Speaker Biographies

Confirmed Speakers

Algirdas Šemeta

Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud, European Commission

As of 2010 - Member of the European Commission responsible for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud
2009 - 2010 - Member of the European Commission responsible for Financial Programming and Budget
2008 - 2009 - Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania
2001 – 2008 - Director General of the Department of Statistics under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
1999 – 2001 - Government Secretary of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
1999 – 1999 - Vice-president of Public Limited Company “Nalšia”
1997 – 1999 - Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania
1996 – 1997 - Chairman of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Lithuania
1992 – 1996 - Chairman of the Securities Commission under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania
1991 - 1992 - Adviser, Deputy Chief of the Privatisation Unit of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
1990 - 1991 - Head of the Subdivision of the Economy Development Strategy Division of the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Lithuania
1985 – 1990 - Economist, Younger Fellowship at the Lithuanian Economy Institute

Foreign Language Skills
English, Russian.

Rob Wainwright

Director, Europol

Rob Wainwright was born in 1967 in Carmarthen, Wales, UK.

Having graduated in 1989 from the London School of Economics, University of London with a BSc, he worked in the following ten years as an intelligence analyst in the UK in the fields of counter-terrorism and organised crime.

Between 2000 and 2003, Mr. Wainwright was the Head of the UK Liaison Bureau at Europol, and also responsible for the Europol National Unit in London. The Liaison Bureaux are a key link in Europol’s cooperation with the EU member states.

In 2003, he was promoted to the position of Director International of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), where he was responsible for its international operations and for developing and implementing the UK strategy against facilitated illegal immigration.

Between 2006 and 2009, he was Chief of the International Department of the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). In this leading role, he was overseeing 20,000 law enforcement cases each year as well as establishing the international strategy and operational capabilities of the newly formed agency. His mandate extended from SOCA’s international operations and global partnerships to the worldwide network of SOCA liaison officers.

Mr Wainwright was appointed Director of Europol in April 2009. He is also currently an active member of the World Economic Forum, primarily on cyber issues.

Rob Wainwright is married with three children. He speaks English, Welsh and Spanish and his interests include history and literature.

Nicholas Ilett

Director, OLAF

Nick Ilett is currently the Director in the European Anti - Fraud Office (OLAF), European Commission, responsible for investigations in the areas of structural funds, agriculture and Customs.
He was previously OLAF Director for Policy and Resources (2006-2012) and for Intelligence and Information Services (2002-2005), and was also acting Director General for 13 months in 2010-11. In his earlier career, Mr Ilett was an official of the UK Treasury, which he joined in 1973. He twice served in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (1998-2002 and 1975-77). He studied at the Universities of Oxford, Munich and Cambridge and speaks French, German and some Italian.

William E. Kennard

Ambassador to the European Union, United States Mission to the EU

William E. Kennard is the United States’ Ambassador to the European Union. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Kennard was a Global Partner and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm with approximately $90 billion under management. Mr. Kennard joined The Carlyle Group in May 2001. At The Carlyle Group, Mr. Kennard specialized in investments in the telecommunications and media sectors.

Before joining The Carlyle Group, Mr. Kennard served as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission from November 1997 to January 2001. He presided over the agency at an historic time. During his tenure, he shaped policies that created an explosion of new wireless phones, brought the Internet to a majority of American households, and resulted in billions of dollars of investment in new broadband technologies. At the same time, he implemented bold new policies to bridge the digital divide in the United States and around the world.

Mr. Kennard is well known for his advocacy for people at risk of being stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide. He implemented the FCC’s e-rate program, which brought the Internet to almost every school and library in the United States. Under Mr. Kennard’s leadership, the FCC dramatically expanded access to communications technologies for people with disabilities. The FCC also adopted policies to increase telephone service to rural areas, especially to Native Americans living on tribal lands. He reached out to create more ownership and employment opportunities for women and minorities.

As FCC chairman, Mr. Kennard promoted the benefits of technology worldwide. He pioneered an innovative FCC Development Initiative to assist countries in the developing world to participate more fully in the global growth of digital technology. Through this initiative, Mr. Kennard signed the first partnership agreements on behalf of the FCC with ten countries on four continents to share U.S. regulatory experience with emerging regulatory authorities.

U.S. News and World Report dubbed Kennard a “consumer champion for the digital age.” He has received many honors and awards for his accomplishments, including awards from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Easter Seals Foundation, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and honorary degrees from Howard University, Gallaudet University and Long Island University.

Mr. Kennard previously served on the boards of directors of The New York Times Company, Sprint Nextel Corporation (national US wireless carrier), Handspring, Inc. (manufacturer of the Treo and other wireless devices), eAccess Ltd. (national Japanese wireless carrier), as well as on the boards of several companies owned by The Carlyle Group. Mr. Kennard also served on several nonprofit boards including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, One Economy Corporation, Common Sense Media, Year-Up Inc., the Yale University Council, Gallaudet University and Media Access Project.

Before his appointment as FCC Chairman, Mr. Kennard served as the FCC’s general counsel from 1993 until 1997. He joined the FCC from the law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand (now DLA Piper) where he was a partner and member of the firm’s board of directors.

Mr. Kennard is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. He resides in Brussels, Belgium with his wife, Deborah Kennedy Kennard, and their son, Robert.

David O'Sullivan

Chief Operating Officer, European External Action Service

David O'Sullivan is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service. The EEAS supports the High Representative/Vice President of the Commission, Cathy Ashton in fulfilling her mandate to ensure the consistency of the Union’s external action. The EEAS also assists the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission in the area of external relations.

David was Director General for Trade from 2005 to 2010. Previously he was Secretary General of the European Commission from June 2000 to November 2005, Head of Cabinet of Commission President Romano Prodi and Director General for Education and Training. He also has extensive experience in EU social and employment policy. David has a background in economics, graduating from Trinity College, Dublin and having completed post graduate studies at the College of Europe, Bruges. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Dublin Institute of Technology. He is also a Member of the Consultative Board of the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College, Dublin.

He is married with two children.

Salvatore Iacolino

Member, European Parliament

Vice-Chair
LIBE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Member
CRIM Special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering
DMAG Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union
DMED Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean

Substitute
INTA Committee on International Trade
DACP Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

Curriculum vitae (The MEP is solely responsible for the information published)

- Degree in law from the University of Palermo (1986).
- Administrative official in the Veneto Regional Council and, subsequently, in the USL (local health unit) No 1 in Agrigento (1988-1995); administrative manager in the ASL (local health authority) No 1 in Agrigento, head of department AA. GG - ASL No 1 in Agrigento (on leave since 17 April 2001) (1995-2001); administrative manager - ASL No 1 in Agrigento (2001-2005); Director-General of ASL No 6 in Palermo (2005-2009).
- Member of the Municipal Council in Agrigento (1997-2001).
- Vice-Chair of ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities), Sicily - Sanità (2008-2009). Further to a decree by the regional health councillor, appointed member of the technical and vocational staff (2008-2009).

Isabella Chiodi

Vice President of EU Unit, IBM

Isabella Chiodi is IBM Vice President of EU Unit, in charge of Business relationships with central EU Institutions and coordination of EU related projects across the Member States.

She joined IBM in 1981, and since then she has had several and diversified responsibilities:

Director of Financial Services Sector,

Director of Southern Europe Application Management Services,

Director of Southern Europe Strategic Outsourcing,

CEO of Global Value , the FIAT – IBM JV,

Managing Director of IBM Global Accounts.

She is member of the Board of Confindustria Innovation Services in Italy, and Member of the Board of VenetoNanotech.

She is a member of AIDDA, FCEM (Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales), and honorary member of PWA.

Pat Heneghan

Global Head of Anti-Illicit Trade, BAT

After completing a BA (Hons) in European Business Studies joined Rothmans UK in June 1983 as a Trainee Salesman. Moved through a number of progressively senior sales roles before joining the Rothmans Exports division in 1991. Worked and lived in Yemen for 3 years as Market Manager, followed by a further 3 year posting in Saudi Arabia as General Manager. Then returned to the UK to manage the Rothmans business in East Africa.

A short stint in Central & Eastern Europe was followed by a posting to Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire as Divisional Manager for Equatorial Africa. In 1999, became Area Director West Africa with responsibility for the integration of the Rothmans and BAT businesses in 24 markets. In 2001 returned to the UK and took up the role of Regional Manager – covering Africa, the Middle East and South Central Asia. Towards the end of that year was appointed Area Director – Caucasus, Israel, Northern Cyprus and Turkey, based in Istanbul.

Was principally focused on the BAT market entry into Turkey, including the building of a Greenfield factory and the establishment of a national distribution network. Returned to BAT Head Quarters at the end of 2006 and after
completing a BATI (travel retail) project started the current role as Global Head of Anti Illicit Trade in May 2007.

Brian Donald

Head of the Office of the Director, Europol

Brian joined Grampian Police in Scotland in May 1978 reaching the rank of Detective Superintendent. He subsequently served as a Senior Manager in the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

The bulk of his early police career was on drugs investigation, surveillance and major crime/incident investigation.

In 1999 he was seconded to the National Criminal Intelligence Service as Head of International Policy. Over the next 7 years he worked in the EU justice and home affairs arena and has represented the UK at a wide range of working groups and meetings.

He transferred from the police into SOCA on 1 April 2006 where he headed the International Strategy and Partnerships Department responsible for Europe, the EU, Turkey and the Balkans.

On 1 August 2007, Brian was appointed Head of the UK Liaison Bureau at Europol.

On the 1 June 2010, Brian took on his current role at Europol as the Head of the Office of the Director, running the Director of Europol’s Cabinet Office.

Peter De Buysscher

Director - Directorate of International Police Cooperation, Belgian Federal Police

Since 1 July 2009, chief superintendent Peter DE BUYSSCHER is the director of the Directorate of International Police Cooperation of the Belgian federal police.

Before the Belgian police reform in 2001 Peter De Buysscher was a member of the judicial police at the public prosecutor’s office. In 1991 he started his police career at the judicial police of Mechelen, where he specialised in acts of violence, indecent acts and criminal offences against and on minors. In 1999 he was appointed superintendent by the National Brigade at the General Commissioner’s Office of the Judicial Police. He became head of the homicide department and developed a behavioural sciences department.

After the police reform he was part of the General Directorate of the judicial police in his capacity as judicial director of the district of Tongeren. This district borders on the Netherlands and Germany and is in other words part of the ‘Euregio’, an urban region with a high cross-border crime rate. He was director of the federal judicial police from 1 February 2001 until 30 June 2009, the date of entrance into his current office. In this capacity he was involved in numerous cross-border initiatives in the area of police and judicial cooperation. He participated in the Bureau of Euregional Cooperation, the police cooperation Nebedagpol and was involved in numerous cross-border initiatives (such as the creation of a common police centre in Heerlen, Netherlands) as well as cross-border operations. He published many articles in specialist journals on the approach of cross-border crime and the integral approach of organised crime.

He enrolled in the training courses on International Police Cooperation organised by the Dutch School for Police Leadership in collaboration with the Clingendael Institute. On 1 July 2009 he was appointed director of international police cooperation of the federal police, where he is responsible for bilateral and multilateral cooperation (including civil crisis management), the network of liaison officers and the representation at and relations with the European and international institutions. This directorate was also in charge of the coordination of all police activities and initiatives within the framework of the Belgian European Presidency in 2010. Peter De Buysscher is also the Belgian member of the management board of Europol.

Colin Carswell

Chief Inspector, Operation Golf, Joint Investigation Team - UK and Romania, London Metropolitan Police

Colin Carswell is a Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London having served for over 22 years in a variety of roles.

Colin joined the Metropolitan Police in 1989 and served for a number of years in uniform throughout South and West London. In 2000 he was accepted into the MPS Anti-Corruption Command working on high profile Police corruption investigations.

In January 2007, as Detective Chief Inspector in the MPS Specialist Crime Directorate he successfully delivered international capacity building projects in Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Tanzania and UAE much of this work being funded from external partners.

In December 2007 Colin was recruited to operationally lead the MPS response to Romanian organised criminals trafficking and exploiting Roma children - this investigation was known as ‘Operation Golf’.

Chief Inspector Carswell regularly runs training days and workshops on trafficking for Local Authorities and Police ‘Public Protection Units’. He has recently carried out training on Joint Investigation Teams the United nations Office of Drugs & Crime (UNODC) and the European Police College (CEPOL).

Colin is currently the Metropolitan Police Team Leader for a Joint Investigation with Bulgarian Law enforcement into organised crime that drives theft person offences on London’s transport network.

Ron Fellows

Global Lead for Crime Analytics, IBM

In the IT industry for over 30 years, Ron’s career has been focussed on the use of information in decision-making for over 20 years. After 10 years in “traditional” computing, Ron moved into a management role with responsibility for the creation of one of the world’s first information centres for a major manufacturer. This development was a leading-edge one and even provided an input to IBM’s thinking in end-user computing.

Moving into a senior consulting role with a world-leader in online analytical processing, Ron undertook solution development, business development and technical leadership with the company in a wide range of international client environments. In 1992, Ron formed his own consulting company, later merging it with a large organisation before being head-hunted into IBM Consulting Group in 1995.

Within IBM, Ron has been a leader in Business Intelligence thinking, having spent time in roles in both consulting and software. This has taken him into organisations of all sizes in a wide range of industries throughout Europe and the Middle East. In addition to his hands-on work, Ron’s expertise has been in demand in providing help and advice to IBMers, business partners and customer all over the world.

Ron’s specialisation has always been the effective delivery and use of information by end-users and he was an early exponent of the use of SOA in Information Management, having produced an IBM discussion paper “Towards a CRM Nervous System” in 2004. It also made him a logical choice as an early evangelist for IBM’s Information on Demand (IOD) initiative.

Law Enforcement and Intelligence organisations the world over are rich in data but poor in information and Ron has been involved developing IBM’s presence in this market since 2005.

In the world of law enforcement, Ron has worked with the team delivering the New York Police Department’s Real Time Crime Centre. He was also Solution Architect on the project to implement the IBM Crime Information Warehouse across the 8 police forces covering Scotland. He continues to work with IBM and business partner teams on projects aimed at improving police effectiveness and efficiency across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Ron is worldwide subject-matter expert in Crime Analytics within the IBM Business Analytics and Optimisation (BAO) Centre of Competence, which provides specialist subject matter experts to help customers solve complex problems using IBM assets and skills and directs the development of solutions within this arena. He consults for many police forces and governments globally including speaking at the Australian Police Commissioners’ Conference in 2010, the eCrime Summit in 2011 and the Global Security Summit in 2012 as well as IBM Smart Cities Summits in many countries. Ron is also a core team member of IBM’s Smart Public Safety initiative.

Ron lectures on Information Management and Public Safety at IBM, industry, university and independent events and also teaches twice a year on Information Management at the Warwick University’s e-Business Masters programme and to the Information Management Masters course at Manchester University. Ron is also a Fellow of the Institute of Consulting and a Certified Management Consultant.

Tom McHale

Chair of ECPA Anti-Counterfeit Expert Group, DuPont

Dr Tom McHale has worked for DuPont for the last 25 years in a variety of roles including research and development, commercial customer facing roles, project and knowledge management and more recently in the global product defence / anti-counterfeit work. He is the Chairman of ECPA’s anti-counterfeit expert group.

Michael Rauschenbach

Head of Serious and Organised Crime, Europol

Starting his career at the State Police of Bremen, Michael achieved a B.Sc. qualification in civil, procedural and criminal law and then graduated at the German Police University in police management, crisis intervention, intelligence-led policing and international cooperation.

Michael held different managerial positions at the Serious and Organised Crime Department of the Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden (Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany). Before he moved to Europol, he was the Head of the Forgery of Money Unit.

From September 2003, Michael held the position of Deputy Head of the Europol National Unit, at the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent. This led to his engagement as Head of the German Liaison Bureau at Europol which involved responsibility for all strategic, operational and personnel matters. Overall, Michael has more than 27 years of policing experience in combating organised crime both at national and international level.

Myria Vassiliadou

EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, European Commission

Ms Myria Vassiliadou assumed office in March 2011 and is based within the European Commission, DG Home-Affairs.

The position of EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator was initially foreseen in the "Stockholm Programme" and elaborated in the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive 2011/36/EU. The EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator is responsible for improving coordination and coherence among EU institutions, EU agencies, Member States and international actors and developing existing and new EU policies to address trafficking in human beings.

The EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator also monitors the implementation of the new and integrated "EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012-2016)" and provides overall strategic policy orientation for the EU's external policy in this field.

Ms Vassiliadou holds degrees in Sociology and Social Research and a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. She has also been a Research Fellow at the Solomon Asch Centre for Study of Ethno-political conflict, at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms Vassiliadou previously served as Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby, the largest network of women’s associations across the EU. She was a founding member of the think tank Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies and served as its Director for seven years and subsequently as the Chair of the Board of Administration. For over a decade, Ms Vassiliadou worked as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Nicosia and taught undergraduate and graduate classes in Sociology.

Ms Vassiliadou previously worked in the European Commission as a Detached National Expert in DG Research. Furthermore, she has served as a member of various Advisory Boards, Expert Groups and acted as a consultant at the national and international level. She has worked extensively in the area of fundamental rights, as these relate to questions of trafficking in human beings, gender, migration, ethno-political conflict, and the media. She has been published in several books and journals, conducted workshops and seminars, and has been actively involved in various think tanks, EU wide research projects and both national and international non-governmental organisations. She is trained as a counsellor on interpersonal violence against women and also as a facilitator and mediator on conflict transformation and negotiations.

Jakub Boratynski

Head of Unit, European Commission

Head of Unit 'Organised crime and relations with EMCDDA' in the European Commission in Brussels (Directorate-General Home Affairs), which has the lead responsibility for fight against cybercrime, corruption, trafficking in human beings, sexual abuse of children and confiscation of criminal assets; previously working on EU relations with Russia (Directorate-General External Relations). Before joining the European Commission Programme Director with Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw and Policy Officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Warsaw (international relations, law). He was also involved in civil society anti-corruption activities in Poland.

Glenn Vaughan

Executive Director, British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium

An expert in EU policy-making and economic development, Glenn has worked in Brussels since 1995. As Chief Executive of the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium since 2008, he has led the business to a growth of more than 50% in the last three years. The Chamber’s 300 member companies include a wide range of multi-nationals from Europe, North America and the Far East. In 2011 it was voted the Best British Chamber of Commerce in Europe and European Trade Association of the Year at the European Public Affairs Awards.

He regularly works with major international companies and senior policy makers on policies affecting the environment for business, as well as helping to grow internationalized businesses in Belgium and British-Belgian trade and investment. Glenn has advised businesses, public agencies and scientific organizations on EU policy and funding. He was part of the small Brussels team that successfully lobbied for €2bn EU funding for Wales and was later MD of the Brussels-based Wales European Centre until 2005.