James Crawshaw
- Practice Leader, Omdia
James leads Omdia’s service provider transformation team, which covers telco IT (operations support systems, business support systems, and analytics) and telco cloud & automation (software-defined networking, network function virtualization, etc.). James’ own research focuses on operations support systems, including service assurance, orchestration, order management, inventory management, network security, self-organizing networks, and radio access network intelligent control.
Before joining Omdia, James led Heavy Reading’s communications service provider IT & automation research service. James holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering in electrical and mechanical engineering from the University of Manchester, England. Earlier in his career, while working as a financial analyst, James passed the three exams required to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification. In addition, James has a Master of Science in electronic engineering from the University of Surrey, England.
Ayan Ghosh
- Vice President Product Engineering, Arqit
Ayan is the VP of Product Engineering at Arqit where he currently develops Arqit’s vision & capabilities in the Telecoms vertical serving Defence, CNI and commercial use cases.
He has spent the last 20 years in the Telecom industry designing, testing & deploying innovative solutions for vendors like Motorola & Nokia, operator like EE/BT and has provided consultancy services on emerging technologies to the Regulator- Ofcom and to the Ministry- DSIT.
After completing his BEng degree in IT and Masters in Computer Science from UMIST, Manchester, Ayan rolled out the first WiMAX network in the country. Over the years he has been involved in innovative wireless technologies for some of the most iconic stadiums, shopping malls and public buildings including Ascot racecourses, Wembley stadium & Heathrow Airport. Ayan tested and rolled out the first 4G network in the UK for EE and patented EE-BT’s Airmast solution involving drones & Helikites for which he received the Small Cell World Forum and MEC Award along with a nomination for the World Telecoms Award. Whilst at Ofcom, he worked on spectrum for UAV connectivity, private networks and supported the TSR & Diversification efforts.
Ayan has been championing the use of open architecture in Telecom networks from its very early days and was involved in shaping Government run competitions including the multi-award-winning project- Green Planet experience with Sir David Attenborough.
In his spare time, Ayan is a primary school Governor, plays cricket in the Gloucestershire League and coaches the U11s.
With 30 years’ experience as a technologist and researcher in communication networks, distributed system design and interoperability, Dritan is Director of 5G Technology at Digital Catapult and Co-Director of SONIC Labs. Dritan has established and leads the Future Networks 5G and Digital Infrastructure programs in Digital Catapult, delivering technology development and innovation in advanced ICT systems and their adoption in enterprise networks in the UK. He was a founder of the SONIC Labs and of UK Telecommunication Network (UKTIN). An acknowledged thought leader in his field, Dritan has published over 75 papers, holds three patents and has edited two international standards on interoperability, and is often invited to speak on advanced digital infrastructure and communication systems. He has represented the UK in international standardisation bodies and served on/chaired international conferences and technical committees, and provided technical advice to industry and the UK government. His focus is on national coordination and how to best support advanced digital infrastructure and connectivity technology uptake, growing UK capabilities in telecommunications R&D, as well as developing in Digital Catapult technical advances on new 5G/6G network architectures, network and service orchestration, edge computing and IoT support. Prior to Digital Catapult he was at University of Bristol, where he led a 15-strong research team, strategically combining network and distributed systems research with industrial collaboration, making a wide range of contributions and practical implementations in networking, interoperability, smart energy, cities and digital health.
Linda Ligios
- Senior Innovation Partner - Team Lead, Digital Catapult
Linda leads the delivery of a number of Digital Catapult large-scale ecosystem building programmes in the areas of telecom and open infrastructure. She has a background in business and innovation consulting, R&D and digital transformation. She draws her experience from 15+ years of commercial and stakeholder management expertise working in various capacities for some of Britain’s most iconic institutions including BBC, British Library and King’s College London. Linda has participated in several European and national R&D programmes focusing on the development of advanced digital technologies and ecosystem building. This includes the industrial 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme set out by DCMS (now DSIT) to demonstrate the value of 5G in manufacturing and logistics and the SONIC Labs programme delivering advancements in Open RAN technology, a key pillar in UK Government’s 5G Diversification Strategy.
Robert Smith
- Director of AI & Data Science, Digital Catapult
Robert Smith oversees the AI and machine learning team, the flagship Machine Intelligence Garage programme – which supports high-growth potential startups working with AI & ML – and the prestigious AI Ethics Committee, established in 2018 to advise organisations working with Digital Catapult on how to ensure responsible and ethical development and deployment of AI-enabled products and services. An eminent computer scientist and widely respected leader in the field of evolutionary computation, Robert has over 30 years of experience working in academia, directly with industry, and as an entrepreneur himself. Robert is author of the acclaimed book Rage Inside The Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All, Senior Research Fellow of the Computer Science Faculty at University College London (UCL), and a Founding Trustee of We and AI, an organisation dedicated to improving AI’s effects of society. Robert has also worked with companies across the private and public sectors in both the US and UK including the US Navy, Boeing, Airbus and BT.
Lory Thorpe
- Quantum Safe Industry Lead, IBM
Lory Thorpe is an Executive leader with over 20 years senior level, global experience in telecommunications and digital transformation, with a technology, innovation and partnership background in next generation networks, security and connectivity enabled verticals across Private and Public sector. Her experience includes both operator and vendor roles, working formajor telecommunication companies such as Ericsson, Nokia and Vodafone. Lory was previously leading the IBM Consulting Global Strategy and Offering Portfolio Telco Transformation and has recently transitioned into the IBM Quantum team, leading the Quantum Safe for Telco agenda. She is the chair and one of the founders of the GSMA Post Quantum Telco Network Task Force. She was previously leading the IBM Consulting Global Strategy and Offering Portfolio Telco Transformation. Lory is based in London, UK.
Peter Whale
- Founder & CEO, Vision Formers
Peter is Founder & CEO of Vision Formers, the specialist consultancy that supports and mentors leaders of visionary technology businesses get product to market and turn ideas into reality.
Vision Formers works with start-ups and scale-ups, providing significant expertise in accelerating business growth through a focus on developing a robust product strategy, growing and coaching product and development teams, and providing operational excellence. Peter has a long track record of conceiving, developing and marketing successful technology-based solutions, deployed at scale, globally. Innovative products Peter has brought to market in digital, cloud, AI, consumer electronics and telecommunications have been used by countless millions of people on a daily basis globally, badged by the world’s leading digital and technology brands.
Peter also works with Digital Catapult as Programme Manager for UKTIN, working with partners and stakeholders to deliver UKTIN’s mission to transform the UK telecoms innovation ecosystem, capitalising on the country’s strengths in technology, academia, and entrepreneurialism, while positioning it for growth as new opportunities emerge in the industry.
Peter is a board member of CW (Cambridge Wireless), a Fellow of the IET, a Chartered Engineer, and a member of the Association of Business Mentors.