Moderators

Dr. Alex Jinsung Choi

Dr. Alex Jinsung Choi is Chief Operating Officer of the O-RAN Alliance and SVP of Strategy and Technology Innovation (STI) and Head of T-Labs, which is the central Research & Development division of Deutsche Telekom. In addition, he is member of the Technology & Innovation management board, where he has responsibility for several strategic topics.

Dr. Choi has been a thought leaderfor over 20 years in the mobile telecommunication industry & consumer electronics by driving forward key strategic and research topics in Telco and AI.

Dr. Choi was the first Chairman of the TelecomInfra Project (TIP) and previously served as CTO for SK Telekom. With the introduction of "NUGU", the first AI- based virtual assistant in Korea, Dr. Choi was influential in the development of AI solutions.

Chih-Lin I

Chih-Lin I is CMCC Chief Scientist of Wireless Technologies. She received Ph.D. EE from Stanford University. She has won 2005 IEEE ComSoc Stephen Rice Prize, 2018 IEEE ComSoc Fred W. Ellersick Prize, the 7th IEEE Asia-Pacific Outstanding Paper Award, and 2015 IEEE Industrial Innovation Award for Leadership and Innovation in Next-Generation Cellular Wireless Networks.

She is the Chair of O-RAN Technical Steering Committee and an O-RAN Executive Committee Member, the Chair of FuTURE 5G/6G SIG, the Chair of WAIA (Wireless AI Alliance) Executive Committee, an Executive Board Member of GreenTouch, a Network Operator Council Founding Member of ETSI NFV, a Steering Board Member and Vice Chair of WWRF, a Steering Committee member and the Publication Chair of IEEE 5G and Future Networks Initiatives, the Founding Chair of IEEE WCNC Steering Committee, the Director of IEEE ComSoc Meetings and Conferences Board, a Senior Editor of IEEE Trans. Green Comm. & Networking, an Area Editor of ACM/IEEE Trans. Networking; Executive Co-chair of IEEE Globecom 2020, IEEE WCNC 2007, IEEE WOCC 2004 and 2000; a member of IEEE ComSoc SDB, SPC, and CSCN-SC, and a Scientific Advisory Board Member of Singapore NRF.

She has published over 200 papers in scientific journals, book chapters and conferences and holds over 100 patents. She is co-author of the book “Green and Software-defined Wireless Networks -- From Theory to Practice” and has also Co-edited two books: “Ultra-dense Networks -- Principles and Applications” and “5G Networks -- Fundamental Requirements, Enabling Technologies, and Operations Management”. She is a Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of WWRF. Her current research interests center around ICDT Deep Convergence: “From Green & Soft to Open & Smart”.

Scott Poretsky

Scott Poretsky is Ericsson North America’s Director for Security, Network Product Solutions. Scott serves as Co-Chair of O-RAN Alliance’s Security Working Group (WG11) and previously served as Co-Chair of ATIS 5G Zero Trust Study Group and IEEE ComSoc CQR technical committee. He participated in published US government studies on Open RAN security at FCC CSRIC and NSA/CISA sponsored Enduring Security Framework (ESF). Scott is a CISSP and CCSP and earned an M.Sc.EEfrom WPI and BSEE from the University of Vermont.

Petr Ledl

Petr Lédl is VP of Network Trials and Integration Lab and chief architect of Access Disaggregation program. His main responsibility is identification, prototyping and technical evaluation of future mobile network technologies and related concepts (mainly 5G, LTE-A/Pro, Managed connectivity, etc.) and defining and implementing DTAG disaggregated RAN architecture based on O-RAN principles. He studied Electrical Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague between 1995 and 2004. Since 2003 he has been working on different positions in Technology organizations of Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile Czech Republic.

Anil Umesh

As Director at Global Business Department in NTT DOCOMO, INC. (DOCOMO), currently looks after OREX (NTT DOCOMO | OREX official site) solution sales.

Previously was Senior Manager at Radio Access Network Technology Promotion Office in DOCOMO responsible for 3GPP/O-RAN standardization, open RAN development and served as O-RAN ALLIANCE Open Fronthaul Workgroup co-chair.

Overall, 21 years at DOCOMO, involved in standardization and commercial development of HSPA, LTE/LTE-Advanced and 5G systems, with far-ranging experience in network development and operations.

Elisabeth Py

I manage at Orange Innovation mobile access networks and green ITN activities, from research to support for Orange affiliates, including industrial strategy on the domain.

I previously held several transversal or team management positions in various technical fields (Networks IT, service platforms, Mobile and Fixed networks), including ten years in operations.

I joined Orange in 1997. I have an initial Master of Science degree in computer engineering.

Sadayuki Abeta

Dr Sadayuki Abeta is global head of open RAN solutions and OREX evangelist in NTT DOCOMO for creating open RAN ecosystem globally and shaping them to meet customer and service provider needs.

Since joining NTT DOCOMO, INC in 1997, He has been working for research, standardization and development of the UMTS/W-CDMA, HPSA, LTE, LTE-Advanced and 5G. From 2005 to 2009, he was a vice chairman of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 and rapporteur of LTE and LTE-Advanced in 3GPP TSG RAN WG1. He is an O-RAN executive committee member. From 2018-2022, he was a General Manager of the Radio Access Network Development Department, which is responsible for development of LTE, 5G, X-haul and satellite communications.

He received the Ph.D. degrees in electrical communication engineering from Osaka University, Osaka, Japan in 1997.

Douglas Castor

Douglas Castor is Head of Wireless Research at InterDigital, where he leads the development of emerging technologies for wireless systems. He is also a Vice Chair of ATIS’s Next G Alliance 6G National Roadmap Working Group and was editor of its first 6G Roadmap Report in 2022. Doug is a founder of the annual 6G World 6G Symposium. He is experienced in leading both product development and research innovations for 3G through 6G cellular and IEEE Wi-Fi technologies.

Sami Pohjonen

More than twenty-five years of international experience in IT, software, and telecom industries. Strong leadership and change management track record from start-up, global consultation & services, and product business environments. Software start-up co-owner, then Accenture and Nokia, focus on software products Nokia offerings to Telecom.

Now leading Nokia’s Mobile Networks MantaRay business which includes radio and core Network Management, SON and RIC. Also, more than ten standalone tools in portfolio that we plan to consolidate to three MantaRay products.

Excited about ways to reshape the industry for example via openness.

Ouyang Ye

Dr. Ye Ouyang is Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President at Asiainfo Technologies (HKG:1675), a global leading provider of telecom software and services. He is primarily responsible for AsiaInfo’s research, development, and innovation. Dr. Ouyang is also Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of Tsinghua University-AsiaInfo Joint Lab of 6G Network & Intelligence Computing. Prior to AsiaInfo, Dr. Ye Ouyang has been Verizon Fellow and was Senior Manager at Verizon. Dr. Ye Ouyang has extensive work experience spanning telcos, equipment provider, and software provider in various technical, managerial, and executive roles. His recent work is focused on the cross-domain innovation and commercialization of state of the art technologies of cellular networks, AI, and data science. In November 2022, Dr. Ouyang was elected as an IEEE Fellow in recognition of his outstanding leadership in the fields of network intelligence and self-organizing cellular networks.
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Dr. Ouyang received various awards in industry and academia, some latest awards including 2023 Forbes 100 Most Influential Chinese Selection Award, 2017 Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY), 2021 Top-100 Diverse Leaders in Tech, US National Diversity Council, 2019 TMForum Future Digital Leader Award, 2023 Science and Technology Award First Prize by CAA (China Assiociation of Automation), 2022 Science and Technology Award First Prize by CCF (China Computer Federation), 2021 Wu Wenjun AI Science and Technology Award by CAAI (Chinese Association for AI））, etc.Dr. Ouyang serves various roles in global telecommunication standard bodies, academia, and high tech organizations, including Chair or Board Member of different working groups and conferences in ETSI and IEEE, Industry Career Mentor at Stevens Institute of Technology, Director at Tsinghua University-AsiaInfo Joint Lab of 6G Network & Intelligence Computing, and Chair of AI Chapter at Beijing Software Industry Association. He also serves as editor, technical program committee member, and reviewers for many journals and conferences.
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Dr. Ouyang authored more than 50+ academic papers, 100+ patents, 120+ standards, and 13 books. Dr. Ouyang obtained a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, a Bachelor of Engineering from Southeast University in China, a Master of Science from Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a Master of Science from Columbia University in the City of New York.
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Ashutosh Dutta

Ashutosh Dutta is currently 5G Chief Strategist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. He serves as the director of Doctor of Engineering program at JHU. Ashutosh is founding Co-chair of IEEE Future Networks and is chair of IEEE Open RAN Industry Connection. Ashutosh obtained his BS in EE from NIT ROurkela, MS in Computer Science from NJIT and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York. Ashutosh is a Fellow of IEEE, and a Distinguished Member of ACM

Job Benson

Job Benson is the SVP & GM Radio Business Unit at Mavenir where he is responsible for P&L, Portfolio Roadmap, Strategy, Design, Development and Test for the Radio Business. Additionally, he leads the joint product development programs between Mavenir and Radio partners. At Mavenir, he launched the OpenBeam portfolio – the widest portfolio of O-RAN compliant radios covering Micro & Macro RRU and, mmWave & Sub-6Ghz Massive MIMO AAU products.

Job has extensive experience in launching new products to market and evolving the portfolio to improve performance and total cost of ownership. He has worked on several generations of Radio evolutions over the past 20+ years spanning 2G to 5G.

Amanda Toman

Amanda Toman directs NTIA's Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, a $1.5 billion grant program devoted to advancing the development and deployment of open, interoperable networks. Prior to joining the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Ms. Toman spent two decades spearheading research and development initiatives at the Department of Defense related to 5G, Future G, counterterrorism, and biofabrication. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech with a concentration in Biomaterials.

Nagendra Bykampadi

Nagendra brings more than 28 years of experience in the wireless industry. He has extensive experience in security, having worked in various capacities as a standards specialist, Security Architect, Security Specifications Engineer, and product technical lead. In his current role in Rakuten Symphony, he leads a team of security professionals that oversee security of Rakuten Symphony’s cloud native products, contributes to security ORAN standards, and prototypes security controls for next-gen telco architecture. He is also serving as the co-chair of the O-RAN ALLIANCE Security Work Group (WG11) that’s defining security specifications for O-RAN architecture.

Sz-Hsien Wu

Sz-Hsien is the leader of the Open RAN R&D team at Chunghwa Telecom. His primary research interests include RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), Testing, and System Integration. He has made significant contributions to the field by designing an automated end-to-end testing platform for Open RAN, complete with a comprehensive set of test cases. This innovative solution has been landed in multiple high-profile projects, including the “Asia Silicon Valley, 5G Open Network Integration Verification and Promotion Plan,” which is funded by the National Development Council in Taiwan. This solution has been instrumental in aiding over 20 domestic manufacturers in their end-to-end integration and deployment efforts. Through his work, Chunghwa Telecom has played a pivotal role in accelerating the growth of the Open RAN ecosystem in Taiwan and Asia.

Greg Manganello

Greg Manganello is SVP and Head of the Network Software & Integration Business Unit at Fujitsu. Greg’s mission is to deliver successful business outcomes to customers by focusing on innovative network automation software, systems integration of complete end-to-end multivendor solutions, and solution management for smooth network operations. This means forming long-term business partnerships as an authentic adviser; understanding the customer’s problem space; co-creating novel possibilities to realize opportunities; and delivering on the best network solution possible.

Selena Hsu

8-year experiences in project management of design and development of smart phones

12-year experiences in management of sales team on RF testing solutions and Biomedical & electromagnetic HW & SW testing solutions

3-year experiences in management of testing lab on cybersecurity and radio network

3-year experiences in procurement of equipment & components for R&D and manufacture

Education:
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- MD in International Affairs, Department of Global Politics and Economics, Tamkang University, Taiwan
- Strategic Business Management Program, The International Trade Institute (ITI), Taiwan

Others:

- Member of Test & Integration Focus Group (TIFG), O-RAN ALLIANCE
- Committee member of Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), National Health Research Institutes

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Mark Poletti

Mark Poletti is the Director of Mobile Networks and Principal Architect at CableLabs; a non-profit R&D organization that is dedicated to creating and driving technologies and innovations critical to the cable industry’s technology roadmap, including 5G and Wi-Fi 7. In this role, Mark is responsible for wireless R&D activities across fixed, mobile, and emerging wireless technologies for the secure delivery of high-speed data, video, voice, and next-generation services.

Prior to CableLabs, Mark built, managed, and operated 2G, 3G and 4G networks for US WEST, T-Mobile, and Clearwire. He has also been addressing mobile operator design, operations, and performance issues of 2G, 3G, 4G, and satellite networks for over 30 years with such companies as ViaSat, Clearwire, ATECS/Centerline, U S WEST/Qwest, and General Electric.

Mark holds a M.S in Telecommunications from University of Colorado, B.S. Physics from SUNY Buffalo and has multiple issued and pending patents.

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Matteo Fiorani

Dr. Matteo Fiorani is Head of Distributed Unit, Infrastructure and Security at Ericsson. In his role, Matteo is responsible for steering Ericsson product strategy on Cloud RAN, Open RAN and Cybersecurity. Matteo leads a team of strategic product managers and he is part of the Ericsson Cloud RAN Product Line. Before this role, Matteo was a Strategic Product Manager for 5G focusing on bringing 5G software features into Ericsson products. Matteo has also a long experience in standardization having been for one year the chair of a work-group in the O-RAN Alliance and for two years a standardization delegate in 3GPP. Matteo holds a PhD in Information and Communications Technology from the University of Modena in Italy, and a Postdoc from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Matteo was also a visiting researcher at Columbia University and University of California Davis in the USA.

Gil Hellmann

Gil Hellmann is leading the Telecom Solutions Engineering & Architecture team in Wind River. Focusing on defining, aligning, creating, and executing the technical aspects of Go-To-Market Strategy for Wind River’s CSP business. With over 25 years of experience in R&D, Product Management and Sales, Gil also brings expertise in Solutions Architecture of Critical Infrastructures with reliable, safe & secure software.

Gil joined Wind River in October 1999, as a Field Application Engineer, and since, held different positions in R&D, sales, and marketing, as a team member, leader, and a manager. Former experience includes Team Management in the Israeli Aircraft Industry, preforming system integration for software and hardware, and development of Board Support Package and Device Driver for Jet Fighter mission computers for the Israeli Aerospace Industry.

Gil earned M.B.A from Heriot-Watt University, in Scotland. B.A. in Economics & Management from Open University, and Software Engineering Diploma from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Jack Nasielski

Jack Nasielski leads Qualcomm’s work to standardize Open Radio Access Networks.

He has over 35 years of experience in telecommunications including 26 years with Qualcomm. Since joining in 1997, he has led research and standards projects including cellular core networks, high-definition voice services (wideband voice with noise cancellation.) Jack helped define three generations of cellular technology across industry groups spanning 3G, 4G, and 5G. 

Jack holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Delaware and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.   Currently, Jack serves on the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council as well as the Small Cell Forum board of directors and he co-chairs a working group for the O-RAN ALLIANCE. He has been granted more than 450 patents worldwide.

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Francisco Martin Pignatelli

Francisco (Paco) Martín Pignatelli is a Vodafone Executive +24 years of Experience in Mobile. He´s worked internationally in various Global positions in US and UK and has great breadth of experience in all Network domains as well as some customer facing positions. He´s more recently focused in OPEN RAN, an activity he leads in Vodafone as Head of OPEN RAN, an effort he pioneered in 2016 that´s grown to become the most relevant trend in mobile today, with Vodafone as one of the leading promoters. Paco is Alternate Board Member of the O-RAN ALLIANCE.

George Tsirtsis

„George Tsirtsis is senior director of technology at Qualcomm Technology International, ltd, based in the UK. Since 2018 he has been representing major Qualcomm technology, including 5G, AI, and infrastructure platforms, in Europe, and before that he was leading Qualcomm research projects including Cellular D2D and C-V2X. George moved to Qualcomm in 2007 from Flarion Technologies, a USA start up pioneering fundamental technologies behind LTE which was acquired by Qualcomm, and before that he was in BT R&D Labs in the UK“

Sidd Chenumolu

Sidd Chenumolu is a distinguished Technology Executive & Business Leader recognized for his pivotal role in advancing O-RAN and Cloud Native technologies. As a driving force behind the industry's first telco cloud network, he successfully orchestrated the nationwide deployment of a groundbreaking 5G network. Currently serving as the VP of Technology Development at DISH Network, Sidd is an Expert on international and domestic regulatory policies impacting Edge, cloud computing, and AI. Actively involved in industry leadership, Sidd sits on the ORAN Board and various advisory councils.

Rob Soni

Rob Soni is responsible for all aspects of AT&T’s RAN architecture and infrastructure technical road maps for hardware and software, including baseband units, radios, antennas and all ancillary components. In addition, his team oversees certification and development for RAN hardware, software and features. His team drives AT&T’s strategy and contributions to global standards and to technical industry and government organizations.

Michael Martin

As member of the Management Board at 1&1, Michael Martin is responsible for the roll-out of the 5G mobile network: the construction of the first fully virtualized mobile network based on the new OpenRAN technology in Europe. Michael started in 1&1 on 1st of June 2021.

With around 20 years of industry experience, Michael combines network construction skills with a strong understanding of service and quality management.

He started his career at the Austrian mobile operator A1, where he was responsible for optimizing 2G and 3G networks. This was followed by positions at Telefónica in Munich and at the Orange Group in Vienna. As a member of the senior leadership team at Swiss telecommunications company Sunrise Communications AG since 2013 until 2021, he was primarily responsible for radio & transport network planning, as well as network operations and quality assurance for TV, fixed and mobile services.

Michael is currently based in Düsseldorf, where he lives together with his wife and daughter.

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Minsoo Na

Mobile access technology leader in operator R&D

A energetic and collaborative leader with vast experiencein global standardization, ICT R&D project and successful commercialization to the market

A outstanding leader achieving 260 + patents awarding 4 times by CEO at SK Telecom

MIN SOO’s area of expertise is in mobile communication especially in access technology as operator R&D in the ICT technology and expansive experience in global standardization, R&D project management, and commercialization.

He is currently Director and Head of 6G Development Team of Infra Tech. Office, where he leads end-to-end 6G R&D at SK Telecom, the largest mobile network operator in Korea. He has elected as Alterative Board Director at NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance).
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He has been leading various ICT R&D projects at SKT and successfully deployed new technologies in on 5G/LTE-A/LTE/UMTS and global standardization & alliance on relative topic such as 3GPP, GSMA, NGMN as well.

MIN SOO, 260+ patents holder, has over a decade of experience in the wireless telecommunication fields. It has 140+ patents in Korea and 120+ patents in international countries. Accordingly, he won the best inventor award 4 times (2021/2017/2016/2015) at SK Telecom.

He was mainly working on commercialization of UMTS, LTE, and LTE-A. He has led Korea-first HSPA+/LTE as PM in 2010/2011 respectively. he was engaged in several meaningful footprint such as not only launching VoLTE, Carrier Aggregation (CA) as key working member but World-first CoMP(Coordinated Multipoint Tx/Rx), small cell on/off trial, virtualized RAN as well.
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He also has been involved in 5G from initiation to rollout via whole area, e.g., 5G TSA (Test Spec. Association) & 3GPP standardization, R&D project, and 5G RFI/RFP at SK Telecom. One of fruitful output is World-first 5G connected car called T5 in BMW driving center, near Incheon Airport, Korea with BMW Korea & Ericsson as PM of Pre-5G N/W at Nov., 2016, which was succeeded in innovated service like 360 degree VR, V2X and MEC based object recognition as well as 3.6Gbps data rate over 170km/h speed.

He has been actively involved with NGMN(Next Generation Mobile Networks) as a project member of 6G vision, use cases and requirement since 2021 and has also been involved with GSMA as a member at future networks PSG at 2019 as well.

Apart from R&D career, he was experience in cooperate development by utilizing his technical expertise. He contribute to establish joint venture company named “Techmaker” between SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom at Nov. 2020. He received award called “Special Recognition” by CEO at SK Telecom.

MIN SOO received his M.S. and Bachelor’s Degrees from Seoul National University (SNU) and Korea University, South Korea, in 2009 and 2007 respectively. He is currently pursuing Ph. D from Seoul National University (SNU) since 2019.

Sushil Rawat

Sushil Rawat is the Director of TELUS Customer and Technology Excellence in TELUS Wireless service & strategy team. He has extensive experience in both Operators (Rakuten Mobile and Vodafone) and vendors (Huawei, Airspan) domain in RAN technology and product development. In TELUS Sushil is responsible for driving the TELUS RAN (tRAN and ORAN) architecture, strategy and development including ORAN SMO and RIC strategy and development.

Ian Pannell

Chief Engineer at the GSMA, responsible for technical working groups and standardisation activities.

Ian has a wide range of experience across multiple industries in advanced technology including military sensor and communications systems, system simulation and modelling, software development teams in financial services and as Head of Network and Service Architecture for Vodafone Group. When not on the end of a Teams call, Ian is most likely to be found traipsing across Salisbury Plain with his dogs; it is here he does most of his problem solving.

Katsumi Tanoue

Katsumi Tanoue joined NEC Corporation in April 1990. His career started as an engineer of mobile radio access technology. From 2005 to 2007, he was in Research Laboratories in NEC, where he led mobile research and 3GPP LTE Standardization. In 2021, he was promoted to General Manager of 2nd Wireless Access Solutions Division, and established Open and Virtualized 5G RAN business in NEC. Now he is responsible for Mobile Product including RAN and Core for the market outside Japan.

Ultan Mulligan

Mr. Ultan Mulligan is Chief Services Officer at ETSI, responsible for ETSI’s External Relations, software and Open Source groups, testing and interoperability, preparation and publication of standards, and new tools and working methods.
Previously Director of ETSI’s Centre for Testing and Interoperability, Director of Innovation and Director of Communications at ETSI and was also vice-chairman of the Marketing and Communications committee in the oneM2M Partnership Project. He was also responsible for Strategy and New Initiatives, establishing the first Industry Specification Groups at ETSI.
Mr Mulligan has a B. Eng. from Dublin City University and an Executive MBA from the ESCP-EAP in Paris.

Hiren Joshi

Mobile Telecom Industry veteran with about 25 years of experience across Plan- Build-Operate-Optimize-Transform ecosystem. Part of Rakuten Mobile evolution since about 4.5 years. Currently Leading IT Systems for OSS, BSS & allied automations for Telecomm Applications in Rakuten Group.

Ravinder Jarral

As VP of 5G Wireless Partner Engagement and Delivery at DISH Wireless, Ravinder Jarral is a key driver for the implementation of DISH’s cloud-native Open RAN 5G network. In his current role, he leads partner engagement, lab and test environments and release management.Launching his career at AT&T, Ravinder is a 20+ year industry veteran with experience working with telcos like Verizon and Sprint, in addition to equipment manufacturers like Ericsson. He has successfully deployed and managed global networks and possesses a 360-degree view of the entire technology lifestyle. Taking on both technical and business roles through his career, Ravinder maintains a key focus on business impact delivery.

Chih-Lin I
‍Co-chair of O-RAN ALLIANCE Technical Steering Committee and China Mobile Chief Scientist, Wireless Technologies
China Mobile Research Institute

Scott Poretsky
‍Director of Security, North America
‍Ericsson

Petr Ledl
‍VP Network Trials and Integration Lab
Deutsche Telekom

Anil Umesh
‍Director of ORAN Solution Sales, Global Business Department
‍NTT DOCOMO

Ravinder Jarral
VP of 5G Wireless Partner Engagement and Delivery,
DISH Wireless