The Brussels 5G Assembly

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of E!Sharp, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. 

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

Abraham Liu was appointed Vice-President for the European Region at Huawei in July 2018. At the same time, he is the Chief Representative of the company to the EU Institutions in Brussels. Abraham joined the Brussels Public Affairs and Communication team as Vice-President earlier this year and was appointed in May 2018 as the Chief Representative to the EU Institutions.

Mr Liu is no newcomer to Huawei, having joined the company in 2001 as a Wireless Product Manager. Over the years, he has worked in different roles across the globe, including as Country Manager of DR Congo, Vice-President of Huawei’s regional office in East Southern Africa, and Vice-President of Huawei’s Southern Pacific Region. Before moving to Brussels, he served as CEO of Huawei Malaysia. Mr Liu graduated from Central South University of China in 2001 after earning a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and Technology. He is married and a father of two.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of E!Sharp, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. 

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

MA, Economics, Cambridge; MBA, INSEAD, France. More than 20 years’ experience at board level in senior mgmt. From 1989 until 2015, with Accenture, incl.: 2000-03, Managing Director, Resources, UK; 2003-06, Global Head, Growth and Strategy, Resources Operating Group; 2007-12, Global Head of Strategy; 2007-15, Global Managing Director, Thought Leadership, and Executive Director, Accenture Institute for High Performance. Chairman EU-China Working Group on the Digital Economy; Chairman, Executive Council, American Chamber of Commerce, Brussels. Formerly Member, Global Agenda Council on Europe and Advisory Board on Sustainability and Competitiveness, World Economic Forum. Currently with the World Economic Forum as Co-Head, System Initiative on shaping the Future of Digital Economy and Society

Known as “The Digital Ghost Queen” for her behind the scenes work, Elise has inspired audiences around the globe and when not on stage, she spends most of her time helping businesses and individuals from C-Level executives to Hollywood stars thrive in the cyber space.

Elise often writes for MilliOnAir digital magazine where she shares Inspiring interviews, personal thoughts and tech write ups. She is on the Nasdaq Media verified database and as a global thought leader has collaborated with Fortune Global 500 companies such as Amazon, Ebay, Huawei and Paypal.

Topics of interest for Elise include: Digital Transformation, Enterprise & Digital Innovation, the impact of digital learning in the younger generation, Tech 4 Good, IoT, Social/Digital Media, Business Influencer Marketing, Start Ups, CyberSecurity, 5G, business and personal growth and leadership.

She loves storytelling when presenting and writing, and has fused her personal development and entertainment industry backgrounds within the tech world, making sure people understand the importance of keeping their online activities interactive and with a human feel. That’s why she created the SMEQ ( Social Media Emotional Quotient), which is the art and influence of creating, attracting and building better business relationships through digital media.

Elise has been honored in the Top 100 Women of E-Commerce Awards and has been featured in Entrepreneurs 4 Schools campaign during Global Entrepreneurship Week in the UK. She is an ambassador for DES (Digital Business World Congress). She can also be found at The Expert Academy, Teachable, and Udemy. She is a partner at “Digital Growth Sessions”

As an advisor/consultant she is always keen to learn about new technologies, brands and getting the extra knowledge that keeps her on top of her game.

Known as “The Digital Ghost Queen” for her behind the scenes work, Elise has inspired audiences around the globe and when not on stage, she spends most of her time helping businesses and individuals from C-Level executives to Hollywood stars thrive in the cyber space.

Elise often writes for MilliOnAir digital magazine where she shares Inspiring interviews, personal thoughts and tech write ups. She is on the Nasdaq Media verified database and as a global thought leader has collaborated with Fortune Global 500 companies such as Amazon, Ebay, Huawei and Paypal.

Topics of interest for Elise include: Digital Transformation, Enterprise & Digital Innovation, the impact of digital learning in the younger generation, Tech 4 Good, IoT, Social/Digital Media, Business Influencer Marketing, Start Ups, CyberSecurity, 5G, business and personal growth and leadership.

She loves storytelling when presenting and writing, and has fused her personal development and entertainment industry backgrounds within the tech world, making sure people understand the importance of keeping their online activities interactive and with a human feel. That’s why she created the SMEQ ( Social Media Emotional Quotient), which is the art and influence of creating, attracting and building better business relationships through digital media.

Elise has been honored in the Top 100 Women of E-Commerce Awards and has been featured in Entrepreneurs 4 Schools campaign during Global Entrepreneurship Week in the UK. She is an ambassador for DES (Digital Business World Congress). She can also be found at The Expert Academy, Teachable, and Udemy. She is a partner at “Digital Growth Sessions”

As an advisor/consultant she is always keen to learn about new technologies, brands and getting the extra knowledge that keeps her on top of her game.

Topher White is Founder and CEO of Rainforest Connection. Topher has experience building systems for large and small startups as well as international science projects, including four years working on nuclear fusion at ITER, in France. He has received multiple accolades for his work, including being named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a Draper-Richards-Kaplan (DRK) Fellow and an “Engineering Hero” by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Topher’s background is primarily in Physics, software development and Communication, having received a degree in Physics at Kenyon College and going on to work for years at SLAC Natl Accelerator Lab (High Energy Physics) and the ITER Organization (Nuclear Fusion) in France. Along the way, he also served as CTO for two startups in San Francisco, where he obtained industry-level experience in software development — the foundation of the Rainforest Connection platform.

Szymon P. Peplinski is an award-winning designer, technologist, inventor and lecturer with a broad range of experience and skills – around 20 years of experience in global markets, focused on online businesses in Frontier and Emerging Markets.

For over 10 years with great passion he is sharing programing skills especially with people who not believe they can code. He used to call code a new kind of material for designers.

He works extensively with designers, engineers and developers, start ups and businesses to unveil their technology and to tell the story from the heart of the product with digital and interactive execution.

Ranga Yogeshwar: Regarded as one of the leading independent science journalists in Germany, Ranga Yogeshwar is interested in bringing science to the general public. He draws attention to his personal concerns about innovation and education in Germany and Europe through regular television appearances.
Yogeshwar graduated from RWTH University Aachen with a diploma degree in physics. In 1987 he joined the German TV station Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln, where he oversaw the Science group. Since 2008, he works as an independent science journalist. He has received more than 60 professional awards, including honorary doctorates from the Universities of Wuppertal and Koblenz, an honorary professorship from the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg.
The bestselling author lives with his wife and four children in Germany.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of E!Sharp, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. 

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

Better known as Brusselsgeek, Jennifer has been a journalist in print, radio and television for 20 years, the last 10+ specialising in EU policy. She has worked across a wide range of media, from editing a national daily paper in Malta, to reporting on European affairs for Middle Eastern television, and has a wealth of experience in navigating the political quagmire of the EU. As well as an address book packed with insider sources and contacts in Brussels, Jennifer is skilled at translating EU policy-speak into understandable English. Regularly listed as one of the top digital influencers in the EU bubble, Jennifer is a member of the Expert Council of the Good Technology Collective , as well as a GLG expert Council Member providing advice on EU Policy, and was named by Onalytica as one of the world’s Top 100 Influencers on Data Security 2016 . She was also listed by Politico as one of the Top 20 Women Shaping Brussels in 2017. Jennifer regularly features as an EU expert on BBC radio, Euronews, SkyNews and others, and hosts Brussels’ must-watch weekly roundup show TOTW for Euractiv. She has written for some of the biggest names in media, including ArsTechnica, Computerweekly, TheNextWeb, and The Register.

Mr. Detlef Eckert joined Huawei Global Government Affairs Dept in September 2017. He advises governments and key customers on digital strategies and trends, in particular linked to cloud computing, smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence, and regulatory issues.

Prior to joining Huawei, he served as Director at the European Commission in various positions: Telecommunications and media regulation, internet governance, European Digital Agenda, research policy, cyber security, macro-economic reforms, and employment and skills policies.

From 2002 to 2006 he took leave of absence to further his career in the private sector and worked for Microsoft as Director responsible for the implementation of the Trustworthy Computing (TWC) initiative in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Before 2002, Mr. Detlef Eckert was Head of Division responsible for analysis and policy planning in the Directorate General Information Society. Before moving to Brussels in 1988 he worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Federal State of Bremen (Germany) from 1985 to 1998.

Mr. Detlef Eckert graduated from the University of Siegen with a degree in Economics. He also obtained a Doctorate in Economics from the same university where he was assistant professor from 1979 until 1985.

Maarit has an extensive expertise in telecoms, broadband and internet matters. She joined ETNO from the Internet Society, where she served as a Senior Manager Europe and where she has acquired strong experience of broadband policies as well as extensive links with internet and tech stakeholders. Maarit also had direct experience of the telecoms business during her 6 years at Cisco and has developed a strong service-oriented, hands-on profile acquired in leading consultancies Interel and Schuman Associates. She also has a strong European academic background from the College of Europe, LSE, King’s College and SciencesPo. Maarit is a Finnish national, she also speaks English and French.

University of Warsaw graduate, involved in “Solidarity” movement since 1980. In 1991, Minister of Labour and Social Policy, then from 1992 to 1993 Secretary of  State, led major labour market reforms in Poland. Since 2008, member of Donald Tusk government, chairing Council of Ministers Standing Committee and heading Strategic Advisors to the Prime Minister. He has prepared the first post-1989 long-term strategic document “Poland 2030”. In 2011-2013 first Minister of Administration and Digitisation of Poland.

Since 2014, Member of the European Parliament active in LIBE and ITRE Committees, taking particular interest in the area of digital challenges: from privacy issues, via building the new Internet infrastructural solutions as 5G, to the field of AI and algorithms’ functionalities. He was, among others, co-rapporteur of the directive of public information and re-use of public information. The co-founder of the Intergroup Digital Agenda for Europe. Author of numerous publications in English and Polish related to digital matters and challenges, including in the Parliamentary Magazine. Initiator and co-author of unique reports analysing trends and developments within the young generation in Poland: Youth 2011 and Youth 2018. Now, in the Martens Centre as a Senior Researcher Associate focused on digital issues.

Following a Combined Studies degree, Dave obtained his Masters from Exeter and in the Netherlands. He has 30 years expertise in the sector, beginning with Motorola in PMR and Cellular, then building advanced fibre and coax local loop networks with Regional Bell operating company US WEST. He was the first telco employee of the business that became Virgin Media where he obtained their Operators licence, obtained nation-wide free spectrum in the 10GHz band by winning a spectrum beauty contest, helped build their first Satellite Earth Station, oversaw a £40m subsea cable project, and as a reasonable linguist, assisted with France Telecom/Orange’s acquisition of a stake in the business.

He is a former pro bono non-Executive Director of BT’s “Connected Earth” operation where he helped to secure UN support for its collection. Before setting up his own spectrum and cyber security business he was with Samsung Electronics, as Vice President of EU Affairs in their R&D operation where he was worked with (amongst others) ETSI, Tech UK and Digital Europe.

He conceived of the Ordnance Survey Bournemouth spectrum mapping project and recently hosted Ofcom’s Group Director of Spectrum and the Director of Spectrum Policy on the Orkney islands where he is now working as part of the DCMS funded 5G Rural First project, exploring spectrum sharing (“Dynamic Spectrum Access”). He is currently part of the Ofcom stakeholder group preparing for the World Radio Conference (“WRC”) 2019 which he has previously attended as part of the UK Government delegation. He has spoken widely over the years at Forum Europe, 5G World, the FTTH Conference, Westminster e-forum, Tech UK, and the UK Spectrum Policy Forum

He is also active in the cybersecurity domain and is currently assisting a major Plc with cyber issues. He has specific expertise in assisting Councils with 5G related spectrum and security issues, and recent Council customers have included Bournemouth and Basingstoke.

Sam Leeman has 20 years of experience working in the telecom sector with a focus on the physical build of networks both on the wireline as the wireless side.  Sam held different positions in engineering, product management and business development.

Harald Puhl holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics specialised in Computational Physics from the University of Stuttgart covering the treatment of high volume data sets on high-performance computers. He has worked with reasearch teams in different institutions like Forschungszentrum in Jülich, Institut du Globe and ESPCI in Paris, Fysisk Institutt at the Univerity in Oslo and KTH in Stockholm and since 2001 owns and is working for KIAG.

Through his studies Mr Puhl has extensive experience regarding organisation, storage and analysis of multidimensional data sets both from generated and measured data. Over the years he has applied that knowledge to international customers like Daimler or DHL, where for instance machine-2-machine based high volume tracking information is received, treated and made available in form of on-demand data services. He has designed several DWH and Business Intelligence architectures in different areas and implemented them together with specialized development teams, building on both commercial as well as open-source software components.

Since four years Mr Puhl is overseeing the technical side of development projects, where data are collected in both interactive and automated manner. Systems have been designed and developed gathering sensor-based and geo-referenced data from different sources and integrating them on platforms which allow access and redistribution of the transformed data to all the stakeholders of the agricultural supply chain, from the farmers up to government.

Since 2015 Mr Puhl also works in Agriculture Information System projects in Africa, which aim to bring together data of different types into a common system being the “single source of truth” regarding agricultural statistics. This concerns localised production data, weather forecast and measured weather data in the same way as other sensors (e.g. soil temperature, conductivity,) and data sources.

He is interested in all matters related to data collection, structuring and exchange, open data access, agricultural development and introduction of business intelligence data analysis as new tools to further fact-based decision making.

University of Warsaw graduate, involved in “Solidarity” movement since 1980. In 1991, Minister of Labour and Social Policy, then from 1992 to 1993 Secretary of  State, led major labour market reforms in Poland. Since 2008, member of Donald Tusk government, chairing Council of Ministers Standing Committee and heading Strategic Advisors to the Prime Minister. He has prepared the first post-1989 long-term strategic document “Poland 2030”. In 2011-2013 first Minister of Administration and Digitisation of Poland.

Since 2014, Member of the European Parliament active in LIBE and ITRE Committees, taking particular interest in the area of digital challenges: from privacy issues, via building the new Internet infrastructural solutions as 5G, to the field of AI and algorithms’ functionalities. He was, among others, co-rapporteur of the directive of public information and re-use of public information. The co-founder of the Intergroup Digital Agenda for Europe. Author of numerous publications in English and Polish related to digital matters and challenges, including in the Parliamentary Magazine. Initiator and co-author of unique reports analysing trends and developments within the young generation in Poland: Youth 2011 and Youth 2018. Now, in the Martens Centre as a Senior Researcher Associate focused on digital issues.

Laszlo Toth is the Head of Public Policy of GSMA Europe, which is the European arm of the GSM Association – the global body that represents the worldwide mobile communications industry. In this capacity Laszlo is responsible for the day-to-day running of the GSMA’s Brussels office. He works closely with members to facilitate coordinated advocacy efforts at the EU level in order to create a policy environment that maximizes the mobile industry’s ability to invest in infrastructure and drive economic growth.

Laszlo started his professional career working at telecoms operators. Prior to joining GSMA in 2011, he spent nine years at the Hungarian public administration, including spells at the Ministry responsible for ICT and at the national telecoms regulator. Laszlo has an MSc. in economics and holds a degree in computer sciences.

Joost Vantomme is Smart Mobility Director at the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which represents the Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers.

Joost has over 25 years’ experience in legal, regulatory and public affairs. He served as legal and regulatory affairs director in the telecommunications, postal, logistics and automotive sector. He had leading policy making roles in European associations such as PostEurop and FEDMA, as well as at the UN level (UPU). Joost has also been member of the cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Economy and director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, an EU consultancy firm.

Since 1 September 2016, Joost holds the position of Smart Mobility Director at ACEA, bringing his vast experience together to address the challenges of the new ecosystem ‘cooperative, connected and automated mobility’.

As a frequent speaker at conferences and author of papers, he engages with stakeholders on European and international policy issues in a digital agenda context. Joost holds a Master in Economic Business Law, a Master in Law and a Diploma in Teaching Law (Universities of Leuven, Poitiers and Louvain). He is fluent in Dutch, French, English and German.

Christoph Luykx (@christophluykx) joined Orgalim in June 2019 and is Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation. In this capacity, Mr. Luykx leads a policy team with a focus on a wide range of topics, impacting Orgalim’s membership. He speaks externally on behalf of its members and engages with a wide range of stakeholders across Europe.

Before joining Orgalim, Mr. Luykx spent 5 years at CA Technologies as Chief Privacy Strategist and Senior Director for government relations. He provided advice and support on key issues to CA growth, such as cybersecurity and privacy, and represented the company in various external activities. Between 2007 – 2014, Mr. Luykx worked in the European government affairs team of Intel Corporation. He also worked for the US Department of State as an economic specialist at the United States Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. Luykx was born in Hasselt, Belgium in 1978. He received his Law degree from the University of Leuven in 2002. He works from Orgalim’s office in Brussels, Belgium.

As a Proximus Management Trainee, Sander is currently working in transformation management of the company’s operations. He graduated in 2019 at the University of Antwerp with a master’s in business administration and a major in management information systems. Besides that, Sander is also a graduate of the Huawei Seeds for the Future program, where he had the opportunity to participate in a scholarship on the topic of technology in China.

Mr. Detlef Eckert joined Huawei Global Government Affairs Dept in September 2017. He advises governments and key customers on digital strategies and trends, in particular linked to cloud computing, smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence, and regulatory issues.

Prior to joining Huawei, he served as Director at the European Commission in various positions: Telecommunications and media regulation, internet governance, European Digital Agenda, research policy, cyber security, macro-economic reforms, and employment and skills policies.

From 2002 to 2006 he took leave of absence to further his career in the private sector and worked for Microsoft as Director responsible for the implementation of the Trustworthy Computing (TWC) initiative in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Before 2002, Mr. Detlef Eckert was Head of Division responsible for analysis and policy planning in the Directorate General Information Society. Before moving to Brussels in 1988 he worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Federal State of Bremen (Germany) from 1985 to 1998.

Mr. Detlef Eckert graduated from the University of Siegen with a degree in Economics. He also obtained a Doctorate in Economics from the same university where he was assistant professor from 1979 until 1985.