COUNCIL OF CITIES
The Council of Cities represents the member cities of OASC and is one of the governing bodies of the network. It is headed by the Council of Cities Coordinator who is elected every two years.
Council of Cities Co-Coordinators and Deputy Coordinator
Albert Engels
Senior Process Manager, Municipality of Rotterdam
Albert Engels is a senior process manager, working with the municipality of Rotterdam for over 15 years. He has vast experience in working with knowledge institutions and market parties at the national and international level. He is the current co-coordinator of the OASC Council of Cities.
Roland van der Heijden
Program Manager, Municipality of Rotterdam
Roland van der Heijden is the programme manager of Rotterdam’s “digital city” program. He previously worked as an urban planner and lecturer. Roland currently serves as the co-coordinator of the OASC Council of Cities, having previously been the network’s deputy coordinator.
Philippe Sajhau
Director of Smart City, Innovation and Data, City of Noisy-le-Grand
Philippe Sajhau is the smart city director and a former deputy mayor in Noisy-le-Grand, France. He is a digital technologist, an engineer by education and has worked in the private sector before. Philippe is OASC’s Council of Cities deputy coordinator.
Members of the City Council
Rodolfo Torrallardona
La Plata, Argentina
Rodolfo Torrallardona is the general director of Infrastructure at the Information Systems Agency of La Plata, Argentina. He is an engineer with previous professional experience in the public sector. Rodolfo is the national chapter coordinator for Argentina in OASC.
Thimo Thoeye
Ghent, Belgium
Thimo Thoeye is the business liaison at District 09, the city of Ghent’s information technology partner. As a computer scientist, he has been working for more than 12 years in information technology and the internet industry, strongly focusing on using data for the common good. Together with a group of people, he has pioneered the Open Data movement in Ghent and Belgium. Thimo is currently working on Data Spaces and he serves as the national chapter coordinator for OASC in Belgium.
Derek Meggitt
Brisbane, Australia
Derek Meggit is Brisbane’s innovation and planning manager. He has a background in environmental sciences and ample experience in diverse management roles in both the private and public sector. Derek is Australia’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Darko Knezović
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Darko Knezovic is a senior professional associate for energy efficiency at the city of Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina. He previously worked as mathematics & physics teacher and a public relations manager. Darko is Bosnia & Herzegovina’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Brigitte Lutz
Vienna, Austria
Brigitte Lutz works with the Chief Information Officer of the City of Vienna in Austria, focusing on data analytics, blockchain and e-government building blocks and services. She is the data governance coordinator of Vienna and in charge of the digital twin of the city. Brigitte is a (founding) member of the Management Board of the Gaia-X Hub AT and the spokesperson for Cooperation Open Government Data in Austria. She serves as the national chapter coordinator for Austria in OASC.
Cláudio Nascimento
Bernambuco, Brazil
Cláudio Nascimento is the head of acceleration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the Ikone Global Social League. He is the vice-president of the Brazilian Network of Human Smart Cities and co-founder of Lab Griô, a company that focuses on developing people’s lives and territories. Previously, he was the director of technology in Olinda, director of digital transformation at the Secretariat of Science, Technology & Innovation of the State of Pernambuco and a board member at Porto Digital. Claudio serves as the national chapter coordinator for Brasil in OASC.
Stjepan Ćavar
City of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Stjepan Ćavar is a project manager and information technology specialist at the Dubrovnik Development Agency DURA and a smart city solutions expert at the city of Dubrovnik. He worked as an IT expert at a university and in industry, focusing on database development & applications, programming languages for network support and security for IT system. Stjepan has published several articles in the field of expert IT systems and serves as the national chapter coordinator for Croatia in OASC.
Anni Joela
Tampere, Finland
Anni Joela is Tampere’s project manager for smart cities. She holds several university degrees and serves as Finland’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Leonidas Anthopoulos
Trikala, Greece
Dr. Leonidas Anthopoulos is a professor in e-business at the University of Thessaly, Greece. He also works for the International Telecommunications Union of the United Nationas and is the head of the Smart and Sustainable cities’ working group for the Greek Standards. Leonidas is the author and editor of several books and servers as Greece’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Stefano Bartolotta
Milan, Italy
Bo Fristed
Aarhus, Denmark
Bo Fristed is the Information Technology Manager in Aarhus, Denmark. He has extensive experience in the public sector and serves as the national chapter coordinator for Denmark in OASC.
Vincent Demortier
Faubourg Numérique, France
Vincent Demortier is an entrepreneur, creative technologist and IT architect. He has developed digital solutions for the automotive, food & beverage industries, SMEs and start-ups. Vincent is the chairman and co-founder of the Digital Innovation Hub Faubourg Numérique, the initiator and current national chapter coordinator for France in OASC. He works on the MIMs, Living-in.EU, FIWARE iHub, i4Trust LEBD.
Samu Szemerey
Lechner Tudásközpont, Hungary
Takehiko Nagumo
Smart City Institute Japan, Japan
Takehiko Nagumo is the executive managing director at the Smart City Institute of Japan and the senior managing executive officer at Mitsubishi United Financial Research & Consulting. He is a member of the Regulatory Reform Promotion Council, Cabinet Office and policy advisor to the local governments of Tokyo, Yokohama, Kamakura, Hamamatsu and more. Takehiko is adjunct professor at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, visiting Professor at the Tallinn Institute of Technology and senior researcher at the Keio Research Institute, Shonan Fujisawa Campus. He serves as the national chapter coordinator for Japan in OASC.
Adrian Slatcher
Manchester, England
Adrian Slatcher is Manchester’s city council principal resource and programmes officer. He also works as a poet and short novel writer and serves as England’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Olaf-Gerd Gemein
Kiel, Germany
Olaf-Gerd Gemein is a serial entrepreneur, strategic thinker and business architect. He is co-chair and advisor for the International Data Spaces Association on the implementation of Data Spaces. Olaf is a member of the Board of Directors of the Impact Financing Working Group and co-founder of the Smart Cities Lab. He directs multiple global partnerships to raise awareness and promote open source technologies and implement the Global Approach to Data and Artificial Intelligence Exchange (GAIA-X), the International Data Spaces Association and the OASC Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs). Olaf-Gerd is the national chapter coordinator for Germany in OASC.
Martin Serrano
Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, Ireland
Martin Serrano is an associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States. He is an engineer, data scientist and guest lecturer on smart cities. Martin serves as Ireland’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Inga Barisa
Riga, Latvia
Inga Barisa is Riga’s advisor on European digital innovations. She has years of experience in international projects management, marketing and accountancy, both in the public and private sector. Inga is Latvia’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Corinne Pommerrell
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Corinne Pommerell is the head of the Information technology department in the city of Luxembourg. She holds a degree in computer engineering and serves as Luxembourg’s national chapter coordinator.
Kris Libunao
Philippines
Kris Lubunao is a cyber relations and data governance expert. She is involved in various projects and networks, such as Southeast Asian Women Leaders, URBAN Artificial Intelligence, and the Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Cities Network. Kris has extensive experience in digital standards, has worked both in the private and public sector and is the national chapter coordinator for the Philippines in OASC.
Mihai Chirica
Iași, Romania
Mihai Chirica is the mayor of the municipality of Iași in Romania since 2016. He has been working in the local administration since 2002, first as the director of the technical and investment directorate and then as a deputy mayor. Mihai is an engineer and serves as the national chapter coordinator for Romania in OASC.
Boris Koprivnikar
Sincular Consulting, Slovenia
Laurent Horvath
Val de Bagnes, Switzerland
Laurent Horvath is the water innovation deputy director of BluArk in Switzerland. He has years of experience in data, smart city, communications and projects management both in the private and public sector. Laurent serves as the national chapter coordinator of Switzerland in OASC.
Miguel Gonzaléz Mendoza
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
Miguel Gonzalez-Mendoza is a professor–researcher at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico focusing on machine learning, data management and computer vision applications in smart cities. He completed his PhD in Artificial Intelligence studies at the ‘Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in France. Dr. Gonzalez-Mendoza is the former president of the Mexican Society on Artificial Intelligence, a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and of the Mexican Academy of Computing. He is also a Young Scientist at the World Economic Forum for New Champions. He serves as the national chapter coordinator for Mexico in OASC.
Olga Dzieciątkowska
Poznan, Poland
Olga Dzieciatkowska is the digital projects specialist and leader of the smart community section of the smart city team for the city of Poznań City in Poland. She coordinates innovative projects in the city, such as Poznan’s urban software application. Olga holds a degree in Law from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and serves as the national chapter coordinator for Poland in OASC.
Iain McCreaddie
Scottish Cities Alliance, Scotland
Luis Muñoz
Santander, Spain
Luis Muñoz is head of the Network Planning and Mobile Communications Laboratory at the University of Cantabria in Spain, focusing on advanced data transmission techniques, wireless networks and applied mathematical methods for telecommunications and smart cities. He holds a PhD in telecommunications and a master in mathematics, statistics and operational research. Luis advises the Spanish government, companies in Europe and the United States of America. Previously, he worked as an expert for the European Commission and for the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. He serves as Spain’s national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Jong-Sung Hwang
National Information Society Agency, South Korea
Dr. Jong-Sung Hwang is a lead researcher at the National Information Society Agency in South Korea, leading research on data and AI national strategies, smart cities and future government. He served as a master planner of Busan National Pilot Smart City and was a member of the Gov3.0 Committee, which designs and coordinates government innovation initiatives at a vice-ministerial level. Dr. Hwang holds a Doctoral degree in Political Science from the Yonsei University in Korea and also was the chief information officer of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He serves as the national chapter coordinator for South Korea in OASC.
Øyvind Tanum
Trondheim, Norway
Vasco Lagarto
National Portuguese ICT Cluster, Portugal
Vasco Lagarto is the operational manager of the Portuguese Information & Communication Technology cluster – TICE.PT- since 2010 and the the contact point for the Gaia-X hub network. He holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications Systems from the University of Essex and previously worked at the Portuguese Innovation Center and at the University of Aveiro, teaching in the telecommunications area. Vasco is an experienced European projects evaluator and reviewer and serves as the Portuguese national chapter coordinator in OASC.
Milenko Malesev
Novi Sad, Serbia
Michael Carlberg Lax
Skellefteå, Sweden
Michael Carlberg Lax is the Chief Information Officer for the City of Skellefteå in Sweden and board member of the research, design and innovation joint venture between Luleå University of Technology and the information technology industry, CDT. He has been working in the telecom, network and mobile services industries for over 15 years in various positions such as software engineer and marketing, product and R&D manager in the public and private sectors. Michael serves as the national chapter coordinator for Sweden in OASC.
Ece Tümer
Istanbul, Turkey
Ece Tümer is the international smart city projects coordinator at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She holds a degree in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture and serves as the national chapter coordinator for Turkey in OASC.