Javier Arriola

Javier is director for Technology and Automation for Iberdrola, leading the project for SmartGrid evolution in his company, including the remote metering technical strategy of Iberdrola. Javier looks at both projects as a great opportunity to leverage for the dramatic evolution of the utility network business.

He has held several positions at Iberdrola related to telecoms and IT, including the integration of ICT with Scottish Power, BPL business and technology adoption for the core applications at Iberdrola and starting up Navega.com telecoms operator in Guatemala and Neo-Sky a operator in Spain.

Javier holds an M. Sc. in Telecoms Engineering from the University of Bilbao (Spain) and a Senior Executive degree on General Management (Esade. 2003).

Duncan Botting

Duncan Botting currently holds the post of Managing Director ITI Energy. In this role he works closely with academia, industry and government to identify and deliver innovative technical solutions to market challenges by commissioning research and development in targeted, high impact areas of commercial interest.

Duncan has 30 years experience covering the complete spectrum of technical and commercial roles from apprentice to boardroom. He is a visiting professor at Imperial College London and the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. He is an active member of the IET (formerly the IEE) and is involved in many influential panels, advisory boards and committees both at a National and European level.

As an active member of the IET Energy Sector Panel and UKERC advisory board Duncan is helping to shape thinking in the energy sector. He is a work programme director for the Electrical Network Horizon Scanning group, which has a membership comprising of a cross-industry team looking at UK network options from 2010 to 2050. This is a UK government and regulator advisory group providing impartial industry expertise to policy makers.

Duncan Botting is also Vice-Chair of the European Commission’s Technology Platform for “SmartGrids” and a member of the “Wind Energy” platform.

Ruud de Bruijne

Ruud de Bruijne is a senior expert in Renewables and Grids for the Netherlands energy agency, SenterNovem.

Ruud is Secretary of the Netherlands Platform for Sustainable Electricity Supply, Vice Chair of the Member States Mirror Group of the EU Platform for SmartGrids, and co-ordinator of the ERA-NET (European Research Area Network) for SmartGrids.

Ruud began his career as electrical engineer with a utility before working as a consultant and joining SenterNovem in 1987.

Alain Doulet

Alain Doulet is Director of Strategic Forecasting in ERDF, the distribution network subsidiary of EDF in France.

Alain graduated as engineer from Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité in 1971. He joined EDF in 1973 in the Distribution Division, in charge of various technical activities. From 2004 to January 2008, he was the Head of the Network department in EDF distribution network.

Alain is also a Senior member of SEE (Electronics and electrical society).

Livio Gallo

Livio Gallo is the Chief Operating Officer of Enel’s Infrastructure and Networks Division, which is in charge of Enel’s power and gas distribution businesses, and Executive Chairman of Enel Distribuzione, the major Italian electricity Distribution company with about 31 million customers.

From 2004 to 2005 he was Executive Vice President of the Electric Network Business Area of Enel Distribuzione. From 2002 to 2004, he was Executive Vice President of the Regulated Sales Area of Enel Distribuzione. From 1999 to 2001, he was Executive Vice President of the Sales Area of Enel Gencos (about 15,000 MW disposed by Enel after the market liberalization Decree in 1999).

Before 1999, he was in Elsag Bailey Process Automation, a Finmeccanica Group company, as Area Vice President West Europe and Africa. He was also member of the Group Executive Committee and Board of Directors of several companies in Europe.

Cécile George

Cécile George is Director of Electric Grid Access for the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) - French energy regulator.

Cécile originally worked as an engineer for Alcatel Space in France and Schneider Electric in Italy. After a 3 year period dedicated to industrial development at the Industry, Research and Development State Directorate in Burgundy, she joined CRE as the head of Economics and Tariffs Department – Electric Grid Access Directorate.

The Electric Grid Access Directorate is in charge of the financial and technical conditions of access to the transport and distribution electrical networks (e.g. grid access tariffs, transport investments, quality of supply, connection to the grids, cross border congestion management, balancing services).

Chris Murray is Director of Asset Management for National Grid Transmission. He leads a team of over 2000 staff and managers responsible for the multi billion pound assets that comprise the nation's high pressure gas network and the high voltage electricity transmission system for England and Wales.

The team are responsible for the entire asset lifecycles - from the point that the need for a new asset is identified to the time where assets are retired from the networks.

Pier Nabuurs

Pier Nabuurs studied electrical engineering and graduated in telecommunications from Eindhoven Technical University. For many years he held positions in the management of R&D at Philips and Océ, where he eventually became responsible for managing global purchasing and the supply chain.

After that he became CEO of Océ-Belgium and Executive Director of the Strategic Business Unit Document Printing, including responsibility for the product development program. In January 2002 he became CEO of KEMA, an international company specialised in high-grade technical energy consultancy and R&D, inspection, testing and certification. Mr. Nabuurs is involved in many discussions on energy systems of the future.

He is Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Technology Platform SmartGrids in the EU, a member of the Dutch Ministerial Advisory Task Force for Energy Transition, a member of the Dutch Advisory Committee for Large Research Infrastructures and member of the board Knowledge Platform Electromagnetic Fields and Health.

Johannes C F M (Jan) Peters

Jan Peters is Director of the Asset Management Department at Essent Netwerk, one of the largest Distribution Network Operators of The Netherlands. Jan is responsible for both the development and the implementation of strategies for design, replacement and maintenance of the company's electricity and gas networks.

Jan studied physics at the Technical University of Eindhoven, after which he became a development pioneer during eight years in Rwanda, Africa where he established a micro hydro power station and regional electricity distribution networks.

Jan began his career in the Netherlands in construction of fossil fired power stations, before he moved across to work in sustainable energy production.

Jan was heavily involved in the settlement of the first wind farms and of different industrial combined heat and power stations. After his invention of the product name "Groene Stroom" he started innovation programs in the distribution network business, and introduced Risk based Asset Management.

Steve Smith

Steve Smith is the Managing Director of Networks and Member of the Authority.

Steve leads the team at Ofgem who regulate all of the gas and electricity transmission and distribution companies in Great Britain’s competitive energy market. This involves setting price controls every five years that create the incentives on the network companies to operate and invest efficiently, regulating the structure of their charges and access arrangements for network users and determining any connection disputes.

Steve was previously Managing Director of Markets for four years, responsible for all aspects of the competitive wholesale and retail gas and electricity markets, European strategy and Ofgem’s sustainable development policies.

Steve has also worked in the private sector as Director of Environmental and Regulatory Strategy at AEP Energy Services and as a senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers advising in the energy, transport and postal sectors in the EU, Eastern Europe and South America.

Steve Smith graduated from Bristol University with an MSc in Economics and Econometrics and a BSc in Economics.

Ferruccio Villa

Ferruccio Villa joined the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas in 2002. Since 2006 he has been the Head of smart metering regulation for both electricity and gas sectors. He also deals with quality of electricity supply regulation. He is a member of the ERGEG Retail Market Functioning Task Force (formerly Customer Switching TF) and of the CEER Electricity Quality of Service Task Force.

Ferruccio has been the author of papers on smart metering and quality of supply regulations and a speaker at many European conferences. He has a degree in electronic engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and made the NARUC/IPU Regulatory Studies Program.

Before joining the Authority, after a period spent in Telecommunication industry, he was product and marketing manager for Telegyr Systems’ (a Siemens company) distribution network management services and previously for Landis & Gyr’s metering services.

Stefan Santer

Stefan Santer is working as an electricity expert for the Department of Electricity at the Austrian Energy Regulator Authority E-Control. In his position he is responsible for OMR (market rules), costumer switching, metering (esp. smart metering) and IT/data management.

Stefan is also a member of SmartGrids WG3 Demand and Metering, and a graduate of Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

Patrick Van Hove

Patrick Van Hove joined the European Commission as a Project Officer in 1988 and has been involved in the preparation and execution of R&D programmes related to different fields, including advanced industrial applications of embedded systems, simulation, micro- and nanoelectronics, parallel computing and more recently on smart energy networks.

Patrick earned an Electrical and Mechanical engineering degree at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), then MS and PhD degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He worked for the ULB, for MIT Lincoln Labs, and for a number of companies in the Boston area.