Daniel Abbou

Managing Director

German AI Association

Daniel Abbou has been Managing Director at the German AI Association since May 1, 2020. His responsibilities include political and press communication as well as support for funding projects.

Daniel Abbou previously founded AI Hub Europe and advised politicians and companies. He was press spokesman in various ministries of finance and economics, including spokesman for the former Senator of Finance and current State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics Ulrich Nußbaum. In the first Baden-Württemberg cabinet of Kretschmann, he held the position of deputy government spokesman. His enthusiasm for digitization and innovation has accompanied him since his time as a television and radio journalist for new technologies.

Yusif Abdullayev

Acting Executive Director

AZPROMO

In 1999, he entered Baku State University and studied for a bachelor’s degree in international law. He started his professional career between 2004 and 2007, working in sales, insurance, and logistics. From 2007 to 2015, he directed the export department of Azersun Holding. From December 2015 to 1 June 2018, he served as Vice President of AZPROMO; on 1 June 2018, he was assigned to the position of AZPROMO President, and on 8 October 2021, as part of AZPROMO’s reorganization, he was appointed to the position of the Agency’s Executive Director.

Christoph Ahlhaus

CEO

German Mittelstand (BVMW)

Before his appointment as Federal Managing Director of the BVMW eV in July 2023, Christoph Ahlhaus was a member of the German parliament, a councillor, an interior senator and the first mayor of Hamburg. As chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers in 2010, Ahlhaus earned cross-party respect as a close advisor to the federal government in the field of internal security. Ahlhaus has been working as an independent lawyer in Berlin since 2004. He has also made a name for himself in legal circles with his expert opinion on the constitutionality of the IT Security Act. Further stations were the German University for Administrative Sciences in Speyer and the German-American Chamber of Commerce in New York. As General Secretary of the Federal Economic Senate, the excellence committee and think tank of the BVMW, Ahlhaus has made a name for itself as a knowledgeable supporter of medium-sized companies for many years. 

Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Director

Strategy and Partnerships, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

Giulia Ajmone Marsan is an innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship strategist, with over 15 years of experience in economic analysis and advice, policy dialogue, research, capacity building and economic diplomacy & multilateralism. During her career, Dr. Ajmone Marsan has advised a broad range of government officials, international organisations and other stakeholders globally: across ASEAN and Asia, Latin America, Africa, MENA, OECD, the G7 and the G20. Dr Ajmone Marsan is currently the Director of Strategy and Partnership at ERIA (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia) where she initiated the organisation’s work on entrepreneurship, start-up and innovation eco-systems; women entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and leadership in the digital economy; skills for the digital transformation and innovation.

Farrukh Alimdjanov

Industrial Development Officer

UNIDO

Farrukh Alimdjanov is an industrial development officer at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with nearly 25 years of experience in international organizations as well as private and public sectors. Since 2007, he has worked as an international expert in the UNIDO Private Sector Development Department. As part of UNIDO’s Innovation and Digitalization Division of the Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation, among others, he is responsible for formulation and implementation of the UNIDO technical cooperation projects focusing on industrial design, modernization, branding, enterprise competitiveness and digital transformation in Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, Asia and other regions. 

Carlos Angulo

Judicial Director

Propais

Carlos Eduardo Angulo was born in 1982 in Colombia, he studied law in Salamanca, Spain and specialized in contracting law, have been in the field for the last 15 years helping the development of SME’s growth strategies within Colombia, currently being the Legal and Strategic Director of Propais.

Sergio Arzeni 

President 

International Network for SMEs – INSME
Italy

Sergio Arzeni is President of the International Network for Small and Medium Enterprises – INSME. Mr. Arzeni is also a Senior Advisor of Friends of Europe; an Executive Member of the Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics GCEL; Member of the Advisory Board of SRM, the Research Centre on the Mediterranean of Intesa San Paolo Bank, in Naples; Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies (published by Sage Publishing in London, New York and New Delhi). For over 30 years he has been the Director of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in Paris responsible for SMEs, Local Economic and Employment Development and Tourism.

Cristian Camisa

President

Confapi, Italy

Cristian Camisa is President of Confapi, the Italian Confederation of small and medium-sized industries, the most important Italian organization of small and medium private industries (116.000 industries and 1,2 million employees). He is currently President and CEO of T.T.A. (Tecno Taglio Acciai), a family business founded in 1976, specialising in cutting, trading and processing of sheet metal, special and stainless steels. He has been a member of the national board of Confapi since 2012 and in 2020 he became Vice President. He was also President of Confapi Industria Piacenza, the local association of Confapi. Since July 2015 he has been a member of the Central-Northern Italy Advisory Board of Unicredit, one of the most important Italian banks.

Aurora Candel

Director

SME, Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Romania

Aurora Elena Candel is the Head of Public Affairs for Business Environment within The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, in Romania. In charge of foreign affairs in matters of SMEs and entrepreneurship, she is also a coordinator of the implementation of the National Resilience and Recovery Plan and the coordinator of Romania’s accession to OECD. She started her career in public administration, as an advisor for an ex-prime minister, while she was still in high school. She built legal expertise within three central institutions, representing the entities of The International Court of Arbitration. In the sector, she worked as a consultant on public affairs and business matters.  Aurora has an overall experience of 6 years in the management of the board of directors of 5 state-owned enterprises in the defence industry. As a highlight of her work for the defence industry, it is to mention the incorporation of three joint ventures between Romanian and foreign companies.

Elio De Tullio

Founder and Managing Partner

De Tullio & Partners – Intellectual Property Attorneys

Elio De Tullio is a lawyer and trademark attorney specialising in Intellectual Property, with 20 years of experience in assisting SMEs with the protection and exploitation of their intellectual property rights at the international level. After 10 years of experience in IP matters, he founded in 2005 the IP tech-law firm De Tullio & Partners, with offices in Rome and Bari and a liaison office in New York. He cooperates as an expert with EUIPO in Expert Groups (ECP6 – Supporting SMEs), EU Observatory Expert Groups (SMEs, Legal) and Working Groups (Enforcement). He cooperates as an expert with Italian Ministries (Foreign Affairs, Economic Development, and Agriculture), the European Commission (in particular, EASME as Coach of SME Instrument) and WIPO (SME Division). He is also an expert and lecturer of the Italian Trade Agency (ICE-ITA). Since 2015 he has been a Board Member of the International Network for Small and Medium Enterprises (INSME).

Andrea Di Anselmo

CEO

META Group, Italy

Andrea Di Anselmo is the vice president of META Group an international advisory and investment firm with offices in Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Sweden and Belgium (Brussels). He is the Past President of INSME (the International Network for SMEs), and sits on the Board of Directors of META Ventures, the fund management company operating Ingenium Funds, EURADA, the European Association of Regional Development Agencies and several companies. Andrea’s most recent professional experience is at an international level and concentrates on challenge-based innovation, innovation strategies (S3), financial tools and support to “Knowledge Intensive” enterprises and entrepreneurs, and exploitation of research results. He has a background as a civil engineer and research experience in materials science at the University of Storrs Connecticut (USA).

Lukas R.G. Fitz

Researcher

Brandenburg University

Lukas R. G. Fitz is a researcher at the Department of Business and Management at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, a PhD student at TU Berlin, and a project manager for SME digitalization at the Institute for Innovation and Information Management (ifii). His research and project work are centered around small and medium-sized enterprises in the realm of digital transformation, especially the platform economy, with a strong emphasis on human-centered research and design methods. Fitz publishes in renown international publication outlets and provides lectures at Bachelor and Master level in Information Management, Digital Business Models and Design Thinking.

Martin Godel

Chairman

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)

Martin Godel graduated from the University of Geneva at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and received his Master’s Degree in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School administered by Tufts and Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts. After 4 years in Japan, Godel returned to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and assumed the responsibility for Switzerland’s Small and Medium Size Enterprise Policy including the reduction of regulatory costs for SMEs and ease of access to financing. He was in charge of the reform of the federal tax holiday regime on regional aid and led the negotiations with the European Commission and the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP). Since 2017 Martin Godel has led the national project for a single platform for Government-to-Business transactions, EasyGov.swiss. Martin Godel is Deputy Head of the Promotion Activities Directorate in SECO including Regional Policy, Tourism Policy, Foreign Economic Promotion Policy and SME Policy.

Orkhan Mammadov 

Chairman of the Board

Small and Medium Business Development Agency of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

Orkhan Vidadi Oglu Mammadov was born in Baku in 1984. In 2005,  graduated from the International Relations Faculty of Baku State University. In 2005, completed the Business and Finance program at Regent’s University London. In 2009, earned an MBA degree at Odlar Yurdu University. In 2012, earned a second bachelor’s degree in Finance and Credit at Azerbaijan State University of Economics. In 2006, started to work at the Ministry of Industry and Energy. From March 2007 to February 2018, held various positions at the Ministry of Economy, including serving as senior advisor and deputy head of the business development policy sector, deputy head of the foreign economic relations sector and head of the interstate economic cooperation sector. During his employment in the Ministry of Economy, participated in nearly 100 international meetings of various working groups and joint intergovernmental commissions, and was directly involved in the organization of a number of international events. On February 27, 2018, was appointed Chairman of the Management Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Fluently speaks Azerbaijani, English, Russian and Turkish.

Patrick Meinhardt

Board Member and former Member

Parliament ESD and INSME

Since 2021 he has been a Member of the Board of Directors, the European Association of Self-Employed. Since August 2014, Mr. Meinhardt was responsible for Public Affairs, Public Relations, Economics, Cooperation with Associations and Foreign Trade as Head of Politics and Public Relations at the BVMW Federal Office Berlin (Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft Unternehmerverband Deutschland e.V.). In addition, he coordinates the European policy and the Brussels office and strengthens the federal management of the association. From 2005 to 2013 he was a member of the German Bundestag. Here he was spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group for education and the group “Christians in the FDP parliamentary group”.

Jay Mitra

Founder IEF

International Entrepreneurship Forum and Director Innovation and
Entrepreneurship, Essex University Business School, UK

Jay Mitra is a Professor of Business Enterprise and Innovation. He is a Visiting Scholar at Luneburg University in Germany and has held Visiting Professorships at the Institute of Management Technology in India, the School of Management, Fudan University in China, Bologna University, in Italy and Externado University in Colombia. He has acted as a Scientific Adviser to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in Paris.  Prof. Mitra is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the UK and is a board member of INSME (International Network of SMEs) headquartered in Rome. He also leads the International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) a unique network and forum for researchers, policymakers and business practitioners working on entrepreneurship, innovation and regional development.  He has written widely on different aspects of entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development, and his latest book is ‘The Business of Innovation’ published by Sage in 2017. He is the editor of the ‘Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, also published by Sage and a member of the board of numerous refereed journals around the world. He has worked with various institutions around the world such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, ASEAN, EU and other government agencies and private sector organisations.

Stella Oikonomitsiou

Advocator

Enterprise Greece SA

Stella Oikonomitsiou works in the International and Institutional Affairs Directorate of Enterprise Greece, the official investment and trade promotion agency of the Greek State. Prior to this, she worked for 11 years at the Hellenic Competition Commission acquiring significant experience in regulatory policy, competition economics and law, and EC working groups. Stella started her career in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit firm. During her studies at Aalborg University, Denmark she delved into innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and Artificial Intelligence. Her professional experience and interests entail SMEs, innovation, digital transformation and new technologies.

Marco Pini

Senior Economist

Italian Research Center of the Chambers of Commerce

Marco Pini, PhD in International Cooperation and Development with thesis in Applied Economics at Sapeinza University (Rome, Italy). Senior Economist at Centro Studi delle Camere di Commercio Guglielmo Tagliacarne (Italian Research Center of the Chambers of Commerce, Rome, Italy). Previously, he served at Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses (ISAE, Rome, Italy) working for the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Adjunct Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University and LUISS Business school (Rome, Italy). He was Visiting researcher at Warsaw University (Poland), Utrecht University (Netherlands) and University of Torino (Italy). He has published in numerous national and international high-impact peer-reviewed journals on entrepreneurship, family business, internationalization, digitalization, Industry 4.0, eco-innovation. Co-author of an essay on innovation and regional disparities. Click here and here to access his latest papers discussed during the conference.

Roberto Santolamazza

Managing Director

t2i, Italy

Roberto Santolamazza holds a Master Course degree in Car Engineering (MBA) and a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering (Industrial Automation and Robotics) from Padua University, Italy. Prior to joining t2i – trasferimento tecnologico e innovazione as Managing Director, Roberto has managed an innovation agency, Treviso Tecnologia, and worked for several years in a major consulting firm, Accenture. Previously, he worked for a widely famous Italian Car Manufacturer, Ferrari SpA, and at the European Technical Center of a major Japanese multinational electronics company located in Holland, Omron Corporation, as a visiting fellow. He’s an Adjunct Professor of Innovation and Development Economics at the Cà Foscari University in Venice.

Manuel Seuffert

Director

IMP³ROVE

Manuel Seuffert is the director of IMPROVE, Kearney’s competence center for innovation management. Prior to this role, he worked at Kearney as a Business-building accelerator to build innovative new businesses and assets to overcome the biggest challenges of stakeholders. He was also the founder of Digimaniac and a freelancer for business consulting, planning, optimizing and offering startup coaching and business plan expertise gained from a Master of Science in General Management and a Bachelor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Boyko Takov

CEO

Promotion, Bulgaria

Dr Boyko Takov is the Executive Director of The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, appointed by an Order of the Minister of Economy, Mr Emil Karanikolov, dated November 12, 2018. Dr. Takov has a proven executive management track record and over 12 years of experience in business management. He spent four years at The Executive Agency “State Property of the Ministry of Defense“, where he served in various expert positions. From 2008 to 2012 he was CEO and member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian subsidiary company of a leading South Korean energy company. He earned his doctorate in Economics, Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University in Sofia and his Master’s degree in Marketing and Economics at the University of National and World Economy, Sofia.

Hamsa Thota

Founder and President

IBD Inc., Georgia, USA

Dr. Hamsa Thota is the founder and president of US-based Innovation Business Development (IBD), Inc., a company specializing in product innovation performance improvement. He has 40 years of accomplishments as an inventor, entrepreneur, innovator, and teacher. He trains and consults with organizations to improve new product success rates in the US, China and India. He holds 10 U.S. patents. He co-authored “Key concepts in Innovation”, a fundamental reference book for practitioners, students and scholars of innovation. He served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Art of Science Learning (ASL) project. Under his guidance, ASL project teams explored connections among arts-based learning and scientific innovation. Working in Innovation Incubators operating in San Diego, Chicago and Worcester, MA, the project teams developed STEM-based novel solutions to pressing civic challenges.

Andrew W. Wyckoff

Director

OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation

Andrew W. Wyckoff is the Director of the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) where he oversees OECD’s work on innovation, business dynamics, science and technology, information and communication technology policy as well as the statistical work associated with each of these areas. His experience prior to the OECD includes being a program manager of the Information, Telecommunications and Commerce program of the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), an economist at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and a programmer at The Brookings Institution. He has served as an expert on various advisory groups and panels which include joining the Global Board of Trustees of Digital Future Society (DFS), being a Commissioner on the Lancet/FT Governing Health Futures 2030 Commission, the International Advisory Board of the Research Council of Norway and Head of OECD’s Delegation at the G20 and G7 meetings on ICT and Digital Economy.

Giovanni Zazzerini

Secretary General

INSME, Italy

Giovanni Zazzerini is the Secretary General of INSME – International Network for Small and Medium Enterprises, a legally recognised organisation founded in 2004 by the Ministry of Economic Development and the OECD. Since 2008 he has been working as an expert for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Development Cooperation projects in China and Vietnam. Since 2012 he has been an expert for the European Commission Service offering assistance in the valorisation of research results, the commercialisation of innovation and the development of business plans. Previously, for almost 15 years, he worked as a consultant in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship and internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Perugia. His areas of specialisation are innovation management, entrepreneurship and marketing.