Yue Wang

Head of 6G Research, Samsung

Yue Wang is the currently Chief Technologist at China Telecom. Prior to this role she was the Head of Advanced Network Research, and Head of 6G Research Group, subsequently, at Samsung Research UK. She leads a team of talented researchers working on cutting edge 5G and 6G network technologies such as system architecture, AI-native networks and O-RAN.

Yue is widely recognised for her extensive technical expertise, strategic and thought leadership in 5G, 6G, and AI within the telecommunication industry. She is the Chair of the UKTIN AI Expert Working Group, where she has the honour to lead a group of highly respected experts analysing telco AI’s forward-looking opportunities and challenges across technology, business, economy, and society. She has also led large scale (19 partners, 8M EURO) H2020 project, is an inventor of numerous patents, has been Secretary and Rappetour of ETSI ENI, delegate of O-RAN WG3, and a frequent speaker in conferences, having recently presented in events such as MWC and TMF DTW.

Prior to joining Samsung, Yue held various roles in the US and the UK, all on Communications Research and Standards. Yue received her PhD from University of Victoria, Canada. She is the recipient of ETSI ENI Award for her ‘extraordinary contributions’ in 2019, and CW 'Outstanding Woman Engineer of the Year Award' in 2020. 

Dr Maya Dillon

Head of AI Capabilities, Cambridge Consultants

Dr Maya has a love for science and technology, and its application in augmenting human ingenuity and empowering the world. She has a had a varied career; from astrophysics to running her own business as an executive coach to working as a data scientist and AI specialist before finding her platform at Cambridge Consultants. Her experience is a vibrant mix of academia, entrepreneurial work with start-ups and multi-national corporates. Dr Maya is passionate about AI for Earth and AI for Good, with its particular application, in solving climate and humanitarian issues, conservation of species, and creating sustainable solutions, where humanity and nature can flourish together.

James Crawshaw

Practice Leader, Service Provider Transformation, Omdia

James leads Omdia’s service provider transformation team, which covers telco IT (operations support systems, business support systems, and analytics) and telco cloud & automation (software-defined networking, network function virtualization, etc.). James’ own research focuses on operations support systems, including service assurance, orchestration, order management, inventory management, network security, self-organizing networks, and radio access network intelligent control.

Before joining Omdia, James led Heavy Reading’s communications service provider IT & automation research service. James holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering in electrical and mechanical engineering from the University of Manchester, England. Earlier in his career, while working as a financial analyst, James passed the three exams required to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification. In addition, James has a Master of Science in electronic engineering from the University of Surrey, England. 

Peter Whale

Founder & CEO, Vision Formers

Peter is Founder & CEO of Vision Formers, the specialist consultancy that supports and mentors leaders of visionary technology businesses get product to market and turn ideas into reality.

Vision Formers works with start-ups and scale-ups, providing significant expertise in accelerating business growth through a focus on developing a robust product strategy, growing and coaching product and development teams, and providing operational excellence. Peter has a long track record of conceiving, developing and marketing successful technology-based solutions, deployed at scale, globally. Innovative products Peter has brought to market in digital, cloud, AI, consumer electronics and telecommunications have been used by countless millions of people on a daily basis globally, badged by the world’s leading digital and technology brands.

Peter also works with Digital Catapult as Programme Manager for UKTIN, working with partners and stakeholders to deliver UKTIN’s mission to transform the UK telecoms innovation ecosystem, capitalising on the country’s strengths in technology, academia, and entrepreneurialism, while positioning it for growth as new opportunities emerge in the industry.

Peter is a board member of CW (Cambridge Wireless), a Fellow of the IET, a Chartered Engineer, and a member of the Association of Business Mentors.

Ben Timmons

Senior Director, Business Development, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.

Ben joined Qualcomm in October 2002. He is based in the UK and is responsible for marketing chipsets, other products and software in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. He works with operators, customers and other partners to ensure that Qualcomm helps their customers deliver the best possible devices and services using highly integrated and feature-rich solutions. Previously Ben has worked at O2 plc as VP, Operations Europe; at Cable & Wireless Mobile as Director of Strategy and Marketing, at Mercury Communications and at the LEK Partnership. Ben has an MA in Economics from Queens College Cambridge.

Harry Cronin

Iprova

Dr Harry Cronin is an experienced invention engineer who leads on a diverse range of invention projects at Iprova. Additionally, Harry heads up Iprova's ground-breaking activities in Standards, where he is responsible for defining and delivering Iprova's new software module, which uses AI to help professionals in 3GPP member companies and the wider telecoms ecosystem. He holds a first degree in physics, an EngD in materials science and has worked as a research engineer and R&D manager in the fields of infrared detectors, printed electronics and photovoltaics, and is named inventor on over 35 patent applications.