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Partners

Building Value Through The 6G Creation Process

While technologists and researchers are excited by the possibilities inherent in future generations of telecoms, business leaders are cautious about more demands for up-front investment and uncertain gains. We need new economic and commercial models to ensure the industry thrives; models which don’t wait for 6G but which will enable companies to make the most of new capabilities as they emerge.

To enable this, we need to build a fresh dynamic in telecoms; closer collaboration between technical and commercial leaders to enable a shared understanding of where value may lie in the next generation, what customers in the public sector, enterprises and consumers need and how to deliver those requirements. This generational change is something that goes far beyond pure technology but can and should involve policymakers and regulators; business decision-makers; and operational systems.

In Washington DC significant decision-makers will be debating essential questions for the progress of the telecoms industry: Join us to have your say.

Attendance is welcomed from the public sector. Please contact [email protected] to secure your place.

What to expect:

  • Interactive conversations and public debates on essential policy, commercial and technology issues.
  • High-level meetings to dig deeper into sensitive concerns.
  • Networking with a wide variety of stakeholders from across North America and beyond.
  • Live demonstrations of cutting-edge technology.
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2024 speakers include

Caitlin Clarke

Caitlin Clarke

Special Assistant to the US President

Caitlin McCarthy Clarke serves as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Cyber and Emerging Technology on the National Security Council. In that role, Caitlin leads the development of defensive-related cyber policy. Previously, Caitlin served as the Assistant National Cyber Director for Planning and Operations within the Office of National Cyber Director focused on federal coherence in response to significant cyber incidents or campaigns of significance. Prior to returning to government service in 2022, Caitlin was both the Director of Cyber Industry Partnerships and Regulatory Engagement and Director of Cyber Threat Intelligence at American Express. She has also served in various positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leading national preparedness policy and doctrine as well as operational planning efforts. 

Caitlin holds a B.A. in Political Science from Providence College and a Master’s in Public Policy, concentration in National Security, from George Mason University. 

Special Assistant to the US President
Carmel Ortiz

Carmel Ortiz

SVP Technology & Innovation, Intelsat

Carmel Ortiz is a seasoned engineering leader with over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications, satellite, and digital media industries. As the Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Intelsat, she leads the ideation, design, and development of transformative technology initiatives – including space, ground, and artificial intelligence systems – that reshape Intelsat’s service offerings.

Before joining Intelsat, Carmel served as Vice President and Chief Systems Engineer at OneWeb, where she was responsible for the end-to-end system design and performance of its low-earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication system. Prior to OneWeb, she co-founded Skjei Telecom, a technology consulting firm specializing in satellite communications, where she developed large-scale, mission-critical systems for both commercial and federal clients.

Earlier in her career, Carmel held various engineering roles at GTE Corporation, GTE Spacenet, and GE Americom. She is currently a Board Member of the Digital IFL (DIFI) Consortium and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). A graduate of Georgia Tech with a BS in Electrical Engineering, Carmel was inducted into its Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2022.

SVP Technology & Innovation, Intelsat
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

FCC

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks believes that communications technology has the potential to be one of the most powerful forces on Earth for promoting equality and opportunity. To unlock that potential, however, all Americans must have access. From combatting internet inequality to advocating for diversity in employment, entrepreneurship, and media ownership, Commissioner Starks fights for policies designed to ensure that modern communications technology empowers every American.

Because high-quality broadband is essential to participating in our economy and society, Commissioner Starks has been a champion for the millions of Americans who lack access to or cannot afford a home internet connection. As a native Kansan, he understands the communications needs of rural America. He has consistently advocated for broadband deployment that helps rural communities tap into economic and educational opportunities that may not be close to home, which both encourages young people to stay and attracts new residents and employers.

Bringing a wealth of enforcement experience to the Commission, Commissioner Starks advocates for consumer protection and accountability, particularly in managing the Universal Service Fund. Before he was appointed Commissioner, Starks helped lead the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, handling a wide variety of complex investigations. At the Department of Justice, he served as a senior advisor to the Deputy Attorney General on a variety of domestic and international law enforcement matters and received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service—the highest honor award a DOJ employee can receive.

Commissioner Starks is also a leader on national security policy, working to eliminate untrustworthy equipment from America’s communications networks. His Find It, Fix It, Fund It initiative brought national attention to the urgent need to support small and rural companies as they work to make their networks more secure. With regard to personal data security, while Commissioner Starks fully supports the promise of advanced wireless service and other cutting-edge technologies—and works to ensure that all communities share in the benefits of these advancements—he also fully appreciates the potentially intrusive powers of some communications technologies and is vigilant to ensure against any uses of those powers that would promote illegal discrimination or compromise personal privacy.

FCC
David Young

David Young

VP Technology Policy and Government Relations, ATIS

As ATIS Vice President of Technology and Solutions, David Young focuses on strategic initiatives to advance members’ business and technology priorities. He also serves as Managing Director of ATIS’ Next G Alliance, a private-sector-led initiative to advance North American wireless technology leadership in 6G and beyond. Prior to joining ATIS, he had an extensive telecommunications career at Verizon, including most recently as Vice President of Public Policy. Before that, his work included roles as technical staff in research and development where he was a named inventor on 12 U.S. patents, as well as a broad range of assignments in telephone network operations. David holds a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.

VP Technology Policy and Government Relations, ATIS
Eben Albertyn

Eben Albertyn

EVP & CTO, Echostar

As Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Eben Albertyn oversees network technology strategy and operations for DISH Wireless.

Before joining DISH, Eben held executive leadership positions at telecom companies in Africa and Europe, including MTN South Africa, Airtel Africa and Vodafone Netherlands. He was most recently Executive Director of Technology at VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global, in the Netherlands.

Eben earned his Master of Engineering in Electronic and Telecoms Engineering from Rand Afrikaans University in South Africa. He enjoys basketball and adventures with his wife, their three children, two dogs and a cat.

EVP & CTO, Echostar
Javier Albares

Javier Albares

Head of Programmes, SNS-JU

Javier Albares Bueno is Head of Program at the Smart Network and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS-JU) of the European Commission. Previously, he worked as Head of Telco Solutions at Here Technologies, a location technology firm with focus on positioning and automation. He also collaborated in 5GAA, as Vice-chair of working group 5 (future business models). Between 2013 and 2021 he worked for GSMA, the world’s largest telecoms association, as Director of Innovation (Brussels office) and Director of Strategy (London office). During this time, he worked to identify future sources of value and opportunities for industry collaboration in the transition to 5G. Previosly, he worked for 13 years at Telefonica-O2, as Director of strategy, mobile services and alliances, both in Europe and Latin America. He started his career as Telecom analyst for HSBC Investment Bank in London. Javier holds an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD France, an MBA from IESE Business School and a double bachelor’s degree in business science and economics from ICADE-Comillas Pontificia University. He has also completed programs on Innovation Management at IMD and on Artificial Intelligence at MIT Sloan.

Head of Programmes, SNS-JU
Mark Dankberg

Mark Dankberg

Chairman & CEO, Viasat

Mark Dankberg is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Viasat, Inc. He co-founded the company in 1986. Under his leadership, Viasat has consistently been one of America’s fastest growing technology companies, and has been recognized multiple times by leading business and industry publications including BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, DefenseNews, SpaceNews, and Washington Technology for its leadership.

Mark is a leading expert in aerospace, defense, and satellite systems and participates in both national and international organizations involved in delivering, defining, and governing space systems and services, including:

  • The US National Academy of Engineering, a part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine
  • The President’s National Security Telecom Advisory Committee
  • As a commissioner-elect of the United Nations ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for sustainable development
  • Founding Chairman of the Mobile Satellite Services Association
  • Board of Directors of the Global Satellite Operators Association

He is globally recognized for leadership in defining, researching, and measuring safe, sustainable, and equitable access to scarce space orbital and spectrum resources as well as technologies and regulations that support achieving the benefits of space integration into national infrastructures while preserving the space and earth environment. He has co-authored and published research papers has been an invited speaker on these and other topics in numerous technical, industry, and governance venues.

Mark has received numerous awards for his industry and business leadership:

  • San Diego Business Journal’s SD500 Leaders
  • 2022 Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC) Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2018 UC San Diego CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
  • 2017 LEAD San Diego Economic Opportunity Award
  • 2016 Director of the Year Honoree by San Diego-based Corporate Directors Forum
  • 2015 Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame
  • 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Industry Innovator
  • 2013 San Diego Business Journal Most Admired CEO Founders Award
  • 2012 Visionary Executive of the Year, Satellite Markets and Research
  • 2008 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aerospace International Communications Award
  • 2003 Satellite Industry Executive of the Year
  • 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego in 2000

Prior to founding Viasat, Mark was Assistant Vice President of M/A-COM Linkabit, a manufacturer of satellite telecommunications equipment, from 1979 to 1986, and Communications Engineer for Rockwell International Corporation from 1977 to 1979.

He earned B.S. EE and M.S. EE degrees from Rice University and is a member of the Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering Hall of Fame.

Chairman & CEO, Viasat
Stuart Strickland

Stuart Strickland

Wireless CTO, HPE Aruba Networking

Stuart Strickland is Wireless Chief Technology Officer and Fellow at HPE Aruba Networking. His team represents HPE in wireless standards bodies, advances industry interests with regulators, runs a wireless lab generating performance and interoperability data, develops new product concepts, and oversees customer deployments of new technologies and features. Stuart is the principal architect of HPE’s enterprise 5G strategy, Aruba Air Pass to enable cellular roaming onto enterprise Wi-Fi networks, and the Open Locate indoor location technology initiative.

Prior to joining HPE in 2015, Stuart led Wi-Fi/small cell convergence and hybrid location strategies at Qualcomm, directing the team that developed the first time-based Wi-Fi ranging techniques. He served as Vice President of the Location Based Services Business Unit at Cambridge Silicon Radio, driving the initial adoption of GPS receivers in mobile phones, and he directed the GNSS receiver product line at SiGe Semiconductor, championing low-cost software-defined receiver architectures. As lead software architect at Siemens Mobile Networks, Stuart played a key role in the development of the first 3G mobile networks.

Before turning his attention to future technologies, Stuart trained as a historian of science, publishing extensively on the history of self-experimentation and the ideology of subjective experience in German Romanticism and co-founding the history of science program at Northwestern University.

Stuart earned his undergraduate degree in the Philosophy of Mathematics from Columbia University and his PhD in the History & Philosophy of Science from Harvard University.

Wireless CTO, HPE Aruba Networking
Thomas Rondeau

Thomas Rondeau

Principal Director, FutureG Office, US Department of Defense

Dr. Tom Rondeau is the Principal Director for the FutureG Office for the US Department of Defense, serving in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). In this role, Dr. Rondeau is responsible for the research, funding, and execution of programs to advance warfighting capabilities using future-generation wireless technologies.

Before assuming his role as Principal Director of the FutureG Office, Dr. Rondeau spent more than six years as a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) program manager, where he led efforts that challenged and advanced studies in a variety of warfighting domains, earning him the Distinguished Public Service Medal.

Prior to joining DARPA, Dr. Rondeau led the GNU Radio project, consulted on wireless communications problem sets, and worked as a visiting researcher with the University of Pennsylvania and as an Adjunct with the IDA Center for Communications Research in Princeton, NJ.

Dr. Rondeau holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, where his dissertation won the Council of Graduate Schools’ 2007 Outstanding Dissertation Award in math, science, and engineering.

Principal Director, FutureG Office, US Department of Defense
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Agenda

  • September 24, 2024

  • September 23, 2024

ON-SITE EXECUTIVE MEETINGS

As well as the publicly-broadcast conference sessions, we will host a series of roundtables and workshops under Chatham House Rules. Key topics and outcomes will be collated into reports while respecting the confidentiality of the participants.  


September 23

10:00 – 12:30 Advancing Resilience in Future Communications

The US Government, among others, has called for future telecoms systems to adhere to principles supporting resilience, security and privacy. This workshop seeks to sharpen our notions of what we mean by resilience; its dimensions, its metrics and how this needs to be reflected in upcoming research and standards. 

September 24

11.30 – 13.00 Delivering A Commercially Successful Next Generation: Lessons & Next Steps

6GSymposium sees the launch of dedicated research focussing on the hurdles to making a commercially sustainable 6G. In this meeting we dissect the lessons from the research. Participants will be encouraged to examine what changes various parts of the industry can make to guide better outcomes from the 6G creation process.

14.00 – 15.30 Building Models For Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Collaboration

3GPP has been working to build a tighter technology integration between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, with the aim ultimately of facilitating a seamless engagement. However, actually delivering that integration requires business justification, operational alignment and policy/regulatory enablement. Moreover, the business landscape is very diverse both for ‘terrestrial’ or ‘non-terrestrial’ players. Can we build bridges in understanding and find useful routes forward? Join this conversation as we ask how, in practice, collaboration can or should work and whether it has anything to do with ‘6G’. 

MEDIA PARTNERS

speakers

Alexandros Kaloxylos

Alexandros Kaloxylos

Executive Director, 6G-IA

Alexandros Kaloxylos (B.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D.) has 30 years of experience working on numerous research and innovation projects and managing multi-disciplinary teams of varying sizes. Notably, he led the Radio Access Network team of Huawei ERC in Munich, working on 5G network solutions from 2014 until 2017. Since 2019 he has been serving as the executive director of the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA). For two years (2019 – 2021), he has been the Technology Board chair of the European 5G Public-Private Partnership. He is currently the co-chair of the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking Policy WG. In this capacity, he was the co-editor of the “EU-US Beyond 5G/6G roadmap” that was requested by the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

He is also a full Professor at the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Peloponnese, and a senior member of IEEE. He has published over 140 papers in international journals, conferences, and book chapters and received more than 3,800 citations. He is also the inventor of more than 20 filed patents for topics related to 5G networks, 10 of which are fully granted.

Executive Director, 6G-IA
Amitabha Ghosh

Amitabha Ghosh

Head, Radio Interface Group, Nokia Bell Labs

Amitabha (Amitava) Ghosh (F’15) is a Nokia Fellow and works at Nokia Standards and Strategy. He joined Motorola in 1990 after receiving his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.  Since joining Motorola he worked on multiple wireless technologies starting from IS-95 to 3GPP LTE. He has more than 65 issued patents, has written multiple book chapters and has authored numerous external and internal technical papers. He is currently working on 5G Evolution and 6G technologies. He is also the chair of the NextGA (an US 6G initiative) National Roadmap Working Group. He is the recipient of 2016 IEEE Stephen O. Rice and 2017 Neal Shephard prize, Sr. editor of IEEE Access and co-author of the books titled “Essentials of LTE and LTE-A” and “5G Enabled Industrial IoT Network”.

Head, Radio Interface Group, Nokia Bell Labs
Andrew Thiessen

Andrew Thiessen

Head of 5G/xG, MITRE Corp

Andrew Thiessen is the Head of 5G/xG at the MITRE Corporation, which is a non-profit that works in the public interest across Federal, state, and local governments, as well as industry and academia. Andrew works across the corporation coordinating more than 80 engineers working on US Government projects and leads MITRE Lab’s internal research & development for 5G/xG. Andrew is the MITRE representative to the NextG Alliance Steering Group and the Chair of the NextG Alliance Spectrum Working Group.

Before joining MITRE, Andrew Thiessen was the Division Chief for the Telecommunications and Information Planning Division of the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, where he led the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s efforts on 5G standards and R&D.

Andrew did his undergraduate academic work at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in both Electrical Engineering and English. He received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and his Master’s in Business Administration from Duke University. Andrew is the recipient of Department of Commerce Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for his work in public safety communications. He is also the recipient of the DJ Atkinson Technical Award from NPSTC.

Head of 5G/xG, MITRE Corp
Bhushan Joshi

Bhushan Joshi

Head of Sustainability & CSR NA, Ericsson & Chair, Green G Working Group, NGA

Bhushan Joshi is the Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility for Ericsson in Market Area North America, where he helps drive the global strategy around corporate responsibility, climate action and digital inclusion. With over 15 years of professional experience, he is a recognized expert in corporate sustainability, business development, energy management, renewable energy, sustainability reporting, strategy development and program management.

At Ericsson, Bhushan focuses on developing strategies to help telecom service providers achieve their energy and sustainability goals amid the transition to 5G and the growth in mobile data traffic. He serves as Chair of the Next G Alliance Green G working group, positioning North America as a global leader in environmental sustainability for wireless technologies like 6G. Bhushan has been recognized for his innovative work, winning Ericsson’s 2021 Top Performance Competition for the USA 5G Energy-Smart Factory’s sustainability impact.

An experienced public speaker, Bhushan has presented at prestigious events like Mobile Word Congress Americas, Techonomy, Network X, GreenBiz and IEEE conferences. He holds an MBA in Sustainable Business Practices from Duquesne University and engineering degrees from Ferris State University and Bharati Vidyapeeth University. Bhushan enjoys welcoming new connections on LinkedIn to discuss his passion for creating a more sustainable world.

Head of Sustainability & CSR NA, Ericsson & Chair, Green G Working Group, NGA
Bruno Fromont

Bruno Fromont

Chief Technology Officer, Intelsat

Bruno Fromont is Intelsat’s Chief Technology Officer, leading spectrum strategy, asset planning, product development and innovation. Given his deep technical expertise and strategic vision, Bruno is uniquely qualified for this leadership role. As CTO, Bruno engages in technology initiatives across the company in support of our businesses and next generation infrastructure.

Mr. Fromont joined Intelsat in 2000 as Program Manager of Ground Systems Engineering. Since then he has held positions of increasing responsibility. Those positions include Vice President of Corporate Strategy, in which he was responsible for overseeing Intelsat’s strategy and innovation – most notably the business development of the Intelsat Epic program.

Prior to joining Intelsat, Mr. Fromont held senior management positions with Aerospatiale and Alcatel Space. He started his career as a researcher in artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mr. Fromont earned a Master of Science degree in computer science from Supelec Paris, an MSEE from Institut Polytechnique in Grenoble, France, and an Executive Certificate from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Chief Technology Officer, Intelsat
Caitlin Clarke

Caitlin Clarke

Special Assistant to the US President

Caitlin McCarthy Clarke serves as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Cyber and Emerging Technology on the National Security Council. In that role, Caitlin leads the development of defensive-related cyber policy. Previously, Caitlin served as the Assistant National Cyber Director for Planning and Operations within the Office of National Cyber Director focused on federal coherence in response to significant cyber incidents or campaigns of significance. Prior to returning to government service in 2022, Caitlin was both the Director of Cyber Industry Partnerships and Regulatory Engagement and Director of Cyber Threat Intelligence at American Express. She has also served in various positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leading national preparedness policy and doctrine as well as operational planning efforts. 

Caitlin holds a B.A. in Political Science from Providence College and a Master’s in Public Policy, concentration in National Security, from George Mason University. 

Special Assistant to the US President
Carmel Ortiz

Carmel Ortiz

SVP Technology & Innovation, Intelsat

Carmel Ortiz is a seasoned engineering leader with over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications, satellite, and digital media industries. As the Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Intelsat, she leads the ideation, design, and development of transformative technology initiatives – including space, ground, and artificial intelligence systems – that reshape Intelsat’s service offerings.

Before joining Intelsat, Carmel served as Vice President and Chief Systems Engineer at OneWeb, where she was responsible for the end-to-end system design and performance of its low-earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication system. Prior to OneWeb, she co-founded Skjei Telecom, a technology consulting firm specializing in satellite communications, where she developed large-scale, mission-critical systems for both commercial and federal clients.

Earlier in her career, Carmel held various engineering roles at GTE Corporation, GTE Spacenet, and GE Americom. She is currently a Board Member of the Digital IFL (DIFI) Consortium and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). A graduate of Georgia Tech with a BS in Electrical Engineering, Carmel was inducted into its Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2022.

SVP Technology & Innovation, Intelsat
Chris Christou

Chris Christou

SVP, Booz Allen

Chris Christou is a leader of Booz Allen’s Chief Technology Office (CTO) BrightLabs organization, whose goal is to experiment, prototype, and bring to market new, emerging technologies of impact to government and industry. In this role, Chris serves as the firmwide lead for Booz Allen’s 5G/NextG suite of offerings, which includes leading its state-of-the-art 5G test facility and the delivery of 5G and NextG capabilities for projects across multiple markets, including DOD, federal, and commercial. In his role, Chris leads the development and delivery of edge cloud solutions, to include extending hyperscaler cloud services to the edge through the development of small form factor cloud products and services. In addition, Chris’ team is delivering and taking to market AIOps offerings that focus on applying AI technologies to cloud operations and 5G/Next networks.

Chris has over 25 years of experience engineering, designing, testing, and deploying cloud environments, networks, and IT systems for commercial, civilian, and defense clients. Since joining Booz Allen in 2002, he has led projects related to deploying secure cloud environments, designing software-defined networks (SDN), engineering enterprise-wide IT systems, and integrating unified communications systems. Before joining Booz Allen, Chris was a network design and planning engineer for UUNet, which was then the largest internet backbone in the world. Prior to UUNET, Chris worked as a telecommunications engineer for Mitretek Systems and as a software developer for Hughes/Raytheon STX. Chris earned a M.S. degree in telecommunications and a graduate certificate in engineering from the University of Maryland School of Engineering, College Park. He earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia and completed computer science coursework at the University of Pennsylvania. Chris holds certifications for Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Juniper, TMF, and SDN.

SVP, Booz Allen
Christopher Boyer

Christopher Boyer

VP, Global Security & Technology Policy, AT&T

Chris Boyer is Vice President of Global Security and Technology Policy at AT&T Services, Inc.  Mr. Boyer works closely with the AT&T Chief Security Office (CSO) and AT&T Technology and Network Services and Network Operations to address policy issues impacting emerging technology, cybersecurity, and national security.

Mr. Boyer also serves in several external roles:  He is the founder and Chairman of the Open RAN Policy Coalition (ORPC).  Represents AT&T with the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council (NSTAC), a Federal Advisory board addressing strategic policy issues impacting National Security and Emergency Preparedness.  He was appointed to two four years terms and is the former Chairman of the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB), a Federal advisory committee at NIST responsible for identifying emerging issues related to information security and privacy for Federal agencies.  Mr. Boyer is also a member of the Executive Committee and former Vice Chair of the Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC) and is a former director and chairman of the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA).

In his over 30-year career with AT&T, Mr. Boyer has performed a variety of roles.  Prior to his current assignment Mr. Boyer was AT&T’s policy lead working with the high-tech community in Silicon Valley and he has held positions in the company’s corporate public policy, network planning and engineering, product marketing and network services departments.

VP, Global Security & Technology Policy, AT&T
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

FCC

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks believes that communications technology has the potential to be one of the most powerful forces on Earth for promoting equality and opportunity. To unlock that potential, however, all Americans must have access. From combatting internet inequality to advocating for diversity in employment, entrepreneurship, and media ownership, Commissioner Starks fights for policies designed to ensure that modern communications technology empowers every American.

Because high-quality broadband is essential to participating in our economy and society, Commissioner Starks has been a champion for the millions of Americans who lack access to or cannot afford a home internet connection. As a native Kansan, he understands the communications needs of rural America. He has consistently advocated for broadband deployment that helps rural communities tap into economic and educational opportunities that may not be close to home, which both encourages young people to stay and attracts new residents and employers.

Bringing a wealth of enforcement experience to the Commission, Commissioner Starks advocates for consumer protection and accountability, particularly in managing the Universal Service Fund. Before he was appointed Commissioner, Starks helped lead the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, handling a wide variety of complex investigations. At the Department of Justice, he served as a senior advisor to the Deputy Attorney General on a variety of domestic and international law enforcement matters and received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service—the highest honor award a DOJ employee can receive.

Commissioner Starks is also a leader on national security policy, working to eliminate untrustworthy equipment from America’s communications networks. His Find It, Fix It, Fund It initiative brought national attention to the urgent need to support small and rural companies as they work to make their networks more secure. With regard to personal data security, while Commissioner Starks fully supports the promise of advanced wireless service and other cutting-edge technologies—and works to ensure that all communities share in the benefits of these advancements—he also fully appreciates the potentially intrusive powers of some communications technologies and is vigilant to ensure against any uses of those powers that would promote illegal discrimination or compromise personal privacy.

FCC
David Young

David Young

VP Technology Policy and Government Relations, ATIS

As ATIS Vice President of Technology and Solutions, David Young focuses on strategic initiatives to advance members’ business and technology priorities. He also serves as Managing Director of ATIS’ Next G Alliance, a private-sector-led initiative to advance North American wireless technology leadership in 6G and beyond. Prior to joining ATIS, he had an extensive telecommunications career at Verizon, including most recently as Vice President of Public Policy. Before that, his work included roles as technical staff in research and development where he was a named inventor on 12 U.S. patents, as well as a broad range of assignments in telephone network operations. David holds a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.

VP Technology Policy and Government Relations, ATIS
Diane Rinaldo

Diane Rinaldo

Executive Director, Open RAN Policy Coalition

Diane Rinaldo is one of the country’s leading authorities on 5G, telecommunications supply chain security and privacy. She served as Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. During her time at NTIA, Ms. Rinaldo directed the Administration’s efforts on privacy; testified in the House of Representatives and Senate on 5G and Internet security issues; served as a principal advising the White House and Congress on 5G and supply chain; as well as other successes in education and deployment of Internet access around the world.

Prior to her Executive Branch service, Ms. Rinaldo served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she focused on Congress’ landmark cybersecurity legislation, the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. She also served as Congress’ oversight and budget monitor for the National Security Agency and the defense network systems, and as Deputy Chief of Staff to Congressman Mike Rogers as his top technology policy staffer.

Ms. Rinaldo also spent time in the private sector as the Director of Government Affairs and cyber policy for SAP, and as a Vice President at a top consulting firm in Washington, DC.

Recognized for her work on cybersecurity, Ms. Rinaldo was awarded the Executive Women’s Forum’s 2016 Influencer of the Year award; was named one of the top ten people in Washington, D.C. impacting cyber legislation; and has consulted on movies and television.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Maine and an Executive Certificate from Harvard University for Cyber Studies.

Executive Director, Open RAN Policy Coalition
Doug Castor

Doug Castor

Sr Director, InterDigital & Vice Chair, National Roadmap WG, Next G Alliance

Douglas Castor is Senior Director of Future Wireless Research and Innovation at InterDigital’s Philadelphia area office, where he leads the incubation and development of emerging technologies for wireless systems. Since joining InterDigital in 2000, he has led teams in both product development and research innovations for 3G through 6G cellular and other wireless technologies. Prior to joining InterDigital, Doug held Communication Engineer positions at General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and General Atronics. He holds over 25 granted U.S. patents. Doug earned a BSEE from the Pennsylvania State University (1992) and MSEE degree from the University of Pennsylvania (1995). Doug is an initiator and leader for the annual 6G Symposium which resulted in over 1000 online active participants in its debut in 2020. He currently holds board positions at NYU Wireless (Industry Board), and Northeastern University’s Wireless Internet of Things (Industry Board). Doug is a Vice Chair of ATIS’s Next G Alliance 6G National Roadmap Working Group, and editor of the first Roadmap Report.

Sr Director, InterDigital & Vice Chair, National Roadmap WG, Next G Alliance
Eben Albertyn

Eben Albertyn

EVP & CTO, Echostar

As Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Eben Albertyn oversees network technology strategy and operations for DISH Wireless.

Before joining DISH, Eben held executive leadership positions at telecom companies in Africa and Europe, including MTN South Africa, Airtel Africa and Vodafone Netherlands. He was most recently Executive Director of Technology at VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global, in the Netherlands.

Eben earned his Master of Engineering in Electronic and Telecoms Engineering from Rand Afrikaans University in South Africa. He enjoys basketball and adventures with his wife, their three children, two dogs and a cat.

EVP & CTO, Echostar
Ian Wong

Ian Wong

Senior Director, CTO Office, Viavi

Dr. Ian C. Wong is currently the Senior Director of RF and Wireless Architecture reporting to the CTO at VIAVI Solutions, where he is leading RF and wireless technology strategy, architectures, and standards.  He is the co-chair of the Test and Integration Focus Group (TIFG) in the O-RAN Alliance, and VIAVI’s representative at the full member and steering groups of the NextG Alliance. He is also Chief Architect of the VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN (VALOR) which was awarded $21.7M by the NTIA Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity.

From 2009 – Aug 2020, he was with NI (formerly National Instruments, since acquired by Emerson) where his last position was Section Manager of Wireless Systems R&D where he led the development of real-time end-to-end 5G wireless test and prototyping systems, and managed the company’s 3GPP wireless standards and IP strategy.  From 2007-2009, he was a systems research and standards engineer with Freescale Semiconductor where he represented Freescale in the 3GPP LTE standardization efforts.  He is a senior member of the IEEE, was the Director of Industry Communities for IEEE Communications Society 2016-2019, and was the Industry Program Chair for IEEE Globecom 2014 in Austin.

Dr. Wong is lead editor of the book “Open RAN: The Definitive Guide” published by Wiley/IEEE in 2023, co-authored the book “Resource Allocation for Multiuser Multicarrier Wireless Systems” published by Springer, numerous patents, standards contributions, and IEEE journal and conference publications. He was awarded the Texas Telecommunications Engineering Consortium Fellowship in 2003-2004, and the Wireless Networking and Communications Group student leadership award in 2007.

He received the MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 and 2007, respectively, and a BS degree in electronics and communications engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of the Philippines in 2000.

Senior Director, CTO Office, Viavi
Javier Albares

Javier Albares

Head of Programmes, SNS-JU

Javier Albares Bueno is Head of Program at the Smart Network and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS-JU) of the European Commission. Previously, he worked as Head of Telco Solutions at Here Technologies, a location technology firm with focus on positioning and automation. He also collaborated in 5GAA, as Vice-chair of working group 5 (future business models). Between 2013 and 2021 he worked for GSMA, the world’s largest telecoms association, as Director of Innovation (Brussels office) and Director of Strategy (London office). During this time, he worked to identify future sources of value and opportunities for industry collaboration in the transition to 5G. Previosly, he worked for 13 years at Telefonica-O2, as Director of strategy, mobile services and alliances, both in Europe and Latin America. He started his career as Telecom analyst for HSBC Investment Bank in London. Javier holds an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD France, an MBA from IESE Business School and a double bachelor’s degree in business science and economics from ICADE-Comillas Pontificia University. He has also completed programs on Innovation Management at IMD and on Artificial Intelligence at MIT Sloan.

Head of Programmes, SNS-JU
Jefferson Wang

Jefferson Wang

Chief Strategy Officer, Cloud First, Accenture

Chief Strategy Officer, Cloud First, Accenture
Josep Jornet

Josep Jornet

Professor, Northeastern University

Josep Miquel Jornet is a Professor and the Interim Chair for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University (NU), the Associate Director of the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at NU and the director of the Ultrabroadband Nanonetworking Laboratory. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunication Engineering and a Master of Science in Information and Communication Technologies from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, in 2008. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in August 2013. His research interests are in terahertz communication networks and wireless nano-bio-communication networks. He has co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications in these areas, including one book and five US patents. His work has received over 18,000 citations (h-index of 63 as of August 2024). He is serving as the lead PI on multiple grants from U.S. federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and industry. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2017 IEEE ComSoc Young Professional Best Innovation Award, the 2017 ACM NanoCom Outstanding Milestone Award, the NSF CAREER Award in 2019, the 2022 IEEE ComSoc RCC Early Achievement Award, and the 2022 IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee Outstanding Young Researcher Award, among others, as well as eight best paper awards. He is a Fellow of the IEEE (Class of 2024) and an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer (Class of 2022-2024). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier Nano Communication Networks journal and Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications and Scientific Reports.

Professor, Northeastern University
Kelly Hill

Kelly Hill

Executive Editor, RCR Wireless

Kelly reports on network test and measurement, as well as the use of big data and analytics. She first covered the wireless industry for RCR Wireless News in 2005, focusing on carriers and mobile virtual network operators, then took a few years’ hiatus and returned to RCR Wireless News to write about heterogeneous networks and network infrastructure. Kelly is an Ohio native with a masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on science writing and multimedia. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and The Canton Repository. Follow her on Twitter: @khillrcr

Executive Editor, RCR Wireless
Ken Figueredo

Ken Figueredo

Founder, More With Mobile

Dr. Ken Figueredo advises on innovation and market development projects that leverage the platform capabilities of mobile communications networks. He recently supported the NextG Alliance on 6G Roadmap and vertical-industry requirement White Papers. He now focuses on market structure and commercial aspects of 6G ecosystems. Standardization is central to Ken’s activities; he contributes to Internet of Things (IoT), AI for IoT and digital twin

initiatives. Ken is a regular speaker at industry conferences and publishes on a broad range of industry topics in ETSI, IEEE, industry-alliance and trade journals. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a PhD in Self-adaptive Control Systems from the University of Bath (UK).

Founder, More With Mobile

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