Keynote Speakers:

A group of eminent Keynote and Invited Speakers will address aspects of the conference themes.  These include: 

Albert Angehrn is a Professor of the Net Economy and E-Management at INSEAD and his research work has received various international awards, i.e. Distinguished Contribution Award for Outstanding DSS Achievements sponsored by The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS). He has a track record of initiating large European projects and is currently collaborating with organizations such as Apple Computers, Lotus Corporation, IBM, Pfizer, Reuters and with the European Community. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Information Technology and the Journal of Decision Systems, and of a number of international and European academic associations and he has published in many journals includes ACM, Journal of Management Information Systems, European Management Journal, Interfaces, Behavior and Information Technology, Information Systems Management, Human Systems Management, Decision Support Systems, European Journal of Operations Research, as well as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has also contributed chapters to books such as ‘Design of Computing Systems: Cognitive Considerations’ (Elsevier), ‘Decision Support Systems: Experiences and Expectations’ (Elsevier), ‘Visualisation in Human-Computer Interaction’ (Springer), ‘Executive Information Systems and Decision Support’ and ‘Computer Supported Cooperative Work: The Multimedia and Networking Paradigm’.

Massoud Moussavi is currently leading the development of a knowledge and learning system at the World Bank.  His research is focused on addressing two fundamental questions: how to capture, represent and store the vast amount of information gained through economic and social development projects? And what are the best means to share and transfer such knowledge?  His aim is to develop knowledge-based techniques and tools which combine the indigenous knowledge with the existing best practices, and support policy makers in their decisions.  From January 2001 to September 2003, he was a visiting scientist at Schlumberger Cambridge Research where he concentrated on developing formal methods to translate information into decisions and actions.  He worked with physicists, mathematicians, chemists, geologists, oil field production managers and developed methodologies and techniques that capture, represent and apply knowledge from a variety of sources including: employees’ expertise, large data bases, scientific models and simulation results.  He has a Doctorate in computer science, teaches  graduate courses and research seminars in computer science and information systems at the American University in Washington, and has published on knowledge representation, knowledge management, and case-based reasoning.

John Sharp Joined Unilever as a Manager responsible for introducing new technology and manufacturing systems into Unilever operating companies. In October 1986, joined a small multidisciplinary team who acted as consultants to Unilever overseas factories with the objectives of applying organisational and technical measures to reduce operational and engineering costs and to raise manufacturing and engineering maintenance standards. Have built up a large research group with the focus on developing High Performance Organisations (HPOs). This research pulls together and integrates various modern management theories in order to gain a better understanding of what organisations have to do to become HPOs. The research is centred on the role of the People-Process interface in order to make improvements in business performance. Has been principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous research grants from the British funding bodies (EPSRC, DTI, UFC and industry) and European funding bodies (ADAPT, ESF, SRB and ERDF). Has also been a lead investigator on an European ADAPT project to investigate the effectiveness of learning, using ICT, for mature employees in small to medium sized businesses (SMEs).  Has acted as a referee for numerous journals and three EPSRC research proposals over the past twelve months, and has published over 85 papers in books, journals and conferences.