Robert Rożek is a member of Telecommunications Market Department at Office of Telecommunications and Post Regulation - URTiP, Polish NRA, which he joined in 2002. Initially he was assigned to work in the Permissions and Applications Division, where he was responsible for preparing law documents concerning applications issues. Since February 2003 he has been working on universal services and market research in the Universal Services and Competition Unit. He is particularly responsible for directory services and law regulations. He also assisted with the preparations of the Decision of the President of URTiP, which obliged Telekomunikacja Polska S.A (TP S.A.) as an incumbent operator to provide the nationwide telephone directory enquiry for all subscribers.

He was an assistant at the Twining Project - Telecommunications Universal Services and during a 2-month practice in the Ministry of Science and Technology in Madrid, Spain he gathered experience in universal services and European law regulations.

Mr. Rożek graduated in 2002 with a degree in Social Science from Warsaw University and in 2004 with a degree in European Law from the European Height School of Law and Administration in Warsaw.

Nils Tharandt, 32, is the CEO of SCOOT, a company founded by several experienced, dynamic and creative entrepreneurs with various backgrounds in the field of law, banking, communications, internet and IT. Through various work experience, Nils has gained valuable experience in the field of lawmaking, administration, diplomacy and marketing. A lawyer with two masters’ degrees in law, Nils worked as a legal consultant for the United Nations in Geneva and Paris. In his role as commercial assistant to the Foreign Commercial Service at the American Embassy, he was in charge of regulatory affairs. Nils worked as a parliamentary assistant for a French Congressman and former Minister. From 2000-2001, he set-up ebooks21.com, a digital textbook publisher and won the first prize at the Oracle start-up contest in Paris which was awarded by the Senate.

Don Thibeau, Chief Strategy Officer for Qsent, directs the strategic business development focus at Qsent. An expert with over 20 years of enterprise and hands-on entrepreneurial and management experience, Thibeau is an insightful business strategist and advisor with an established track-record supporting early-stage companies, as well as a highly qualified e-commerce tactician specializing in the integration of information technology into businesses and federal, state and local government agencies.

Thibeau’s previous experience includes: Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for LexisNexis; associate in the Reed Elsevier Venture Fund group; co-founder DashWorks, Inc.; a decade at The Eastman Kodak Company.

A recognized authority on how information technology can improve the delivery of content, risk management, and government services, Thibeau has contributed to numerous companies in the areas of product management, channel sales, and strategic alliances.

Dominic is the CEO of the European data solutions company, MI International. He has over 20 years’ experience in European sales and marketing operations with large companies such at BAT and API Group, and was CEO of a start-up business supplying high value software solutions and services for large corporations. He joined MI International in March 2002 as Business Development Director prior to becoming CEO as part of the re-structuring following 2nd round funding in June 2002. In 2004, Dominic successfully divested from MI the online business directory, Askalix, and the mobile phone location service, mapAmobile, using the proceeds to invest in their core business of supplying European POI and business data, particularly to the satellite navigation market.

François Varloot is Deputy Director, Division Economy and Prospective within the ART, the French regulatory authority.  He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique in 1987 and from Telecom Paris in 1989 with a specialization in wide-area networks and telecom economy and legislation.

He was then a telecom consultant at Cap Gemini, handling both IT projects like the GSM network management system of France Telecom and telecom projects like the Renater first French Internet backbone or the design and building of EuroDisney telecom and IT networks.

In 1993, he became Director of Strategy for Unisource France, launching one of the first alternative carriers for strategic accounts in France, negotiating the AT&T/Unisource partnership and creating the Siris joint-venture with Cegetel.  In 1996, he moved to Colorado to manage the business development of the new US telecom & media division of Cap Gemini, launching Telco-in-a-Box wireline and wireless US carriers.  He then joined Level(3) Communications as Director of International Development and Collocation Product Line, deploying miles of fiber optics and dozens of data centers and VoiP softswitches across the globe.

In 2002, after moving back in France, he joined Microsoft in charge of Telecom Business Development with the main French operators, working on projects like the Orange smartphone and the France Telecom messaging system.  Since 2004, he has been in charge for the ART of several topics including universal service, regulatory qualification, voice over broadband and directory services.