Kieran has held various senior technical and executive roles over the past 30 years which included R&D Chief Technical Officer for Orange / France Telecom R&D and Head of Payload Systems Engineering, Airbus Space & Defence. He is currently Director of Ubiquitous Connectivity in the Satellite Applications Catapult and General Manager of the Westcott Site where they host their 5G testbed. Kieran leads on two major 5G projects, firstly a project funded by SEMLEP for Milton Keynes Smart City 5G deployment and a DCMS funded project for Dorset Council providing rural connectivity using satellite and terrestrial connectivity.
Steven Bagshaw
- Head of Business Strategy, CPI
Steve is responsible for the strategic direction of CPI’s Electronics business unit.
Steve’s expertise lies in the area of printed electronics, printed sensing and its role in the development of the internet of things and industry 4.0. Steve has delivered on a number of successful private projects at CPI, helping new research ideas develop from prototype and through to commercial deployment. Clients include industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, packaging and medtech. These projects involve working with companies of all sizes ranging from large corporates to SMEs and academia.
Previously Steve held Business Development and Marketing roles at CPI. Prior to joining CPI in 2008, Steve studied Business Studies at Northumbria University and is currently undertaking an Executive MBA at Warwick Business School.
Paul Beastall
Paul works as an independent advisor and non-executive director for companies that are deploying cutting-edge technology to deliver a market beating advantage. He works across the deep tech ecosystem, from connected products and services to synthetic biology.
As a consultant, Paul’s work has provided strategic insight on the impact of new technology on users, business models and regulation. Until recently he was Strategy Director for Cambridge Consultants and brings more than 25 years’ experience in networking and connected systems. He has led a wide range of projects for users of communications services, operators, product development organisations and government departments.
Paul graduated from the University of York with an MEng degree in electronics systems engineering and is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IET. In 2018 Paul was appointed to the Advisory Board for UK5G.
Mike Biddle
- Programme Director - Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, Innovate UK EDGE
Mike is the Programme Director for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), which is investing over £2billion to deliver the research and innovation that businesses needs to transform existing industries, create new ones and deliver economic impact, jobs and growth.
One of Mike’s first roles with Innovate UK was as co-author on the UK strategy for electronics, photonics and electrical systems. He then led the Assisted Living Innovation Platform, which promoted independence and quality of life among the ageing population. During this time he was also President of the Ambient Assisted Living Association, part of a pan-European investment activity worth over €600 million.
Prior to Innovate UK, Mike worked in the photonics industry for 10 years after graduating with a Masters in physics from Imperial College, London. He is a Chartered Physicist and Fellow of the Institute of Physics.
Julie Bradford
- Head of techno-economic analysis, Real Wireless
Julie has worked in the wireless industry for over 15 years. At Real Wireless, she is a thought leader in 5G business case analysis including understanding 5G use cases, quantifying (in financial terms) the operational and socio-economic benefits of 5G services and understanding network dimensioning and cost implications under 5G virtualised networks.
She has most recently been working with city councils around their wireless strategy and related Green Book outline business case development. She also led Real Wireless’ techno-economic analysis on the EC Horizon 2020 5G-MoNArch project. Inspired by the project’s smart sea port testbed constructed by HPA, Nokia and DT in the Port of Hamburg, this analysis included quantifying the operational benefits of 5G to port authorities and other port users and the cost implications of delivering these industrial grade wireless services from existing mobile infrastructure via network slicing supported via the virtualised 5G-MoNArch network architecture.
Previously, Julie was Communications Engineer at QinetiQ UK, consultant at PA Consulting UK, and Senior Systems Engineer for Airvana UK. In addition to working at Real Wireless, Julie is a CW board member and champion for the CW Virtual Networks Special Interest Group (SIG).
Alex Buchan is Strategic Technologist for Spectrum and Security at DTG, the industry collaboration centre for broadcast and digital media. He coordinates and manages activities for several DTG working groups and provides technical direction and strategy for the business with regards to future delivery of TV services He is the project lead and co-founder of the 5G VISTA project, a consortium led by DTG which is part of the UK 5G Trials and Test Beds program and who are developing 5G broadcast solutions for live sporting events. He is also a Director at SafeShark, a DTG Testing joint venture developing a consumer IoT cyber security assurance scheme.
Clive Carter
- Director, Group Regulatory Affairs, BT
Clive leads regulatory engagement at BT Group. His team creates and socialises BT's regulatory strategy, overseeing risks and opportunities. Before joining BT, Clive led Ofcom’s Strategy and Policy team, ran Ofcom’s Digital Communications Review, and was responsible for negotiating with BT on the Commitments.
Becki Clark
- Senior Consultant, Perform Green
An environmental scientist leveraging technology for good, Becki has over a decade’s experience in the environmental and sustainability sector and an eye toward the transition to net zero carbon in energy and embedded carbon in products. She is currently looking to apply Life Cycle Assessment techniques to the 5G supply chain to reduce the burden of technology whilst maximising the benefits that it brings to society.
Richard is currently an Inquiry Chair and Panel Member at the Competition and Markets Authority, where he reviews mergers and other competition matters across a wide range of markets. He is also a Senior Adviser at the Centre on Regulation in Europe.
Between 2001 and 2013, Richard was the Policy Director at Vodafone plc, responsible for managing Vodafone’s engagement with regulators and competition authorities around the world. Prior to that, he had similar responsibilities for regulation and strategy at other telecoms companies in the UK and internationally.
In recent years, Richard has been a Senior Adviser to the Payment Systems Regulator, a member of the advisory boards of Gigaclear plc and Jersey Telecom, an adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Europe and lectured at Judge Business School, UCL and Kings College. He advises businesses and has served as an expert witness in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Europe.
Martin Fenton
- Director of Spectrum Analysis, Ofcom
Martin is Director of Spectrum Analysis in Ofcom’s Spectrum Group. He is also Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 5, the ITU group responsible for all terrestrial radio frequency services. Martin is an expert in international and domestic spectrum regulation; specialising in spectrum policy, interference analysis and RF performance. He has 20 years’ experience in spectrum management at the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, and its predecessor, the Radiocommunications Agency.
Simon joined Real Wireless in January 2016 as Chief Technology Officer, taking overall technical and innovation strategy responsibility across the company. He is a member of the UK5G AB, co-chair of the International WG, and member of the Climate WG. His long-standing association with the UK innovation eco-system through roles such as Director of mVCE and the Innovate-UK ICT-KTN brings a wealth of practical knowledge on open innovation to accelerate product and services delivery. Simon spent his formative years in telecoms infrastructure systems and product development. In NEC Corporation he played a key role in the formation of Joint Ventures for development of 3G and 4G products and established a core team that developed the first-generation of technology for 4G systems culminating in a Steering Board position in the LTE SAE Trials Initiative (LSTI). In recent times he has directed projects on future cities, the application 5G and IoT in industry verticals with an event horizon towards 2030. His long participation in Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and then directing Real Wireless engagement in H2020 and the 2016 NIC study on Future Comms infrastructure brings great foresight on a range of architectural evolutions underway in 5G architectures, in particular for Open RAN and Diversification. He is a CW Small Cell SIG Champion, and in February 2022 the Small Cell Forum (SCF) appointed Simon as their Chief Strategy Officer, drawing on 25 years direct industry experience and work as an advisor to governments, regulators and big business.
Caroline has been engaged in technology analysis, research and consulting for 30 years and since 2002, has been focused entirely on mobile and wireless. As co-founder and research director of Rethink Technology Research, Caroline has developed a significant research base and forecast methodology, based around deep contacts with mobile and converged operators round the world. This addresses critical issues and trends in mobile and wireless infrastructure, and particularly operator deployment intentions for 4G, 5G, small cells, Cloud-RAN and other technologies. She is also a senior contributor to Analysys Mason’s Next Generation Wireless research programme. She has led research and consulting projects with a wide range of clients, including mobile infrastructure vendors, large and start-up operators, regulators, trade bodies, government agencies and financial institutions. Her advice and forecasts have helped inform strategic decisions at a wide range of vendors, operators, start-ups and finance houses. Prior to setting up Rethink, Caroline held various executive positions at VNU Business Publishing BV, then Europe’s largest producer of technology related B2B reports and publications. She was the European content and research director, and was a member of the leadership team for VNU’s online business. She holds an MA from the University of Oxford.
Raj has over 20 years of experience in short range and wireless communications technology R&D, business development and marketing. Raj was part of initial IEEE 802.11 team to define first WLAN standard in 1996 – a technology which has now shipped over 5bn units. Raj also helped pioneer the first 3G data transmissions working with Motorola and others to demonstrate one of the first video calls at the 3GSM show in 1998 – many years before 3G licences were awarded. He has also been awarded a number of patents including short range wireless technologies. Raj was a founder member of startup UbiNetics (1999), which successfully exited in 2005 for over $120m USD. As part of that deal, Raj joined CSR and ultimately took the role of VP Marketing where he was part of the team that acquired SiRF Technologies for $136m (2009) to add GPS technology to CSR portfolio. More recently in 2012, he helped sell CSR’s handset business to Samsung in a deal worth $310m for 310 staff to form the SCSC division. As part of that deal, Raj took up the role of VP Marketing responsible for defining future wireless products. In 2014, Raj was promoted to head up the SCSC division leading the silicon and software development for Samsung’s connectivity solutions.
Catherine has worked around telecoms and technology in the USA and UK working and currently works with Cellnex/Edzcom on private networks in the UK.
Catherine has been working with Private Mobile Networks for the last eight years including work with Heathrow Airport and the Port of Felixstowe. During this time, Catherine worked on DCMS projects and consortiums to help to define what’s next for industry through the use of 5G.
In addition to bringing the best of 5G innovation to industry and the public sector, Catherine’s work on the board of the Kay Mason Foundation, which funds high school scholarships for impoverished children in South Africa, has given her a renewed passion for using 5G to help to bridge the digital divide that exists in the UK today.
Hannah Holmes is a Research Associate at CCHPR. She has carried out research focused on marginality and territorial stigma, and she has a particular interest in marginal urban economies, urban regeneration and governance. In her work at CCHPR, Hannah has continued to focus on inequalities, and she has undertaken research into the relationship between digital exclusion and poverty, as well as the geographies of offsite construction.
Maria Lema
- Co-Founder, Weaver Labs
María Lema is a Co-Founder of Weaver Labs, a Telecoms-software company building a blockchain-based network management tool to open up access to connectivity. Maria leads commercial and strategy activities, as well as building partnerships and handling all company operations. In addition to having a Ph.D. in Telecoms, María has also led all operational activities at King's College London in the 5G Tactile Internet Lab powered by Ericsson.
María often disseminates her work at many important events within the industry and her work has been covered by many top-level media such as CNN business, The Telegraph Business Review, Raconteur, and The Guardian.
She was recently listed as one of Capacity Media's 20 Women to Watch in Telecoms 2022 and was shortlisted Entrepreneur of the Year 2022.
Hamish MacLeod
- Director, Mobile UK
Hamish MacLeod has served as the Director of Mobile UK since its formation in March 2016. Prior to this, he chaired for 14 years the Mobile Broadband Group, one of the cross industry bodies that was merged into Mobile UK, working across a broad range of public policy matters, including child protection, privacy and payments.
He is an executive board member of the UK Council on Child Internet Safety and a director of the Committee for Advertising Practice. Hamish is a graduate of Aberdeen University, a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Cass Business School.
Andy Marr
- Director Consulting, CGI
Andy leads CGI’s 5G programmes in Space and Defence. His team have delivered the European Space Agency’s 5G/6G Hub, showcasing how space can enable future generations of telecommunications and connected applications, CGI’s Carnot-Sat hybrid networks planning tool, and their hybrid networks Management and Orchestration toolset, underpinned by CGI’s 5G Accelerator facility in Leatherhead.
Andy has 15 years’ experience working in the Space industry, delivering critical solutions for customers including OneWeb, SES, Inmarsat and AST SpaceMobile.
Rolf Meakin
- Strategy & Partner, PwC UK
Rolf Meakin is a Strategy& partner specialising in the Telecoms, Media and Technology sector. He serves clients in the UK and internationally in the areas of strategy, transformation, capital allocation and operating model change. He leads PwC's Telecoms industry consulting practice globally and in EMEA. He has over 25 years of experience in the TMT sector and has worked for telecoms clients in over 60 countries around the world. His areas of expertise include:
- Corporate and business unit strategy
- Digital strategy and transformation
- Capex/ROI optimization and asset lifecycle management
- Operating model change, restructuring and organisation design
Rolf is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He was awarded Strategy Project of the Year, 2012 by the UK Management Consultancies Association.
Published thought leadership:
- Making the most of 5G: why partnerships will be key for the transition to new mobile services, here
- Making 5G pay: monetizing the impending revolution in telecoms infrastructure, here
- A tale of two Telecoms: a look into the industry’s future, here
- Simplify, digitize, consolidate — or else. The new paradigm for telecoms, here
Rhys Morgan
- Regional Vice President, Europe & MENA, Intelsat
Rhys Morgan leads Intelsat sales activities across all commercial vertical markets in the European and MENA regions He has more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in the Europe and Africa regions. That experience includes 18 years in the telecommunications industry, with expertise spanning telecom infrastructure, media distribution and enterprise data networks.
Since joining Intelsat in 2002, Mr. Morgan has held a number of sales positions, most recently Director, Media and Broadband Sales for Europe and the Middle East. Prior to that role, his positions included: Interim Managing Director, Africa Sales; Managing Sales Director, Broadcast Services; and Managing Sales Director, Western Europe.
Mr. Morgan earned a Bachelor’s Degree in European Languages and Business from Leeds Beckett University.
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the world’s first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat’s Globalized Network combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live.
Matthew Napleton
- Chief Commercial Officer, Zizo Software
With 15 years of IT sales & marketing experience, Matthew’s primary focus is to continually increase thought leadership and global brand awareness to deliver business results. Matthew also works closely with our key technology partners, Intel & IBM, to bring the Zizo analytics platform and in-memory database services to a global audience. In addition to this, Matthew has been working alongside global FMCG & logistics companies to harness the power of the Internet of Things through new product developments & designs, all built around data.
James has been with Belfast City Council since 2019 as a City Innovation Broker working on the city’s exciting smart city programme and supporting the £350m Belfast City Deal. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Mayor/Cabinet Member for Liverpool with responsibility for city services focusing on waste, transport, infrastructure and grounds maintenance including Liverpool’s smart city programme. He oversaw £2bn in infrastructure investment and brought a range of innovative approaches to the city. He also worked on low carbon business support for the University of Liverpool at the same time. James is a frequent international speaker and writer on environment, sustainability, smart city and digital issues.
David Owens
- Head of Technical Trials, Telefonica O2 UK
David heads up the 5G technical trials activities for Virgin Media O2.
Joey Pan is Huawei’s Director of Industry and Public Affairs. In this role he is responsible for developing partnerships with academic, technical and business organisations in the UK to promote joint innovation and sustainable growth in the ICT sector. Joey is also a Board Director of techUK.
Over the past 15 years, Joey has held different positions within Huawei, both in China, Africa and Europe. Prior to this he was Vice President of Global Government Affairs in charge of relationships with key international organizations.
Simon Parry
- CTO, Global System Integrators, Independent
Simon Parry has worked in the telecoms industry for over twenty years. He has twenty-something patents from his time as a researcher and developer at Nortel, and later Ciena. His passion is in all the bits of the network you can’t see and don’t think about. He joined Nokia to be the CTO of their Enterprise group in the UK and Ireland, and has been getting to grips with private wireless networks. During the past year he has been getting his hands dirty designing and commissioning private 5G networks and is very grateful to his family for tolerating the lab in the spare bedroom.
Graham Payne
- Chairman, Freshwave, Chairman, Freshwave
Current advisor to global mobile connectivity groups including the Small Cell Forum and TechUK. Graham previously provided executive level support to Vodafone on the Beacon project with Telefonica and CTIL, was the former key negotiator and then Managing Director of MBNL (the EE and Three network share), and the Planning and Deployment Director of T-Mobile. In 2014 he co-founded Opencell, the UK’s first legal indoor mobile connectivity service provider, unique in being able to deliver all four operator networks using small cells indoors.
Ruth Pritchard-Kelly
- Senior Advisor, Regulatory & Space Policy, OneWeb
Ruth Pritchard-Kelly is an expert on satellite regulatory policy with over 30 years of experience. She is currently the Senior Advisor for Regulatory & Space Policy at OneWeb where she advises a global team of legal & technical policy analysts who work on satellite policies internationally. Pritchard-Kelly has also worked at O3b, now SES Networks, and American Mobile Satellite Corporation. She has a Master’s Degree in space and telecommunications policy from George Washington University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland. Ms. Pritchard-Kelly is on the US Commerce Department’s Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, the board of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, and the Advisory Committee for the Secure World Foundation.
David Pugh
- Director for Sustainable Industry, Digital Catapult
Dr David Pugh sits at the interface between advanced digital technologies and industrial adopters to provide real business impact. David’s focus at Digital Catapult is around supporting industry in making their activities more sustainable, designing for a circular economy and the development of innovative new business models to transform the way the UK industry operates. David is passionate about using digital technologies to enable positive environmental and social impact and leads Digital Catapults Industrial Net Zero Innovation Centre (INZIC), with a focus on supporting the UK Government's goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050.
Prof. Simon Saunders is an independent advisor and researcher with deep industry and academic background in communication systems technology and a burgeoning interest in the intersection between real and artificial neural systems, communication systems and music. He is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, telecoms advisor to DCMS and Trustee of the charity Music for All.
Simon is a specialist in the technology of wireless communications, with a technical and commercial background derived from senior appointments in both industry (including Google, Motorola and Philips), academia (University of Surrey, Trinity College Dublin) and regulation (Ofcom).
He founded the Small Cell Forum and chaired this industry association from 2007-12, growing membership to 150 companies and working with 3GPP to create the first standards for small cells. He acted as Director of Emerging & Online Technology for Ofcom, leading Ofcom’s Emerging Technology programme and creating their Online Tech team. At Google (2015-20), he worked with operators globally to enhance wireless connectivity via a range of advanced technology initiatives, combining wireless networks, artificial intelligence and network virtualisation. As co-founder and Director of Technology for independent wireless strategy advisory firm Real Wireless (2006-15), he was responsible for overall technical capability and direction, providing independent wireless expertise and advice to operators, regulators, technology and law firms and wireless users. In 2019 Simon organised the world’s first 5G music lesson on behalf of charity Music for All, led by famous musician Jamie Cullum.
He is an author of over 150 articles, books and book chapters, including a popular textbook on antennas and propagation. He has invented over 15 patented wireless technologies and served on technical advisory boards of several companies and universities.
Mat Sears
- Corporate Affairs Director, BT
Mat Sears has worked in Telecoms and Mobile for over 15 years having started his career working in marketing and public relations for Motorola, before joining Orange. Mat was on the founding team for the launch of 4G, and EE in the UK, as well as for the ultimate purchase of EE, to BT in 2016.
Mat is now the Corporate Affairs Director at BT overseeing all things from Communications to Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility for the Consumer division which includes EE, BT Sport, BT, and Plusnet.
Mat sits on the board of Internet Matters, a not for profit trying to tackle Internet Safety for children.
Jim Sephton
- Director, Hado UK
Jim has worked in the sports and leisure industry for over 15 years, creating a family of companies that have successfully brought a range of new concepts to the U.K. market.
With HADO now as his main focus he is looking to make the U.K. the world leaders in this new evolution of sport.
Ann Williams
- Commissioning and Contract manager, Liverpool City Council
Ann Williams is Commissioning and Contracts Manager of Adult Social services at Liverpool City Council, where she finds innovative ways to deliver care against a decreasing budget and increasing needs.
Ann has played a lead role in securing the 5G testbed trial for Health and Social Care at Liverpool. As part of the EU’s STOP&GO programme she focused on digitalising domiciliary care services and introducing IoT sensors to homes. She worked in local and regional Citizen Advice Bureau management for 19 years.
Ann is driven by a strong sense of social justice. Working with the most marginalised in society has heightened her awareness of societal inequalities and the current financial challenges to household and public budgets.
Ann is a member of Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Advisory Committee on Microbiological Safety of Food and of the Campylobacter Group, where she’s working on a report into controlling campylobacter in food supplies. She is Vice Chair of Liverpool’s Central Local Research Ethics Committee and a core member of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Public Health Advisory Group.
