George Mulamula

Dr. George Mulamula is the CEO and founder of Technovate Advisory Services (TAS) dedicated to bringing about digital innovations and sustainable economic development with Regional and Local Government Authorities. He is also the Senior Government Advisor on ICT entrepreneurship and innovation for an enabling environment and eco-system.

Prior to that, he was the founder and CEO of the Dar Teknohama (ICT) Business Incubator (DTBi) for entrepreneurship & innovation at the Commission for Science & Technology, the only tech incubator in Tanzania. He was also the first Principal Deputy CEO of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in Rwanda, working on SME and Entrepreneurship Policy, and the Senior ICT Advisor in the Government of Rwanda and in that capacity, the Lead Policy Advisor on the Rwanda National Information Communication Infrastructure Policy Plan II and WSIS Document preparation. He has also been a guest lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University (Kigali Campus) and has taught at KIST in Kigali, Rwanda.


Solomzi Makohliso

Dr. Solomzi Makohliso is an international entrepreneur with biotechnology industry experience in the United States, Europe and South Africa. His areas of interest include sustainable innovation, entrepreneurship and impact investment, particularly in healthcare and green technologies in sub-Saharan Africa.

He is the deputy leader of the EssentialTech Program at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He also serves on the Swiss National Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Science & Technology with Africa, as well as on the boards of various start-up companies in South Africa and Switzerland. Dr. Makohliso holds undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Physics from Rhodes University and Biomedical Engineering from Brown University, a master’s degree in Medical Science from Brown University and a PhD in Biomaterials from EPFL.


Alex Bristol

Alex Bristol is the CEO of skyguide, the air navigation service provider that manages and monitors the Swiss airspace. Prior to joining skyguide, he was with the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) for nearly two decades.

Here Bristol held various functions including General Manager at air traffic control centers across the country, Director of Strategy and Investment, and Director of International Relations. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Exeter and has completed the Advanced Management Programme of INSEAD Fontainebleau and Singapore.


André Borschberg

André Borschberg is a renowned entrepreneur, engineer, and explorer, and co-founder and pilot of Solar Impulse. He developed an ardent affection for aviation from a young age, and for 20 years he was a pilot with the Swiss Air Force.


Temie Giwa

Temie Giwa is the founder and CEO of LifeBank, a platform which enables timely delivery of blood and other high value medical products to hospitals and health centers in Nigeria.

She was named one of BBC’s 100 Women in 2014, one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria for 2017 by YNaija, and one of the “six entrepreneurs who demonstrate the positive role women are playing in creating opportunities and preparing the region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” by the World Economic Forum on Africa. In 2016, Giwa was invited to give a talk at the London-based TEDxEuston Salon event. Her talk was titled “Healthcare is a Right.” Giwa holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.


Céline Hourcade

Céline Hourcade is a strategic professional with 15+ years of experience in strategy, business development, innovation, project management, stakeholder engagement, marketing and advocacy in the areas of e-business, sustainability and air transport.

She joined IATA in Geneva in 2006 where she worked for several change programs in the area of digital transformation and sustainability. In her current role as Head of Cargo Transformation, Celine drives the StB Cargo program that aims at making air cargo easier, faster and smarter. In the area of Drones/UAS, IATA’s mandate is to support safe, efficient, orderly, reliable, and sustainable high-frequency drone operations into the airspace system. In that context, Celine is specifically looking at the use of “Drones for tomorrow’s air cargo.”


Lenny Koh

Professor S. C. Lenny Koh is a Chair Professor in Operations Management and Director at multiple research centers at the University of Sheffield. She is also the co-founder of Supply Chain Management and Information Systems (SCMIS) Consortium, a global network of leading academic and practitioners driving research and knowledge exchange on supply chain and information systems.

Koh is an internationally renowned authority on supply chain management with a focus on low carbon and sustainability. Her work is multi- and inter- disciplinary, crosses supply chain, information systems, energy, engineering, social science and science disciplines in understanding today’s and future complex supply chain problems induced by climate change and uncertainty. Koh holds a first-class honors degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, and a PhD in Operations Management.


Jonathan Ledgard

Jonathan Ledgard is founder of the Rossums studio and inventor of the Redline (blood delivery) and Blueline (heavy commercial delivery) concept for cargo drones in Africa. He developed the first typology of a droneport for the tropics with Lord Norman Foster. He was a director of future Africa at EPFL in Switzerland and served as a longtime foreign and war correspondent for The Economist. Separately, he is a novelist. His last novel, Submergence, a New York Times book of the year, was adapted for Hollywood by Wim Wenders.


Lorenzo Murzilli

Lorenzo Murzilli is an aerospace engineer, innovation manager and specialist in aviation, system safety and drones. He is leader of the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems WG-6 and Deputy Chair of the Swiss FOCA RPAS Working Group.

As such, he oversees the risk management process and policy of all critical drone operations in Switzerland and works to improve perception of unmanned aerial vehicles worldwide. He is treasurer and executive board member of the Global UTM Association (GUTMA), and is an accredited EASA Project Certification Manager and Expert for Safety Assessment and Development Assurance. He brings his body of knowledge to the Zürich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) as a guest lecturer.


Min (Timothy) Tian

Min Tian is the CEO of SF Technology and the CTO of SF Express, one of China’s largest logistics service providers which has received the country’s first unmanned aerial vehicle airspace license for commercial drone delivery.

He was invited to speak about smart logistics at the 2017 Tencent Cloud Summit. Prior to SF Express, Tian worked for United Parcel Service of America. He holds a master’s degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree from Fudan University.


Harrison Wolf

Harrison Wolf is a leader and author in the field of Unmanned Aerial Robotics (UAVs or Drones) with global expertise in Safety, Security, & Risk Mitigation Strategies. He is Lead for the World Economic Forum’s Drones and Tomorrow’s Airspace Initiative.


Jean-Christophe Zufferey

In 2009, Jean-Christophe Zufferey co-founded senseFly SA, a 140-employee autonomous mapping drone company that simplified the collection and analysis of geospatial data. It quickly became a market leader, used in surveying, agriculture, engineering and humanitarian aid.