Committee

The Symposium Programme Committee is composed of Automotive industry international experts as well as ITU and UNECE experts. Mr Stefano Polidori acts as coordinator and contact point (tsbevents@itu.int).

​​T. ​​​Russell SHIELDS​​​​​
Chair, CITS

Russ Shields is former CEO of Navigation Technologies (later NAVTEQ, now HERE), and former leader of other automotive and communications enterprises. Mr. Shields is currently a Consultant to Qualcomm Automotive. Mr. Shields has been involved in communications standards bodies for more than 40 years. He is Chair of the Collaboration on ITS Communication Standards of the ITU. He is a member of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board; an SAE Fellow; and a recipient of the SAE Delco Electronics ITS Award. Mr. Shields was inducted into the inaugural class of ITS America’s ITS Hall of Fame in 2008 and was named the inaugural U.S. member of the ITS World Congress Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2019, he was named an inaugural member of the FISITA Academy of Technical Leadership. Mr. Shields has received the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award in Entrepreneurship.

Roger C. LANCTOT
Director, Automotive Connected Mobility, TechInsights

Roger is Director, Automotive Connected Mobility in the Global Automotive Practice at TechInsights, and is an advisor to the L.A. Auto Show Automobility forum, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Informa’s AutoTech Detroit event. Roger draws on 25+ years’ experience in the technology industry as an analyst, journalist and consultant. Roger is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

William Gouse
Director, Federal Program Development, SAE International

Bill’s experience is in the combination of passenger and freight surface transportation planning, energy, environmental, and safety research, product and process development, and legislative and regulatory policy for Federal, state, local and international entities. He has published articles and made presentations on the subjects of emerging and developing technologies, operations, regulations, and enforcement for vehicles and impacts to the environment, energy efficiency and safety enhancements. He has several patents for both products and processes (one project displayed in the Smithsonian Institution). He studied mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and has taken the executive master’s program in transport emissions at the University of Leeds (UK). He is the Co-Secretary of the United Nations ECE Working Group for Validation Methods of Automated Driving. Or, he started playing with cars and trucks when he was about a year old and has never stopped. Bill has been working on intelligent vehicles, driver assistance and automated driving systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for over twenty years. While he was at Freightliner (the largest truck manufacturer in North America), he was the project manager for the world’s first roll stability control system – the precursor to electronic stability control which is present on virtually every late model vehicle in the USA. He has several patents for both products and processes (one project displayed in the Smithsonian Institution). He studied mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and has taken the executive master’s program in transport emissions at the University of Leeds (UK). He is the Co-Secretary of the United Nations ECE Working Group for Validation Methods of Automated Driving.

Walter NISSLER
UNECE

Walter Nissler is Chief of the Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovations Section of the Transport Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Before, he worked for six years at the European Commission in the area of road safety and for twenty years in national administration dealing with vehicle testing and type approval. His educational background is mechanical engineering with a University degree in vehicle engineering.

François E. GUICHARD
UNECE

Francois E. Guichard is the Intelligent Transport Systems and Automated Driving focal point of the United Nations (UNECE) and is supervising the activities on technical regulations related to vehicle automation and vehicle connectivity. Previously, he worked as line manager at Daimler AG, he advocated for the introduction of Advance Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) in the legislation (a relevant contribution for increasing road safety). Before that, he advised a number of Countries on their strategies to tackle environmental issues after having gained experience as a noise / GHG / pollutants emission testing engineer. He started his career as International Management Associate at Mercedes-Benz, gaining experience in Germany, South Africa and in the United States of America.

Bilel JAMOUSSI
ITU

Tunisian born, Dr. Bilel Jamoussi is Chief of the Study Groups Department of ITU Standardization Bureau in Geneva Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been leading the bureau’s standards making activities into a new era characterized by rapid convergence and the need for increased collaboration with vertical sectors and partnership between developed and developing countries. Prior to 2010, Jamoussi worked for a Telecommunication equipment and solutions provider for 15 years in Canada and then in the United States where he held several leadership positions and was granted 22 US patents in diverse areas including packet, optical, wireless, and quality of service.
He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English and speaks some Spanish and German.

Frederic WERNER
ITU

Fred is a seasoned Association Management professional with a passion for telecommunications specializing in strategic communications, community building, and international relations. Fred is currently responsible for Communications and Membership for ITU’s standardization bureau. Previously, he was the Communications & Program Director for ETIS – The Global IT Association for Telecommunications. Fred is deeply involved with innovation, digital transformation, financial inclusion, 5G and AI via numerous ICT industry projects, working groups, and events he has developed. He has also been credited with helping the telecom industry create a pan-European community of cyber-security experts. Fred has a B.A. in Business & Human Resources Management, a Minor in Communications, an MBA in International Business and a Technical MBA in Managing Telecoms Technology. Previously he worked in the Conformity Assessment sector and was involved in numerous EU development projects. Fred is an avid global traveler and has lived in many diverse countries including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Senegal, Turkey, Austria, Philippines, Switzerland, and Hungary giving him a unique global viewpoint.

Stefano POLIDORI
ITU

Stefano is a Counsellor at the International Telecommunication Union and responsible for the technical secretariat of ITU-T Study Group 9 “Broadband cable and TV”. He is also responsible for the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) activities, including the Symposium on the Future Networked Car at the Geneva Motor Show. Stefano is the ITU representative to the European Multi Stakeholder Platform on ICT Standardization at the European Commission. After few years in the private sector, joined the ITU in 2004 covering various positions including Coordinator for ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference and Advisor for Study Group 11 “Signalling, protocols and test specifications”. Stefano holds a Master in Electronic Engineering from the University of Rome, Italy and a Master of Science in mobile communication from Aalborg Unive​​rsity, Denmark.

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