Panel - Future Environmental & Humanitarian Challenges

Massimo La Scala

Politecnico di Bari, IEEE IHTC 2024 General Chair

Professor of Electrical Energy Systems and Director of Lab ZERO, a Laboratory for the development of renewables, energy efficiency and smart grids, at Politecnico di Bari, Italy.
He is IEEE Power Engineering Society Fellow-Class 2007 with the citation: “Contributions to the development of computationally efficient power system dynamic performance simulation and control methodologies”.
He has coauthored more than 280 scientific publications and has been Principal Investigator in 32 research projects on Electrical Transmission systems, Power system dynamics, Smart grids, Smart cities, Critical Infrastructures, High performance computing.
He has been consultant for major companies, public bodies and European agencies operating in the energy field.
In 2010 Prof. La Scala is appointed by the Italian Energy Regulation Authority (now ARERA) as Member of the Panel of Experts for projects on active networks and smart grids.
Since 2018 he is Member of the Panel of independent experts in cost-benefit analysis for the development planning of the Italian Electrical Transmission Grid by ARERA.
He has been in the panel of experts of the Italian Ministry of the University and Research in charge of issuing the Program of the Scientific Research for the period 2021-2027
Since 2021, he is in the Consultative Group to support the joint IEA-Italy Project: Smarter digital power infrastructure to enhance energy efficiency, resilient systems and energy transition.
Since 2021, he is Member of the Scientific Committee of RSE S.p.A. (Ricerca Sistema Energetico).

Diego Gonzalez Ferreiro

Solutions and Support Unit and UN Maps Product Manager at the United Nations Global Service Centre

Diego Gonzalez Ferreiro is the Chief, Solutions and Support Unit and UN Maps Product Manager at the United Nations Global service Centre (UNGSC) based in Brindisi, Italy. He manages a team of developers and GIS professionals delivering innovative geospatial services and products to users across the United Nations missions. For the last fifteen years, he has worked as a GIS Officer in various UN missions, such as Somalia, Kenya and DR Congo. Previously, he worked in an environmental consulting firm in Madrid, Spain, where he studied. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and a Master’s degree in Geodesy and Cartography.

Kais Zouabi

Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies at the United Nations Global Service Centre

Mr. Kais Zouabi is an engineer in informatics with extensive experience in Geospatial Information, Remote Sensing, and Information Technologies. He has ten years of experience in the private and public sectors and over twenty-five years with United Nations peacekeeping field operations. Since November 2017, Mr. Zouabi has been the Chief Client Solution Delivery at the United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) in Brindisi, where he provides and supports corporate field technology solutions for geospatial, information, and innovative technologies to UN field missions and the Secretariat (UNHQ). Prior to this role, from April 2014 to August 2016, he was the Chief Geospatial Information Systems at the UNGSC, responsible for implementing the General Assembly GIS mandate and providing Geospatial Information support to all field missions. Mr. Zouabi joined the United Nations in September 1999 as an Information System Manager for the Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), where he supported the identification/eligibility process and ensured Y2K compliance of the IT infrastructure4. He later served in various roles, including Chief GIS for the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where he implemented significant GIS solutions and systems. He has also participated in several critical missions, including the OPCW-UN joint mission for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons and the United Nations Missions for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Zouabi worked in software development and at the Tunisian National Centre of Remote Sensing (CNT).

Soichiro Yasukawa

Chief of the Disaster Risk Reduction Unit – UNESCO Natural Science Sector

Soichiro Yasukawa is the Chief of the Unit for Disaster Risk Reduction at UNESCO Headquarters. He oversees geo-hazards risk reduction and coordination of DRR activities across different Sectors in UNESCO to promote multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and multi hazard approach. Before joining UNESCO, he worked at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the Cabinet Office of the Japanese government on DRR, building code, urban/territorial planning and international cooperation. He obtained a master degree in architecture from Kyoto University, Japan and a master degree in public administration from Columbia University, U.S.A.

Valeria Termini

National Council of Economy and Occupation – CNEL

Valeria Termini is a Full Professor of Political Economy at RomaTre University and a Senior Fellow at the Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy (LEAP). She serves as a Scientific Advisor for the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Ernst & Young (E&Y). She collaborates with the Encyclopedia Treccani and the United Nations Working Group 5 on investment, finance, energy, and climate. From 2006 to 2008, she led the Italian delegation on Energy and Climate Change at the G8, United Nations, and OECD, and served as the Personal Representative of the Prime Minister Romano Prodi at the Major Economies Meetings (MEM), established by the U.S. Presidency to build the “post-Kyoto” governance. Between 2011 and 2018, she was a Commissioner at the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks, and Environment (ARERA), and from 2013 to 2017, she served as Vice-Chair of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), as well as being a member of the Board of Regulators of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) from 2011 to 2015. She was also the Vice-President of MEDREG (Mediterranean Energy Regulators) from 2016 to 2018. In January 2021, she joined the United Nations Technical Working Group on Investment and Finance in the High-Level Energy Dialogue for COP 26. Currently, she is a scientific expert for the National Council of Economics and Occupation (CNEL), appointed by the President of the Italian Republic.

Paul Cunningham

IEEE R8 Climate Change Committee Chair

Prof. Paul M. Cunningham has over two decades’ experience collaborating with key stakeholder groups to co-design and implement ethical, impactful Sustainable Development related policy, research and innovation and implementation activities including international policy and research conferences hosted by African and European governments. He is Executive Director of the not-for-profit policy and research IST-Africa Institute, a strategic collaboration with 18 African ministries and national councils responsible for Innovation, Science and Technology related policy, research, implementation, and adoption. As President & CEO, IIMC, Paul leads teams providing technological, strategic and policy expertise to national and international government organizations and research programs. Paul’s international, inter-disciplinary research track record was recognized by Enterprise Ireland (Irish Champion of EU Research – 2015, 2017). A Distinguished Lecturer with IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), Paul is a Past Director, IEEE Division VI (responsible for 7 IEEE Societies); former President and VP Conferences, IEEE SSIT; and former Chair, IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee. Paul currently serves as Chair, IEEE UK and Ireland Section; Chair, Region 8 Climate Change Committee; Chair, IEEE Division VI Nominations Committee; and Vice-Chair, IEEE Conference Portfolio Review Committee. Paul also serves as a Member of the IEEE in 2050, IEEE Society and Council Review (SCRC), IEEE TAB Finance (TAB FinCom), IEEE TAB Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and IEEE MGA Geographic Unit Operations Support (GUOS) Committees.

René Garello

Chair of the Ocean Best Practices Systems (OBPS) – UNESCO/IOC/IODE, IEEE President of Oceanographic Society, President of the IEEE France Section

René Garello (IEEE Grades M’85; SM’96, F’06, LF’20) was born in 1953. He received the Ph.D. degree in Signal Processing at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG) in 1981. From 1982 to 1984 he worked as a Research Associate at Aeronomy Lab, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Boulder, Colorado (USA). In 1988, he became Professor in this engineering school in the field of signal processing and image processing and in 1995, Prof. Garello obtained his Habilitation (HDR; Habilitation to Supervise Research). Prof. Garello retired in Sept. 2021 with the status of Professor Emeritus. His main research interests lie in Remote Sensing, 2D signal processing, statistical and spectral analysis applied to ocean surface features detection and characterization. For the last two decades, he has worked in the development of signal and image processing tools for the interpretation of radar signals and the extraction of sea surface features, either natural (wind, waves, currents) or manmade (ships, pollution). He is presently engaged in several initiatives on the topic of Marine Debris and Plastic in the oceans, sustainable developments and ocean best practices systems. Prof. Garello has authored or co-authored more than 60 papers, a hundred and thirty conference communications and three books. For all his works, Prof. Garello was elevated to the grade of Fellow of the IEEE, class of 2006, “for contributions to signal processing applied to remote sensing of the ocean”. Since 2023, he is co-chair of the OBPS (Ocean Best Practices System) Steering Committee, a UNESCO/IOC supported project. Prof. René Garello is presently President of the IEEE France Section, elected for the period 2023-2025.

Semida Silveira

Cornell University and CEET Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition

Semida Silveira is a Professor of Practice in the Systems Engineering Program at Cornell University and a member of the CEET Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition created by the UN Secretary-General to accelerate climate change actions. Her goal is to contribute to science-based societal transformation, a global low-carbon circular economy, and sustainable development through transdisciplinary research, education, and actions with impact. Previously, she was a Full Professor in energy systems planning at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, where she established and led the Energy and Climate Division of the Energy Technology Department for twelve years. She worked as a sustainability and climate expert at the Swedish Energy Agency, program manager for energy and climate at the Stockholm Environment Institute, and did research at MIT, IIASA (International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis), the University of Tübingen, and the University of Stockholm. She has acted in various company boards of directors, and advisory committees including the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, Swedish Research Council, and Finnish Academy of Sciences, among others. She won the Jabuti Literature Prize in 2001 in Brazil for the book Electricity for Sustainable Development (in Portuguese) and received an honorary medal from the Brazilian Embassy in Stockholm for her extensive work to build cooperation on innovation between Sweden and Brazil. She has developed and managed projects in collaboration with academics, multi-lateral organizations, governments, and the private sector in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and is the author of dozens of academic journal articles and books.

Brendan Reidenbach

International Energy Agency

Brendan is the digitalisation lead in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions (EEIT) at the International Energy Agency (IEA). He specialises in power system modernisation, digitalisation, and the electricity demand from data centres and transmission networks. He has around two decades of experience in the power sector and holds a master’s in International Energy Policy from the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, Paris.