Paul Coelen is currently responsible for shaping and deploying the innovation processes in Signify, previously named Philips Lighting. Paul has more than 25 years of experience in innovation, including software and systems development, development outsourcing, supply base management, R&D management, and business process management. Paul holds a master’s degree in computer science from the Eindhoven University of Technology.

Nicolas is chief innovation officer at Orange Valley, an agile entity within Orange Innova­tion division. As an innovation executive, Nicolas sets-up innovation centres and creative programs. He leads the crowdsourcing website, Imagine With Orange (Imagine.Or­ange.com), Intrapreneurs Studio (programme for intrapreneurs), and Rapid Innovation Framework (Rapidinnovation.fr). His Twitter username is @nicobry, and is connected to startup ecosystems, mentoring entrepreneurs, innovation teacher, and speaker. He graduated from Engineering School Supélec and from HEC Business School

Stephan is a professor in strategic management & business development at the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences, Mannheim Germany. Stephan is senior manager for strategic innovation management at BASF SE, where he focuses on supporting the organisation in developing and improving effectiveness and efficiency in planning and implementa­tion for innovation excellence. After holding positions in R&D, business development, business management, strategic planning and controlling as well as innovation manage­ment, he is dedicated to creating value with individual people and organizations as a whole in an effort to making BASF more successful at creating profitable growth from innovation in different business environments. Stephan is also a professor at the Univer­sity of Applied Sciences, where he teaches international innovation and technology and general management with focus on key principles for strategic planning and operational implementation. He is also responsible for developing a new international study program in applied engineering & management dedicated to teaching competencies anticipated for the University’s graduates in 2025 and beyond. His research is focused on how to create and operate open virtual innovation players successfully. Stephan holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from EMBL, Heidelberg and University of Ulm and a masters in physics and economics from the University of Heidelberg. He is also an honorary professor at University of Ulm, Germany.

Dr. Wim van der Meer graduated in theoretical and physical chemistry and subsequently obtained a PhD in experimental physics. He joined Tata Steel in 1987 and initially fulfilled various positions in R&D. Between 2000 and 2010, he held several positions in various Tata business entities, always related to the business side of implementation of new technologies and new products. This varied from continuous improvement manager to director of strategy and product market development for one of the business units. In a later stage, a shift was made to more strategic technology development in the role of business development director for the Tata Steel Strip Products Division. In 2010, a move back into R&D was made and Wim became the director of programmes R&D for Tata Steel in Europe. In this role, the main responsibility is to ensure strategic alignment of the R&D portfolio with the immediate as well as the longer-term development needs of the company, supported by a robust governance and R&D to business interface.

Boris Batke is an executive with more than 27 years’ experience in the medical device and diagnostics industry who is passionate about improving healthcare, growing talent, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and technical leadership. He is a strong team leader and motivator with a serving leadership style that supports teams to achieve their spe­cific goals. He fosters a global mindset and cross-functional interaction across different cultures. He developed and implemented processes to achieve faster development times. Boris is highly focused on customer needs and developed strong customer relationships especially with global key opinion leaders in hernia surgery. He is a very innovative indi­vidual with analytical skills who is always challenging the stage of the art to be prepared for the future in a changing environment. Boris brought several products to market which were internationally launched and some of them were the best in hernia repair. He cur­rently leads the Medical Textile Center which is a cross-functional initiative to create and manufacture innovative textile solutions for the medical device sector in JnJ.

Jonas Jacobi is an internationally known web, mobile, and IoT visionary, technology in­novator, and published author. Jonas’ industry experience includes tenures as technology evangelist, VP of marketing and strategy, and co-founder and CEO, including the co-cre­ation of one of the most prolific and game-changing new industry standards for the world wide web, the W3C and IETF WebSocket standard. Currently, Jonas is responsible for the strategy and execution of IBM’s developer engagements. In the world of the symbiotic relationship between developers, technology, and open source, his teams are responsible for building the trust and respect required to engage with today’s Millennial developers. Our mission reflects the continuous evolution of technology and how we help develop­ers live up to their full potential by helping them achieve success in their own missions.

Pree Kolari is a UX executive, product designer, engineer, entrepreneur, cyclist, beekeep­er, and dad of 2 amazing girls. He has a history of shipping innovative consumer and mobile products like the eBay 5.0 mobile app, Moto 360, Moto G, Windows Phone 7, and XBox Kinect. He uses design thinking and user centered design to define the core prod­uct vision and deliver compelling user experiences. Currently, Pree is a senior director of design research and strategy at eBay. Previously, Pree was at Google/Motorola heading up the design research team and at Microsoft as innovation strategist and UX director

working on the first version of Xbox Kinect. He was also VP at SonicRim. He co-founded MemeTales which went on to be one of the featured apps on the Apple app store and had about half a million downloads.

Sander Duivestein (1971) is a highly acclaimed and top-rated trendwatcher, an influ­ential author, a professional speaker, a digital business entrepreneur, and a strategic advisor on disruptive innovations. His main focus is the impact of new technologies on people, businesses, and society. He is therefore a much sought-after speaker for confer­ences, strategy sessions, and other business gatherings. He is the co-author of several books and reports: ‘Bitcoin, It’s not the currency, it’s the platform, stupid!’ (2014), ‘No More Secrets with Big Data Analytics’ (2013), ‘The Dark Side of Social Media’ (2013), ’The App Effect’ (2012), ‘Don’t Be Evil’ (2010), ‘Collaboration with the Cloud’ (2009), ‘Me the Media’ (2009). He is currently researching the impact of artificial intelligence on the size and structure of (existing) firms.

Arjan Rensma is an innovation excellence manager at DSM. His responsibility is to support the DSM Innovation Council, develop and execute the DSM Innovation Excellence program, and accelerate and improve the success rate of innovation in DSM. He is the Innovation Excellence lead for the Materials Sciences cluster, coordinates the DSM Innovation Learning Program, as well as the DSM Corporate Entrepreneurship program. Previously, Arjan held management & NBD roles in banking, publishing, consultancy, and research. He started his career at the Philips NatLab. Arjan is a Dutch national and holds an MSc in business science from RSM and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the advisory board and guest lecturer of the Master of Innovation & Change at HS Zuyd and board member of the Interregional Platform of the Creative Industry / Creative Entrepreneurship. He has a wife and three kids and lives in Bemelen, a small village close to Maastricht.

Laura Nuhaan is passionate about innovation and the opportunities of tech. As an execu­tive digital advisor at Microsoft, she helps companies and executives take full advantage of digital opportunities. When she worked as a partner at The Andeta Group, she assisted management to redefine sales strategies and transform their sales organizations to the digital world of today. Laura worked in Silicon Valley for 10 years before returning to Europe in 2011. She has been the driving force behind several start-up companies across many industries in Europe and Silicon Valley. As founder of the first sales-focused consult­ing company in the Netherlands, she developed a wide range of methodologies such as benchmarking for sales. She is the author of various publications, such as the book Sales- Balanced Score Card and Social Selling.

Erler Hannes is an international key-note speaker with special knowledge in central sub­jects of innovation management, specifically in earlier phases of innovation processes. In recent years, he has specialized in open innovation with a focus on inter-organiza­tional collaboration and strategic alliances. Recently, his role changed from his former function of director of Open Innovation Networks at Swarovski Professional to Swarovski innovation evangelist. In this new role, he connects science and business ecosystems within the new model of innovation ecosystem logics. He has been invited to talk at over 40 conferences and innovation events in recent years around the world. He won the Best Open Innovation Award 2015 from Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen in the category of Open Innovation Networks. In previous functions, among others, he was responsible for the operation of a cross-functional innovation incubation group called i-LAB as well as heading the product development department. Erler underwent several executive pieces of training at the Harvard Business School and at the IMD in Lausanne and has had addi­tional training in the systematic organizational development and in systematic coaching.

Milos Loncar is a business development professional in the field of IoT & Big Data with global experience in new business models and digital transformation. He is a member of the Microsoft Global Black Belt team, based in Vienna. He graduated in Belgrade, Serbia and earned a degree in electrical engineering. He obtained his MBA in Sheffield, UK.

Lionel Breton got a PhD in 1982 in general endocrinology in the lab of R. Mi­chel and J. Roche at College de France in Paris. Then in 1985, he got a state doctorate in general pharmacology at the Poitiers University Hospital. After eight years as a project leader in neuropharmacology at Servier Laboratory, Lionel joined L’Oreal corporate 26 years ago. He is also a visiting professor/ affiliate member at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is an expert on neurobiology and physiology, skin neuroimmunology, skin and gut microbiology and of some aspects of translational research. He is cur­rently scientific director at L’Oreal Research. Lionel is a co-inventor of many national patents and applications and of breakthroughs at L’Oreal corporate. Although industrial, he has published more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is frequently invited to give plenary sessions or keynotes.

Linda has worked in the IT and telecom industry for over 20 years in areas such as product development, marketing, and sales. She is a business development professional in the field of IoT with global experience in value creation, new business models, digital transformation, and asset management. She graduated with a master’s in computer science and engineering from Chalmers and a bachelor’s in business management from Göteborg University, Sweden.