enterprise association. He has worked on projects with clients in several industries and functional areas. He is an expert in the areas of research evaluation, service industries, innovation, technical standardization and export promotion mechanisms. Torben Vad is a board member of the innovation network Service Cluster Denmarkand a member of the state committee for service innovation. He holds a PhD from the University of Copenhagen.
Zerdick, Alexander, Head of Operations Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Google
Alexander Taro Zerdick has more than fifteen years of experience in strategy development and sales management in the high-tech, software, and internet industry. Currently Mr. Zerdick is Head of Operations Germany, Austria, Switzerland at Google. His past positions include Vice President Corporate Strategy, Office of the CEO at SAP, as well as Senior Engagement Manager for the High Tech Practice at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
