Previous Edition

H.E. Hussain Al Mahmoudi
CEO of Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park

H.E. Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh
CEO Talal Abu Ghazaleh Group

H.E. Hussain Ibrahim AlHammadi
Cabinet Member and Minister of Education, UAE Federal Government
Personal space: how technology and a global pandemic is changing how we experience the physical world
Sharjah 10:45 am, Paris 8:45 am, NYC 2:45 am – 1 hour session
COVID-19 has accelerated our reliance on online experiences. As a collective, we have rapidly adapted to digital learning, working, and socializing. But with so much of our daily lives increasingly happening online, how does this change our relationship to our physical surroundings? This panel of experts discusses what is to be gained through digital possibilities, and what we might be missing with less physical interaction.

Carine de Meyere
CCO Women in Tech®

Sergio Guerreiro
Senior Director, Knowledge Management & Innovation, Turismo de Portugal

Galit Ariel
Founder & Head of Futures, Future Memory Inc

Hugh Hyung-uk Choi
Innovation Catalyst & CEO, Life Square: Innovation Design Company

George Hedon
Founder & CEO PauseFest

Dr. Wei Zhao
Chief Research Officer - American University of Sharjah
Interview
Sharjah 11:45am, Paris 9:45am, NYC 3:45am – 15 minutes session

Baybars Altuntas
Executive Chairman, World Business Angels Investment Forum

Marta Leite Castro
Founder & CEO Project N360
Zoom. SkyWay String Transport in SRTI Park
Sharjah 12:00pm, Paris 10:00am, NYC 4:00am – 15 minutes session
SkyWay String Transport is designed to change forever the conception of speed, comfort and safety on the roads. These systems are superior to all the known types of ropeways and monorails, whereas they have all their advantages that allow to ride above the ground at speeds of up to 500 km/h.

Svetlana Voloshina
Head of Business Development at Unitsky String Technologies
Keynote
Sharjah 12:15pm, Paris 10:15am, NYC 4:15am – 15 minutes session
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and Africanews, will be expresssing how the news industry is having to adapt in an era where digitalization has given access to an abundance of information and has created a very competitive market to reach.

Michael Peters
CEO Euronews and Africanews
Panel. Surviving disruption: how to rethink transportation and get it off the ground
Sharjah 12:30pm, Paris 10:30am, NYC 4:30am – 1 hour session
Modern transportation is currently experiencing major changes thanks to transformative transportation technologies. In this panel, industry leaders discuss how the next era of transportation will be off the ground.

Kyle Weber
Managing Partner at Leaf

Florence Verzelen
Executive Vice President in charge of industry, marketing and sustainability at Dassault Systèmes

Anton Skibin
Head of Energy & Transport Sector at Skolkovo Foundation

Didier Chabaud
Professor of Management Sciences at IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School, General Director Chair Entrepreneurship Territory Innovation (ETI)

Sohaila Ouffata
Director of Platform at BMW i Ventures

Daniel Avdagic
Co-founder & CEO of AV living Lab
Firesidechat.
Sharjah 1:30pm, Paris 11:30am, NYC 5:30am – 15 minutes session

Lindalia Junqueira Reis
CEO Ions & Hacking.Rio

Paula Drumond Guedes
CEO & Founder Jobzi
Interview
Sharjah 1:45pm, Paris 11:45am, NYC 5:45am – 15 minutes session
Dr Abdallah Suleiman, Head of Strategy Department & Chief Innovation, Officer Ministry of Justice, UAE, will be sharing his thoughts on the future of justice in relevance with technological advancements and sustainable development goals.

Dr Abdalla Sulaiman Alhammadi
Head of Strategy Department & Chief Innovation, Officer Ministry of Justice, UAE

David Savage
Founder and Host Tech Talks
Fireside chat
Sharjah 2pm, Paris 12am, NYC 6am – 30 minutes session
Melissa Slaymaker, South Africa’s Women in tech ambassador will be having a fireside chat with Dr Adriana Marais, a theoretical physicist, international speaker and the Founder of Proudly Human, pioneering new frontiers in research and technology for a resilient future on Earth, Mars and beyond.

Dr Adriana Marais
Founder, Proudly Human

Melissa Slaymaker
Executive Search Specialist | Women in Tech South Africa Ambassador
Panel. A sustainable future or no future at all: how together industry sectors can save the planet
Sharjah 2:30pm, Paris 12:30pm, NYC 6:30am – 1 hour session
It is understood that a cohesive work environment and cross-collaboration is the most effective path to innovation. Companies talk constantly about breaking down silos, building partnerships, and creating ecosystems. But what about across industries? To innovate for humanity, a holistic view that transcends borders and industries is required. In this panel, experts from government, industry, and nonprofits discuss what it means to have true inter-sector partnership, and how to do it well.

Polina Vasilenko
Founder & CEO at HelioRec

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi
General Director, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)

Jennifer Nielsen
Founder at Ekko.World

Alaa (kamal) Afifi
CEO at Bekia

Sarah Mousa
Founder at Shamsina
Keynote
Sharjah 3:30pm, Paris 1:30pm, NYC 7:30am – 15 minutes session
If innovation can change a country, it can change our entire region: Jerusalem, Abu Dabi, Cairo, Amman Dubai, Casablanca, Tunisa, Riad

Erel Margalit, PhD
Founder & Executive Chairman, JVP & Margalit Startup City, building Centers of Excellence
Keynote
Sharjah 3:45pm, Paris 1:45pm, NYC 7:45am – 30 minutes session

H.E. Sarah Al Amiri
Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Chair of the UAE Space Agency
Ministerial panel
Sharjah 4:15pm, Paris 2:15pm, NYC 8:15am – 1 hour session
Ministerial panel on sustainable development in 2020-2030. The role of innovation and technology transfer in the decade to come in order to achieve the UN’s SDG’s.

H.E. Tarek Shawki
Minister of Education and Technical education, Government of Egypt

H.E. Dr. Muhyieddeen Touq
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Jordan

H.E. Teuta Sahatqija
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Republic of Kosovo

Caroline Faraj
VP Arabic Services, CNN
Panel. The Future of Space. Why and How can we take humans to Mars?
Sharjah 5:15pm, Paris 3:15pm, NYC 9:15am – 1 hour session
A human mission to Mars is no longer science fiction. Getting humans to Mars and keeping them safe is something we should witness in a pretty near future. Why and How should humankind reach the red planet?

Dr Christyl Johnson
Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments at NASA

Dr. Farouk El-Baz
Director, CRS at Boston University

Dr. Douglas Terrier
Chief Technology Officer at NASA

Dr. James Green
Chief Scientist at NASA

Dr. Fabienne Casoli
President of the Paris Observatory - PSL

Omran Sharaf
Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM)
Keynote by Swati Mandela
Sharjah 6:15pm, Paris 4:15pm, NYC 10:15am – 5 minutes session
Swati Mandela is a co-founder of the Qunu Staffing Human Capital Solutions entity, co-founder of Long Walk to Freedom Clothing and a non-profit that delivers container libraries to disadvantaged communities in South Africa. She is a real social entrepreneur who supports important values, following in the footsteps of her grandfather Nelson Mandela. Introducing our next panel, Swati shares her insights on how important it is to reduce the digital divide in every country across the globe.

Swati Mandela
Humanitatian and Co-Founder at Qunu Staffing
Panel. Internet as a fundamental right: how to reduce the digital divide
Sharjah 6:20pm, Paris 4:20pm, NYC 10:20am – 55 minutes session
Disparity in our access to technology, and the internet, exists everywhere. Within countries and between countries, our ability to gain an education, employment, and information is crucial to our quality of life, but ultimately depends on where you live and your economic circumstances. In this panel, we discuss why equal access to the internet is key to the prosperity of generations to come, and what actions are being taken now to reduce the digital divide.

Isabelle Mauro
Director - Head Telecommunications & Digital Communication Industry at World Economic Forum

Dr. Michael Amiridis
Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago

Danielle Geathers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Undergraduate Association President

Adel Darwish
Director of Regional Office for the Arab Region at International Telecommunication Union

Danny Arazi
President, Keirtsu Forum Israeli Chapter at 100 Plus Angels club
Tech Talk – The 15 minutes City
Sharjah 7:15pm, Paris 5:15pm, NYC 11:15am – 15 minutes session

Pr Carlos Moreno
Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the “Entrepreneurship, Territory, Innovation” Pantheon Sorbonne University
Panel. Planting the seed: from a smart city to the living city
Sharjah 7:30pm, Paris 5:30pm, NYC 11:30am – 1 hour session
Smart Cities represent a Utopian Paradise in 2020. A place where technology creates a seamless experience for the pleasure of a community. But smart cities are contentious, with questions around privacy, security, and the impact they have on the environment. So how do we make a smart city a liveable one? This panel of experts discuss how to take the best parts of technology and innovation, and build them into an ethical, sustainable space.

Dr Amy Hochadel
Director of Global Business, Connected Places Catapult

Pr Carlos Moreno
Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the “Entrepreneurship, Territory, Innovation” Pantheon Sorbonne University

Dr. Ibrahim Hafeez
Director India and CEO, VITO Arabia LLC, VITO

Nishan Chelvachandran
Founder & CEO, Iron Lakes

Pilar Conesa
CEO at anteverti

Franco Atassi
CEO Smart Infrastructure Middle East, Siemens
Firesidechat
Sharjah 8:30pm, Paris 6:30pm, NYC 12:30pm – 15 minutes session
Sustainable innovation depends not only on the collaboration of countries and industry, but on the financial health of the community. Veronica Zavala Lombardi, Managing Director of the Inter-American Development Bank and Former Minister of Transport in Peru, is an expert in digital transformation and inclusion. She joins Isabelle Verlarde to discuss the impact technology is making to global economics.

Isabel Velarde
Founder & CEO Innovation Hub Consulting. Women in Tech® Ambassador for Peru

Veronica Zavala
Former Minister of Transport of Peru. Managing Director Inter-Development Bank, Central America & Caribbean
Firesidechat with Dr Paulo Alvim, Secretary Minister of Technology and Innovation of Brazil
Sharjah 8:45pm, Paris 6:45pm, NYC 12:45pm – 15 minutes session

Dr Paulo Alvim
Secretary Minister of Technology and Innovation of Brazil

Ayumi Moore Aoki
Founder & CEO Women in Tech® and Social Brain
Panel. Less is more: how minimalism is the key to achieving 2030 SDGs
Sharjah 9:00pm, Paris 7:00pm, NYC 1:00pm – 1 hour session
It’s difficult to visualize a happy future without first considering climate change and the need for sustainable solutions to current challenges. Over-consumption is a visible piece of the puzzle, requiring a global shift in how we produce and consume. In this panel, we’ll hear leaders in environmental innovation, design, and architecture discuss what current technology and innovation trends exist to help reduce waste.

David Ramos
Senior Manager Sustainability - HSBC

Ghassan ABI FADEL
Cofounder and Managing Partner at Moodfit

Tatiana Mitrova
Director of the Energy Centre at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

Jason Grant
Founder at The Automated Method

Monaem Ben Lellahom
Group CEO Sustainable Square
Panel. Women in Tech, how gender parity is fostering economic growth
Sharjah 10:00pm, Paris 8:00pm, NYC 2:00pm – 1 hour session
Most organizations recognize the need for gender parity on their teams, not only to drive diversity of thought, but to create equal opportunities in their local communities. Powered by Women in Tech®, this panel of female leaders discuss the ways in which gender parity in their organizations have helped their immediate bottom line, as well as secured potential in future prosperity.

Carolyn Stebbings
Managing Director CodeWorldwide, SVP Data & Tech RAPP

Arshi Ayub Mohamed Zaveri
CEO at Trust With Trade Group

Tatiana Serykh
Chief Product Officer at Zyfra

Alba San Martin Piaggio
Sr. Director,LatAm Partner Organization at Cisco

Sophie Smith
Co-founder and CEO at Nabta Health

Orly Fromer
Advisor to the President of TAU, Director of Academic Relations & Business Development in Asia at Tel Aviv University
Firesidechat
Sharjah 11:00pm, Paris 9:00pm, NYC 3:00pm – 15 minutes session
The lack of gender parity in technology, and the reasons for it, are talked about often. However, how are we sourcing the basis for this conversation? What is the process behind the research being collected? In this session, Joanna Carson is joined by Dr Amina Yagoubi Kurtin, one of Canada’s leading sociologists, to share her research on the global inequalities between boys and girls.

Joanna Carson
Global Operations Director, Women in Tech®

Dr Amina Yagoubi Kurtin
Sociologist & Researcher
Closing remarks
Sharjah 11:15pm, Paris 9:15pm, NYC 3:15pm – 5 minutes session

H.E. Hussain Al Mahmoudi
CEO of Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park
International Experts

H.E. Hussain Al Mahmoudi
CEO Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park

H.E. Sarah Al Amiri
Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Chair of the UAE Space Agency

H.E. Hussain Ibrahim AlHammadi
Cabinet Member and Minister of Education, UAE Federal Government

H.E. Tarek Shawki
Minister of Education and Technical education, Government of Egypt

H.E. Dr. Muhyieddeen Touq
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Jordan

H.E. Teuta Sahatqija
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Republic of Kosovo

H.E. Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh
Chairman and founder of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global)

Dr. Farouk El-Baz
Director, CRS at Boston University

Dr Paulo Alvim
Secretary Minister of the Government for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications, Brazil

Veronica Zavala
Former Minister of Transport and Communications of Peru. Managing Director Inter-Development Bank, Central America & Caribbean

Dr. Douglas Terrier
Chief Technology Officer at NASA headquarters

Dr Christyl Johnson
Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. James Green
Chief Scientist at NASA Headquarters

Dr. Fabienne Casoli
President of the Paris Observatory - PSL

Baybars Altuntas
Chairman, World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)

Dr. Adriana Marais
Founder @Proudly Human

Swati Mandela
Humanitatian and Co-Founder at Qunu Staffing

Michael Peters
CEO Euronews and Africanews

Paula Drumond Guedes
CEO & Founder Jobzi

Dr. Abdalla Sulaiman Alhammadi
Head of Strategy Department & Chief Innovation, Officer Ministry of Justice, UAE

Erel Margalit PhD
Founder and Chairman, JVP and Margalit Startup City

Florence Verzelen
Executive Vice President in charge of industry, marketing and sustainability at Dassault Systèmes

Dr. Michael Amiridis
Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago

Isabelle Mauro
Director - Head Telecommunications & Digital Communication Industry at World Economic Forum

Pr Carlos Moreno
Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the “Entrepreneurship, Territory, Innovation” Pantheon Sorbonne University

Caroline Faraj
VP Arabic Services, CNN

Didier Chabaud
Professor of Management Sciences at IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School, General Director Chair Entrepreneurship Territory Innovation (ETI)

Dr Amy Hochadel
Director of Global Business, Connected Places Catapult

Ayumi Moore Aoki
Founder & CEO Women in Tech® and Social Brain®

David Savage
Founder and Host Tech Talks

Lindalia Junqueira Reis
CEO Ions & Hacking.Rio

Franco Atassi
CEO Smart Infrastructure Middle East, Siemens

Pilar Conesa
CEO at anteverti

Omran Sharaf
Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM)

Galit Ariel
Founder & Head of Futures, Future Memory Inc

Jason Grant
Founder at The Automated Method

Hugh Hyung-uk Choi
Innovation Catalyst & CEO, Life Square: Innovation Design Company

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi
General Director, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)

Dr. Ibrahim Hafeez
DIRECTOR INDIA and CEO, VITO Arabia LLC, VITO

Carolyn Stebbings
Managing Director CodeWorldwide, SVP Data & Tech RAPP

Orly Fromer
Advisor to the President of TAU, Director of Academic Relations & Business Development in Asia at Tel Aviv University

Ghassan ABI FADEL
Cofounder and Managing Partner at Moodfit

Kyle Weber
Managing Partner at Leaf

Dr Amy Hochadel
Director of Global Business, Connected Places Catapult

Sophie Smith
Co-founder and CEO at Nabta Health

Sergio Guerreiro
Senior Director, Knowledge Management & Innovation, Turismo de Portugal

Alba San Martin Piaggio
Sr. Director,LatAm Partner Organization at Cisco

Danielle Geathers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Undergraduate Association President

Melissa Slaymaker
Executive Search Specialist | Women in Tech South Africa Ambassador

Nishan Chelvachandran
Founder & CEO, Iron Lakes

Alaa (kamal) Afifi
CEO at Bekia

Isabel Velarde
Founder & CEO Innovation Hub Consulting. Women in Tech® Ambassador for Peru

Dan (Danny) Arazi
President, Keirtsu Forum Israeli Chapter at 100 Plus Angels club

Jennifer Nielsen
Founder at Ekko.World

George Hedon
Founder and CEO, Pause Fest

Anton Skibin
Head of Energy & Transport Sector at Skolkovo Foundation

Joanna Carson
Global Operations Director, Women in Tech®

Monaem Ben Lellahom
Group CEO Sustainable Square

Polina Vasilenko
Founder & CEO at HelioRec

Daniel Avdagic
Co-founder & CEO of AV living Lab

Tatiana Mitrova
Director of the Energy Centre at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

Adel Darwish
Director of Regional Office for the Arab Region at International Telecommunication Union

Sohaila Ouffata
Director of Platform at BMW i Ventures

Tatiana Serykh
Chief Product Officer at Zyfra

Svetlana Voloshina
Head of Business Development at Unitsky String Technologies

Dr. Wei Zhao
Chief Research Officer - American University of Sharjah

Sarah Mousa
Founder at Shamsina

David Ramos
Senior Manager Sustainability - HSBC

Dr Amina Yagoubi Kurtin
Sociologist Consultant