European Culture & Creativity Days Barcelona

Daria Gołębiowska-Tataj, Chief of the Supervisory Board, EIT Culture and Creativity

The founder and CEO of Tataj Innovation, which has developed a proprietary methodology called “network intelligence” and is implementing it at universities in 6 countries: Australia, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Network intelligence develops digital skills for the future to leverage network-based business models and social impact communities.

Daria is an independent board member. Before she became the Chair of EIT Culture & Creativity Supervisory Board, she has been serving at the founding Governing Board of EIT, Supervisory Board of EIT Manufacturing, and a number of boards in private, public and non-profit sectors.

A long-standing high-level expert to the European Commission, she co-authored a number of influential policy briefs on topics ranging from public investment in innovation and technology to industrial policy to the future of work. She has been honored with titles from the World Economic Forum and The University of Manchester Masood Entrepreneurship Center, where she serves as an Honorary Professor.

Bernd Fesel, Chief Executive Officer, EIT Culture and Creativity

Bernd Fesel has experience in the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) for over 30 years and is currently the Interim CEO of the EIT Culture & Creativity. Previously, Bernd was a serial entrepreneur within the CCSI sector, including the role of director of the European Creative Business Network, vice director of the European Capital of Culture in the Ruhr Region and senior advisor to the legacy institute of RUHR.2010 until 2018: the European Centre for Creative Economy in Dortmund. He also played a role in EU initiatives such as JRC-Creative City Monitor, Voices for Culture and ENCATC.

Manuel Szapiro, Director, European Commission Representation in Barcelona

Mr. Manuel Szapiro is currently Director of the European Commission Representation in Barcelona.
He joined the European Commission back in March 2003 as member of the Task Force on the Future of the Union, placed under the authority of the President. In 2008, he was appointed deputy Head of Unit for Institutional Issues and Better Regulation in the European Commission Secretariat General. He was then leading teams responsible for, respectively: European Citizens Initiatives, EU decentralised agencies, EU Treaties implementation, delegated and implementing acts (comitology) and expert groups. For three years, Manuel also helped set up the European Joint Undertaking for ITER (Fusion for Energy) in Barcelona (Spain).

Fran Iglesias, General Manager, Fundación ÉPICA La Fura del Baus

He is the responsible of the Innovation Department and institutional relations, mainly focussed on promoting the connection of Humanities, Science and Technology, as the catalyzer for disruptive innovation. He has been a researcher in ESADE Business School in the department of innovation for cities, the i2CAT Foundation and Fraunhofer. Iglesias got his Master of Science in Telecommunication Engineering & Management (MASTEAM) in 2008. He is mainly dedicated to applying technology to vertical sectors, particularly in the Cultural and Creative Industries.

Jofre Banquells, Creative Director, Ogilvy Barcelona

Jofre Banquells: Passionate about brands, communication and creating campaigns to make a positive impact on consumers, audiences and people. More than over 13 years of experience being a team player as a copywriter and a play maker as a creative director, creating brand experiences for small, medium and large clients of all kind such as Heineken, Nestlé, Vueling, Volkswagen Group, Caixabank, Unilever, Nescafé. Some of his works have been awarded at OneShow, El Sol, CdeC, Fiap, El Ojo or Laus.

Joan Guasch, Director of International Development and R&I Policies, Eurecat

Industrial engineer with an MBA by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He is currently the director of International Development and R&I Policies at Eurecat Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya. He has more than 20 years of experience in European research and innovation policies, programmes and funded projects, mainly related with advanced technologies. He has participated in committees, technology platforms and evaluation pannels. He has participated since its origin in the definition and implementation of the EIT-Culture&Creativity.

Dr. Pere Vila, Director of Technological Strategy, Spanish Radio and Television Corporation RTVE

Doctorate Degree in Telecommunications by Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Master in Business Administration (MBA) by ESADE Barcelona.
Director of Technological Strategy at the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation (RTVE).
Member of the Standing Committee of the Telecommunications Advisory Council (Ministry of Science and Technology). Currently chairing the UHD Spain association and member of the Advisory Council for Digital Transformation.

He has collaborated in the assessment of the proposals from the Ten Telecom´2000 Programme of the European Commission (Directorate-General Information Society) and as e-Content Reviewer. He has been member of the EBU Technical Committee and the DVB Steering Board.

Jorge García, Project Manager, Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation

Mr. Jorge García works as Project Manager at Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation where he manages projects in the field of digital cultures and digital social innovation.
With an academic background in the field of Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction, his current interests focus on the intersection of technology and society as well as ethical issues and societal impact arising from the use of technology.
He has been involved, both at research and managerial level, in many international collaborative research projects such as OPENMAKER, PLUS, T-FACTOR or URBANITE (all of them Horizon 2020) among others.

Mehjabeen Patrick, Interim Chief Financial Officer, EIT Culture & Creativity

Mehjabeen has over 25 years of experience working in finance and investment space at leadership level. Over this time Mehjabeen has amassed a wealth of experience of raising and managing investment funds, organisational development, working with private and public sector partners and bringing commerciality and innovation to the creative sector.

Mehjabeen has raised multimillion pounds funds from public and private sector to invest in creative companies. She has worked with over 1000 creative sector SMEs supporting them with much needed capital as well as business and scale up support. Mehjabeen has vast experience of working with national and international organisations including United Nations and European Commission.

Noaa Barak, 4YFN Senior Strategy & Engagement Manager, GSMA

Noaa oversees strategy and engagement at 4YFN, leading its flagship innovation programmes for over 7 years now. She’s had a key role in growing 4YFN’s investor community into a thriving international community with over 1000 members.

A native of Neot Hakikar, Israel, Noaa holds an MBA and an MSC in Brain and Cognition. Noaa is passionate about growth and great ideas and can talk to you about growing dates in the desert, synthetic spider silk in a petri dishes and startups in innovation hubs.

Carlos Antón, Business Development Manager, EGEDA

Carlos Antón is an Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and holds a master’s degree in business administration and management from IESE (University of Navarra). He is currently Director of Business Development at EGEDA (Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales), taking responsibility for new projects and businesses in the different areas and territories in which EGEDA works. He is a director and Secretary of the Board of Directors of CreA SGR (a mutual guarantee company for the creative and cultural sector). He is Secretary General of the Cultural Foundation Oficina MEDIA España, of the Board of Directors of ARIBSAN and is a member of the Management Team of the PLATINO Awards for Ibero-American cinema and of the Executive Committee of Platino Industria.
Previously, Carlos directed the Business Consulting unit at the multinational GETRONICS for more than 10 years.

Luis Cueto, Advisory member of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Government of Spain

Graduate in law from the Autonomous University of Madrid and civil servant with more than 35 years of public service in different ministries. He defines himself as an official “of the State”, not “of the Government”.
He has held different positions such as director of human resources and budgets at the Cervantes Institute, head of culture at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, as well as General Director of the EOI business school, School of Industrial Organization of the Ministry of Industry. He has also been Deputy Director General of Business Innovation, standing out for his promotion of R&D through tax deductions and for being a pioneer in the launch of Innovative Public Procurement.
During Manuela Carmena’s term as mayor of Madrid (2015-2019), he ruled as General Coordinator of the mayor’s office, in charge of the technical services of the City Council. In that same period, he was president of the Governing Board of Ifema, of the Country Club and vice president of the board of directors of Madrid Destino, a municipal tourism and cultural action company. In the following legislature (2019-2023) he served as an opposition councilor in the Madrid City Council.
He currently holds a position as an advisory member in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of the Government of Spain, in which he is responsible for the “Spain Audiovisual Hub” project for the promotion of Spanish audiovisual industries.

Michael Blackman, Managing Director, ISE

Michael Blackman is the Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, the organiser and owner of Integrated Systems Europe. An avid tech fan, he has been involved in technology publishing and events for more than 40 years and is now celebrating 20 years focused on the AV sector with ISE.

Working with a team of three, he launched ISE in a single exhibition hall in Geneva in 2004. Since then, Mike has consistently grown the event: floor space has increased fifty-fold, attendee numbers twenty-fold and exhibitor numbers eleven-fold. Today, Integrated Systems Europe is the world’s largest exhibition and conference for professional commercial and residential audiovisual and electronic systems integration.

ISE outgrew its previous home in Amsterdam and is now expanding its future in Barcelona.

Under his stewardship, ISE has created more events and conferences focused on AV Systems Integration and solutions making it Europes’ leading organizer for the sector.

Mª Carmen Fernández, Innovation and New Business Director, GRUP MEDIAPRO

Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications and Master’s degree in Mobile Communications from the UPC, MBA from ESADE, Promociona Program for Women in Senior Management (ESADE) and selected among the top-30 European women trained in the EWOB (European Women on Boards) program in 2019.
Mª Carmen began professional life working in R&D departments at Ericsson and Vodafone, before being appointed to several management positions at RSLCOM, an US telecommunications operator, where she was also responsible for one of the launch team divisions of another telecommunications operator and a subsidiary of the US group.
Subsequently, she held several positions as Director of Operations in companies designing and manufacturing the first connected electronic consumer equipment and was appointed Managing Director of the streaming platform TotalChannel.
Mª Carmen joined GRUP MEDIAPRO in 2014, where she was involved in several areas of Business Development until her appointment as New Business and Innovation Manager, which integrates LVP, UBEAT, VISYON, Audiovisual Platforms, AI, and Innovation departments.

Núria Oller, Director of the Department of Music and Digital Projects, “la Caixa” Foundation

Núria Oller Castells holds a degree in Classical Philology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Simultaneously, she pursued musical studies at the Municipal Conservatory of Music in Sabadell, specializing in solfege, harmony, flute, and piano.
From 1993 onwards, she has been with the Music Department of the “la Caixa” Foundation, where she has been responsible for various festivals and programs, including the Festival of Early Music and the World Music Festival, as well as numerous courses and family and educational activities. Starting in 2007, she took over the Music Department of the “la Caixa” Foundation, where she has driven multiple festivals and projects. In 2020, she also assumed responsibility for the Digital Projects Department, leading the creation of the cultural content platform CaixaForum+ and virtual reality projects for the dissemination of music, such as Symphony and Ravel’s Bolero.
She has been a speaker at various cultural management conferences organized by the British Council, the Government of Catalonia, the Culture and Business Forum, the Contemporary Foundation, and the “la Caixa” Foundation.

Aníbal Santaella, Creative Director, GRUP MEDIAPRO

Aníbal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with honors in his final project and has a degree in 3D Animation from the Vancouver Film School of Canada. He was awarded with the artistic residency at the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome for the 2013-2014 cohort and received the honorary grant Talentia. With over a decade of professional experience, he has collaborated with renowned clients such as Nike, BBC, National Geographic, Honda, Telefónica and more than 30 international brands, managing some of these projects from The Mill, London and as a freelance in Stockholm. He has served as a Fine Arts professor at the Catalyst Institute in Berlin and actively contributes to fostering Art & innovation.

He is currently Creative Director at Grup Mediapro, where he leads projects that showcase cutting-edge technology, such as the AV Art direction for Alif, Norman Foster’s Mobility Pavilion for Expo Dubai, or the tech-sensory design and VR experience at the immersive exhibition “Sorolla through light”, Royal Palace (Madrid) / Bancaja Foundation (Valencia).

María José Santiago, Audiovisual Platforms Director, GRUP MEDIAPRO

Its current business unit is in charge of developing audiovisual platforms and advising on the launching and exploitation of such platforms, making the group’s experience and know-how available to third parties.

Previously, she was responsible for innovation projects, with a business profile and high sensitivity to technology, she supports the business units in integrating projects related to new technologies (Artificial Intelligence, immersive environments, Blockchain, Big Data) and new audiences.

Joan Mas, Digital Technologies Director, Eurecat

Joan Mas holds a Telecommunications Engineering degree (UPC) and an MBA (Webster University). He served for 10 years at the European Space Agency (The Netherlands) working on the ENVISAT and METOP Earth Observation Satellite projects. From 2000 to 2008 worked at NTE S.A. developing equipment for the International Space Station and life support systems for manned space missions.

He is currently the Director of Eurecat’s Digital Technology Division, where he promotes developments in fields like Data Analytics, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, etc. for mutisector applications like Digital Health, Industry 4.0 or Ressource Management Sustainability, Industry 4.0 and others.

 Jean-François Trubert, President, MIN4CI

Jean-François Trubert is Professor in Music, Special Advisor on cultural and creatives industries at University Côte d’Azur, President of the Mediterranean Foundation for CCIs MIN4CI and of the Regional skills and vocational training Campus (CMQ ICC) on Cultural and Creative Industries of South Region. He has been granted by the Kurt Weill Foundation (New York) and the Paul Sacher Foundation (Bâle, Suisse). His main research interest deals with Creative Process, especially on Music and Stage, including new technologies and digital transitions, and artistic research. He is involved in Horizon Europe Project REBOOT and lead FICCTION (Federation of Cultural and Creative Industries for innovation and Orientation on territories) project from the French Government.

André Forte, Head of Business Development – Arts, UPTEC

Supports entrepreneurs, startups, and artists @ UPTEC
Digital Content consumer
Writing non-stop for over a decade
Arts & Sciences enthusiast
Record Collector
Communications expert
Content specialist and strategist
Community Manager

Malika Touddimte, CCSI Project manager, MIN4CI

Malika Touddimte is based in Marseilles and works as a CCSI project manager at Université Aix-Marseille, one of the four founders of the MIN4CI Foundation. She coordinates with her colleagues from MIN4CI a Strategic Topic Group on “New narratives for territories”. Before that, she worked for 8+ years in the Cultural diplomacy field as a “cultural & art program manager” in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany and United Arab Emirates, with French Embassies, the Goethe-Institut, the World Expo and a media-enhanced scenography studio. She is also an independent researcher who focuses on representations of diasporic imaginaries through the textuality of jewelry.