MEET OUR SPEAKERS
The Future of Smart City was discussed on the Smart City & Mobility Stage. Attendees discovered innovative approaches to reshaping urban environments, from green planning and the digital transformation of governance to designing the cities of tomorrow.
Tijn Kuyper
Advisor Digital Innovation & Smart Cities (at the City of The Hague)
Tijn Kuyper is an accomplished advisor in Digital Innovation and Smart Cities at the City of The Hague. With a strong background in strategic management and urban innovation, Tijn plays a pivotal role in building strategic partnerships and managing projects within the Living Lab Scheveningen. He has taken on various roles as advisor, entrepreneur and accountmanager in the field of Smart Cities. Tijn is dedicated to fostering collaboration between government, businesses, knowledge institutions and citizens, to drive sustainable and innovative urban solutions. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Living Lab Scheveningen: The Urban Innovation Testbed 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Discover how Living Lab Scheveningen transforms the Scheveningen boulevard of about 3,5 kilometres into a testbed for urban innovation. With over 14 million visitors a year, this coastal area of The Hague is an ideal environment to experiment with new innovations. This keynote highlights the project’s goals, its advanced underlying digital infrastructure, and some of the successful innovations that have been developed so far. Learn about the collaborative efforts between the stakeholders and the positive impact of the Living Lab on sustainability, safety, and social cohesion.
Philipp Henzgen
Team Lead Mobility
Dr. Philipp Henzgen is a team lead in the field of new mobility with over ten years of practical experience. In his current role he is responsible for the rollout of mobility hubs and charging infrastructure for EVs at train stations. In his former function he worked for Mercedes-Benz Group and absolved an industrial doctoral program in the field of connected, automated, shared and electric (CASE) mobility. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Impact of mobility hubs and EV charging infrastructure on train stations in context of smart cities 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Train stations have a central function inside the smart city. This session will give insights on how mobility hubs and EV charging infrastructure can impact positively the customers journey at train stations. Furthermore, there will be shown how train stations transform in a holistic way by contributing to the smart city.
José Ondiviela
Director Human-Centered Intelligent City Research Institute
Director Human-Centered Intelligent Cities Research Institute at Universidad Francisco Vitoria, Madrid www.attractivecities.com Strategy Senior Advisor at City of Zaragoza (Spain) Associate Member of Urban Innovators Global. https://www.urbaninnovators.global/ Ex Microsoft Western Europe Government Industry Advisor for Cities&Regions. (29 years) Frequent speaker at International events. PhD at UFV, Madrid with Thesis “Beyond SmartCities: How to create an Attractive City for Talented Citizens”. 175 World Cities Analysed since 2020. ORCID (Academic Profile): https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6732-8754 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: The AI-driven City of Future 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Most advanced cities are fully based on AI in their Digital Transformation Plans. 5 main pillars are supported: Citizen relationship with GenerativeAI, Gov Officials Efficiency with AssistiveAI, Physical City Monitoring and Simulation with Digital twins and Machine learning, Social City with Analytics and Prediction, Exploring next MetaCity / Citiverse paradigm.
Hans Teuben
Global Lead Smart Territories
Hans Teuben is Global Leader Smart Territories in the Public Sector for Capgemini and co-leader on the Value Chain Mobility for a Better World. He works for large cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tampere, Gelsenkirchen, and many more. Regional Authorities, the Department of Infrastructure and Water Management and the European Union. He helped develop the Dutch Metropolitan Innovations initiative and works on the EU programs Local Digital Twins and Intelligent City Challenge. Hans is (co)author of several publications on Smart Cities, Smart Mobility and Mobility as a Service and key-note speaker on these topics. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Working on societal challenges with digital twinning and federated data ecosystems 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Are you a city leader and are you struggling with the complexity of managing all the transitions in your city? How do you plan the growth of your city and stimulate economic development while at the same time create a liveable and more sustainable city with a high quality of live? Is there a way to get more grip on all these policy domains and have better insights? How to I make better decisions based on data and insights? Then this session is for you, as it will explain how data ecosystems and digital twinning are of help. And how to make high level EU policy practical and work for you. EU is working on the the Twin Transition with the Member States. The Twin Transition is about how the digital transition and the green transition go hand in hand. This session will show how cities can work on societal challenges by collaborating in public private data ecosystems and digital twinning. By diving into the Local Digital Twins initiative at EU level and explaining the Dutch Metropolitan Innovations initiative in the Netherlands. The Dutch National Growth Fund invested 85 million Euro to help build this DMI initiative. Hans will not only explain the overall EU and NL strategy, and how this initiative will play a key role in the Twin Transition. He will show examples on how and urban data platform helps to speed up development of new use cases in domains such as housing, urban planning and urban operations but also in energy transition. The DMI ecosystem currently has almost 30 mid size and large cities, 2 departments, 3 provinces, 2 RTOs and between 60 and 70 companies (from start ups and scale ups to multinationals).
Alin Nita
Sales Director ICT Division
Alin is a dynamic Sales Director with over 20 years of expertise in sales management, business development, and team leadership across Romania's telecommunications and technology sectors. Currently at the helm of the ICT Division at Dahua Technology, Alin spearheads the company’s strategic vision for digital transformation, centred on Dahua's "Heart of City" initiative. This concept aims to create safer, smarter cities by integrating AIoT solutions across urban management, security, and connectivity. In his role, Alin develops and executes tailored go-to-market strategies, expanding Dahua’s presence by building comprehensive sales channels and strategic partnerships. He’s instrumental in incorporating Dahua’s non-CCTV products—including Pro AV solutions, network infrastructure, digital intelligence platforms, and IoT solutions—into its core offerings. This holistic approach allows him to provide clients with interconnected solutions that address the complex demands of modern urban and enterprise environments. His expertise in managing key accounts and negotiating complex deals has been recognized throughout his career. Alin combines strategic insight, technical knowledge, and a commitment to advancing industry-leading solutions. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Opening Speech Smart City & Mobility Stage
Edward Cretescu
President of the Employers' Association of the Software and Services Industry & CEO Regista
Drawing from over a decade of rich and varied experience in the dynamic realm of IT, Edward Crețescu has traversed diverse roles, evolving from sales and business development to his current focus on business strategy and management. As the CEO of Regista, he spearheaded the digital transformation of public administration, bringing innovative solutions to streamline digitalisation processes and transform the way in which citizens interact with their local authorities. With his recent election as President of ANIS, he has expanded his scope, deepening his commitment to championing the IT industry and advocating for its growth and development on a national scale. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Going Digital in Public Administration 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: TBD
Robert Olariu
CEO
Robert, a young entrepreneur from Timișoara, Romania, is the CEO of Blume Technologies, a startup focused on eliminating traffic fatalities. Blume’s first product is an AI-powered system that acts like a blind-spot assist for unmarked pedestrian crosswalks. Robert began working in his family’s businesses at a young age and pursued his own ventures in parallel, including a custom PC-building business for gamers. He's also been actively involved in volunteer work and supported student rights during his university years. 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Eliminating pedestrian fatalities 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: I will talk about the problem of pedestrian accidents, how big is it and what we are doing to solve it.
Eduard Dumitrașcu
President
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: Eduard Dumitrașcu - a leader in the field of smart cities and president of the Romanian Association for Smart City, stands as a driving force behind Romania's dedicated smart city ecosystem. With a clear vision and an unwavering spirit, he has, over the past seven years, transformed a scarcely discussed topic into a national phenomenon, bringing together the brightest experts and creating valuable tools for administration. A staunch advocate for education, Eduard serves as an associate professor at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration and a lecturer at the National Administration Institute. He has made significant contributions to specialized literature, co-authoring the book "Smart Cities: From Idea to Implementation". With a distinct affinity for collaboration, he initiated a partnership with ASRO to adopt the international ISO standards for sustainable urban development. The founder of Smart City Magazine, Smart City Caravan, and Smart City Academy, Eduard is also the driving force behind the annual Smart City Industry Awards that gathers the leaders of smart cities. Recently, he launched impactful initiatives like the City Air air quality monitoring program and the first certification for companies in the Smart City sector.