Speakers

Valérie is the Editor-in-chief of Smart Business, a magazine (and website) specialised in B2B technology. Valérie is a regular keynote speaker at events, and loves hosting a good, heated debate. As a member of the European AI Alliance, Valérie is passionate about AI and Machine Learning. In her articles, she focuses mostly on the socio-economic and ethical implications of disruptive technologies, a theme she cares deeply about.

Hassan Al Hilou started out as the youngest entrepreneur of Belgium where he received recognition from the media, royalties and policy makers. At 19 years of age, he is a serial entrepreneur, strategic diversity advisor, keynote speaker and author, He has spoken as a successful entrepreneur at the European Commission, Council , multinationals, universities and TED event and given a voice to youngsters in the media and international companies. Hassan is also active in different boards where his added value is the fresh perspectives about innovation, strategic change and diversity.

Dierk is passionate about big data and analytics. When he first started at the Federal Bureau of Finance, he was responsible for data mining processes for 5 years. After that, he started a new function within the bureau; as a consulting Senior Data Scientist, giving policy expertise and support tot he Bureau. Dierk is a regular speaker at international events.

Joey is a strategic growth consultant who’s always ready to push the needle. As a digital native who has worked on a wide range of digital growth and innovation projects for global organisations such as Google, Phillips, and startups such as VRTL; Joey is always enthusiastic to share his knowledge, learn from others, and tell his story. That’s why he can sometimes be found at Tilburg University as a guest lecturer.

Mark De Colvenaer is the program manager of Smart Cities Vlaanderen. He has a background in business engineering, developing business models and strategies. Mark is passionate about developing projects that really matter to stakeholders and society. Among his projects are the SmartCityTech Partnership, DSP Valley, Flemish Living Lab Platform, and Telenet

Georges has been a successful start-up and scale-up founder and exec in HealthTech. He has a passion crafting business models and building companies, at the junction of pharma, healthcare, law and data science. His company, Lynxcare transforms medical data by using NLP into insights for hospitals, physicians and patients, improvin the safety and effectiveness of health care. Georges has gathered 5 industrial pharma partners in 2 years and has now also set up an office in San Francisco.

Ferdinand holds an Executive Master in Management from the Solvay Business School and has more than 18 years of experience in the ICT sector. In March 2013 he joined Agoria, the Belgian Federation for the technology industry, as Business Group Leader for the Digital Industries. He has spurred innovation in the data field through the EluciDATA project in collaboration with Sirris and DTAI (2014-2018), has developed several projects in the areas of IoT, cybersecurity and information management and is now actively involved in the implementation of regional and national strategies to encourage the adoption of AI by companies and organizations.

Robert is currently the overall Capgemini Invent leader for Belgium and Luxembourg. Robert has more than 25 years of experience, with a focus on the banking and insurance sector. He has participated in several large projects such as the set-up of a private bank, the merger and acquisition of a Belgian bank, the pan European back-office design of a bank insurer. He has been designated administrator by the Belgian Luxembourg Kaupthing Bank in Belgium and restructured the bank. He is also Member of the European Board of The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Robert is also professor of Management at the KU Leuven.