DIH-World Community Meeting

Dr.-Ing. Dominic Gorecky

Dominic Gorecky is leading the research group for Industry 4.0 at Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne and is co-founder and head of the Swiss Smart Factory and executive board member and partner at Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne. The Swiss Smart Factory is the first test and demonstration platform for Industry 4.0 topics in Switzerland. It is set-up by the Canton of Bern as a policy instrument with regional and national impact.

Before, he was head of research of the Innovative Factory Systems department at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI in Kaiserslautern, Germany. In this role, he was also the responsible R&D coordinator for the SmartFactoryKL living lab.

He is agenda contributor at the World Economic Forum and is co-founder and advisor for several start-ups in the area of Industry 4.0.

His PhD addressed the usage of semantic technologies in the context of the digital factory.

Dr. Kaspars Ozols

Dr. Kaspars Ozols is a deputy director of development, a Member of the scientific council as well as a senior researcher in the Institute of Electronics and Computer Science (EDI) where he leads teams of engineers and researchers. He holds a Ph.D. in Electronics from Riga Technical University. He has been involved in various international projects related to the development of novel data acquisition, transmission and signal processing methods and devices for different applications in the fields of transport, health, manufacturing, etc., including participation in 14 European joint research projects (in ARTEMIS, H2020, ECSEL, ERA-NET, EIT and COST programs). Expertise in ICT system simulation, modelling, design, development, implementation, testing and validation. Author of 20+ peer-reviewed scientific articles. Research interests include Self-Driving/Autonomous cars, Cyber-Physical Systems, Signal Processing, Wireless Communications, Wireless Sensor Networks, Internet of Things, Embedded and Low Power solutions, Artificial intelligence, robotics, digitization of industry, etc. He is also very active in Digital Innovation hubs (DIH), participating in 3 different DIHs. Has written, submitted, and got funding for more than 20 different projects (mostly from the above-mentioned programs). Supervisor of 10+ engineerings, bachelor, and master theses as well as 3 Ph.D. theses. Mentor for 10+ start-ups. 1st place in the ResearchSlam competition. Latvian Academy of Sciences (LAS) award recipient for one of the most significant achievements in Latvian science in 2018.

Krassimira Shindarova

Krassimira Shindarova is a coordinator of the Bulgarian Innovation and Technology Hub – DigiTech 4.0, since 2017. More than 14 years she has been working at ICT Cluster Bulgaria, leading different projects and initiatives for supporting SMEs innovation and digital transformation. Krasimira Shindarova is certified advisor of European ADMA Factories of the Future, member of several European working groups devoted to digital transformation, local contact point for I4MS for Bulgaria. She is a PhD student at the University of National and World Economy.

Susana Larrea

Technician of the Strategic Transitions Department at SPRI, the Basque Business Development Agency since 2008. Experience in the management of R&D support programs financed by the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government. Directly involved in the coordination of the Basque Digital Innovation Hub (BDIH) to help companies in the incorporation of digital and sustainable production technologies.

Staff member of the Enterprise Europe Network of the European Commission since 2008. Member of the Sector Group Intelligent Energy and the Sector Group Aerospace and Dual Use Technologies.

Also belongs to the Cluster Program managing team at the Dept. of Economic Development and Competitiveness of the Basque Government as mentor of Hegan (Basque Aeronautics and Space cluster).

Andreja Šeperac

Andreja Šeperac, Deputy Director of the SIMORA Development Agency and Head of the EU projects Department

Her work experiance, after completing her economic studies, predominates in EU projects applying and management. These projects include etrepreneurship, strategic planning, as well as those related to tourism, civil sector and cross-border cooperation. She was marketing manager in Top Terme Topusko spa, and today she is involved in over 100 projects that SIMORA Development Agency is currently implementing. Quickly finding a solution and focusing on the set goal with great determination are her characteristics. PISMO business incubator specializes in the gaming industry, witch, in addition to being the center of Croatian gaming, has also become a digital innovation hub. That is not enough for her, so together with the team from SIMORA, she is already working on building a campus for the video game industry.

Thorsten Hülsmann

Thorsten studied at Universities of Bonn and Bologna and holds a Master in Economic Geography, Political Sciences and Sociology from University of Bonn.

From 2000 – 2003 Thorsten worked as Research Fellow at the Universities of Bonn and Bristol within a research project on regional innovation development. From 2003 – 2010 he worked as Project Manager and Deputy Head of Unit at the Economic Development Agency Dortmund and was responsible for acquisition campaigns in ICT, MEMS and logistics industries in South-Korea, Singapore and Turkey.

In 2010 he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of EffizienzCluster Management GmbH, renamed into Digital Hub Management GmbH in 2021, a non-for-profit management company with four industry associations as shareholders. In 2016 he was additionally appointed as Head of Unit Strategic Initiatives at Fraunhofer IML and in 2016 as CFO of International Data Spaces Association.

In 2017 he established the Digital Hub Logistics Dortmund as a joint initiative of Fraunhofer IML, Fraunhofer ISST, Technical University Dortmund orchestrated by Digital Hub Management GmbH.

Since 2021 his is additionally CFO of Open Logistics Foundation, an international open source initiative for and of the logistics industry.

Thorsten focuses his work on the management and coordination of innovation networks, initiatives and clusters. He uses stakeholder engagement and qualitative research methods as well as strategic foresight tools.

Thorsten held several appointments like representative of EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr within the task force Logistics and Mobility within the Climate Protection Plan NRW, 2012-2013; Member of the Advisory Board, International Leadership Programme Central Asia, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ, 2011 – 2013; Invited expert on regional development and innovation management, Project GREEN-AgriChains, FRP 7 EU, Regional Potential Program, 2013-2016; Member of the High Level Advisory Group, H2020 Big Data Value Lighthouse Project Transforming Transport, 2017-2019; Ambassador of the H2020 project DIHNET.EU and PLATOON, among others.

Julia Palma

Julia is the Programmes Manager of the Innovation Development Group at CeADAR. Julia has an academic background in pharmaceutical technology) and her professional background includes more than 15 years of experience in research, teaching, business development, consultancy and project/programme management. In her previous role as Innovation Manager at the European Institute of Technology (EIT) she directly supervised over 200 project ideas and managed a pipeline of 17 collaborative innovation projects (around 35M€).

Julia has participated in the European Commission’s working groups within the “Digitising European Industry” initiative and chaired the Data i-Spaces subgroup of the Big Data Value Association (BDVA).

Dr. Anna Puig Centelles

Dr. Anna Puig Centelles received her degree in computer engineering from the Universitat Jaume I (Spain) and the M.Sc. from the Vrije Universiteit (The Netherlands) on medical protocols.

Anna obtained her Ph.D. on computer graphics after doing a research internship in Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) and Université de Limoges (France).

After working in Academia for many years, Anna started working as project manager focused on neuroscience and satellite technologies. Anna joined the European Commission in 2018 as programme officer in DG CNECT. Her current responsibilities include working as project officer for H2020 and HE projects in HADEA, the Health and Digital Executive Agency established by the European Commission https://hadea.ec.europa.eu