Philip is Senior Freight Strategy Advisor at UIC with Master’s degrees in econometrics, purchasing and supply chain management. He has over 25 years of experience in supply chain matters. At UIC, he focuses on international logistics topics and the way UIC can support international corridor development. Besides this, he leads the combined transport and special quality groups. From time to time, he comments and publishes on logistics and mobility issues at stake.

Benacer Boulaajoul is the General Director of the new National Road Safety Agency in the Kingdom of Morocco since May 2019. In this new position, Benacer Boulaajoul leads efforts to develop a sustainable road safety strategy in collaboration with all stakeholders from public and private sectors and NGOs. 

Prior to this appointment, Mr Boulaajoul served for six years as Permanent Secretary of National Committee for Prevention of Traffic Accidents (CNPAC) in Morocco, where he was responsible of Communications, Road Education and Research and Development on all topics linked to road safety. A passionate advocate for road safety at national and international levels mainly in Africa, he pushed for greater regional collaboration to establish the first African Road Safety Observatory (ARSO). Mr Boulaajoul is the Chairman of the transitional Steering Committee of ARSO.

Mr Boulaajoul is also the President of PRI since November 2015 (La Prévention Routière Internationale) a global road safety organisation created in 1959 and member of UNRSC. His prior experience includes serving as Director for Studies and Information Systems at CNPAC from 2005 to 2012 where he would have led several projects and studies on road safety in Morocco.

Mr Boulaajoul is an engineer and holds a Master’s degree in Public Management.

Engineer from Ecole Centrale de Paris and with an MBA from Imperial College Business School in London, Mr Benazzouz started his career working in consulting engineering and then moved to Unilever to work in different management positions in Casablanca, London, Singapore and leading up to Regional Finance Director in Egypt.

He also worked as General Manager of Savola Morocco and as Chief of Cabinet for the Minister of Equipment and Transport of Morocco just before his appointment in 2014 as General Manager of the National Company of Motorways of Morocco (ADM). At the helm of Autouroute du Maroc (ADM) he was given the mandate to ensure the sustainability of the company through debt restructuring, the change of ADM’s mission to a service company, and the modernization and digitisation of operations.

Mr Benazzouz has been serving as a board member of IRF for several years before being appointed IRF Vice-President in 2018.

The IRF General Assembly has elected him IRF President in 2022. His three-year mandate runs until 2025.  

Responsible for railway transport and implementation of railway investments.

Graduated in Law Studies at the Warsaw University, postgraduate studies in Management, Kozminski University, Warsaw, as well as Local Government Law postgraduate studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences.

He has served as Mayor/Deputy Mayor of districts of the Capital City of Warsaw, Poland and worked in the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.

In his role as Advocacy Director, Matthias Maedge leads IRU’s global advocacy work from the Geneva Headquarters. He was previously General Delegate of the IRU Permanent Delegation to the EU, responsible for representing the commercial vehicle industry, including mobility and logistics, at the European level.

Before joining IRU, Matthias spent nearly 10 years in the vehicle and energy business holding several positions before becoming Secretary General of the European Natural Gas Vehicle Association. Prior to his involvement in the alternatively fuelled vehicle business, he worked in the German Parliament (Bundestag) and served as a Research Associate to the Shadow Secretary for Education. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Media and Communications.

Davide Amato is the Head of Sector in charge of transition analysis, outreach and international co-operation in the Environmental and Social Transition Unit of the Healthy and Clean Planet Directorates of the Research and Innovation Directorate-General at the European Commission.

He started his professional career in the private sector, covering different positions and responsibilities both at national and international level for multinational companies (Xerox, Bombardier). He joined the Bioeconomy Strategy Unit of the Research and Innovation Directorate-General of the European Commission in 2011, working on the launching and implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, co-ordinating the drafting of the Work Programmes for the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 and the development of Horizon Europe Cluster 6.

He holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Politics and Economics of the EU Integration and an MSc in Human Resources.

Minister Alghabra was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Mississauga Centre in 2015, and also served as the Member of Parliament for Mississauga—Erindale from 2006 to 2008. He has served as Minister of Transport since January 2021.

Minister Alghabra also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Trade Diversification, before becoming Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in 2019.

A longtime community activist, Minister Alghabra is passionate about his involvement with organisations like Youth Troopers for Global Awareness. He was a member of the community editorial board of the Toronto Star, where he authored columns on a wide range of issues. Among his many activities, Minister Alghabra has worked tirelessly to support initiatives that empower new Canadians through social and economic integration.

He has worked in various roles with General Electric Canada, Enbala Power, and the Ontario Energy Board.

A mechanical engineer by trade, Minister Alghabra holds a Master of Business Administration and was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow with the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science at Ryerson University.

Daniel Blay is a Vice President, Solutions Architect Africa for Zipline, the global instant logistics leader. Based in Ghana, he is responsible for the growth of new operations, use cases, and partners across Africa.

Prior to joining Zipline, Daniel led the Revenue Operations function at a venture-backed education-technology startup in Sydney, Australia. Before that, Daniel held positions at Uber Technologies, EFTsure, and Daily Guide Ghana. Daniel holds a BA in Econometrics from the University of Sydney.

Gibet Camós is the Director of Development and International Relations for Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), the public transport operator of most of the bus and metro networks of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

Her work focuses on developing new projects for the company on an international scale.

Before joining TMB Gibet has always worked in the transport sector, with international organisations such as the World Bank or the Interamerican Development Bank as well as with the transport operator from France, RATP. Her international experience has gone from road and safety projects in the South Caucasus to accompanying Bogota in Colombia for the launch of the first metro line project. In Paris, Gibet worked on the design, implementation and operation of infrastructure and mobility projects including hiring and leading the team in charge to open and operate a new tramline in the north of Paris in 2014.

Gibet is fluent in more than five languages and holds a Master's degree in Transportation and Urban Planning from the École des Ponts ParisTech and a Master's in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

Seung-geun Paek is the Chair of the Metropolitan Transport Commission (MTC) under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of the Republic of Korea. He earned his Doctoral Degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Texas A&M University, USA.

Beginning his career as a civil servant in 1991, Seung-geun Paek was appointed to key positions handling transport-related policies at MOLIT, which include: Director General for Railway Safety Policy, Assistant Minister for Road, Standing Commissioner of the MTC, Deputy Minister for Transport and Logistics, and Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination.

While serving as the Standing Commissioner of the MTC, he led the formulation of the “2030 Metropolitan Transport” (October 2019), a plan that lays out the vision and strategies for Korea’s metropolitan transport policy. This, in turn, helped the MTC take root as it is a relatively new organization established in March 2019.

As the Deputy Minister for Transport and Logistics, he played a key role in enabling a stable provision of transport and logistic services, including public transport and courier delivery, in face of the COVID-19 outbreak. He also contributed to keeping employment stability in the transport sector and preventing the spread of the virus on public transport.

Now, as the Chairperson of the MTC, he is leading the efforts to bring substantive improvements to Korea’s metropolitan transport environment. Such efforts include the establishment of a mid-to-long-term metropolitan transport plan, introduction and expansion of the semi-public operation system for metropolitan buses, introduction of electric double-decker buses, expansion of intermodal transit facilities, and promotion of the Altteul Transport Card (Cost-saving Transport Card), which allows the users to save up to 30% of their public transport costs.

Passionate about social, economic and environmental justice; over the past 20 years, Maruxa has worked with leaders in government, parliament, multilateral institutions, activism, philanthropy and business across continents to advance equitable prosperity and climate change solutions.

Maruxa has recently been appointed as Champion of the Pathfinder Initiative, which focuses on pathways for healthy zero-carbon futures and is overseen by The Lancet Pathfinder Commission. In 2019 she was selected to Chair the 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference. Previously Maruxa founded Communitas, the multi-stakeholder coalition which pioneered knowledge-based advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goal on Cities and Human Settlements. Maruxa also served as Secretary General of Regions for Sustainable Development, and during her tenure co-facilitated the engagement of sub-national governments in the UN Rio +20 Conference. She has also held posts as Senior Policy Specialist in Cities Alliance-UNOPS; as well as in local and regional government in the UK and Spain.

Holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Science and a Master's in Political Science from Vilnius University, and a Master of Public Administration in Public and Economic Policy from London School of Economics and Political Science.

In 2020, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania. Previously, he served as Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, held the position of Director of the International Relations Department at the Bank of Lithuania, and was a member of the Board of the Lithuanian State Science and Studies Foundation.

His hobbies include tennis, scuba diving, classical music and reading. Minister is fluent in English and German.

Matt McCann is an entrepreneur, web developer and software engineer. He is CEO and founder of Access Earth.

Matt has cerebral palsy and has struggled with accessibility challenges his entire life but it wasn’t until 2012, when as a college student he booked a room at a hotel in London that marketed itself as accessible only to discover upon arrival that it was not.

Matt used his Master’s in Software Engineering to create a platform that people could use to easily access accessibility information and upload their own feedback on places they had visited.

Daniele Violetti is the Senior Director of the Programmes Coordination and Director a.i. of the Means of Implementation (MoI) Division. As Senior Director he provides strategic direction and oversight in relation to the work of the Programmes Department, comprised of the four Programmes divisions (Adaptation, Means of Implementation, Mitigation, Transparency). He ensures strategic, substantive and administrative coherence and synergy in the delivery of their work programmes, including in relation to the established intergovernmental processes and constituted bodies.

The MoI Division supports international co-operation on the mobilization of financial resources, technology development and transfer, and building of individual, institutional and systemic capacity to enable and support Parties to take enhanced action on climate change. In particular, it supports the work of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Technology Executive Committee and the Paris Committee on Capacity Building. The MoI Division also coordinates the secretariat’s outreach to the United Nations system.

Prior to his current position, he served as Chief of Staff of the secretariat for seven years, supporting two Executive Secretaries. He was also Coordinator for the United Nations Secretary-General's High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF) at the United Nation Headquarters in New York. He has extensive experience on issues related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol and he served as Secretary to the CDM Executive Board (EB) as well as a Manager in the CDM Process Management unit within the Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme at the UNFCCC Secretariat.

Jakob Bjelland became State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport on 3 January 2022.

Prior to that, he was Head of Department in Sunnhordland Kraftlag, a producer of hydroelectric power. He has previously held leading positions in various companies within the supply industry, the maritime sector and the oil and gas industry. He has also worked in the defence industry in Norway. In the period 2015-2022, he was Deputy Mayor in Stord Municipality and Acting Mayor in periods. He was substitute member to the Storting 2009-2017 for the Centre Party. Bjelland is a graduate MSc in Physics and Mathematics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

H.E. Karaismailoğlu holds a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering from Karadeniz Technical University and a Master’s degree in Urban Systems and Transport Management program from Bahçeşehir University.

He started his professional career in 1995 in the Transport Coordination Directorate of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). He served as engineer and manager in Istanbul Electric Tramway and Tunnel Establishments (IETT) and as Traffic Deputy Manager and Transport Coordination Manager in IBB. He was appointed as the Head of Transport Division in 2014 and as the Deputy General Secretary for Transport, Environment and Technology in 2018 in IBB. He resigned from his office in July 2019.

During his terms, he took part in the development, implementation and realisation of many projects in Istanbul such as Waste Incineration and Energy Generation Facility, Waste Gas-to-Energy Facility, Industrial Base Thermal Disposal Facility. He contributed to the development of the Istanbul General Rail System Investment Plan, Master Plans of Istanbul on Transport, Parking, Logistics and Traffic Safety as well as the preparation of IBB Climate Change and Istanbul Air Mass Action Plan. He pioneered the integration of intelligent transport systems (ITSs) into the 35.000-km transport network of Istanbul and the establishment of the first Traffic Control Center of Turkey.

H.E. Karaismailoğlu was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure on 20 September 2019 and since 28 March 2020, he has been serving as the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.

Doctor Diego Alberto Giuliano was born on 15 January 1965 in Rosario, Santa Fé.

His training includes multiple studies within the Legal and Social Sciences, he completed postgraduate studies at the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Salamanca in Spain. Throughout his career, he has taught specialised courses and lectures and published books and articles as an author and co-author in the country and abroad.

He was a fellow of the Rotary Foundation and the office of the Prime Minister of Japan, he also served as Ordinary Professor of Constitutional Law and Specialist in Public Law issues. He served as a member of the Academic Council of the Fundación del Diario La Capital of Rosario and was a corresponding member of the Institute of Federalism of the National Academy of Law and Social Sciences of Córdoba.

His first political responsibility was as Delegate of the Ministry of Government, Justice and Cult of the province of Santa Fe in 2002. During 2005-2009 he served as Parliamentary Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies of Santa Fe and between 2009-2013 he held the position of Legislative Secretary of the Chamber of Senators of the Province.

In 2019, he held the position of Undersecretary of Institutional and Political Innovation of the Province of Santa Fe and in 2020 he was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the National Commission for Transportation Regulation. In 2021, thanks to his experience in public management, Minister Alexis Guerrera called him to occupy the position of Secretary of Transportation of the National Ministry of Transportation.

MK Merav Michaeli is Israel’s Minister of Transportation and Road Safety, a member of the security cabinet and head of the gender equality cabinet that she established. She was elected leader of the Labor Party in January 2021. A Member of Knesset since 2013, Merav Michaeli served as an opposition MK on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, including its subcommittees, and the House Committee. As transport minister, she articulates a vision of a greener, smarter transport that does not just move people from place to place but serves as a vehicle for social mobility for all parts of Israeli society.

Prior to her election to the Knesset, MK Michaeli was a senior journalist at Haaretz, regularly publishing op-eds and interviews. She also edited and hosted news and entertainment programs on both television and radio. MK Michaeli was involved in the establishment of Galgalatz and Radio Tel Aviv radio stations and served as a lecturer in universities and colleges on media and gender.

In her political and parliamentary activity, MK Michaeli continues her professional and ideological path. For over 20 years, MK Michaeli has been involved in feminist activism, seeking to promote women’s equality and opportunity. She also works to promote the rights of minorities, labour rights and the peace process. MK Michaeli has been ranked as one of the most prolific and most socially-oriented legislators.

Born on 8 October 1982 in Spaubeek

Party: Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA)

Education

2000-2002
Law, Maastricht University (not completed)

2002-2005
BA in European Studies, Maastricht University

2005-2006
MA in European Public Affairs, Maastricht University Career

2006-2008
Self-employed consultant (for clients including ABP)

2008-2009
Tutor, Maastricht University

2009-2018
Head, Maastricht University Campus Brussels

2018-2022
Member of the Maastricht municipal executive with responsibility for the economy, housing, regional policy and social innovation

10 January 2022
Appointed Minister for the Environment in the fourth Rutte government

Party political positions and outside activities

2010-2018
Member and leader of CDA group, Maastricht municipal council

September 2012 – January 2022
Board member of Friends of the Maasgouw (school for pupils with multiple disabilities)

2020 – January 2022
Member of the Committee of Recommendation of Stichting Stap voor Stap (social services foundation)

December 2020 – January 2022
Member of the Advisory Council of Stichting Vrouwenvoetbal (a women’s football organisation), Maastricht

The Rt Hon Grant Shapps was appointed Secretary of State for Transport on 24 July 2019. He was Minister of State at Department for International Development from 11 May 2015 until 28 November 2015. He is a member of the Conservative Party and represents his constituency of Welwyn Hatfield.

Grant was appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party in 2005, before being made Shadow Housing Minister in June 2007. Following the 2010 election, he served as Minister of State for Housing and Local Government in the Department for Communities and Local Government. Grant was appointed to the Privy Council in June 2010. In September 2012 he was appointed as co-chairman to the Conservative Party. At the same time, he held the position of Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office.

Outside politics, in 1990 Grant founded PrintHouse Corporation, a design, print, website creation and marketing business in London. Grant studied at Cassio College, Watford before graduating from Manchester Polytechnic with a business and finance diploma. He is married with three children.

Mohammed Abdeljalil, appointed Minister of Transport and Logistics in October 2021, was born in Rabat.

After the Baccalaureate C and the preparatory classes, he began his engineering training at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC) in Paris, from which he graduated in 1991. From 1999 to 2001, he obtained a joint MBA from the ENPC and the Hassania School of Public Works in Casablanca (EHTP).

A trilingual engineer, he has climbed various levels both in the private sector, where he began his career, and in public administration.

First, at the Arthur Andersen firm in Paris as an auditor, he remained there until 1993. In 1998, he returned to Morocco where the Bymaro company (a subsidiary of the BOUYGUES group) entrusted him with leading the construction site of the El Hank pre-treatment station in Casablanca. He was then appointed Commercial Director responsible for detecting, analysing and selecting projects and developing commercial proposals.

In 2003, he joined the public administration as Director of Programs and Studies at the Ministry of Equipment and Transport, where he participated in major projects such as the creation of the fund for road financing and air transport liberalisation.

Two years later, in 2005, he was appointed Director General of the Office for Port Operations (ODEP), where he participated in the implementation of port reform.

He successfully led the transformation project of the office and became the first Chairman of the Board of the Marsa Maroc Company, in December 2006.

He oversaw the new Terminal TC4 in Tanger Med II and the new Terminal TC3 in Casablanca, and supervised the improvement of the quality of service of the container terminal at the port of Casablanca during the congestion crisis of 2007.

In 2016, he successfully led the IPO of the country's leading port operator, Marsa Maroc.

Minister Abdeljalil is married and has two children.

Ángela María Orozco Gómez is a Barranquilla lawyer from Universidad Javeriana with a Master's degree in Comparative Jurisprudence from the University of Texas (United States), a specialist in Economic Law from the Externado University of Colombia and a Fellow at the Yale World Yale University (2003). She was designated as one of the 100 global leaders of tomorrow by the World Economic Forum (2000), as one of the 10 outstanding young people of Colombia by the Junior Chamber of Colombia (2000) and as the year's Foreign Trade executive by the Association of Foreign Trade Directors 2001). 
 
Since August 2018 she serves as Minister of Transport of Colombia. Previously she has worked in the public sector as Minister of Foreign Trade (2002), President of Proexport (2000-2002) and Vice Minister of Foreign Trade (1998- 2000). She excelled in positions such as General and International Manager and Vice President of the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters (Asocolflores, 1995-1998), Head of the legal office of the Superintendence of Securities, where she was also an advisor (1994-1995), Associate Lawyer in Araújo Ibarra & Asociados (1993-1994); Economic Advisor to the Embassy of the United States (1993), Deputy Director of Trade Promotion Instruments (19921993) and Head of the Legal Division of the Commercial Practice of Incomex (1990-1992). She has also served as a member of international trade dispute settlement panels within the framework of the WTO (2015-2016) and ALADI (2004). 
 
Her teaching activity has been developed at the Externado de Colombia University, the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, the Universidad Pontificia Javeriana and the High Management Program of the Universidad de los Andes. Her last position was President of the Colombian Association of Producers of Edible Fats and Oils (Asograsas) and is a founding partner of Research and Opportunities, a boutique consulting firm with an emphasis on international trade and investment, where she represented the interests of Colombian companies, both importers of inputs as producers of national goods, in cases of commercial defence.

Paulo Humanes is the Director of Mobility, Automotive and Cities at CEiiA (Centre for Engineering and Product Development), developing cutting-edge innovative mobility and engineering solutions for sustainable mobility based in Portugal. His professional career begins in England at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he holds a Master’s in Transport Engineering. He then becomes Technical Director at Jacobs, one of the world's largest engineering consultants, developing projects ranging from transport modelling to road safety. During this period, he is a visiting professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and was elected as Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation in 2009, after which he receives the title of Fellow from the same institution. In 2010, he moves to Germany where he joins PTV AG, the world leader in transport planning software from the Porsche SE group, as Vice President of new mobility and business development. Responsible for the development of new products in the area of new mobility with a number of OEM partners, cities and governments. And also responsible for the interaction with institutional partners such as WRI, UM, World Bank and OECD, among others. He has developed relationships with cities and governments around the world developing strategic partnerships and capacity building for transport and mobility as well as for the definition of new mobility and zero-emissions solutions. 

James Leather is the Chief of the Transport Sector Group at the Asian Development Bank. Mr Leather has 30 years of experience in transport, working internationally with development organizations, governments, private sector and research institutions. Mr Leather leads ADB's transport sector operations and oversees the strategic direction of ADB's knowledge, technical and financial support to its developing member countries, private sector clients and partners. Mr Leather obtained his Master of Science in Transport Planning and Engineering from the Institute of Transport Studies, Leeds University (UK).

Associate - Africa Road Transport with the UNFCCC Climate Champions (PT), working towards an equitable decarbonisation of transport.

Founder and Director of Transport for Cairo (TfC) L.L.P. TfC provides strategic advisory consultancy services, data, tech and research to improve urban mobility in emerging cities. With TfC, Mohamed successfully led the completion of more than 35 projects in 5 countries in Africa.

With 8 years of experience in project leadership, Mohamed focuses on data collection, data aggregation, data science and urban computing to transform ideas into practice. Academically trained in Economics, Sociology and Public Policy design, he specialises in solving real-world problems around deep decarbonisation of transport, informal system change management and digitalisation of transport using data-driven methodologies.

Economics degree from the American University in Cairo (2012) and Governing the Large Metropolis from Sciences Po, Paris (2018). Received training at the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Columbia University, New York (2018). Currently based in Cairo.

George Ivanov is the Head of International Policy at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going, where he works on key autonomous driving policy and regulatory issues globally.

Prior to the founding of Waymo in 2016, George worked on Google's public policy team in Washington DC, conducting federal regulatory engagement on transportation, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and broadband issues, for the Google Self Driving Car Project, Android Auto, Google Cloud, and Google Fiber. George previously managed emerging technology standards development at the Telecommunications Industry Association and consulted for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

George received his JD from the Santa Clara University School of Law and his MA and BA from George Washington University.

Binyam Reja is the Global Practice Manager and Acting Global Director for Transport in the Infrastructure Vice Presidency. Mr Reja oversees the Bank’s Transport Global Unit’s knowledge, flagship analytical studies, partnerships and corporate mandates. He directs an extensive technical assistance program and analytical studies and leads a team of technical professionals and analysts in the delivery of the program. Before being selected for this position, Mr Reja was the Regional Practice manager for China, Mongolia and Central Asia where he oversaw a lending program totalling US$8 billion for China, Mongolia and Central Asia covering all sub-sectors, including urban transport, BRT, metros, highways, railways, intermodal freight transportation and logistics. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Irvine, and attended the Executive Education program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.   

Ingrid has a Master degree in International Law and European Law and a Postgraduate Degree in Litigation and Arbitration from the University Paris-II Assas and a Master degree in Law from the University of Lund, Sweden.

She started her career in the aviation sector in 1998 as a senior advisor in the Civil Aviation Administration and moved on to be Head of Unit Market and Safety Analysis and later on Head of Unit Legal Matters. In 2010 she took on the position of Director of Civil Aviation within the Swedish Transport Agency, and in 2013 she became Director of the Civil Aviation and Maritime Department. As of 1 June 2017, she is Director of the Strategic Development and Management Department.

Ingrid was also President of ECAC (European Civil Aviation Conference), from December 2014 to July 2021. She has been Vice President of Eurocontrol Provisional Council and Chairperson of EASA Financial Advisory Board.

Michel Charton joined the company in 1986 as Head of Production at Le Havre Refinery and in 1997 he was appointed Responsible for management skills and training for the refining Managers. In 2000, he was nominated as Head of Valorization Program Department at the Dunkirk Refinery. In 2003, based in Brussels, he was named Pilot of Total Refinery of Antwerp and Total Refinery of the Netherlands. In 2005, Michel was named CEO of SARA – Refinery of West Indies. He was appointed General Manager of Donges Refinery in 2009 and General Manager of Carling Refinery in 2012. In 2014, Michel was appointed Senior Vice President Refining Base Chemicals Europe while he also sat on the Group Performance Management Committee. Since September 2021, Michel is Senior Vice President Health Safety Environment. Michel was born in 1961, he is a graduate of Ecole Centrale de Lyon (1985).

Kevin joined Urb-it in 2017 and has led the business since 2018. Under Kevin’s leadership, Urb-it has transformed into a rapidly growing sustainable logistics platform – with big ambitions to create a positive impact on society and the environment. 

Urb-it provides sustainable last-mile deliveries in urban locations across Europe. It partners with the logistics sector and brands to deliver the last mile sustainably and efficiently.

Urb-it’s customer-centric last-mile delivery services are conducted by our couriers on foot, bike and our e-cargo fleet. This reduces noise pollution, air pollution and congestion - creating healthier communities.  The way Urb-it’s couriers deliver means it is more reliable and efficient than traditional methods in last-mile deliveries, moving through urban areas quicker.  Urb-it is B Corp certified, meaning it meets and has committed to the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance. 

Prior to joining Urb-it, Kevin held leadership positions at several growth companies within e-commerce – including Tradera, the Swedish online marketplace owned by PayPal and ICA Gruppen.  Founded in 2014, Urb-it is a Swedish entrepreneurial company headquartered in Stockholm and listed on Nasdaq First North.

Alette van Leur is Director of the Sectoral Policies Department (SECTOR) at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. SECTOR, whose work cuts across all four strategic objectives of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, promotes decent work and productive employment in 22 social and economic sectors and industries. The Department contributes to the ILO’s work on the promotion of decent work in global supply chains as well as the implementation of the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work and the Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. 

From 2007 to 2011, Ms van Leur was Director of the ILO’s Department of Partnerships and Development Cooperation (PARDEV). The department is responsible for the overall management of development co-operation and partnership activities at the ILO. It leads consultations and negotiations with donors and other partner organisations, and coordinates and promotes the ILO’s involvement in the activities of other international organizations including the UN system.

From 1994 to 2007, Ms van Leur has held different positions in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands including the position of Deputy Director of the International Affairs Department.  Prior positions include those of Junior Professional Officer at the ILO offices in Suva and Bangkok and Technical Officer at the Social Security Department at the ILO in Geneva.  

Ms van Leur holds a Masters degree in Social Sciences and has had senior management training provided by the Netherlands Government.   

Agustina Calatayud is Lead Transport Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the leading development institution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Her work focuses on conducting applied research, structuring projects, and providing technical oversee to improve transport systems in LAC. She leads the IDB knowledge agenda on transportation and logistics. Before joining IDB in 2010, she worked in the areas of private sector development and transport planning with several international organizations (European Commission, ILO and UN); the public sector (Municipality of Turin, Italy); as well as the private sector. She holds a PhD in Mechanical and Systems Engineering from Newcastle University, UK, and Master's Degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Padua, Italy. Her research on logistics and maritime transportation received international awards from the UK Charter Institute for Transport and Logistics, Emerald Publishing, and the European Logistics Association, and has been published by scientific journals, international organizations and academia.

Peter Cosyn has degrees in Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering and is Geotechnical Engineer. He worked for the Belgian Railways and the Ghent University and is now Senior Project Manager at Tractebel Engineering. 

He has a broad experience in the design, management and organisation of major civil engineering (railways, roads, bridges and ports) and public space projects over the entire world. He assisted both governments and private companies in complex transport projects. He was involved in major PPP projects on both the client and contractor side. He is currently involved in the building of the largest lock in the world, and several highway projects. As competence manager, he was responsible for the quality of the infrastructure design within Tractebel.

He was a lecturer in Systems Engineering at UHasselt. He works on sustainability of infrastructure projects and has a big interest in combining outstanding engineering, technological innovation, good urbanism universal design and architecture within infrastructure projects.

He is a wheelchair user and para-athlete, and works on the development of strategies, technology and tools to improve the accessibility of cities for people with disabilities. He is a member of the Accessible transportation technology committee at the Transport Research Board (TRB). 

Neil Pedersen has been Executive Director of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) since 2015. In that role he provides executive direction and leadership to TRB’s technical activities, including its annual meeting of over 14,000 transportation professionals, its 180 technical committees, its conferences, and its publications; its peer-reviewed policy consensus studies; and its multimodal cooperative research programs.

Prior to joining TRB, Neil spent 29 years at the Maryland Department of Transportation, where he served the last eight years as State Highway Administrator and Governor’s Highway Safety Representative.

Over his career, Neil has been involved in volunteer leadership roles in both TRB and the American Association of Transportation Officials (AASHTO). He chaired a number of TRB and AASHTO committees, including serving as Chair of TRB’s Executive Committee in 2011. 

Sugie began his career as a designer at Nissan’s Technical Center. After Nissan, he explored the world, teaching Japanese in several countries. Upon his return to Tokyo, he cofounded WHILL. Under his leadership, the company currently operates in 20 countries and regions. Sugie has received worldwide recognition for his work, including the Silicon Valley Business Journals 40 under 40 class of 2017.

Sonal Shah is the Executive Director of the Centre of Sustainable and Equitable Cities and the founder of The Urban Catalysts, advising multiple stakeholders: governments, development banks, philanthropic organisations and think tanks on sustainable, equitable city planning and transport. 

Over the last 15 years, Sonal has worked across 10 states in India, as well as Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the United States focusing on non-motorized transport, integrated public transport, land-use and transport integration and gender equity. Sonal was responsible for introducing India’s first gender-sensitive urban planning guidelines and actively contributed towards revising India’s national urban street design guidelines (IRC codes) to make them people-oriented. 

Sonal has led projects supported by the World Bank, AfD, UK Aid, ADB, IKI, Oak Foundation, Gates Foundation, GIZ and Bloomberg Philanthropies. She has taught at numerous institutions such as the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Anant National University, KRVIA, Academy of Architecture and the JJ School of Architecture. 

Sonal graduated from the MSc Urban Planning program at Columbia University. She was featured in the Alumni Spotlight in Fall 2013-14, and in the Remarkable Women in Transport 2020 by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative. She was also part of the NITI Aayog’s WEP-UNDP program on Innovative Finance.  

Kristina Jasiunaite has joined the international NGO World Bicycle Relief in 2013. In her position as Managing Director Europe she is responsible for Fund Development and Corporate Partnerships for World Bicycle Relief. World Bicycle Relief builds specially designed, locally assembled, rugged bicycles to provide a sustainable solution to the lack of mobility and long distances in rural development regions. To date, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 645,000 bicycles. The bicycles are distributed to students, healthcare workers and entrepreneurs where the need is greatest. For increased sustainability, the organization also trains field mechanics to ensure access to maintenance and spare parts.

Before Kristina started setting up World Bicycle Relief’s efforts in Germany and Europe, she worked in the bicycle industry in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria for more than 14 years. Already in these years, she dedicated herself to the idea that bicycles are a powerful and simple vehicle that can change the world. 

“Mobility is key for development – the bicycle is the most simple and sustainable solution to mobilize people and empower them to create access to education, health care and economic development.” 

For more information, please visit: www.worldbicyclerelief.org / @PowerOfBicycles / facebook.com/worldbicyclerelief

Ann is an international specialist on the mobility needs of people with disabilities and older people.

She works with governments and transport providers worldwide on identifying barriers (of all kinds) to independent mobility and finding solutions. Her work covers all modes of public transport as well as the pedestrian environment and personal mobility.

Ann has focused on accessibility for over 30 years; until 2006 she led work in the UK Department for Transport to develop laws, policies and technical standards. She has also worked on accessibility for the United Nations, the International Transport Forum and the European Commission.

Clarisse Cunha Linke is a Brazilian who has been involved in planning and implementing social policies and programs since 2001, with experience in Brazil, Mozambique, and Namibia. She holds a Masters in Social Policy, NGOs, and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she received the Titmuss Examination Prize in 2005.

Clarisse joined ITDP Brazil in 2012. From 2006 to 2011, she was a Director at the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia), where she played a key role in expanding BEN Namibia’s activities, helping it develop the most extensive community-based enterprise bicycle distribution network in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2010, she was awarded by Ashoka Changemakers in the “Women, Tools, and Technology” Challenge for the work done in Namibia with women. Since 2014, she has been a postgraduate professor at the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Laboratory (LARES) at the Institute of Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). From 2017 to 2019 she was a Board Member of the Sustainable Low Carbon Transport Network (SLoCaT). In addition, she has been a Global Future Council on Mobility member of the World Economic Forum since 20018. In 2019, she was recognized as a “Remarkable Women in Transport” by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI).

Clarisse is currently a PhD candidate in Architecture and Urbanism School at Fluminense Federal University (PPGAU/UFF). She intends to explore how current narratives about the future of mobility have the potential to generate greater inequity and socio-spatial segregation, particularly for women, black people, and residents of Brazilian urban peripheries.

Stephen Cotton is the General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global union federation of nearly 670 trade unions representing over 18 million workers in 154 countries in the maritime, port, road, rail, aviation and urban transport sectors. He was elected to the position at the 43rd ITF Congress held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2014, and re-elected at the 44th ITF Congress in Singapore, 2018.

Under his leadership as general secretary, the ITF has transformed into a proactive campaigning organisation, allowing the ITF and its affiliates to secure industry-leading contracts and protocols with key multinational companies in the transport sector, including aviation, maritime and road transport.

Cotton joined the ITF in 1993 as head of the agreements unit in the maritime section. He was later promoted to the position of assistant secretary of the special seafarers’ department (SSD), secretary of the SSD and maritime coordinator prior to his appointment as acting general secretary in October 2012.

During his time as leader of the ITF’s maritime section, significant achievements were made that have positively impacted the maritime industry and bettered the lives of seafarers. The ITF inspectorate expanded from 35 to 147 inspectors and contacts, and ships covered under ITF collective bargaining agreements increased to over 12,000 from less than 2,000. Cotton oversaw major Flags of Convenience (FOC) policy changes and led the introduction of ‘Oslo to Delhi’ and Mexico City policies, which laid the foundation for the landmark 2006 signing of the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) – establishing  a set of international minimum standards enforceable by international law.

Throughout his career at the ITF, Cotton has sought to improve the operations of the ITF, focusing on building affiliates’ power and streamlining the operations of the secretariat in order to make a real difference in the lives of transport workers and influence lead industry players in the transport sector. 

He is Chair of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), a trustee of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and serves on the United Seaman’s Service (USS) governing body. 

In 2014, Cotton received the United Seamen’s Service (USS) Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award (AOTOS), the maritime industry’s most prestigious award, in recognition of his work for defending the well-being and fair treatment of seafarers around the world. 

Lotte Brondum has led the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety (the Alliance) since 2014, working on behalf of and to support its 300 members in 100 countries, to mobilize and showcase NGOs’ role in the 2030 target to reduce road deaths and injuries by 50%. Lotte serves on the Advisory Board of the FIA High Level Panel and the Steering Committee of the UN Road Safety Trust Fund. She has authored reports including Walking the Talk, The Day Our World Crumbled, A New Deal in Road Safety: Why We Need NGOs, and several peer reviewed publications.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Lotte worked across NGO, academic, corporate, and governmental sectors in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Vietnam, including as a CSR specialist for Coca-Cola, as a researcher for Johns Hopkins University and the US Center for Disease Control, and as an advisor to the Danish government. Her work has focused on road safety, HIV/AIDS, and other public health issues.

Lotte has a degree in Medical Anthropology from University of Copenhagen, and advanced degrees in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Nursing Science from the University of Southern Denmark.

Harald Neerland has over twenty years of experience in advocacy for people with autism in Norway and at the European level.

He has been involved with Autism-Europe since 2008 as a member of the Executive Committee for the past 11 years. He has been involved in the organising committee of two Autism-Europe congresses, 2007 in Oslo and 2019 in Nice.

As a former President of the Norwegian Autism Society, Harald has been a member of several stakeholder engagement committees for the Department of Health and Care Services in the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Social Services.

He has also served as Chairman of the Advisory Group, Autism Unit, National Centre for Competency on Autism at the Oslo University Hospital.

In addition to his voluntary work for autism, Harald is the father of two girls, the youngest of whom has autism with complex support needs.

When he is not working on commitments in relation to the field of autism, Harald works as an engineering manager for an international manufacturer of oil and gas production equipment.

Dr Oh is the president of Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) since 2017. KOTI is the national transport research institute under the Office of the Prime Minister. At present, Dr Oh is the president of EASTS (East-Asian Society of Transportation Studies) and also serving as a Steering Committee member of WCTR-Society. Dr Oh graduated Department of Industrial Engineering at Seoul National University in 1980 and obtained his PhD degree in Transport Studies at University College London in 1990.

During the last 30 years at KOTI, Dr Oh has managed more than 70 of KOTI’s transport and logistics research projects. From 2006 to 2011, He was the project manager of the national R&D, “Transport Connectivity and Transfer Technology Development”. He has played a key role in innovating transport systems for carbon-neutral, implementing public transport oriented policies and formulating national transport infrastructure plans for the Korean government. In recent years, Dr Oh plays a leading role in conducting national R&D projects for mobility transformation of automation, electrification, car sharing and integration.

Yuji Hirako is a Member of the Board, Vice Chairman of ANA HOLDINGS INC. Hirako was appointed to this role on April 1st, 2022. 

Hirako graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in economics. Since joining ANA in 1981, he has held various positions in Tokyo. Hirako has spent much of his career in the network planning division, during which time ANA started international scheduled services and undertook a massive expansion effort across Asia, Europe, and North America.

From 1999 to 2001, Hirako was Executive Assistant to President and CEO Nomura, who decided on ANA’s joining of Star Alliance. From 2004 to 2006, he was Director of Passenger Services at ANA’s Tokyo Airport Office. He held the position of Director of Revenue Management from 2006 to 2008, followed by Director of Finance & Accounting from 2008 to 2010. Between 2010 and 2011, he served as Vice President of Corporate Planning, followed by Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales from 2011 to 2012. He then spent time in New York as Senior Vice President for the Americas as well as General Manager of New York from 2012 to 2015. In 2015, he returned to Japan where he served as CFO, Executive Vice President, and a Member of the Board of both ANA and ANA HOLDINGS INC. until 2017. From April 2017 to March 2022, he served as President and CEO of ANA and a Member of the Board of ANA and ANA HOLDINGS INC.

He currently resides in Tokyo with his wife. 

Ms. Lamia KERDJOUDJ-BELKAID is the Secretary General of FEPORT, the Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals since March 2014. She holds an Executive MBA from ESSEC and Mannheim Business Schools as well as Master Degrees in Shipping, Transport and Logistics as well as in English Literature and Applied Psychology.

She has a professional experience of more than 27 years during which she held different positions within the maritime and logistics sector. 

Among others, she has been for more than seven year the Public Affairs manager of the French Shipowners’ Organization. Between 2009 - 2012, she has also been appointed as a senior expert and advisor in the framework of several European projects financed by different Directorates of the European Commission.

She has also worked for private companies and corporations (among others Capmarine, Budd SA, CATRAM, EGIS) and has been in charge of consulting and business development assignments for large multinational companies. She is since 15 years a lecturer in Business schools in France and Germany in the field of stakeholders’ management and multilateral negotiations.

Rob McInerney is the Chief Executive Officer for the international Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), a registered charity with the vision for a world free of high-risk roads.  With RAP projects and programmes now active in over 100 countries worldwide, Rob works closely with key development bank, political and technical leaders from each country to build local capacity and deliver large scale and long term road safety benefits through the provision of safer road infrastructure as part of their own RAP programmes.

Rob was awarded the IRF Global Road Safety Award in 2017, Fellowship of the Australasian College of Road Safety in 2015, received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2014 and again in 2020 and the Alex Award in 2022 in recognition of the work of iRAP globally.

Nazir Alli is also a World Bank Consultant with 40 years’ experience as a distinguished civil engineer in both public and private sectors. He was the founding CEO of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) in postapartheid South Africa and is a globally recognized leader in public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the development of small and micro enterprises. He is best known as an international advisor on transport systems and institutional reform, as well as on economic infrastructure policy and the development of rural roads. 

Among other, he holds a BSc (Civil Engineering) degree from the University of Plymouth (UK – 1978) and completed an Executive Management Programme at the Haas Business School, University of California at Berkeley (USA – 1997), as well as the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme – Oxford University (UK – 2016), and a PG Dip Futures Studies, Stellenbosch University (SA – 2019). 

In addition to transforming a government department into a corporatized national roads agency, some of his significant achievements include major multi-billion ZAR infrastructure projects such as cross-border toll roads and binational water supply and hydropower projects. During his tenure as CEO of SANRAL, he oversaw the development of national secondary bond markets for toll roads, and, at the time, introduced the world’s first interoperable electronic tolling system

In his role as Spokesman of the Rail Cargo Group’s Board of Directors, Clemens Först is in charge of finances, planning the group functions that oversee Service Design, and the digital transformation of the Rail Cargo Group. He has held CXO positions in the European rail logistics sector since 2012 and has had many years of experience in logistics on a global scale. As Chairman of the CEO Taskforce of the UIC and CER, Clemens Först plays an active role in increasing the competitiveness of rail freight transport. He is co-founder and Chair of Rail Freight Forward, a trans-European initiative committed to drastically reducing the negative impact of freight transport on the planet and mobility through innovation and a more intelligent transport mix.

Previous positions: COO DB Cargo AG (2015-2016); Managing Director European Contract Logistics - Austria GmbH (2015); CFO Rail Cargo Hungaria Zrt., Managing Director Rail Cargo Carrier Kft. (2013-2014); Head of Strategy and Corporate Development, ÖBB-Holding AG (2011-2012); Junior partner Vienna office McKinsey & Company (2006-2011).

Clemens Först holds a Doctorate in theoretical physics and chemistry, Vienna and Clausthal University.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira has led Airports Council International (ACI) World as Director General since June 2020, applying his vast experience in commercial and technical aviation. He believes that aviation has a crucial role to play in fostering social and economic growth worldwide and is committed to helping ACI members and business partners sustainably recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Luis Felipe’s career in aviation began after serving 12 years at Shell (Latin America and Europe) when he joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Switzerland to lead fuel and airport campaigns, in collaboration with governments, oil companies, fuel service providers and airports for diverse world regions. His service at IATA lasted a decade before joining the World Fuel Services as Vice President of Supply Development for Latin America and Caribbean.

Just prior to joining ACI World, Luis Felipe successfully led the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), between 2017 and 2020, where he led a complete restructuring of the organization. This enabled it to be more effective and efficient, attracting members and strategic partners to support industry development in the region.

He is a Chemical Engineer graduate from Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and has a postgraduate qualification in Finance from the University of São Paulo, an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation in São Paulo, and Post MBA from Kellogg University in Chicago.

He currently serves on the Board of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), being particularly dedicated to the sustainability of the sector.

EDUCATION

Bachelor’s Degree in Business, American University in Washington DC, USA and Ulster University (UK)

SPORTING AND MOBILITY ADMINISTRATIVE CAREER

President of EMSO (2005-2021); 

Founder and promoter of the two rounds of the FIA Cross Country Rallies World Cup (1993 and 2017);

led the Club to become the sporting organiser of the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix round in UAE;

Former National Olympic Committee Secretary General;

led to EMSO recognition by the NOC

SPORTING CAREER

Fourteen-time FIA Middle East Rally Champion;

won 61 international events as a driver (1983-2002)

TITLES AND HONOURS

Medal of Honour from King Hussein of Jordan (1986);

President’s Cup from President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon (1987);

Medal of Honour from Lebanese President Emile Lahoud (1999);

Medal of Honour from King Abdullah of Jordan (1999);

Medal of Honour from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain (2004);

UAE Sportsman of the Century from Agence France-Presse (AFP);

Honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster (UK) for services to sport and civic leadership

HOBBIES, INTERESTS & CHARITIES

Patron of a wide range of charities and ambassador for road safety in the UAE;

supports motor sport officials' and young drivers' education, training and research to promote motor sport safety;

co-edited an academic book on sports management;

supporter of classic vehicle movement and automotive heritage

FIA HISTORY

Vice President for Sport and Member of the World Motor Sport Council (2008-2013 and 2017-2021);

Founding Member of ACTAC;

Chair of ACTAC (2012-2021);

Vice President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism (2013-2017);

Member of the Innovation Fund Steering Committee (2017-2021);

FIA President (since 2021)

Carlos Maurer leads Shell’s global Sectors & Decarbonisation organisation of more than 3,380 people, providing customers with energy and decarbonisation solutions in the aviation, marine, commercial road transport, agriculture and forestry, industry and construction sectors. His sector-based teams bring specific sectoral experience and deep industry knowledge to support customers in reducing their emissions and working with them to identify and accelerate decarbonisation strategies and pathways. 

He also has oversight of Shell’s Low Carbon Fuel business; Raízen, the Brazilian joint venture with its strong biofuels offer; and Shell’s Customer Operations team, which works closely with sector leads to ensure that no matter where the solutions come from in Shell, our customers’ experience is seamless.

Carlos joined Shell in 1997 in the United States. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Rice University in Houston, as well as a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is married with three children. He is based in London.

Young Tae Kim is the Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF). He was elected by the transport ministers of ITF member countries at their annual summit on 1 June 2017 and took office in August 2017.

Prior to his election as ITF Secretary-General, Dr. Kim distinguished himself in the civil service of his native Korea, most recently serving as Director-General in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). As Deputy Director-General from 2015, he was responsible for coordinating various transport policies including on autonomous vehicle, greenhouse gas reduction, urban transportation, Intelligent Transport Systems and road safety, among others.

After joining the MOLIT in 1994 as Deputy Director for Urban Transport, Dr. Kim also held several Deputy Director and Director positions with responsibility for housing welfare, integrated city development and overseas infrastructure construction. He was seconded to the Prime Minister's Commission on Administrative Reform in 1996 and the Presidential Committee on Social Inclusion in 2005-2007. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Kim worked in Washington, D.C., as Counsellor for Construction, Transport and Maritime Affairs at the Korean Embassy.

Dr. Kim earned his Master's degrees in Public Policy from Seoul National University, Korea, and in Urban Studies from Paris University de Vincennes-Saint-Denis, France. He also received his Doctorate degree in Political Sociology and Public Policy from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences-Po), Paris, France.

Dr. Kim speaks fluent English, French and some Spanish, in addition to his native Korean.

Mohamed Mezghani has been working in public transport and urban mobility related fields for more than 30 years. Since January 2018, and currently, he is the Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). Until then, he had been Deputy Secretary General of UITP (2014-2017), Knowledge Director (2001-2006) chairing the department developing content-related services for UITP members, and Senior Manager (1999-2001). From 2006 till 2013, he worked as an independent consultant and Adviser to UITP on several technical assistance and training projects in Africa and the Middle East.

Before joining UITP, Mr. Mezghani has been working as consultant in the French group, BCEOM, (from 1990 to 1999) and in the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management, ADEME, (from 1988 to 1990). 

He has been graduated in Industrial Engineering (1987) from École Nationale d'ingénieurs de Tunis, Tunisia, and has a Master in Transport (1988) from École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France.

 Karen Vancluysen was appointed as Secretary General of POLIS in September 2014, after having been the network's Research Director for 8 years. Prior to that, she worked as network manager at ACCESS-Eurocities and as project manager at Langzaam Verkeer, a Belgian centre for mobility management. Since 1998, Karen has been involved in European urban transport networking and policy activities, and EU research and innovation projects covering a wide range of urban mobility topics. She has been a speaker and moderator at many high-level events in Europe and beyond, on a wide range of urban mobility themes approached from the perspective of cities and the governance of innovation.

POLIS is the leading European network of cities and regions on urban transport innovation. For over 30 years already, members have been working together to develop and deploy sustainable and innovative urban mobility solutions for the city of today and tomorrow.

Mr Davenne graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications d’Evry in 1988 and from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in 1999. Throughout his career, he has consistently promoted interdisciplinarity as a key factor for success. Having gained experience in international satellite telecommunications, he initially held various roles in the housing sector, making use of his strong financial and legal skills. He was involved in policy and regulation of the sector and managed key operational programmes, most notably for the city of Paris.

After three years with the French Ministry of Transport, working on railway safety and regulation, with an emphasis on European regulations, he was elected in 2012 as Secretary General of OTIF, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail. From early 2013 to the end of 2018, he promoted interdisciplinarity and partnership building in order to expand and develop the uniform regulations for international carriage by rail.

Mr Carlo Borghini is responsible for the overall management of the Europe’ Rail, successor of the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking, activities since he took up the position of Executive Director in February 2016; in 2021, his mandate has been extended up to May 2026.

Prior to this posting, Mr Borghini held senior management positions in different domains in private and international organisations, at corporate level. He was the Deputy Executive Director for the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) in Brussels from 2008 to 2014, and prior to this was Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised Agency of the United Nations based in Rome.

Mr Borghini holds a Master’s Degree equivalent in Business Economics and speaks Italian, French and English. He is married with three children.