XR Conference Speakers

Speakers

@DataGovHub XR Conference

2 Days

9 Panels & 5 Keynotes

33 Speakers

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Susan Aaronson

Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub

Susan Aaronson is the Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at the George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

H.E. Gabriel Abed

Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates

H. E. Gabriel Abed is the Barbados Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. He is a Barbadian-Syrian entrepreneur, and is widely recognised as a leading authority on Central Bank Digital Currencies, math-based protocols, technology diplomacy, and blockchain technology. He was the first entrepreneur to establish a blockchain company in Latin America, in November 2010. Gabriel is internationally-acknowledged as a pioneer in the digital currency evolution, having conceptualized and initiated the first global movement to encourage the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies globally. Gabriel currently serves as the Co-lead of the Regulatory Framework Body of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cryptocurrencies where he has prepared a report to assist financial regulators to understand how best to approach digital asset regulatory frameworks. As Barbados’ first Ambassador to the UAE, Gabriel is focused on launching technology diplomacy; the future of diplomacy as he sees it, to create technological bridges between nations.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Noble Ackerson

Cyber XR Coalition

Mr. Ackerson is a Director of Product at Ventera Corporation focused on AI/ML and Data Science enabling responsible use of AI practices across commercial and federal clients. He also serves as President of Cyber XR where he focuses on Safety, Privacy, and Diversity intersections in XR. Noble is a Certified AI Product Manager, a Google Certified Design Sprint Master, and formally a Google Developers Expert for Product Strategy. From implementing practical data governance privacy principles, frameworks, empowering enterprises with the tools to eliminate bias and promote fairness in machine learning, Noble has pushed the limits of mobile, web, wearable, and spatial computing applications the human-centered way. For over a decade, he has delivered award-winning solutions from abstract concepts to impactful digital product solutions.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Daniel Akselrad

Stanford University

Daniel is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at Stanford University. His research uses historical and ethnographic methods to examine how media affect the ways we understand ourselves, each other, and the world. In particular, this research concerns the sensemaking of individuals inside expansive bureaucratic institutions, information systems, and military infrastructures. More broadly, Daniel’s research interests include the sociology of technology, the history of science, STS, human-computer interaction, and media studies. Daniel holds a BFA in Photography & Imaging from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in Media, Culture, and Communication from NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Cody Ankeny

Cody Ankeny

Meta

Cody leads the Metaverse Economy group within Reality Labs Policy at Meta. A tech enthusiast and lifelong gamer, he draws from his past experience working on global economic and technology policy with the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) to guide product groups to build a robust, engaging, and safe ecosystem that empowers creators in the metaverse. Cody holds a Masters of Foreign Service from Georgetown University and is a former United States Marine Corps officer.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Alyssa Ayres

George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs

Alyssa Ayres was appointed dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs and professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University effective February 1, 2021. Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow. 

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Thomas Campbell

FutureGrasp

Tom Campbell is a globally recognized senior analyst and researcher in emerging and disruptive technologies. He is the Founder & CEO of FutureGrasp, a leading advisory group focused on identifying and informing organizations on trends and implications of emerging technologies. From 2015 to 2017, Tom was the first National Intelligence Officer for Technology with the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Tom’s insights have informed senior policymakers, enabled millions of dollars of industry and academic funding, broken ground in new research areas, and kept diverse groups abreast of the rapid pace and implications of technology change. He is a Senior Fellow with the Council on Competitiveness, a Special Advisor to BootstrapLabs, and a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Global TechnoPolitics Forum.

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His career encompasses national and international experience in government, academia, industry, startups, and national laboratories. In addition to his extensive classified work in the intelligence community, Tomholds two patents with dozens of patent applications and invention disclosures; he has published 2 book chapters, over 20 peer-reviewed articles, and over 60 conference proceedings; he hasgiven over 100 keynote and invited presentations; and he has organized over a dozen conferences on emerging technologies. He is a Senior Fellow with the Council on Competitiveness (a leading think tank in Washington, D.C.), a Special Advisor to BootstrapLabs (a leading venture capital firm in San Francisco, CA), and a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Global TechnoPolitics Forum (a leading think tank in Canoga Park, CA). Tom is a recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, granted to global researchers for post-doctoral research in Germany; living in Freiburg, Germany for 16 months, he executed all his research in the German language (having learned German from scratch in four months at the Freiburg Goethe Institut). Tom holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering (Magna Cum Laude, Honors in Mechanical Engineering) from Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he was President of the Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, a Member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society (comprising the top 10% of engineering students based on GPA), and a Member of the Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society.

Daniel Castro, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Daniel Castro

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Daniel Castro is vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and director of ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation. Castro writes and speaks on a variety of issues related to information technology and internet policy, including privacy, security, intellectual property, Internet governance, e-government, and accessibility for people with disabilities. His work has been quoted and cited in numerous media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, Bloomberg News, and Bloomberg Businessweek. In 2013, Castro was named to FedScoop’s list of the “top 25 most influential people under 40 in government and tech.” In 2015, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker appointed Castro to the Commerce Data Advisory Council.

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Castro previously worked as an IT analyst at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where he audited IT security and management controls at various government agencies. He contributed to GAO reports on the state of information security at a variety of federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In addition, Castro was a visiting scientist at the Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, where he developed virtual training simulations to provide clients with hands-on training of the latest information security tools. He has a B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University and an M.S. in information security technology and management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Bertrand de La Chapelle

Bertrand de La Chapelle

Policy Network

Bertrand de La Chapelle is Chief Vision Officer at the Datasphere Initiative and the Executive Director of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network, both organizations he co-founded. He has a 20 year experience in digital governance issues and innovative multi-stakeholder processes, as a career diplomat, civil society actor and technologist. He was previously a Director on the ICANN Board (2010-2013), France’s Thematic Ambassador and Special Envoy for the Information Society (2006-2010) and an active participant in the World Summit on the Information Society (2002-2005). In the 1990s, Bertrand co-founded and was the CEO of the virtual reality company Virtools, acquired in 2005 by Dassault Systèmes. A frequent speaker in international conferences, Bertrand is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique, Sciences Po Paris, and Ecole Nationale d’Administration.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Dana Chermesh-Reshef

inCitu

Dana is an Entrepreneur In Residence at Schmidt Futures. She is an architect from Tel-Aviv, Israel, and an Urban Data Scientist from NYU CUSP (2018). Prior to becoming an EIR, Dana was the Director of Urban Data and Innovation at DRAW Brooklyn, an innovative Urban Design studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where she co-founded inCitu, a City Planning accelerator that uses Augmented Reality and AI to speed-up planning processes and make them highly accurate, responsive, responsible and transparent. In addition, Dana worked at the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP), conducting a data-driven analysis of Regional Planning. Her research on the feasibility of Tel-Aviv’s rezoning was published in “Haaretz” newspaper and she is a frequent lecturer on planning’s next frontier.

Diane Coyle

Diane Coyle

University of Cambridge

Professor Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. Diane co-directs the Bennett Institute where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity. Her latest book is ‘Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be‘ on how economics needs to change to keep pace with the twenty-first century and the digital economy. Diane is also a Director of the Productivity Institute, a Fellow of the Office for National Statistics, an expert adviser to the National Infrastructure Commission, and Senior Independent Member of the ESRC Council. She has served in public service roles including as Vice Chair of the BBC Trust, member of the Competition Commission, of the Migration Advisory Committee and of the Natural Capital Committee. Diane was Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester until March 2018 and was awarded a CBE for her contribution to the public understanding of economics in the 2018 New Year Honours.

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Dimitris Dimitriadis

Dimitris Dimitriadis

The Future Cats

Devoted to ‘exploring’ the future and spotting the trends and technologies that are shaping our world. Dimitris is a ‘digital futurist’. His mission is to give the world a better understanding of how society, human interactions, and business will look like in the years to come. Member of the Special Secretary for Strategic Foresight at the Presidency of the Greek Government. As a public speaker on future trends, he gives his audience an optimistic, yet down-to-earth take on the future and how technologies disrupt everything we do. On the stage of conferences such as TEDxUOM, SocialMediaWeek, and Digital Communications Network, he answers the big and smaller questions that will define humanity: how do exponential technologies, such as AI, blockchain, and 3D printing, merge together and shape our world? What will the human-machine relationship look like? How will education, construction, medicine, and all other industries are being disrupted?

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Interacting with people has always been at the core of everything Dimitris undertakes. With an academic background in design interactions, and being part of the digital marketing world even before the birth of Facebook, soon along the way he decided to take the path of communication and storytelling. Also lecturer at CITY College, University of York Europe Campus , as a consultant and lately as a podcaster, co-hosting “Weekly Notes to My Future Self”, is the co-founder of TheFutureCats, an integrated digital marketing agency, as well as “ΕνΣΥΝαίσθηση”, a volunteer platform harnessing the power of crowdfunding to solve homeless people direct needs.

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Joel Scharlat

John P. Grant

Academy for Defense Intelligence

A native of California, Mr. Grant earned an Associate’s degree in Intelligence Operations from Cochise College and a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from Excelsior College. He joined the Army’s delayed entry program as a senior in high school and a year later in July 1986 began his active-duty status with the U.S. Army. He was assigned as a Field Artillery Cannon crewman to positions at Ft. Hood, TX and at Ray Barracks, Germany. In June 1990, he left active duty and spent eight months in the Oregon Army National Guard as an Infantry Tow Missile System Operator. In March 1991, he re-entered active duty to begin his career as an intelligence professional. He spent one year learning Persian-Farsi at the Defense Language Institute and then was trained as an Interrogator at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. Mr. Grant’s first assignment as an Interrogator was at Fort Bragg, NC with the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade. Through his management of the TIP and the VWF collaboration and activities, Mr. Grant has positioned himself as the defacto focal point in the U.S. Government for XR knowledge of common concern. 

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In December 1995, he was assigned to DIA’s newly established Defense HUMINT Service and attended the Defense Strategic Debriefing Course (DSDC) at Fort Huachuca. He was subsequently assigned to positions with DIA for more than nine years and participated in operations that included deployments to the Balkans, Jordan, and Iraq. In 2004, he was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Ft. Benning, GA to prepare a newly established Military Intelligence Company for deployment to Iraq. In 2005, he was assigned as an instructor with the DSDC at Ft. Huachuca. In March 2007, he retired with 20 years military service. His military awards include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. In April 2007, he joined DIA as a contractor supporting DIA’s newly established Technology Division. A year later, he was hired as a DIA civilian employee working as the Technology Integration Liaison for DIA’s Joint Coordination Element. In March 2011, he was assigned to DIA’s training directorate with mission at the HUMINT Training – Joint Center of Excellence (HT-JCOE) as the Technology Innovation Program Manager. In 2014, he was additionally assigned to standup the J7-Advanced Concepts staff to establish a variety of training curriculum design and implementation standards at HT-JCOE. In 2015, Mr. Grant established, and has since coordinated, the quarterly Virtual Worlds Forum (VWF), a community of interest focused on extended reality (XR) capabilities within the U.S. Government which includes Academic and Industry partners. The VWF participants collaborate to explore, develop, test, assess, and integrate XR capabilities such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality
(MR) to enhance various mission areas. In 2016, he was tasked to focus on the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) efforts and has since positioned the TIP as the focal point for Intelligence Community exploration of XR capabilities. He was awarded the 2018 Intelligence Community Learning Innovator of the Year by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Alvin Wang Graylin

Alvin Wang Graylin

HTC

Mr. Graylin is the China President at HTC, leading all aspects of the Vive/VR (VIVE.com) and the Smartphone businesses in the region. He is also currently Vice-Chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance (IVRA.com) with 300+ company members, President of the $18B Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA.com) and oversees the Vive X VR Accelerators (VIVEX.co) in Beijing, Shenzhen and Tel Aviv.

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Mr. Graylin has over two dozen years of business management experience in the tech industry, including 18 years in Greater China. Prior to HTC, he was a serial entrepreneur, having founded four venture-backed startups in the mobile and internet spaces, covering mobile social, AD tech, search, big data and digital media. Additionally, he has held $100+ million P&L roles at a number of public companies.

Mr. Graylin was born in China and educated in the US. He received his MS in computer science from MIT, MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and BS in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, where he had specialized in VR and AI over two decades ago. Mr. Graylin is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Sam Gregory

Sam Gregory

WITNESS

Sam Gregory is an award-winning technologist and advocate, and Director of Programs, Strategy and Innovation at WITNESS (www.witness.org) which helps people use video and technology to defend human rights.  An expert on smartphone witnessing, new forms of mis/disinformation such as deepfakes, as well as innovations in preserving authenticity and evidence, he leads the Technology Threats and Opportunities program at WITNESS. His work on immersive and co-present storytelling for action includes the Mobil-Eyes Us project exploring how live video, immersive video and other technologies of co-presence (e.g. social virtual reality) can connect people to meaningful frontline experiences of human rights issues and to meaningful actions that support activists in real time. Sam is on the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, co-chaired the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media and previously taught 2010-2018 at the Harvard Kennedy School.

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Kathryn Harris

Kathryn Harris

Improbable U.S. Defense & National Security

Kathryn leads a range of business development, strategy, and marketing functions at Improbable U.S. Defense & National Security. She’s a former Department of Defense official and has served in leadership and technology positions across government, industry, and academia. At the Pentagon she served as Senior Advisor to the 9th and 10th Vice Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as Special Assistant to the 24th and 25th Secretaries of Defense, where she led and advised on the Department’s strategy, technology, and innovation initiatives. Prior to Improbable, Kathryn served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Growth at Govini and she also previously worked at SAIC. She currently serves as President Elect of the University of Virginia Engineering Foundation, and she was an Adjunct Professor for several years at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Kathryn studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia and Security Studies at Georgetown University.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Brittan Heller

Atlantic Council

Brittan Heller works at the intersection of technology, human rights and the law. She is currently a fellow at the Atlantic Council, with the Digital Forensics Research Lab, examining XR’s connection to society, human rights and privacy, and commerce. As former counsel in Foley Hoag LLP’s Global Business and Human Rights practice, Heller advised companies, investors, NGOs and governments on integrating public safety and human rights. Heller was an inaugural AI and Technology Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, studying content moderation and security risks in VR/AR/XR and emergent media. Heller previously founded ADL’s Center for Technology and Society. Her key projects included creating AI to study hate speech and analyzing disinformation that targeted minority communities. Additionally, Heller prosecuted grave human rights violations at the U.S. Department of Justice and the International Criminal Court and initiated landmark anti-cyber harassment litigation. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.

Elizabeth Hyman

Elizabeth Hyman

XR Association

Elizabeth Hyman is President and Chief Operating Officer of the XR Association (XRA), the trade association promoting the dynamic growth of the XR industry which includes virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed-reality, and immersive technologies yet to be invented. XRA is dedicated to the responsible development and thoughtful advancement of XR technologies across the globe. Prior to joining XRA, Hyman served as Executive Vice President of Public Advocacy at the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), where she led the association’s outreach to members of Congress, the Executive Branch, and other international, federal, state, and local government institutions that shape public policies affecting the IT industry. Hyman brings more than two decades of experience in the worlds of government, policy, and technology.

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She began her career in government, including positions at the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of the President, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and has experience in the private sector both in the practice of law and in business. She is a graduate of Tufts University, completed the General Course program at the London School of Economics, and holds a law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University

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Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson

Improbable U.S. Defense & National Security

Mark’s responsible for the successful execution of all external programs including government-funded projects and partner collaborations. He has over 15 years’ experience operating, developing, and managing mission critical software systems and applications in the U.S. Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Mark joined Improbable in 2019 from Leidos, where he served as a Senior Program Manager for a portfolio of mission applications and programs of record supporting the IC, managing a team of over 200 software engineers, systems engineers, and other technical and programmatic functions. Previously, Mark worked at Lockheed Martin in a range of real-time mission operation, engineering management, and program management roles. He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and a M.S. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University.

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Chris Kremidas-Courtney

Friends of Europe

Chris is a leading expert and futurist on hybrid threats who is currently serving as a senior fellow at Friends of Europe, lecturer for the Institute for Security Governance, and expert faculty for the Stratcom Hybrid program at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. He designs and runs high-level tabletop exercises on hybrid threats, whole-of-society responses, and the potential future impact of emerging and disruptive technologies. More recently, he served as the Multilateral Engagement Coordinator for U.S. European Command and as the first Director of Training and Exercises for the Hybrid COE in Helsinki. Chris is a member of EU-HYBNET, the American Security Project, and the EU Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN).

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Chris served for 32 years in and out of uniform for the US government including tours as Political Advisor to the Commander of the NATO Training Mission – Iraq (NTM-I), Assistant Political Advisor to the Commander of NATO’s Joint Force Headquarters – Naples, Policy Planner at the US Delegation to NATO, and Deputy Defense Advisor at the US Mission to the EU.

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Mark MacCarthy

Mark MacCarthy

Georgetown University

Mark MacCarthy is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown Law and a Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. He is a senior fellow at the Future of Privacy Forum, where he works on AI and data privacy projects. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Communication, Culture & Technology Program in the Graduate School at Georgetown University, where he teaches courses in technology policy, and he also teaches courses on privacy and AI ethics in the Philosophy Department. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the Software & Information Industry Association, where he directed initiatives and advised member companies on technology policy, privacy, AI ethics, content moderation and competition policy in tech. He has been a consultant on technology policy issues for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and for the Aspen Institute.

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His previous public policy experience includes senior positions with Visa, Inc., the Wexler|Walker Group, Capital Cities/ABC, and the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Indiana University and an M.A. in economics from the University of Notre Dame.

Marília Maciel

Marília Maciel

DiploFoundation

Ms Marília Maciel, Head Digital Commerce and Internet Policy at DiploFoundation.
Ms Maciel has 15 years of experience in the area of digital governance on issues related to the digital trade, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, conducting research, writing policy briefs, legal opinions and academic papers, developing and delivering courses.
She has served in international bodies and organizations, such as the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC), and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). She is a PhD candidate at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne, focusing on the securitization of trade policy. Prior to joining Diplo, Ms Marília Maciel was a researcher and coordinator of the Center for Technology and Society of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (CTS/FGV) in Rio de Janeiro.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Jennifer McArdle

Improbable

Jennifer McArdle is the Head of Research at Improbable US Defense and Security and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security in their defense program and wargaming lab. She has over a decade worth of experience leading research initiatives within industry, academia, government, and the defense policy community. Her research has featured in The Economist, War on the Rocks, National Defense Magazine, among other outlets. A former professor, Jennifer has served on Congressman James Langevin’s cyber advisory committee and as an expert member of a NATO technical working group that developed cyber effects for the alliance’s mission and campaign simulations. Jennifer is a PhD candidate at King’s College London in War Studies, is the recipient of the RADM Fred Lewis (I/ITSEC) doctoral scholarship in modeling and simulation, and is a certified modeling and simulation professional.

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Joan O’ Hara

XR Association

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Col. James Pangelinan

TRADOC Proponent Office Synthetic Training Environment – United States Army

Colonel Jim Pangelinan received his commission in 1996 from the United States Military Academy as an U.S. Army infantry officer. He began his career as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized) at Fort Lewis, Washington from 1997-1999. He next served as an operations officer with the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia from 2000-2002. While assigned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii from 2002-2006, COL Pangelinan served as a brigade and battalion assistant operations officer, commanded a rifle company in the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment (Light), and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After completing the Army War College, COL Pangelinan served in Korea from 2018-2020 as the U.S. Forces Korea J5 Chief of Plans. In 2019, he was centrally selected to serve as the Director, TRADOC Proponent Office for the Synthetic Training Environment. In August 2022, he will become the Director, School for Command Preparation, Ft. Leavenworth.

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Colonel Jim Pangelinan received his commission in 1996
from the United States Military Academy as an U.S. Army infantry officer.

He began his career as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized) at Fort Lewis, Washington from 1997-1999. He next served as an operations officer with the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia from 2000-2002. While assigned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii from 2002-2006, COL Pangelinan served as a brigade and battalion assistant operations officer, commanded a rifle company in the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment (Light), and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

From 2006-08, COL Pangelinan was an Opposition Forces commander with the Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He deployed to Afghanistan, serving as a strategist in the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan in Kabul. From 2011- 2013, he served as the battalion executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment (Light), Fort Carson, Colorado and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning from 2014- 2016. Following battalion command, he served on the Army Staff in the G-3/5/7 where he was responsible for the planning and publication of the Army Campaign Plan 2017. After completing the Army War College, COL Pangelinan served in Korea from 2018-2020 as the U.S. Forces Korea J5 Chief of Plans. In 2019, he was centrally selected to serve as the Director, TRADOC Proponent Office for the Synthetic Training Environment. In August 2022, he will become the Director, School for Command Preparation, Ft. Leavenworth.

COL Pangelinan holds a Master of Military Art and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies, a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Kansas State University, and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. He hails from the island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

COL Pangelinan’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge, and Expert Infantryman Badge. Jim is married to the former Susannah Blumer of Kansas City, Kansas.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Kavya Pearlman

XR Safety Initiative

Well known as the “Cyber Guardian,” founder & CEO of the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI), Kavya Pearlman is an award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies. She is a pioneer of the novel XRSI Privacy and Safety Framework for the Immersive Technologies Domain, Security awareness in the Metaverse, and various baseline security and privacy standards for Emerging Technologies. She has won several awards for her work and been named one of the Top Cybersecurity influencers for three consecutive years, 2018-2019-2020, by IFSEC Global. Kavya has founded The CyberXR Coalition which focuses on diversity and inclusion and the cross-section of Cybersecurity and XR helped launch a trustworthy XR news platform, ReadyHackerOne, established a Medical XR Advisory Council and Metaverse Reality Check (The MRC). Kavya is constantly exploring new technologies to solve current cybersecurity challenges and currently advises several governments and big tech corporations on technology policy making and program development globally.

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Kavya has previously advised Facebook on third-party security risks during the 2016 US presidential elections and worked as the head of security for the oldest virtual world, “Second Life” by Linden Lab. Kavya is the leading voice in cybersecurity, privacy, and Ethics for Emerging technologies including AR, VR, XR, exploring cross-sections of 5G, AI, and BCI – leading Standards development and promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the Immersive Technologies. Kavya is one of the Top 50 speakers in the cybersecurity industry and constantly shares knowledge via webinars, conference talks, and blog posts around Application Security, Cloud-native technologies, Machine Learning, and the global challenges that come along with the next iteration of the internet, the Metaverse and web 3.0.

Mark Johnson

Matthew Peterson

Barron’s

Matt Peterson is the ideas editor for Barron’s Group. He has covered the economy, politics, and global affairs for more than 15 years. He has also worked for The Atlantic, Eurasia Group, and Yale University.

Jadzia Pirece

Jadzia Pierce

Microsoft

Jadzia Pierce is a Director of Global Privacy Policy for Microsoft, where she helps the company support global data flows with trust, advocate for strong and interoperable privacy laws, and encourage the responsible use of data to help people, organizations, and society. Prior to Microsoft, she was an in-house cybersecurity lawyer for McKinsey & Company, and an associate in Covington & Burling’s Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Kristina Podnar

Metaverse Reality Check

Kristina Podnar is a digital policy innovator. For over two decades, she has worked with some of the most high-profile companies, governments, and non-governmental entities to see policies as opportunities to free the organization from uncertainty, risk, and internal chaos. More importantly though, she helps digital marketing and operations team, which often includes legal and IT, unlock opportunity, strengthen the brand and liberate employees to drive innovation. Kristina is the Principal of NativeTrust Consulting, LLC, a Digital Policy Advisor at The Cantellus Group, and the Global Digital Policy Expert at the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI). Kristina also is the Executive Lead of The Metaverse Reality Check (MRC), a global oversight board for and by citizens. She has a BA in international studies and an MBA in international business from the Dominican University of California. Her book, The Power of Digital Policy was published in March 2019.

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Ash Ritcher

Ash Richter

BHP

Tech Anthropologist, Engineer, VC, 3D/Info Futurist. Currently with Innovation @BHP. Formerly a Q at the CIA’s In-Q-Tel; DHS; AECOM; and CISA3+. Recovering Archaeologist. Perpetual Student. Itinerant Gamer.

Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Rebecca Rouse

University of Skövde, Sweden

Rebecca Rouse, PhD, is an Associate Professor (Docent) in Media Arts, Aesthetics and Narration in the School of Informatics’ Division of Game Development at the University of Skövde, Sweden. Rouse’s research focuses on investigating new forms of storytelling with new technologies such as immersive and responsive systems via queer, critical, feminist perspectives and methods. Rouse designs and develops projects across theatrical performance, interactive installation, movable books, and games. This design work dovetails with Rouse’s research in critical pedagogies and design methods, and queer feminist media theory and history of technology.  For more information visit www.rebeccarouse.com.

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Joel Scharlat

Joel Scharlat

Cyber Bytes Foundation

Joel Scharlat is an XR and cybersecurity executive with over 20 years of leadership and management experience. Joel currently serves as the Director of Operations for Cyber Bytes Foundation, a nonprofit based in the DC region, and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer for two startups: IVEA Consulting, and Metaverse Technologies, Inc. (MVTi). For the Foundation, Joel works closely with the Board of Directors to set the strategic vision and strategy of a start-up organization focused on education, innovation, and outreach programs for cybersecurity and emerging technologies like XR, 5G, AI, and Zero Trust.

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IVEA Consulting focuses on providing cybersecurity services to companies with AR and VR technologies, services, and infrastructure. MVTi is developing AI-based AR virtual assistants to help blind and low-vision people cross the street. He is a Cybersecurity Advisor to the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI) and is the Principal Investigator on a grant to develop natural authentication methods for First Responders using AR headsets. He holds a Master’s of Science degree from The Naval Postgraduate School where he researched using immersive virtual environments to influence people’s behaviors. He continues to research influence operations, privacy, and security issues associated with immersive environments. Joel is retired from the United States Marine Corps after 20 years of service.

Katerina Sedova

Katerina Sedova

U.S. State Departement

Katerina Sedova currently serves as a senior analytical coordinator on the Russia Threat Team at the Global Engagement Center, the Department of State. Most recently, she served as a research fellow on the CyberAI Project at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University, where she focused on policy issues at the nexus of emerging technology, cyber and influence operations, and national security. At CSET, she led the line of research to examine how threat actors may leverage emerging technologies to build disinformation campaigns, publishing a series of reports on the subject. She also co-authored reports on AI-enabled capabilities to generate textual disinformation and on China-Russia collaboration on AI development. Prior to that she served as an advisor on cybersecurity and technology policy issues and drafted key legislation as a TechCongress fellow with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the United States Senate.

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Previously, she published research and advised projects on countering malign foreign influence and propaganda for the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, Department of State, and Department of Defense. She started her career at Microsoft, where she led engineering teams in the security, networking and performance components of the internet browsing platform. She was named as an inventor on multiple patents awarded to Microsoft. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from California State University and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She speaks Ukrainian and Russian.

Mel Slater

Mel Slater

The University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences

Mel Slater is a Distinguished Investigator at the University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences, and co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology). He was previously Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in the Department of Computer Science. He has been involved in research in virtual reality since the early 1990s and has been first supervisor of 40 PhDs in graphics and virtual reality since 1989. He held a European Research Council Advanced Grant TRAVERSE 2009-2015 and has now a second Advanced Grant MoTIVE 2018-2023. He is a Research Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021. He is Field Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality, and Chief Editor of the Human Behaviour in Virtual Reality section. His publications can be seen on http://publicationslist.org/melslater.

Rob Strayer

Robert Strayer

Information Technology Industry Council

Rob Strayer serves as the Executive Vice President of Policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). He leads ITI’s efforts to shape technology policy around the world to enable innovation, competition, and economic growth, while supporting governments efforts to achieve their public policy objectives. Managing a team of experienced professionals at ITI, he is responsible for developing and executing policy strategies in major global markets and on a wide range of digital technology issues, including privacy and data protection, cybersecurity, trade and market access, taxation, artificial intelligence, and standards. Prior to joining ITI, Strayer served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Cyber and International Communications Policy at the U.S. State Department. In that role, he led dozens of bilateral and multilateral dialogues with foreign governments on digital economy regulatory, cybersecurity, and technology supply chain security issues.

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He was named as an ambassador by the President to lead the 90-plus person U.S. delegation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2018.

Before joining the State Department, Strayer was the general counsel for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also practiced telecommunications law at WilmerHale and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Strayer received a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and earned his B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Denison University.

 

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Costis Toregas

Costis Toregas

GWU Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI)

Prof. Costis Toregas is Director of the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute at the George Washington University. His work and interstate at the intersection of Computer Science and Public Administration; Broadband Wireless Deployment; Intergovernmental Information Assurance.

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Jimmy Vainstein

World Bank Group

Jimmy Vainstein leads the Interactive Media Program for the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. His efforts brought the deployment of immersive tools such as Virtual and Augmented Reality across the organization enhancing communications efforts, support field operations and decision making for true impact. Jimmy is the former co-chair of the VRARA’s VR for Good committee and has a Bachelor in Economics and a Master’s of Science from the School of Media Sciences from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Fabio Vanorio

Fabio Vanorio

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Fabio Vanorio is a Senior Executive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. He works as a Tech Lead at the Policy Planning Unit of the Directorate of Public Diplomacy on Emergent and Disruptive Technology (EDT) challenges, focusing on the state of the 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution), digital authoritarianism, and threats to democracy. Outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he is a national security contributor at the NATO Defense College Foundation and the Italian Institute of Strategic Studies “Niccolò Machiavelli”, thanks to his previous experience as an intelligence senior analyst and his experience in NATO and EU issues.
Fabio Vanorio received his degree in Economics from La Sapienza University, Rome (Italy), his MSc in Applied Econometrics from the Italian Government National School of Administration in Rome (Italy), and his MA in Government and Politics from Saint John University, New York (US).

Eugene Volokh

Eugene Volokh

UCLA

Eugene Volokh teaches First Amendment law and a First Amendment amicus brief clinic at UCLA School of Law, where he has also often taught copyright law, criminal law, tort law, and a seminar on firearms regulation policy. Before coming to UCLA, he clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (6th ed. 2016), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2013), as well as over 90 law review articles. He is a member of The American Law Institute, a member of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel, and the founder and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog. His law review articles have been cited by opinions in eight Supreme Court cases and several hundred court opinions in total, as well as several thousand scholarly articles. Volokh worked for 12 years as a computer programmer.

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Dana Chermesh-Reshef CEO, inCitu

Michael Zurat

General Dynamics Information Technology

Michael Zurat serves as a Senior Solution Architect within General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) Defense Chief Technology Office. He leads solutioning for 5G Internal Research and Development and next generation wireless including VR/AR/XR/MR applications, and hybrid Cloud-Edge solutions. He leads GD’s Engineering and Technology Council’s Extended Reality (XR) Working Group. Michael is a certified solution architect expert in Dynamics 365 and certified Azure AI Engineer. With over 20 years of experience in IT, Michael is a strategic leader in user experience as applied to SaaS based CRM tools, Extended Reality (AR & VR), Autonomous Robotics, Unified communication (UC) and Cloud based Contact Center Services (CCaaS) and a recognized thought leader in public sector digital transformation.

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He has over 10 years of managing and implementing large (over $100m) IT projects supporting, DHA, DVA, HHS CMS (CCIIO & CPI), and Navy/SPAWAR and over 5 years in R&D as a product manager. Michael previously served as an IT Project Manager and Product Director at Cognosante, Booz Allen Hamilton, and CACI. Michael earned his master’s and bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA where he worked on DoD sponsored UAV research. He holds the PMP certification from PMI. Michael is a proud International Science and Engineering Fair & Science Talent Search alumnus and is an active supporter of STEM education especially with his two children.

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Reading List: Immersive Technologies & International Relations