Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California

 

October 27 - 29, 2019

 

organized by the Young Professionals Team within the German American Business Association

Andreas “Andy” Bechtolsheim is Chairman, Chief Development Officer and Co-Founder of Arista Networks, a leading vendor of cloud networking solutions.
Previously, Andy was a Co-Founder and Chief System Architect at Sun Microsystems, responsible for next generation server, storage, and network architectures.

As a private venture investor, Andy has been involved in the funding of numerous companies including Google, VMware, Mellanox, and Brocade. He has served on the Board of Directors of over 25 companies, the majority of which went public or were acquired.

Andy earned a M.S. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1976 and was a doctoral student in Computer Engineering at Stanford University from 1977 to 1982. He has been honored with a Fulbright scholarship, a Studienstiftung scholarship, the Stanford Entrepreneur Company of the year award, the Smithsonian Leadership Award for Innovation, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Peter Beyer, Member of the German Bundestag is a committed Atlanticist for many years. Beyer stands out among Members of the German Bundestag and hi party as one of the most committed advocates of a strong transatlantic relationship with the United States and Canada.

He serves as parliamentary Special Rapporteur on Transatlantic Relations in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is an active member of Atlantik-Brücke, the Aspen Institute and United Europe in addition to numerous organizations in his district. Beyer is also Executive Vice-President of the Southeast Europe Association. In April 2018, Beyer was appointed Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation.

Gerhard Casper is President Emeritus of Stanford University. He is also the Peter and Helen Bing Professor, Emeritus, and a Senior Fellow at both the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He has written and taught primarily in the fields of constitutional law, constitutional history, comparative law, and jurisprudence. Mr. Casper serves as a trustee of the American Academy in Berlin as well as a trustee of the Central European University in Budapest. He is a member of international advisory councils at the Israel Democracy Institute (chairman since 2014), the European University at St. Petersburg, and Koç University, Istanbul. His most recent book, The Winds of Freedom—Addressing Challenges to the University, was published by Yale University Press in February 2014. He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and occasional papers.

Colclasure has extensive knowledge of laws governing the collection and use of information worldwide, and is regularly sought out by policy makers, regulators and government agencies for her views on the ethical use of data. She is recognized as a global authority on applied data ethics, consumer advocacy and information policy, and participates in numerous domestic and international efforts to help develop effective data policy, establish industry best practices and achieve maximum harmonization of information policy across the world.
Colclasure is a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar and was recognized by CSO as one of “12 amazing women in security.” Colclasure serves on the advisory boards of the Information Accountability Foundation (IAF) and the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF).

Prior to joining IPG Kinesso, Colclasure was SVP Global Public Policy Officer for LiveRamp, the Global Chief Data Ethics Officer at Acxiom and previously worked for both the U.S. Senate and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Washington, D.C.

Volker started his career as a Mechanical Engineer in specializing in processes and datas out of the University of Stuttgart in 1996. While founding his first startup in the area of production automation he earned the MBA of Business Administration at the HHL in Leipzig in 2009. He sold his startup to the biggest competitor in that technical field in 2013. In 2016 he founded his new company KeyX in the field of software system integration, process automation and data analytics. Based on that he developed the data analytics and integration platform MonaX4U which presents the Easiest, Safest and Most Predictive Platform to avoid Software Update Crashes.

Bruce L. Daniel MD is Professor of Radiology and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering at Stanford University. He received his B.A. in physics with highest honors from Williams College in 1985, and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1990. His awards include being elected as a Fellow of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance, Distinguished Investigator of the Academy of Radiology Research, and most recently Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Recently he started and now co-directs IMMERS, the incubator for medical mixed and extended reality at Stanford.

Christian Djeffal works on the relationship of law, technology and society with a specific focus on emergent digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things. He focuses on a holistic perspective across legal regimes (constitutional law, regulative regimes, standardization) and across disciplines (law, STS, computer science). Before joining the Munich Center for Technology in Society and the TUM School of Governance at TUM, Christian coordinated the research group Global Constiutionalism and the Internet at Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG). He received his doctorate from Humboldt University of Berlin and studied law at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and University College London. Christian is associated researcher at HIIG and the Institute for Technology, Society, and Law at University of Zurich.

Since 1997 Prof. Dr. Michael Göring has been executive member of the board and since 2005 CEO of the Hamburg-based foundation ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, one of the largest foundations in Germany. Central to its mission is the commitment to invigorate civil society in Germany and Europe and to promote innovative transatlantic programs, exchanges and perspectives. The foundation established the first private law school in Germany, the Bucerius Law School, in 2000. The Digital Charter is another initiative under the umbrella of the ZEIT-foundation.

Michael Göring received his Ph.D. in English Literature and started his career as assistant professor in English Literature at the University of Munich. Since 2000, he has taught as honorary professor at the Cultural and Media Management Institute at the Hamburg School of Music and Drama. He is the author of various publications and has published four novels. As one of Germany’s philanthropic leaders, he is involved with numerous foundations and private organizations.

©Roman Pawlowski

Quentin Hardy is the head of Editorial at Google Cloud, writing about the ways that cloud computing technology, and by extension the advent of computer intelligence at every point on the planet, is reshaping business and society.

Previous to joining Google, Mr. Hardy was Deputy Technology Editor at The New York Times, where for many years he wrote about enterprise computing. He has also been National Editor of Forbes Magazine, and a reporter with The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco and Tokyo, covering technology, banks, and financial markets. For 10 years he was part of "Forbes on Fox", a weekend economics and politics program on Fox News.

Jeanette Hofmann's research focuses on Internet governance and regulation. Her current research areas concern digital democracy and the development of digital platforms. She teaches at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at Free University Berlin and she heads a research group on 'Politics of Digitalization' at the Berlin Social Science Center. Jeanette is a co-director of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and Prinicipal Investigator at the recently founded Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin.

In addition to her academic work, Jeanette is a member of the expert group to the EU Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. She also heads two national academic expert commissions on 'digitalization and democracy' (Leopoldina, National Academy of the Sciences) and on 'Young Engagement in the Digital Age' (Federal Government). Jeanette is one of the 27 co-authors of the Digital Charter Initiative.

©David Ausserhofer

Christoph Keese is one of Germany's best-known thought leaders on digital transformation. He is a passionate innovator, serial entrepreneur, business angel, and keynote speaker. In addition, he authored bestselling books on digitization and economic policy ("Silicon Valley", "Silicon Germany", and "Disrupt Yourself"). As editor-in-chief and manager, he drove digital transformation at leading German newspapers (e.g., Financial Times and WELT) as well as at Axel Springer SE. Today he is CEO of Axel Springer hy, a digital consultancy in Berlin. Christoph Keese is one of the 27 co-authors of the Digital Charter Initiative.

As Head of KIT LINK Esther Legant paves the way for the exchange of knowledge and transatlantic communication between individuals from the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) and the German Southwest, a transatlantic network for innovative high-quality research with future potential. KIT LINK represents German research at Karlsruhe Institut of Technology (KIT) in the field of "The Future of Work", such as digitization, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, digital health, robotics, cloud services and open knowledge in SFBA as well as the establishment of a transatlantic network, together with several institutes and in cooperation with the strategic partner SAP. Exchange of knowledge and communication via minds. At best, partnerships to form to solve global issues of the future and drive innovation with purpose linked to the 17 UN Global Goals.

Dr. Ludewig is a German Politician and since April 2018 Director General Digitalisation and Innovation of the German Federal Ministry of Health. Between 2011-2018 he has been member of the Berlin Parliament. There he served as speaker for health policy with focus on digitalisation in healthcare. With his current position at the German Federal Ministry of Health he aims to promote digitalisation and innovation in healthcare for a better and more efficient health care for patients in Germany.

John Markoff, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote for The New York Times’ science and technology beat for 28 years, where he was widely regarded as the paper’s star technology reporter. He is currently a Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. He has been a lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism, and an adjunct faculty member at the Stanford Graduate Program on Journalism. In 2013, Markoff was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team for Explanatory Reporting “for its penetrating look into business practices by Apple and other technology companies that illustrates the darker side of a changing global economy for workers and consumers.

Simon co-founded The Future Society in 2014 while a student at Harvard Kennedy School because of his firm belief that the rapid development of technology in our days poses unparalleled challenges for public decision makers and corporate leaders. At Harvard, Simon focused on technology governance, advanced analytics and strategic decision making. At The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Simon advises CEOs and their teams in the domain of Robotics, Automation and Advanced Manufacturing (such as 3D-Printing and IoT). Simon has been a frequent speaker, moderator and panel participant on the topics of automation, technology governance and decision-making at conferences around the world.

Philipp is CEO and Co-founder of MVPF Technologies GmbH​. MVP Factory empowers the digitization of enterprises and SMEs. Combining technology with a network of freelancers to offer smart services at unparalleled quality. For our clients we design & build digital products and ventures by combining lean and agile processes with high-performing, scalable freelance delivery teams and industry-leading functional experts.

Before that, Philipp co-founded and sold two startups being responsible for business development, product, engineering and fundraising. He also consulted a FTSE500 enterprise on their digital strategy, strategic start-up acquisitions and implementation, lead the founding of a tech start-up setup in a new entity. He advised a number of German SMEs on digital strategy, corporate venture building and IT fulfillment.

Sven Przywarra founded the earth observation start-up LiveEO together with Daniel Seidel in 2017. Before that he studied Business Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin with a strong focus on space engineering and entrepreneurship after working one year in India’s capital New Delhi. He has previously worked in the space industry and founded NewSpaceVision, Europe’s biggest new space event series with the goal to connect the industry. Daniel and Sven are leading a team of 20+ people working on bringing the insights of earth observation to the infrastructure sector. He is convinced that earth observation will have a positive impact on every major industry within the next 10 years.

Beth Rogozinski is the founder and CEO of Signal 2 Health, a digital health strategy and production company located in SF. Beth is a serial entrepreneur, technology professional, and business strategist who has spent the last several years focused on digital medicine.

Beth was a founding member of the internationally renowned Multimedia Studies Program at SFSU where she taught and published a book on multimedia. Beth was on the founding team at Pear Therapeutics, where she served as Chief Product and Content Officer and helped build the product and development teams and successfully led the design, development and commercialization of six sub-clinical products. She also led the development of Pear’s first clinical product, reSET, and the product team submission of the De Novo 510k to the FDA. reSET was cleared by the FDA on September 14, 2017 as the first ever prescription digital therapeutic.

Andrej founded and is leading Tech4Germany, Germany’s technology task force under Chancellor Merkel’s right hand and Federal Chief of Staff, Helge Braun. Tech4Germany is the government's tech startup that brings the best digital talents and creative minds together with different federal government entities.Before that, Andrej established two EdTech startups in East Africa, worked in product management and data science for leading German and US startups. He completed a degree in computer science and business as valedictorian at Technical University of Munich and completed his senior year at Harvard University.

Siegbert Schefke is a German journalist and author of the book “Als die Angst die Seite wechselte”. He is famous in Germany for having secretly filmed the demonstrations in Leipzig 1989, where for the first time, the East German police did not intervene in open anti-government protests. With his friend he smuggled the film to the West, where it was broadcast the next day under the headline, "The beginning of the end of the Communist regime". It was activities like this that made him a prime target of the dreaded Stasi secret police.

Simon Schumacher is a research scientist at the Competence Center Digital Tools in Manufacturing at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, Germany. His research focuses on Industry 4.0 and the digital transformation of industrial manufacturing, in particular the technological and organizational changes of labor on the manufacturing system level.

Simon Schumacher is also the project lead of the Future Work Lab, a government-funded and widely recognized innovation lab for technical, social and organizational changes in industrial labor with more than 40 live use cases and over 10,000 visitors within the first two years.

Dr. Asher Sinensky is a senior member of Palantir’s executive team having joined the company in 2007 after completing his PhD In Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During his tenure, Asher has been deeply engaged with all levels of Palantir’s operations including the Technical (Data Modeling, Product Management), Business (Founding Palantir’s European Presence), and Customer Engagement (Worked with many customers including acting as the Interim Chief Data Officer for a large media client).

Asher has maintained a deep emphasis on how to understand and derive actionable meaning from data throughout his time at Palantir and continues to learn, speak, and teach about these topics.

Malte Spitz, *1984, is a German activist, author, politician and Secretary General of the German NGO Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (Society for Civil Rights). He deals with the topics of future regulation in the digital age and focuses on data protection and civil rights. In 2014 and 2017 his books on data protection and digital regulation "What are you doing with my data?" and "Data - The Oil of the 21st Century? Sustainability in the Digital Age" were published. His lawsuit against Deutsche Telekom and the subsequent publication of the metadata of his mobil communications caused an international attention.

In 2015, he co-founded the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (Society for Civil Rights), which works for fundamental and human rights through strategic litigation. From 2006 to 2013, he was one of six members of the Federal Executive Board of the Green Party in Germany and has been a member of the Federal Board since 2013. Malte Spitz is one of the 27 co-authors of the Digital Charter initiative.

©Paul Wagner

Before becoming Consul General of San Francisco Mr. Suedbeck was Head of the Western Balkans Division at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany. Prior posts had brought him to Afghanistan, Serbia, Ukraine, Brussels, and The Hague in the Netherlands.

Hal R. Varian is the chief economist at Google. Since 2002 he has been involved in many aspects of the company, including auction design, econometric analysis, finance, corporate strategy and public policy.

Hal also holds academic appointments at the University of California, Berkeley in three departments: business, economics, and information management.Hal is a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation, the Econometric Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was co-editor of the American Economic Review from 1987-1990 and holds honorary doctorates from the University of Oulu, Finland and the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Dr. Andreas Weigend’s expertise is to turn data into decisions. He was the chief scientist at Amazon where he worked with Jeff Bezos on the company's data strategy. In 2018, Angela Merkel appointed him to Germany’s Digital Council ("Digitalrat") to help create a positive mindset towards digital transformation ("Digitalisierung").

Andreas studied electrical engineering, physics and philosophy in Karlsruhe, Cambridge and Bonn, before moving to Stanford for his Ph.D. in neural networks. His book “Data for the People” (2017) has been translated into eight languages. He has taught at NYU/Stern, Stanford, UC Berkeley and in China. He lives in San Francisco, Bangkok and on http://aweigend.com.

Roman Wolkow is the Co-founder and CEO of Mitakus analytics, a German SaaS-Startup providing accurate forecasts and recommendations to commercial food service providers.
Previously, Roman has been involved in the Initiative "Wir retten Lebensmittel" / "We save Food" launched by the Bavarian Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry, supporting various startup projects and other projects aiming to prevent food waste.
Shortly after finishing his M.S. in Management & Technology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) he saw the business opportunity and social value in implementing a solution to fight food waste and launched Mitakus. The startup since then has developed it's own forecasting & recommendations platform for food service providers, tested and launched the product with several German customers.

Katharina is a Ph.D. Candidate in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford focusing on Computational Social Science. She works with several industry partners to study team interactions using Artificial Intelligence.

Vincent is a Ph.D. Candidate in Electrical Engineering at Stanford working on Computer Vision and a Fulbright Scholar. His passion is to connect modern Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence with Imaging.

Nikolaus is the tech lead of UMI.systems, an early stage AI mobility startup. Prior to that, he graduated with a Master's Degree in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University and worked as a Machine Learning Software Engineer at Uber.

Jonas is a Ph.D. Student in Economics at Stanford University. He is interested in econometrics, game theory and reinforcement learning. He holds a Master's Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Pavlos is a former postdoctoral scholar at the Division of Vascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Stanford University focusing on atherosclerotic disease. He strives to bring innovative and meaningful technologies to healthcare.

Carolin is a Visiting Student Researcher at the Graduate School of Business. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Economics at Stockholm School of Economics.

Marc is an MBA candidate at Stanford Universities Graduate School of Business. His interest is the future of the automotive industry. Prior to his MBA, he worked as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group and co-founded an Ed Tech start-up.

Jana is a Ph.D. Candidate in Chemistry at Stanford University. Her research is in the Dynamics of Photon-Catalyzed Reactions. Prior to Stanford, she studied and worked at the Leibniz University in Hannover.

Samuel is a medical student at the Heidelberg University. He pursued his doctoral research in Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology) at the Stanford University Medical School.

Christoph is a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Center for Clinical Research.

Lisa is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Economics at Stanford GSB working at Susan Athey's lab. Her current research looks at the impact of automation and AI on labor markets and the future of work.