KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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JUAN ANTONIO ZUFIRIA ZATARAIN - Opening PresentationJuan Antonio Zufiria is the General Manager of Global Technology Services for IBM Europe since January 2013. Before he was the General Manager of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel. Juan A. Zufiria joined IBM in 1987 when he was hired as a researcher in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the company's Thomas Watson Research Center in New York. Since then, he has held several local and international responsibilities in the company. Juan Antonio, who is married and has two children, holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a PhD in Applied Maathematics from the California Institute of Technology. He also holds an MBA from the London School of Economics. In 2011 he was appointed honorary member of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain. |
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MONTSERRAT PAREJA-EASTAWAY - Presentation 1: Smart management of tourism destinationsMontserrat Pareja-Eastaway, Ph.D in Economics from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, is Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Theory at the Universitat de Barcelona and devotes her research to the analysis of urban problems and in particular, its impact on social and economic aspects. She has coordinated the research project “Creativity and Knowledge: new basis for urban competitiveness” (2010-2012) and was the main responsible of the interuniversity project “Innovation, creativity and culture: defining the foundations for a post-crisis Spain” (2013-2015), both funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness. She has participated, among others, in three projects funded by different Framework Programmes of the European Union as principal investigator of the Spanish Team, in consulting and advisory activities for the BID, and has directed three cooperation projects funded by AECI. Since 2000 Montserrat Pareja-Eastaway is a member of the Coordination Committee of the European Network for Housing and Urban Research (ENHR) and since 2010 she was elected Vice-Chair of this network . She is also co-leader together with Prof. Jaume Valls of the International Summer School “Management of creativity in an innovation society ” organized by HEC-Montreal and the UB since 2013. |
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ORIOL MIRALBELL IZARD - Presentation 2: Innovation and creativity in business models adapted to the present situationHe holds a PhD in Information and Knowledge Society and a Master degree in Management Information Systems. Dr. Miralbell is President of the Spanish chapter and member of the Board Committee of IFITT (International Federation for IT and Travel and Tourism). He is professor and researcher of CETT. He has lectured at the UOC and UAB. He has also was responsible for tourist information systems of the Generalitat de Catalunya, creator and coordinator of the Network of Tourist Offices in Catalonia, and has participated in various technological tourism projects at European and Spain level. He has advised the Spanish government in technological innovation projects for tourism and has participated in the strategic plans for tourism Barcelona and of Catalonia. He is the author of several books on management of these tourist destinations and on technologies for travel and tourism. |
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DIMITRIOS BUHALIS - Presentation 3: Cutting-edge technology in tourism destinations and companiesProfessor Dimitrios Buhalis is a Strategic Management and Marketing expert with specialisation in Information Communication Technology applications in the Tourism, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure industries. His research area is cutting across a number of disciplines and is looking into adoption of innovations for creating value for both consumers and organisations. Current research focus includes Smart Tourism, SoCoMo Marketing (Social media Context and Mobile Marketing), Augmented Reality, Experience management and Personalisation, Reputation and Social Media Strategies, Accessible and Special Diet (Alergens) Tourism. Close collaboration with industry, governments and international organisations from around the world ensures that results have relevance and impact in the real world whilst constantly pushing the boundaries of knowledge and academic excellence.
He is currently Director of the e_Tourism Lab and Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research , at Bournemouth University in England. Dimitrios is also the immediate past President of the International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism (IFITT) .
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Josep Miquel Piqué is the President of Technova Barcelona and President of IASP (Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation), as well as a Telecommunication Engineer from La Salle and UPC and MBA for ESADE.
His long professional experience in university management has leaded him to promote and lead Postgraduate Programs, Technology Transfer Centers, University Incubators and Innovation Science and Technology Parks. He has promoted several hybrid organizations taking the partnership model University-Industry-Public Administration.
In the field of public administration has been CEO of the District Innovation - 22 @ Barcelona, Director of Strategic Sectors of the Agency of Local Development - Barcelona Activa and CEO of the Office of Economic Growth of the Barcelona City Council. Among other projects he has participated in teams of Barcelona European Capital of Innovation and Barcelona Mobile World Capital.
He has published several papers in publications and congresses on Innovation Ecosystems. He has participated in several international forums in Europe The central line of his activity is the promotion of Knowledg e-based Economy and Society in order to consolidate Knowledge Cities on Smart Cities.