Southeast Europe IT Conference

Conference Line-up
	Milan Šolaja A future-bound, success-driven, change maker Since 2010, at the helm of the Vojvodina ICT Cluster, Serbia. Probably one of the loudest IT lobbyists, he has launched the software industry to the center of Serbian public attention in recent years, raising awareness about its capacities and opportunities for IT-lead rebirth of economy ever since. http://rs.linkedin.com/in/milansolaja
	Till Hahndorf Economist by education, technology entrepreneur by experience and international cooperation architect by credo Former consultant with Accenture and board member of a US/Asian software company (Allgeier Group). Accredited business coach on digital technology and entrepreneurship, member of bwcon Baden-Württemberg Connected‘s Management Coaching Group. Leader of bwcon‘s „Special Interest Group Globalisierung“, cofounder and board member of BW Business Bridge, evaluating and supporting foreign companies for the German IT market. Director of Sourceconomy GmbH, handling software development projects involving German clients and foreign vendors.
	Grigoris Chatzikostas Business Development Manager at BioSense Center Grigoris is trying to set up win-win collaborations among researchers, ICT companies and end-users. He is also the founder and managing director of PA4ALL, a Living Lab that aims to bring Precision Agriculture technologies closer to the farmers of Vojvodina region. His experience includes building multi-national and cross-sectoral consortia, writing proposals for EU funding and coordinating large-scale projects for the introduction of ICTs in agriculture and environmental monitoring. In the past 12 years he has managed projects exceeding the total value of 30 mEUR. He dreams of a world where geeks and farmers speak the same language… http://rs.linkedin.com/in/gchatzikostas/
	Peter Statev ICT entrepreneur Cluster evangelist since 2004, co-founder and Chairman of Bulgarian ICT Cluster initiative. Business angel, start up mentor and supporter. https://bg.linkedin.com/in/pbstatev
	Wolfgang Kastenhofer CEO at EMEA Services Setting up and managing the subsidiaries of SAP in South East Europe and Baltics. Software Line of Business Director for entire Europe for RWD (American company focused on human performance improvement). For 5 years running his own consultancy (with partners) helping tech companies entering new markets. For details, visit: www.emea-services.com.
	Ivaylo Gueorguiev Program manager of ESI CEE Graduated in management and international economics. He has more than 12 years experience in management of complex projects and programs in the field of IT, strategic management, software process improvement, ICT competences and competitiveness. Mr. Gueorguiev has performed trainings, consultations and appraisals in government organizations and private companies related to IT process improvement, strategic management, project management and others. Certified ITMark instructor and appraiser, process improvement instructor, Kaplan Norton Balanced Scorecard graduate, and certified professional SCRUM Master.
	Marina Blagojević Cluster Manager Marina graduated from ICT College of Vocational Studies in Belgrade, Serbia, module: Banking and Postal Technologies. Her professional experience provided her with an opportunity to further improve her knowledge in project administration, accountancy and management and gain practical experience in the field of Project Management. From 2011 she is Acting Director and Project Coordinator of ICT Network, Serbian ICT cluster. She runs numerous projects covering different areas: education, event management, promotion etc. During the years she actively participates in establishing international cooperation and promotion of Serbian ICT industry.
	Radu Ticiu CEO at Timisoara Startup Hub Radu is managing Timisoara Startup Hub and is the president of Banat IT an regional ICT industry association. He studied Electronics and Telecommunication at "Politehnica" University of Timisoara and graduated Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timisoara. Radu has a 10+ years expertize in business incubation and entrepreneurship promotion and is an accredited trainer of business incubation for infoDev/WorldBank. Radu has a long experience in devising and running tech-entrepreneurship education programs for high-school and university students and now coordinates the Romanian expansion of CoderDojo network, consisting of free, open, informal, volunteer mentor-driven programming education clubs for children and youth.
	Vjollca Cavolli Executive Director, STIKK High level Manager with years of experience in diverse sectors. Brought the wealth of knowledge to STIKK as the Executive Director, since 2008. During this period, acted as an advocate of the ICT community and has been the main driving force of the Association by promoting its vision and achieving the organization’s mission statement. Acted on behalf of STIKK and represented Kosovo ICT community interests both nationally and internationally. Always gone beyond the role as the Executive Director and took matters of the sector with great enthusiasm and commitment, and always explored additional ways to make things happen. One of the successful projects that can be attributed to this diligence and commitment, along with several other stakeholders, is the establishment of Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK).
	George Dimitriou IT Systems and Database Specialist at Upper Quartile George has a M.Sc. in Mathematics & Computer Science, from the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany and a Business Administration degree from the University in New Orleans, U.S.A. He has extensive and significant experience (over 35 years): - As Project Director, Team Leader or Expert of large international donor technical assistance projects in 15 countries, - In policy, planning, human resources, risk management, Governance structures, and monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, - in design, implementation and evaluation of ICT Systems, e-government (Tax and Customs organizations), e-business, - In design of IT systems for monitoring, management and evaluation of Programmes (Operational Programs, PHARE, ISPA, Interreg etc.) and - in capacity building including Training and the development of training material in Information Technology and Business Planning in public bodies in transition countries.
	Dritan Mezini Founder and the Managing Partner at DM Consulting Services in Albania and in Kosovo With over 20 years’ progressive experience, Dritan brings an extraordinary depth of expertise in IT management, project management, communication, HR and analysis of business processes. He is a long-established expert in diverse, complex, global industries and multi-million dollar business initiatives. Dritan graduated from the University of Tirana, Albania with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Computer Sciences. He holds two Master degrees – in Business Administration with concentration in Management Information Systems from Western Illinois University in Macomb,IL, USA and in Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management, Devry University of Chicago, IL, USA. Dritan is an active member of numerous professional associations. He also holds the position of Board Chairman of Albanian Information Communication Technology Association (AITA), Head of HR Committee at AmCham Albania, and President of Albanian Fulbright Alumni Association (AFAA).
	Elena Petrushevska Acting Executive Director, MASIT Ms. Elena Petrushevska works at Macedonian ICT Chamber of Commerce – MASIT, as Acting Executive Director from September 2014. She joined MASIT four years ago, at the end of 2010. She has a Bachelor degree in E-business at Faculty of Economics at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and is in process of obtaining a M.Sc. in Management of Human resources. In the period between 2012 and 2013 year, Petrushevska has been engaged on the Project: “Center of Excellence and Innovation for Hybrid Cloud ICT solutions for SMEs – CEI”, as a Project Coordinator. She is fully experienced in planning and development of activities that are connected with CEI, preparation and formulation of the strategies and action plans, with one purpose the Center to become central entity of the communication between ICT companies offering their solutions, and on that way to intensify the use of ICT in other sectors.