Martin Ander
Nadace Partnerství
vedoucí programu Adapterra
Martin Ander je vedoucí týmu Adapterra v Nadace Partnerství, který se dlouhodobě věnuje podpoře měst a obcí při realizaci adaptačních opatření na dopady změny klimatu (vlny veder, sucho, přívalové deště ad.). Již osmým rokem organizuje soutěž Adapterra Awards, která vyhledává a oceňuje nejlepší příklady praxe v oblasti adaptací a stojí též za unikátní inspirační databází, která soutěž provází.
Je absolventem Přírodovědecké fakulty Masarykovy univerzity. V letech 2002-2006 působil v pozici ředitele národní kanceláře Hnutí DUHA. Později pak 8 let jako náměstek primátora města Brna pro rozvoj města a životní prostředí.
Soňa Andrášová
Head of the Bratislava Climate Office
Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia
Public sector
Soňa has been working at the Bratislava City Hall since 2020. She started out securing funding for the city’s priorities and preparing projects designed to help the city address its long-term investment and development needs. Through this work, she became more involved with the climate agenda—first as a topic that appeared in project calls, and later as one of the key issues for the city’s future.
Together with a colleague, she has long worked to ensure that climate issues at City Hall are not just a marginal topic, but have a clear place, professional capacity, and political weight. From these efforts, a small climate and energy team gradually emerged, which has been working on major initiatives since 2024. It prepared the first Climate Plan, successfully engaged the city in the European Cities Mission, is establishing energy management for municipal buildings, is planning the future of Bratislava’s district heating system, and is building partnerships with businesses and the nonprofit sector.
Sonja’s role is to coordinate this team, connect people and issues across the city, and continue to seek resources for projects that help transform climate goals into practical solutions. Before joining City Hall, she spent 10 years at the International Organization for Migration, where she focused on the integration of foreigners into society.
Anniina Autero
Head of development
City of Tampere
Public sector
Dr. Anniina Autero is a smart city expert specializing in the integration of resilience, sustainability, and digital innovation through advanced technological solutions. She leads a Horizon projects focused on developing digital twins for urban environments, actively engaging citizens and businesses in the co-creation of safer, more sustainable cities.
Her work highlights practical applications of these innovations in real-world settings. She previously led the Smart Urban Security and Event Resilience project, where cutting-edge situational intelligence tools were successfully implemented during the 2024 Ice Hockey World Championship at Nokia Arena.
Recognized for her impact, she was named by Silicon Leaders Magazine in 2024 as one of the most influential leaders shaping the future of smart cities. At URBIS Brno, she brings insights on how cities can harness digital twins and collaborative approaches to strengthen resilience and improve urban life.
Lenka Bacovská
Deputy Director
Center for Investment, Development, and Innovation, Hradec Králové Region
Public sector
After graduating from a secondary school of mechanical engineering, she studied politics and public administration with a specialization in public finance at the University of Pardubice. For nineteen years now, she has been working in the field of project management, focusing among other things on projects in the area of environment and energy savings. In 2018, she prepared the Hradec Králové Region and its organizations for ISO 50001 certification. Since the same year, she has been appointed by the Council of the Hradec Králové Region as an internal auditor of the region's energy management system, continuously working on its gradual development. A fundamental contribution to the entire system was the implementation of a project that included the introduction of a remote reading system for heat, electricity, gas, and water in the region's organizations. In 2023, this project won the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic's Innovation in Public Administration award, as well as the eGovernment THE BEST award. Currently, she is dedicated to projects in the field of renewable energy sources, setting up an electricity sharing system within the organizations of the Hradec Králové Region, and the activities of the Energy Consulting and Information Point for municipalities in the Hradec Králové Region.
Pavel Bacík
Public safety and resilience manager
Information Technology Department of the City of Pilsen
Public sector
Pavel Bacík is a security expert, analyst, and manager with experience in both top-level state administration and the municipal environment. He has long focused on crisis management, soft target protection, public safety, migration, and modern technologies. At the Information Technology Administration of the City of Pilsen, he specializes in building urban resilience and integrating security, data, and innovation into practical solutions for public spaces.
Marek Bárdy
CEO
VR Training, VR Rescue
Industry & Business
Ing. Marek Bárdy, Ph.D., MBA is the founder of VR Rescue and the #mocPOmoc (power to help) initiative. In his work, he connects technology, education and public interest with the goal of systematically increasing society's preparedness for crisis situations. Marek is behind the development of first aid training in virtual reality, which strives to make the ability to help a common skill, not the exception. His long-term ambition is to build solutions with a measurable impact, an expert basis and a real social impact. For us, technology is not an end, but a means to strengthen the responsibility, certainty and readiness of society to respond when life is at stake. Because everyone has #mocPOmoc
Andreas Bärnreuther
Deputy-Project Manager (HEU ASCEND)
City of Munich
Public sector
Andreas Bärnreuther is a sociologist and for many years was in charge of media and public relations in an NGO. He was also involved in the coordination of projects financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). Since 2023, Andreas has been working with Stefan Synek to manage the ASCEND project in the city of Munich.
Wojciech Bełch
Head of Team for Participatory Planning and Design
Czech Technical University in Prague
Academia & Research
Wojciech Belch connects the worlds of economics, social sciences and energy. As a graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the University of Warsaw, his experience – deepened during study stays at Charles University in Prague – has given him a unique perspective on societal challenges. After a career in international relations and finance, he joined the University Center for Energy-Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) at the Czech Technical University in Prague in 2020. Today, he leads a team focused on the “non-technical” side of green transformation and participatory processes, helping cities and neighborhoods navigate the social, organizational and economic changes necessary to make communities, spaces and their energy systems green, sustainable, inclusive and resilient.
Leopold Benda
Company executive
BENEKOV ESCO s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Leopold is the CEO of a company focused on the development and supply of technologies in the field of renewable energy. Long-term focus on the fields of biomass boilers, photovoltaic power plants, battery storage. Investments in landscape revitalization.
Jan Beneš
Head of Clinic
Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University and University Hospital Pilsen
Academia & Research
Prof. MUDr. Jan Beneš, Ph.D., MHA is a physician and academic working at the Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, and Faculty Hospital Pilsen. He is the head of the Department of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine and at the same time the vice-dean for simulation education. He is the head of the Simulation Center (SIM/PL), which focuses on modern education and training of healthcare professions. A typical feature of Jan's work is the connection of clinical medicine, education, research and innovation. But most importantly, the ability to handle multiple roles at once, without losing track of what is happening at the patient's bedside.
Jan Bízik
Inovation Manager
BVV Living Lab Brno
Jan Bízik has many years of experience in innovation, ICT, the startup ecosystem, the investment sector, and the public sector. He has held top management positions at both Czech and international companies, led the award-winning startup program at the Vodafone Foundation Laboratory, and managed the Mobility Innovation Hub within the Technology Incubation program at CzechInvest.
He currently works at BVV Living Lab Brno, where he is involved in developing an open platform for testing and validating innovations in the real-world environment of the Brno Exhibition Center. Within URBIS, he focuses on connecting cities, companies, research, and public administration, and on advancing the concept of cities as living labs where new technologies are tested in practice.
Rut Bízková
Consultant
OSVČ
Civil society
Rut Bízková deals with SMART solutions, the significance of innovation for regional development, research and development management, and the application of new knowledge and new technologies for societal development. From her original profession – research in nuclear chemistry – she gradually moved towards energy and the environment, sustainable development, and the necessity of creating strategies and subsequently implementing them. She is the author/co-author of numerous national and regional strategic documents. She strives to connect stakeholders at national, regional, and local levels so that innovation is quickly applied in every corner of Czechia to ensure a good life for its residents. This also drives her support for the expanding role of local action groups and other local actors as carriers of innovation. Currently, she is working on the Vl:Aštovka project - preparing for the implementation of regulatory sandboxes in regional development (see Lex Aš).
Jan Borák
Rector’s Representative for Security and Information Technology
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Academia & Research
"Ing. Jan Borák, Ph.D. is a senior leader with more than 15 years of experience in managing security agendas in the public sphere.
About Jan:
• Member of the top management of the Czech University of Life Sciences with responsibility for the area of security
• Managing the physical, technical, information and cyber security of an institution with 2,000 employees and 20,000 students
• Experience in crisis planning and implementation of national and international security standards
• Member of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports' working group for strengthening security at universities."
Dušan Brabec
YoungLink
zakladatel
Dušan Brabec je zakladatel a CEO společnosti YoungLink, která vyvíjí digitální nástroje pro měření a rozvoj sociálních vztahů ve školách. Dnes propojuje akademický výzkum, vzdělávání a podnikání s cílem pomáhat školám lépe porozumět sociální dynamice tříd a efektivněji pracovat s prevencí rizikového chování, well-beingem žáků i rozvojem školního prostředí. Je aktivní v oblasti EdTech inovací a podpory digitální transformace vzdělávání v České republice i zahraničí.
Johana Burešová
Golemio Data Platform Consultant
Oict.
Public sector
Johana, consultant for the Golemio Data Platform, OICT, is the person who will guide you through the world of open data – from your first question to a fully functioning catalogue. At OICT, she works with LKOD, a tool that helps public sector institutions meet their open data obligations simply and without unnecessary burden.
Before joining Golemio, she spent six years working on projects for planetariums and science centres around the world.
Outside of work, you'll find her in the garden tending to her beehives.
Vít Buriánek
Analyst
Police of the Czech Republic, Regional Directorate of the Olomouc Region, Prostějov District Department
Public sector
"Vít Buriánek is proof that modern police work today takes place both in the field and behind the screens of high-tech devices.At the Prostějov Territorial Department, he works as an analyst who has the available camera systems ""under his thumb"".
He has been serving with the Police of the Czech Republic for over 16 years, so he has not only official procedures but also the digital evolution of security under his fingernail. His main domain is the extraction of records when solving crimes - he is the one who searches the sea of pixels for the key details that will move the investigation forward and convict the perpetrator.Vít is a technology enthusiast who literally lives by innovations in the world of IP cameras. Moreover, he does not confine his expertise only to police offices; he works closely with the Prostějov City Police on the concept and development of MKDS. Vít's goal is for technology in Prostějov to not be just passive observers, but a smart and effective tool for a safer city. He believes that technological advancement is absolutely essential in the fight against crime, and therefore he constantly monitors the latest trends, which he can apply with insight in practice."
Sebastian Bykuć
Expert/ Main Specialist
PLZ Spółdzielnia/IMP PAN
Academia & Research
Sebastian Bykuć is an expert in distributed energy systems, renewable energy integration, and smart energy solutions, with over 20 years of experience at the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He specializes in renewable energy systems, microgeneration, energy storage, e-mobility, and the development of sustainable energy communities.
He has led research teams and coordinated work on a number of national and international research and development projects, including Horizon 2020 initiatives such as SUPREME, SERENE, SUSTENANCE, and HYPERGRYD, as well as the GREEN HEAT project (EEA and Norway Grants), which focused on collaborative local decarbonization and energy transition.
Sebastian Bykuć has extensive experience in scientific leadership, innovation management, and international collaboration in the field of sustainable energy systems and energy communities. He is a co-author of patents, scientific publications, and research monographs.
Martina Čechová
Circular Economy Manager
OLO Inc.
Public sector
Martina Čechová works at OLO – Waste Removal and Disposal in Bratislava, where she is dedicated to developing projects in the field of waste prevention and support for the circular economy. She is particularly involved in activities related to the KOLO reuse center, which connects environmental, community, educational and social aspects of waste management in the capital. Her work focuses on developing partnerships, communicating with the public and creating programs that support the reuse of objects and responsible consumption. Martina has also been involved in educational and community activities in the field of sustainability for a long time.
Kamil Čermák
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer
ČEZ ESCO, a.s.
Industry & Business
Kamil Čermák is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of ČEZ ESCO, a company that provides comprehensive energy services to businesses, cities, and municipalities in the Czech Republic. He is a long-time advocate for modern energy solutions, including energy conservation and renewable energy sources. He believes that communication and cooperation within regions are among the key factors in the modernization of the energy sector. Kamil Čermák was named Smart City Personality of the Year in 2018. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Modern Energy Association and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alliance for a Zero-Emission Future.
Adriana Černá
Digital strategist
Člověk v tísni
Civil society
Adriana Černá works in the field of strategic communication and advocacy at the humanitarian organization People in Need (Člověk v tísni). She has a long-term focus on communication within highly polarized environments – ranging from the war in Ukraine and humanitarian crises to the growing distrust toward institutions, non-profit organizations, or climate issues.
In her work, she combines storytelling, crisis communication, media relations, and experience with online hate and disinformation. She is particularly interested in how to communicate complex or controversial topics in a way that doesn't feel detached, moralistic, or heavy with institutional jargon, but instead comes across as human, understandable, and trustworthy.
At the URBIS conference, she will share practical experience from communication campaigns and public debates – covering what works in communication, what triggers resistance, and why emotions often play a greater role than facts alone.
Wim De Kinderen
Chairperson
ENoLL - European Network of Living Labs
Public sector
Wim De Kinderen works at the Brainport Eindhoven EU Office in Brussels, where he represents the city of Eindhoven (NL), Brainport Development and other economic actors in negotiations with partner regions and European institutions. In this role, Wim is responsible for political lobbying, networking and communication, and project development. Within the city of Eindhoven, he is a member of the strategy department. During his career so far, he has mainly dealt with regional economic development issues in Belgium.
Marta I. De Los Rios White
Head of Capacity Building and Research
European Network of Living Labs - ENoLL
Civil society
Marta I. De Los Rios White is the Head of Capacity Building and Research at ENoLL. She is a process engineer with a Master’s degree in Sustainable Cities and has experience in managing international projects. She is an expert with more than a decade of experience in sustainable and participatory process improvement and transformation, co-creation of solutions and capacity building. With proven skills in strategic and systems thinking, leadership and teamwork, her work focuses primarily on project management and capacity building. Marta has extensive experience in sustainable and participatory process improvement and co-creation of solutions with a systemic and strategic approach. She is an experienced project manager with experience in supporting the implementation of international cooperation projects for various donors, in particular the European Commission.
Jakub Diviš
Researcher
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Jakub Diviš focuses on sustainable construction, environmentally friendly materials and building quality assessment. At CTU UCEEB, he participates in the development of the SBToolCZ methodology and is dedicated to its use for comprehensive assessment of building quality and sustainability.
Dennis Dokter
Smart Cities Cluster Lead
Nexus
Academia & Research
Dennis leads the Nexus Smart Cities Cluster, where he collaborates with Nexus members, public sector leaders, businesses and research partners to create and implement data-driven strategies for innovation in complex urban environments. He advises organizations on innovation, testing, validation and scaling, enabling confident decision-making in systems characterized by uncertainty, interdependence and rapid change. As a recognized expert in data-driven decision-making in complex systems, Dennis brings deep knowledge of data, research methodology, impact and validation and digital twins. He specializes in translating advanced analytics and digital twin capabilities into practical, decision-ready tools for policymakers, city authorities and industry leaders.Dennis plays an active role as a thought leader in the Digital Twin Consortium, where he chairs and contributes to international working groups, helping to define best practices, digital governance and standards for the implementation of digital twins across sectors. Through this work, he influences how organizations around the world design, manage and operate data-driven systems. With his extensive experience in European research programs, Dennis is passionate about cutting-edge interdisciplinary innovation and building ecosystems that connect academia, industry, society and the public sector. In his work, he consistently focuses on achieving measurable impact, ensuring that data and digital twins go beyond experiments and lead to real-world outcomes.
Magda Domanská
Community Energy Expert
CoopTech Hub
Academia & Research
He supports the development of energy cooperatives in Poland. At CoopTech Hub, he leads extensive lobbying efforts in the field of community energy, advocates for the adoption of new legislation in this area, and oversees the LIFE COMET project in Poland. During the conference, he will assist the speaker, Sebastian Bykuć.
Petra Drexler
Project manager
nextdrop s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Petra Drexler is a product engineer and project manager with over ten years of experience in the development of technologically complex products – from initial concept to launch into mass production. She graduated in mechanical engineering with a focus on the design of medical technology and machine design. In her practice, she focuses on the implementation of technical solutions in environments with high demands on safety, regulation, and reliability, where it is necessary to make decisions under the pressure of time, budget, and manufacturing constraints. She has experience leading international and interdisciplinary teams. In addition to industrial development, she is actively involved in projects with a positive social and environmental impact. With the goal of contributing to the development of innovative technologies that help improve the environment, she has recently moved from the corporate environment to the startup companies nextcycle s.r.o. and nextdrop s.r.o.
Tomáš Dubský
First Vice Chair
Association of Local Governments of the Czech Republic
Public sector
Mayor of the municipality of Vysočina, Chairman of the Working Group for Rural Services, and advocate for sustaining rural life.
Lisa Enarsson
Senior Project Manager
City of Stockholm
Public sector
Lisa Enarsson is a Senior Project Manager at Stockholm City Council, where she works within the Department of Environment and Health. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environment and Health from Umeå University (1996) and is part of the core team behind the Climate Positive Stockholm initiative. She currently leads the Scale Stockholm project, which focuses on building platforms for transformation by engaging local communities, associations and businesses in co-creating measures to support climate transformation. In parallel, she manages Stockholm’s involvement in the ASCEND project – Accelerating Positive Clean Energy Districts. Lisa also contributes as a sustainability expert to the development of a new city district in Stockholm, planned on the site of the former Bromma Airport. Her project portfolio includes initiatives such as Scale Stockholm, ASCEND, Mainstreaming Sustainability, GrowSmarter and Sustainable Järva.
Milan Fára
Senior Ministerial Counsellor, Crime Prevention Department
Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic
Public sector
Milan Fára has been involved in security and crime prevention since 1991, having worked for the Czech Police for 16 years. He also served as a crime prevention coordinator at the local and regional levels (first at the Příbram Police Department, then the Central Bohemian Region). Since 2019, he has been working in the crime prevention department of the Ministry of the Interior. His agenda includes, among other things, situational prevention, security in the vicinity of industrial zones in connection with the employment of foreigners, and the security of schools and school facilities. He is also a consultant for the South Moravian, Plzeň and Zlín regions. Milan has many years of teaching and lecturing experience in the field of crime prevention, protection of soft targets, personal safety, property protection and primary prevention of risky behavior, including professional international conferences. From 2017 to 2019, he was a member of the Permanent Advisory Council of the Minister of the Interior for the Protection of Soft Targets. He is currently a member of the Commission of the Republican Committee for Crime Prevention for Situational Prevention and a member of the Interdepartmental Working Group for the Protection of Public Spaces.
Petr Fajmon
Teplárny Brno, a.s.
Generální ředitel
Petr Fajmon je generálním ředitelem Tepláren Brno, které proměňují tradiční teplárenství v moderní energetiku pro 21. století. Dlouhodobě se věnuje rozvoji udržitelných zdrojů energie, inovacím v oblasti teplárenství a projektům posilujícím energetickou soběstačnost města Brna. Na konferenci URBIS představí vizi jednoho z nejvýznamnějších energetických projektů současnosti – horkovodu z Dukovan do Brna, který může změnit budoucnost zásobování teplem nejen v Brně, ale inspirovat i další evropská města.
Zuzana Fečo
Project manager
Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic
Public sector
Zuzana is an experienced project manager working in the smart city agenda with a focus on international projects and cross-sectoral partnerships. With a background in international and regional cooperation, she enjoys connecting people, ideas, and organizations across different sectors. Zuzana is passionate about creating collaborations that lead to meaningful impact and innovative solutions for cities and regions.
Patrik Flegl
Managing Director
Glassiteca s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Patrik and his partners from the company Glassiteca strive to bring the material Glassticine to the markets, which was developed at his alma mater, the Technical University of Liberec, at the Faculty of Glass Machinery and Robotics. After many years mostly in the automotive and glass industries, where he focused on the areas of purchasing, logistics, and crisis management, he co-founded the spin-off Glassiteca in May 2024, in which he aims to enrich the team of academics with experience from the industrial environment.
Lukáš Folbrecht
Secretary of the Electromobility Platform
Industry & Business
For the fifth year, Lukáš Folbrecht has been leading the Electromobilní Platforma association, which brings together companies, universities and scientific and research organizations interested in the development of e-mobility in road transport in the Czech Republic and ensuring favorable regulatory conditions. The platform is a member of E-Mobility Europe and the main partner of Czech ministries and state and local government institutions in addressing issues related, in particular, to the provision of charging infrastructure and the gradual electrification of passenger car, truck and bus fleets.
Anna Francová
Senior Attorney, Partner
Frank Bold Attorneys
Industry & Business
Anna Francová is an attorney and partner at Frank Bold Attorneys. She has long been involved in drafting tender documents and managing public procurement processes, with a focus on social, environmental, and cybersecurity criteria. She also specializes in energy law. She has contributed to the preparation of numerous energy projects for local governments and private investors, whether it involved developing operational models for the generation and sale of electricity from photovoltaic power plants or contracting for the construction and operation of renewable energy generation facilities.
Dominik Gřešák
Project and Communications Manager for Smart Cities
CzechInvest
Public sector
I work at CzechInvest, where I have held the position of Project and Communication Manager for Smart Cities, focusing on the PilotInnCities project, since 2024. Prior to that, I worked here as a Regional Coordinator for the Technological Incubation program. I also gained professional experience, for example, at Mendel University in Brno as a lecturer, researcher, and PR officer, or at the Regional Development Agency of Eastern Moravia as a Project Manager for Communication.
Taina Haapamäki
Managing Director
FLOU
Industry & Business
Taina Haapamäki is a transport engineer and the founder of FLOU, a Helsinki-based consultancy specialising in transport demand modelling, cost-benefit analysis, and urban mobility. She started FLOU in 2016, and the company has since grown into a team of sixteen people working across Finland and internationally.
Taina's work spans a wide range: from tram feasibility studies in Finnish cities to electric bus pilots in Iraqi Kurdistan, from cross-border rail economics in the Nordics to transport reconstruction efforts in Ukraine, a country she has visited multiple times since the full-scale invasion began and where she remains actively engaged.
She is drawn to the moments where rigorous analysis meets messy reality, where a model has to reckon with a city's actual desires, not just its stated ones. Autonomous and shared mobility, and what it means for the people who most depend on public transport, is a thread running through much of her recent work.
Outside the spreadsheets, she writes, speaks, and occasionally argues about why we keep building cities around cars when we know better.
Karel Havlíček
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Public sector
Karel Havlíček is a Czech economist, manager, academic, and politician with extensive professional and public experience. He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT), holds an MBA from the Prague International Business School, obtained a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Business Administration at the Prague University of Economics and Business (VŠE), and defended his habilitation (associate professor title) at the Faculty of Finance and Accounting at VŠE as well. Professionally, he headed the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Crafts of the Czech Republic and for nearly twenty years managed the Sindat industrial group, where he was also a co-owner. He served on numerous government advisory bodies, including as Vice-Chairman of the Government Council for Research, Development and Innovation, and was the author of the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic ""Czech Republic: The Country for the Future"". He held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Minister of Transport. In his opposition role, he focused on the economy, served as the chairman of the ANO shadow government, and is the author of the economic strategy ""Czechia: The Country for the Future 2.0"". He is a long-standing educator, founder of the Faculty of Economic Studies at the University of Finance and Administration (VŠFS), and author of dozens of professional publications.
His interests include rock and folk music. He is married and has two children. He has an active command of English, German, and Russian. He has a passive knowledge of Spanish, French, and Chinese.
Barbora Hejtmánková
Researcher
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Bára Hejtmánková works at CTU UCEEB in the Sustainable Construction team, where she focuses on architecture, public space, and the integration of greenery in cities. Her work focuses on assessing the quality and resilience of urban areas with an emphasis on natural elements and sustainable approaches to urban development.
Jitka Hofmanová
Waste Management Innovation Expert
Reuse Federation
Public sector
Jitka Hofmanová has a long-standing commitment to waste prevention and is looking for ways to move it from theory to practice. She enjoys coming up with new ideas and trying out innovations that can help change the way we in the Czech Republic think about things, their use, and what happens to them at the end of their life. She leads projects that aim to contribute to the gradual reduction of waste and the increase in opportunities for the reuse of things and materials. In addition to project work, she connects people from different fields - organizes round tables, moderates discussions and opens a dialogue between public administration, experts and other actors who can push changes forward.
Vladimír Holík
Lecturer
Masaryk University, Faculty of Education
Academia & Research
Vladimír Holík is a history and civic education teacher at a primary school. He is also a didactician of Citizenship Education at the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University. At his home "elementary school", he leads the school parliament, is the coordinator of the ERASMUS+ program, the Participatory Budget We'll Put You in Schools in Brno, and the future coordinator of the Czech Military Education Program. He has long been dedicated to the issue of Czech soldiers serving in the Austro-Hungarian army in the First World War, focusing on the Italian front. This list of activities is not intended to captivate the reader. Let's take it more as an explanation for the fact that when he's not at work, he's running around in the Slovenian Julian Alps (which is his promised land, by the way, where he's definitely going to move one day) on the ruins of trenches, bullying every fellow traveler with endless comments and unsolicited information about every (literally) hole in the ground. He considers all of this - for reasons that are incomprehensible to others - to be his mental hygiene.
Radek Holomčík
Manager KAP
South Moravian Agency for Public Innovation (JINAG), Association
Public sector
He has been working professionally on sustainability and climate change adaptation for 10 years. At the JINAG agency, he is part of the team responsible for launching and implementing the objectives of the South Moravian Region’s Climate Action Plan.
Vlastimil Hotař
Co-founder of a spin-off
Glassiteca/TUL
Industry & Business
Vlastimil Hotař is an innovator and enthusiast for everything related to glass and technology. At the Technical University of Liberec, he heads the Department of Glass Machinery and Robotics, where he bridges traditional craftsmanship with Industry 4.0 and 3D glass printing.
But he doesn’t just stay in the lab—he successfully translates science into practice. He is the proud co-founder of TUL’s very first spin-off, Glassiteca. The company is changing the game in the glass industry thanks to its focus on sustainability and the circular economy. Their trump card is the unique material Glassticine (porous glass plasticine) made from recycled glass. It can retain moisture, cool urban environments, and works great in hydroponics or as a designer scent carrier.
Vlastimil is an example of how science can be transformed into a real business. Through his work, he not only revives the glassmaking tradition but, above all, constantly seeks new ways to push the boundaries of what glass is capable of.
Tomáš Hrdý
Chief Energy Manager
Energetická správa Písek s.r.o.
Public sector
Tomáš Hrdý, Bc., works at the company Energetická správa Písek s.r.o. (Energy Management Písek), where he focuses on the development of modern municipal energy systems. He specializes mainly in community energy, photovoltaic power plants, electricity sharing, and smart consumption management in the city and its organizations.
In Písek, he participates in the preparation of the municipal energy community, the development of energy projects, and finding savings in the operation of municipal buildings. He has a long-term interest in connecting technical solutions with the practical functioning of the city so that energy systems are economical, functional, and prepared for crisis situations.
In addition to energy management, he also deals with the topics of electromobility, consumption flexibility, and the energy resilience of critical infrastructure.
Michal Hrotík
Board Member
OVANET Inc.
Industry & Business
Ing. Michal Hrotík is part of the management of OVANET a.s., where he is dedicated to the development of modern ICT services in Ostrava. As part of his activities, he develops the metropolitan network, data services and technological projects that help the city function smartly and reliably. The area of security also plays a significant role, where he participates in the development and operation of the Municipal Camera System, which is a key element of the city's infrastructure. Michal also promotes the use of artificial intelligence, especially in the area of technical and user support, where OVANET has long participated in the development of an AI assistant for faster incident resolution and more effective user support.
Jakub Hruška
Specialist in Innovation Infrastructure and Business Support
CzechInvest
Public sector
Jakub has been active in the field of supporting innovation, research, and development for more than 25 years. He is currently in his third year at the CzechInvest agency, where he utilizes his experience from a research institute, a business incubator, subsidy consulting firms, and two technology transfer centers to help develop Czech innovation infrastructures. He is a co-founder of CZELLAP, the Czech platform for living labs. He strives for the development, connection, and cooperation of various types of innovation structures.
Filip Hrůza
Director
ECON MUNI Institute of Public Administration
Academia & Research
Through the Institute of Public Administration, Filip strive to systematically connect the university world with the practice of public administration. Within the faculty, he focuses on the areas of public administration, financial management, communication, and marketing. Filip also serves as a part-time deputy mayor of the Brno municipal district of Řečkovice and Mokrá Hora.
Marek Hubáček
Director of the Environmental Informatics Division
Slovak Environmental Agency
Public sector
Since 2022, he has been serving as the Director of the Environmental Informatics Section of the Slovak Environmental Agency, where he leads a team focused on the development of environmental information systems. At the same time, he is in charge of managing the environmentalistics and international cooperation section. The intersection of both sections' activities is the information portal of the Ministry of the Environment – Enviroportal, and the central portal of the environmental department for information on climate change adaptation in Slovakia, which also serves as the main information channel for the European Life NatAdaptSK project. A significant part of his role also includes cooperation with European institutions and activities in the field of geographic information systems.
His key skills include leading development teams and managing IT projects in the public sector. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience in creating information systems and database solutions within the framework of public administration digitalization and the implementation of ITVS (Information Technologies in Public Administration) standards in the field of environmental quality.
Pavla Hubálková
Science journalist
Originally, she thought she would become a neuroscientist. However, during her Fulbright fellowship in the USA, instead of finding a "cure for Alzheimer's," she discovered that she enjoyed communicating science much more.
Today, she works as a freelance science journalist and moderator, writing most frequently for WIRED.CZ and hosting the show Žárovky (Lightbulbs) on Czech Radio. She also communicates science on social media and through her newsletter #Píšu o vědě (#WritingAboutScience). This year, she published her book Neviditelné ženy ve vědě (Invisible Women in Science).
Jiří Hudec
Head of the Strategic Development Department
The Statutory City of Ostrava
Public sector
He is responsible for external financing and strategic planning, with project management and metropolitan cooperation having become key components of his portfolio in recent years. He skillfully integrates the management of the city’s development activities with major investment projects. Projects under his leadership include a new concert hall, preparations to connect the Černá louka area with the Dolní Vítkovice complex via land owned by private investors, the development of T-Park, a corporate preschool, the Ostrava Zoo and Botanical Garden, the Fajna dílna creative space, and the expansion of international cooperation initiatives. Jiří also serves as the chief expert guarantor of the Strategic Development Plan for the City of Ostrava under the fajnOVA brand, which places great emphasis on the involvement of citizens and experts. He is also responsible for the implementation and evaluation of this strategy.
Martin Hušek
Director
Hradec Králové Services Inc.
Public sector
Director of Hradec Králové a.s., which provides a comprehensive waste management system for Hradec Králové and surrounding municipalities. He is also a co-founder and operator of the REUSE project in Hradec Králové.
Martin Hušek
Lawyer
Frank Bold Attorneys, LLC
Industry & Business
Tomáš Chmela
Mayor of Slavičín and Deputy Governor of the Zlín Region
The Town of Slavičín and the Regional Authority of the Zlín Region
Public sector
Mgr. Tomáš Chmela is a prominent figure in regional politics and public life in Southeast Moravia. In his work, he has long combined the strategic development of local governments with an emphasis on innovation, environmental protection, and rural modernization.
Current roles:
Mayor of Slavičín: Since 2018, he has led the town, focusing on energy self-sufficiency projects, infrastructure development, and citizen engagement in decision-making.
Deputy Governor of the Zlín Region: In the regional council, he is responsible for strategic development, spatial planning, and the countryside. His goal is to increase the region's competitiveness and support projects with high added value.
Professional profile and priorities:
Regional development expert: Before entering politics, he served as the Executive Director of SMS ČR (Association of Local Self-Governments of the Czech Republic), where he participated in legislation affecting the lives of hundreds of municipalities in Czechia.
Innovation and sustainability: He is an active advocate for modern technologies in local government (Smart City) and sustainable solutions in energy and landscape management.
Education:
A graduate of Masaryk University in Brno, where he gained a deep insight into public administration and history.
“Tomáš Chmela is known for his factual approach and ability to find practical solutions for regional development that respect its specifics while heading towards a modern future.
Lukáš Janota
EnerCo Solutions, s.r.o.
CEO and Managing director
Industry & Business
Ing. Lukáš Janota, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of EnerCo Solutions, a company that connects modern energetics, software, and data analytics. He has long been dedicated to community energy, energy system optimization, and decentralized energy. He also works as a researcher and assistant professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague (FEL ČVUT).
For his contribution to the field of smart energy, he received the Werner von Siemens Award. At EnerCo Solutions, he builds on the principle that energetics should not be based on impressions and simplifications, but on expert, data-verified, and scientifically proven solutions that work in real practice.
EnerCo Solutions is not just a software supplier. It helps cities, municipalities, and energy communities manage modern energetics easily, effectively, and without unnecessary stress. The company has received numerous awards for innovative and smart energy solutions.
Vít Janovský
Head of Personalized Telemedicine Team
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Vít Janovský works at CTU UCEEB, where he focuses on the issue of home care for people with reduced self-sufficiency in the context of smart cities. He connects the areas of telemedicine, assistive technologies, IoT, sensors and smart housing with the aim of improving the quality of life and accessibility of health and social care.
Jan Jelínek
Senior Ministerial Advisor
MMR
Public sector
Jan Jelínek works at the Ministry for Regional Development, where he focuses primarily on smart cities development, innovative approaches to regional development, and the application of new technologies in public administration practice. He has a long-term focus on topics related to innovation, 5G projects, and supporting modern solutions in cities and regions. He participates in the preparation of programs and projects funded by national and European funds. He is interested in connecting technological innovations with the real needs of territories and finding functional solutions that have a practical impact.
Patrik Jíra
CTO
Wattlink
Public sector
Patrik Jíra is the CTO of the technology and energy community Wattlink. He has more than 20 years of experience in software development for domestic companies and the banking sector, as well as for startups in the USA and Australia. In the last year, he has been actively involved in community energy and the digitalization of processes related to energy sharing.
Dagmar Juchelková
Professor of Energy, the Environment, and Education
VŠB-TU Ostrava
Academia & Research
Dagmar Juchelková is a professor who has energy not only in the title of the field she loves, but also in her approach to work. She has a long-term focus on energy, biomass, waste, and renewable resources, connecting technical know-how with topics that have a real impact on the future. She enjoys looking for meaningful solutions, driving things forward, and passing on her experience to both students and professionals — ideally in a way that makes complex technical topics make human sense. Recently, she has been dedicating herself to realizing visions on how to achieve Society 5.0.
Zdeněk Juránek
City mayor
The Town of Moravský Krumlov
Public sector
Mgr. Zdeněk Juránek is the mayor of Moravský Krumlov and a regional councillor for the South Moravian Region. He has been active in municipal politics for nearly sixteen years, including a long period as deputy mayor. He brought his professional experience from the banking sector, where he focused on client relations and financial advisory. In the city's leadership, he builds on open communication, respect for people, and the search for practical solutions that have a real impact on the daily lives of residents. His work is based on a calm, factual approach, an emphasis on cooperation, and the ability to connect the technical, organizational, and community needs of the city.
Dita Kaiserová
Project manager
MAS Rozkvět, z.s.
Public sector
Dita Kaiserová works at LAG (Local Action Group) Rozkvět, where she focuses on community development, supporting municipalities, and connecting people across generations. She has a long-term track record of working on projects aimed at community centers, rural clubs, supporting families, seniors, as well as children and youth, and finding ways to keep rural life active and open. She particularly enjoys working with people, finding common solutions, and creating spaces where different groups of residents can meet.
In addition to her professional role, she is also civically active – she supports local initiatives, community events, and volunteer activities that strengthen relationships between people and increase interest in public affairs. She believes that a strong community is built primarily where people have the opportunity to influence something together, get involved, and feel that their voice matters.
Tomáš Kantor
Partner
National Centre for Transport 4.0
Academia & Research
An expert in strategic management and sustainable mobility. He is a senior consultant at 4Euro Partners and a collaborator with the National Centre for Transport 4.0. He specializes in strategic planning, feasibility and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) studies, and the implementation of Smart Cities principles in regional development. Throughout his career, he has led dozens of projects. He has extensive experience in modernizing transport systems, ranging from the revitalization of public transport fleets to conducting analyses for market leaders such as ŠKODA Transportation and ARRIVA. He focuses on connecting advanced telematics with environmentally friendly development projects for cities and regions. In the panel discussion "Sustainable Mobility – The Path to Prosperity for Municipalities and Regions," he will present mobility not as an expense, but as a key investment tool for economic growth and improving the quality of life for residents.
Jakub Karas
President
Alliance for the Unmanned Aircraft Industry
Civil society
President of the Alliance for the Unmanned Aircraft Industry, drone expert, Director of UAS at UpVision, and drone consultant at EUSPA. He is a member of several international expert groups on drones within the European Commission, EASA, EUROCONTROL, JARUS, and others. He has served as a principal investigator for multiple major international drone research projects funded by EUSPA, ESA, and SESAR, authored several books on drones, and is a frequent speaker at international industry events.
Vladimíra Karasová
Head of Promotion and Environmental Education Unit
OZO Ostrava Ltd.
Industry & Business
For 23 years, Vladimíra has been in charge of promotion and communication, awareness and education, social responsibility at the Ostrava Garbage Collectors (OZO Ostrava), and since last year, she has also been managing the Ostrava Reuse Center, which is the largest and most colorful reuse center in the Czech Republic.
Jakub Kiska
Head of Development
NOHO
Industry & Business
Ing. Jakub Kiska is the Head of Development at NOHO, based in Hradec Králové. He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at CTU and is a certified engineer in the field of building construction. He began his professional career in design and technical supervision, gradually shifting his focus to development, where he operates today.
He is involved in the preparation and realization of the passive apartment buildings Sousedství 1, 2, and 3, which follow the already completed projects Cihlovka 1, Cihlovka 2, and Mechovka. Together, they form the foundation of a new carbon-neutral residential complex.
In cooperation with the city of Hradec Králové, NOHO is developing a brownfield site in Kukleny. Jakub Kiska is also a member of the team for the international project DUT RESPED.
Morten Kildahl Sorensen
Strategic Programmes Orchestrator and Entrepreneurship Solutions cluster coordinator
Climate KIC
Industry & Business
Morten Kildahl Sorensen serves as the Strategic Programme Coordinator and Lead of the Entrepreneurship Solutions cluster at Climate-KIC, where he leverages over twenty years of international experience to build bridges between research, the private sector, and public institutions.
His expertise lies in designing optimal international business platforms and implementing concrete action plans that support cooperation in Europe, China, India, ASEAN countries, and the USA. Morten specializes in uncovering the core potential of organizations to develop strategies that open doors to profitable and sustainable projects. A key focus of his work is ecosystem coordination by connecting startups, scale-ups, and corporations to co-create innovative solutions that they could not achieve alone.
His diverse professional background includes leadership positions in financial management and the green sector at the Technical University of Denmark's Centre for Water Excellence, various cluster organizations, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This unique combination of experience in public policy and private enterprise allows him to effectively manage complex multi-stakeholder initiatives.
Through his experience on global advisory boards and steering groups, Morten has led platforms and projects in the environmental and energy sectors with the goal of supporting sustainable business outcomes through deepened collaboration.
Milan Kladníček
Director
Municipal Police Zlín
Public sector
Ing. Milan Kladníček, MBA, DBA
Director of the Zlín City Police
• member of the executive board of the Association of Municipal and Municipal Police of the Czech Republic
• member of the Board of Directors of Municipal Police of Statutory Cities and the Capital City of Prague
• member of the Republican Committee for Crime Prevention in the Czech Republic
• member of the Security Commission of the Association of Cities and Municipalities of the Czech Republic
• member of the working committee for municipal and municipal police at the Ministry of the Interior
• member of the working committee for the protection of soft targets at the Ministry of the Interior
• member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management of Tomas Bata University in Zlín.
• former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Municipal Police Forces of Statutory Cities and the Capital City of Prague
• former member of the CCTV Commission at the AGA (Czech Association of Security Guards)
Marek Koníř
Strategic Development
The Statutory City of Ústí nad Labem
Public sector
Marek Koníř has long been involved in business, strategy, and marketing. What he enjoys most is combining creativity with an analytical approach—from developing new projects to mentoring and developing people. He has experience leading teams and managing projects.
Outside of work, he is interested in technology, artificial intelligence, and modern trends in the digital world. He enjoys finding new ways to do things more efficiently, more simply, and with greater impact. In both his professional and personal life, he values open communication.
When he’s not sitting at his computer, he most often spends his time playing sports, traveling, or discovering new ideas and inspiration.
Vladimír Korek
Chairman
Energoregion 2020
Civil society
I am the mayor of the market town of Višňové and concurrently the chairman of Energoregion 2020. Life in the region—whether we view it from a near, distant, or thematic perspective—is something I simply cannot be indifferent to.
Philipp Korotkov
BDM
Agdata Smart
Industry & Business
Expert on the digitalization of municipalities and environmental monitoring. At Agdata, he manages domestic projects focused on monitoring air quality, noise, microclimate, water levels, and other environmental elements, as well as integrating data for citizens. Concurrently, in addition to domestic projects, he leads the company's international expansion, where he designs tailored smart city solutions within international missions to address local climate and infrastructural challenges, and shares examples of good practice with foreign municipalities.
Jan Kotačka
Mayor
The Town of Náměšť nad Oslavou
Public sector
Mayor of Náměšť nad Oslavou, positions as mayor or deputy mayor at the town hall for 16 years. To see the power plant, he has to go up a small hill, but even so, its presence is ubiquitous. Not a week goes by without him dealing with something regarding the planned construction. Yet despite the difficulties associated with it, he views EDU 5 and 6 as an opportunity for the state, for the region, and for every resident.
Zdeněk Kovářík
Council member
Prague City Hall
Public sector
Ing. Zdeněk Kovářík was born on December 19, 1961, in Prague, where he still lives today. He graduated from the Budějovická Gymnasium in Prague 4, specializing in mathematics and physics, and subsequently completed an inter-faculty degree in Systems Engineering in Investment Construction at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT). After his studies, he worked at ČKD Polovodiče, where in 1989 he participated in the establishment and leadership of the Civic Forum (Občanské fórum). After 1990, he began business activities in the software sector as a sole proprietor and later co-founded a smaller technology company where he remains active to this day. He is a founding member of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). He has been involved in Prague politics for a long time; between 1994 and 2002, he served as a Councilor of the Capital City of Prague for regional development, housing policy, and infrastructure investment. In the current electoral term, he is a member of the Prague City Council, serving as the Councilor for finance, budget, funds, and business support. He is also active at the municipal level, being a long-standing member of the Prague 4 Municipal District Assembly, where he held the position of Deputy Mayor – first for investments and sports, and later as the 1st Deputy Mayor for finance, European funds, and transport. He is married and the father of twins, a lifelong Prague patriot, and nowadays just a sports fan. He enjoys mountains, winter, good reading, and music.
Tereza Krbková
Vice Chair
Liberec Energy Community, z.s.
Public sector
Petr Krčál
Project Manager
Information Technology Department of the City of Pilsen
Public sector
After leaving the academic sphere after 12 years, Petr moved into the public sector. He took the opportunity to participate in European projects under programs such as Horizon Europe, Interreg, and others at the Information Technology Administration of the City of Pilsen. His responsibilities primarily include projects related to environmental issues, (micro)mobility, and urban digital twins. He finds meaning in this work mainly because it is one of the ways to slowly, step by step, improve the quality of life in the city where he grew up.
When he is not dealing with European projects or hiking in the mountains with his wife and son, playing board games, or building Lego with his son, he enjoys taking his enduro bike for a ride in the woods, going to a concert, or spending a few hours playing a high-quality (A)RPG on his Xbox.
Alena Krejčí
Director
Center for Foreigners of the South Moravian Region, z.s.
Civil society
For more than 17 years, she has been dedicated to making the beginnings easier for people from other countries and helping them find their place in the South Moravian Region. She naturally connects public administration, employers, and non-profits, looking for ways to turn diversity into a genuine benefit for the region. Alena believes in cooperation, functional solutions, and that integration is not just about supporting individuals, but a smart investment in how we live here together. Instead of big words, she relies on things that make sense and work in practice.
Jiří Krist
Chairman
Enerkom Opavsko
Civil society
Jiří Krist is an activist in the field of sustainable development, focusing primarily on energy, resilience, and innovation.
Martin Krupa
Partner at ECM System Solutions s.r.o.
ECM System Solutions s.r.o.
Industry & Business
He has long been involved in the energy sector and energy efficiency in the field of measurement and control, as well as in the development of software for monitoring, control, and reporting in the energy sector. He has 20 years of experience in public administration as a mayor and has long been involved in electricity sharing.
Jan Kubata
Chief Executive Officer
BVV Trade Fairs Brno
Industry & Business
Jan Kubata is the CEO of Veletrhy Brno (BVV Trade Fairs Brno), where he plays a key role in the development and management of one of the most important trade fair organizations in Central Europe. Under his leadership, the company focuses on modernization and innovation, with an emphasis on implementing new technologies. His vision includes developing international cooperation and strengthening Veletrhy Brno’s position in the global market. Thanks to his experience in both the private and public sectors, he contributes significantly to building a living laboratory at the Brno Exhibition Center.
During his career, he served as director of the CzechTrade agency’s foreign office in the United States and later became director of the CzechTrade foreign network, an integral part of which is supporting Czech companies in doing business abroad, trade fair business, and foreign trade. He has also held public office, including as mayor of Ústí nad Labem and deputy minister of justice.
František Kubeš
Head of Strategic Development and Cooperation Department
Brno City Municipality
Public sector
František Kubeš has been the head of the Department of Strategic Development and Cooperation of the City of Brno since 2019. From 2014 to 2019, he worked at the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic as the head of the Urban Policy Department, and in the last two years he was responsible for leading the entire Regional Policy Department. Before that, he worked in the then City Strategy Office, where he worked, among other things, on the city's first modern strategy "Strategy for Brno" and participated in various international projects. His professional interests include strategic and regional development, cohesion policy (with an emphasis on integrated territorial investments) and supporting an environment conducive to innovation, including the Smart City concept. František also lectures at universities and professional events in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Filip Kučera
Research assistant
Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín
Academia & Research
Filip Kučera works at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, where he teaches courses in the field of public administration and regional development. In his research, he focuses on data-informed decision-making in public administration and how our judgments are influenced by various psychological biases. He is also interested in the role of artificial intelligence: when it can help public administration make better decisions and, conversely, when it risks complicating things instead.
In addition to his academic work, he has over 10 years of experience consulting on the preparation of projects, strategies, and concepts for municipalities, cities, and other public administration institutions.
Kateřina Kuhrová
Project Manager
Eurocities
Public sector
Kateřina earned a bachelor’s degree in Urban Engineering from the Brno University of Technology, then continued her studies at the University of Graz and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where she earned a master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Environmental Sciences. In the past, she focused on the use of satellite data from Copernicus systems for urban planning, specifically for urban green spaces and mobility. She worked at the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), where she managed and evaluated EU-funded projects focused on urban mobility under the Horizon Europe Transport program. She currently works as a project coordinator at Eurocities, a network of major European cities with over 200 members both within and outside the EU. Kateřina works on the mobility team and focuses on road safety, quality of life, public space, mobility innovation, and data-driven decision-making.
Martin Kunc
Head
Municipal Police Žďár nad Sázavou
Public sector
Mgr. Martin Kunc is the head of the Municipal Police of Žďár nad Sázavou and graduate of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague and the Pedagogical University in Hradec Králové. In the years 1991–2003, Martin worked for the Police of the Czech Republic. Since 2003, he has held the position of Head of the Municipal Police of Žďár nad Sázavou and is also the Vice-Chairman of the Association of Municipal and City Police in the Vysočina Region.
Michal Kuzmič
Commercial Director and Head of Interdisciplinary Cooperation
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Michal Kuzmič works at CTU UCEEB as a commercial director and head of interdisciplinary cooperation, where he focuses on developing partnerships with industry and supporting the application of research results in practice. He connects academia and the commercial sphere, participating in projects focused on sustainable cities and innovations in the field of energy and construction.
Jiří Liberda
CEO
Škoda Digital s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Jiří Liberda is the leader of Škoda Digital, which is behind a number of innovations in the field of smart mobility. He has long been dedicated to the development of electronic control systems for rolling stock and the digitalization of public transport, combining technical know-how with a vision of modern, autonomous solutions.
Arnošt Líbezný
International Business Development Director
Boson Distribution SE
Industry & Business
At Boson Distribution SE, he focuses on the company’s strategic expansion, particularly into foreign markets. His primary role is to connect the private sector with government agencies and local authorities in the Czech Republic and abroad, and to forge partnerships that deliver long-term benefits.
At Boson, he oversees the entire expansion process—from identifying new business opportunities and negotiating with key partners to the actual implementation of projects. In his work, he focuses on practical results, effective collaboration, and relationships built on trust and long-term value.
Jakub Lanc
Doughnut Czechia
Research
Jakub Lanc se dlouhodobě zabývá způsoby, jak mohou organizační a digitální inovace (např. nástroje kolaborativních financí) posilovat místní ekonomickou odolnost a občanskou participaci. Působí v Doughnut Czechia a nadaci Ecoloc, mezinárodní pracovní skupině rozvíjející koncept lokálních finančních architektur. Vyučoval kurz „Commons a P2P" na KISK MU a FAVU, a spolupracoval s JINAG na výzkumu inovativních finančních nástrojů pro municipality. V současnosti také spolupracuje s liechtenštejnským digitálním inovačním hubem na propojování digitalizace a regenerativní ekonomiky.
Viktor Liška
Chairman
Association of Municipalities of the Czech Republic
Public sector
Viktor Liška is the mayor of Ratměřice, chairman of the Voticko Micro-Region, and chairman of the Association of Municipalities of the Czech Republic. In the Voticko region, he has long been connecting municipalities in the fields of education, social services, energy, and other areas where cooperation yields tangible results. Among other things, he coordinates the MAP for education development in the Votice ORP and is behind a number of joint regional projects.
Professionally, he has also worked as a history and physical education teacher, for example at the Jedlička Institute in Prague and at a school in Louňovice pod Blaníkem. In addition to local politics, he works with youth as a soccer coach and occasionally takes the stage with a rock band. He believes that a good school can be a real driving force for the region—if municipalities have the courage to cooperate.
František Mach
Founder
nextdrop s.r.o.
Industry & Business
František is a researcher, developer, and head of a young research group at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia (ZČU), where he also serves as the Vice-Dean for Research. Together with his colleagues, he founded the startup nextdrop, which provides a comprehensive platform for sustainable water management, and the spin-off company nextcycle, which develops technology for plastic separation. In his work, he dedicates himself to deep-tech projects ranging from miniature magnetic robots and microfluidic pumps for biomedical applications to valves for rocket engines and other industrial technologies. He has a long-term background in software development (for instance, the Agros2D application, which is used by engineers worldwide) and other technical projects, such as a 3D-printed respirator or a personal Tiny (Lab) House. He is also actively involved in science popularization and mentoring students at all levels of study. For his integration of science, technology, and pedagogy, he received the Creative Heroes Award.
Jana Majrichová
Vice President
Czech Red Cross
Civil society
Jana is a vice-president of the Czech Red Cross. There, she is mainly involved in first aid education in this organization, where she has been teaching first aid as a medical instructor for several decades. As a long-time volunteer, she is most dedicated to teaching first aid and especially to working with children and first aid competitions. In civilian life, she works in law, loves her family, traveling, and if she has a moment of free time, she rides a bike, runs, or skis.
Zdeno Malík
Principal Investigator of the DUT MONUPED Project
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Zdeno Malík specializes in digital tools and strategies for sustainable construction. He teaches parametric design and modeling of buildings at the Czech Technical University in Prague and is dedicated to advanced modeling of their behavior and energy systems. Zdeno is the main investigator of the MONUPED project focused on positive energy districts in protected areas. In addition to research, he works as an engineer for optimizing building operations in an international environment.
Anton Marcinčin
Project manager
ZMOS
Public sector
Anton Marcinčin is a Slovak economist specializing in fiscal policy and regional development. He has worked for the World Bank, served as a member of parliament, and later as an advisor to the Minister of Finance. He developed and, as a representative of the Slovak government, later managed a program for the development of underdeveloped regions. At ZMOS, he focuses on supporting the local economy. He has published and edited dozens of studies, including the publications “Economic Policy in Slovakia, Losses from the Exclusion of Roma” and “Yearbook of Regional Development,” and is a regular commentator in the media.
David Matuška
Project Manager for Energy Consulting in the Central Bohemian Region
Středočeský kraj
Public sector
David has more than 30 years of experience managing organizations, projects, and teams of workers (at local, regional, and international levels). He managed an international company with more than 300 employees and branches in 13 countries, and he also served as the mayor of a small municipality. He enjoys traveling and sports (he holds a professional basketball coach license). Currently, he manages the EPSK project (Energy Advisory of the Central Bohemian Region).
Jaroslav Mihal
Head of the Regional Support Department for the Olomouc Region
Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports
Public sector
He has over twenty years of experience in education, sixteen of which he spent as a principal of primary schools and kindergartens. Thanks to this, he knows firsthand what education looks like in daily practice — from routine operational issues to long-term school development planning. Today, he works at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the Department of School and Founder Support, where he leads a team of methodologists for the Olomouc Region. His domain is connecting practice with regulations and finding solutions that work not only on paper but also in the everyday running of schools. He has a soft spot for things that bring order, make sense, and stand up to subsequent review.
What he enjoys most is helping schools and their founders with everyday challenges, whether dealing with legislative snags, non-pedagogical agendas, or communication. However, he is equally keen on leading strategic debates about the direction Czech education should take in the regions. He believes that good education is built not on regulations, but primarily on people, cooperation, and the ability to find functional and understandable solutions.
David Michalička
Mayor
Town of Říčany
Public sector
David Michalička has been the mayor of Říčany since 2020. His original profession is a builder and designer, but otherwise he is mainly a dad, a sportsman and a normal guy. Říčany is close to his heart. His priorities include infrastructure, but also innovation and support for community life. He has been advancing Říčany in the long term in the areas of active mobility, public transport, technology, but also care for public space and the surrounding landscape.
Alois Míka
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
Advisor
Industry & Business
KHNP Advisor for the Czech Republic.
For the past 35 years, he has worked as an investment banker and economic advisor.
He currently works for KHNP.
In the past, he worked in the energy sector for Bayernwerk (Germany), RWE (Germany), Ruhrgas (Germany), Ferngas Nordbayern (Germany), E.ON (Germany), Electricité de France (France), Gaz de France (France), Westinghouse (USA), and PKN Orlen (Poland).
Ondřej Mikeš
Living Lab Manager, Researcher
Brno Living Lab, RECETOX, Masaryk University
Academia & Research
Ondřej Mikeš graduated from and currently works at the RECETOX centre at Masaryk University, from where multiple research stays abroad led him to what he enjoys most – exploring how the environment around us affects our health. He most frequently deals with indoor and outdoor air quality, sensors, data, and everything that can be linked to maps, human mobility, and spatiotemporal analyses. He enjoys finding new ways to refine exposure estimates using modern technologies while involving the residents themselves in the research. He believes that high-quality data should not just end up in articles, but should ideally help cities, schools, and politicians make better decisions. This is also why he currently serves as the manager of the certified Brno Living Lab, where he connects academics, public administration, schools, and the general public in search of more practical paths toward a healthier and more sustainable environment. Alongside his research, he has a long-standing commitment to science communication and the popularization of topics related to air pollution and environmental risks.
ESZTER MIKLÓS
Senior Communication Manager / Project Manager
HROD Social Economy and Community Development Centre
Civil society
"Eszter Miklós is a communications and project manager at HROD Social Economy and Community Development Centre, trained in social innovation management and public policy. With an academic background in the humanities, she has found her professional focus at the intersection of communications, cultural and creative industries (CCI), social innovation, and social sustainability. In her role, she coordinates communication among project partners and leads the external communications of HROD’s urban development and social participatory projects, ensuring visibility and stakeholder engagement.
Her work is driven by the belief that meaningful change happens where ideas, communities, and responsible business practices meet. She highly values opportunities for professional exchange and joint thinking around urban development, participation, and social innovation."
Andrea Milecová
Crowdfunding Specialist
Czech Fintech Association
Civil society
Andrea has been active in the world of finance and insurance since 2003. During that time, she has held top management positions at insurance companies, banks, and investment funds, gaining experience across the financial market. For the past few years, she has been fully dedicated to crowdfunding and modern investment opportunities that open doors even to people with limited capital. It is precisely the accessibility of investments and new opportunities for everyday investors that have long fascinated and motivated her. She is a founding member of the Association of Crowdfunding Platforms, which subsequently became part of the Czech Fintech Association. She is also actively involved in international cooperation and communication within the industry.
Juraj Moravčík
Director General
Slovak Environment Agency
Public sector
Since 2024, PhDr. Juraj Moravčík has been working as the Director General of the Slovak Environmental Agency, a professional organization of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, where he actively shapes the strategic direction of the agency. He is responsible for coordinating professional activities in the field of environmental protection and for the implementation of national and European policies in this area. An important part of the agency's activities is the administration of financial mechanisms and subsidy schemes motivating the public and municipalities to adopt more environmentally friendly solutions. The Obnov dom programme, which is one of the agency's most important initiatives, achieved extraordinary results under his leadership — in two years it supported the renovation of more than 27,000 houses with a total value of 400 million euros.
Tomáš Mrkvica
Founder
Circular Centre Hradec Králové
Civil society
Tomáš Mrkvica is the founder of the Circular Center Hradec Králové and the initiator of projects focused on the development of reuse materials and circular construction in the Czech Republic. He has long been connecting cities, schools, construction companies and community initiatives with the goal of returning construction and other materials back into circulation and developing new skills in the areas of repair, deconstruction and upcycling.
He is currently preparing the creation of a circular yard in Hradec Králové — an infrastructure for sorting, storing and reusing building materials. At the same time, it is collaborating with research institutions and cities on systemic solutions that can help transform the way we handle materials, not only in the construction industry.
Ilona Musilová
Member of the Board of Directors of the Hnutí DUHA Energy Cooperative
Hnutí DUHA
Civil society
Community energy drew her in and hasn't let her go. Words that Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA) has in its vocabulary – fair energy transition, energy in the hands of the people – resonate with her interest in public affairs and her drive to stand up for them. On the other hand, she does not place herself in the role of an energy expert, but she is learning. She will be among the first to use shared cooperative electricity. She graduated in international relations and media studies from Masaryk University in Brno, which also brought her to the Friends of the Earth Czech Republic team 8 years ago.
Jan Nadrchal
Mayor
The City of Pardubice
Public sector
Jan Nadrchal (b. 1987, Pardubice) is a Czech politician and has served as mayor of Pardubice since 2022. He has been active in local politics for many years, and his career and public service are exclusively tied to his hometown, which he considers the natural center of his personal and professional life. He graduated from high school with a focus on information technology and subsequently studied computer support in archiving at the University of Hradec Králové. He began his professional career in 2007 with the Pardubice Region Fire and Rescue Service, then worked as a programmer and software developer at ASSORTIS Electric and GEOVAP, where he specialized in systems for public administration and municipalities. He entered local politics in 2018 as a council member for the Pardubice V district, where he subsequently served on the Council of the Fifth City District. In 2018, he was elected a city councilor for Pardubice; in 2020, he became Deputy Mayor for Development and Strategy as well as the Environment; and in 2022, he was elected Mayor of Pardubice. His professional and political career is closely tied to his hometown of Pardubice, where he draws on his experience in information technology and public administration to manage and develop the city.
Vít Nebenfűhr
MKDS Specialist
BKOM Inc.
Public sector
Vít Nebenfűhr has been working in the field of low-voltage distribution systems for over 30 years. First as a designer, then as an investor in public administration, and now as a specialist in a municipal company in the position of camera system administrator.
Eva Nečasová
Team Leader, Services – Innovation in Social and Health Care
JINAG
Public sector
Eva Nečasová works at the innovation agency JINAG, where she leads the Services team focused on innovation in the social and healthcare sectors. She enjoys connecting people, good ideas, and opportunities that can bring meaningful change to people’s lives and the functioning of the region. In her work, she focuses primarily on the use of modern technologies in public services and finding ways to bring them closer to municipalities, organizations, and the people themselves. She believes that innovation is most meaningful when it arises from collaboration and has a long-term impact.
Petr Nedvědický
Mayor
The City of Ústí nad Labem
Public sector
PhDr. Ing. Petr Nedvědický has been the mayor of the statutory city of Ústí nad Labem since 2018. At the same time, he holds the office of representative of the Ústí nad Labem Region and representative of the Ústí nad Labem - Střekov municipal district. In his role as mayor, he is responsible for the budget, transport infrastructure development, companies with municipal equity participation, crisis management, the municipal police, and the Činoherní studio theater. In his activities, he focuses primarily on supporting economic development, increasing the quality of life for residents, and modernizing urban infrastructure. Significant achievements of the recent period include the city's involvement in the 5G FOR 5 CITIES project as well as cooperation with the European Investment Bank, which included the development projects of Ústí nad Labem in the EIB Advisory Services annual report. This report annually presents projects prepared with the expert and technical support of the bank.
Alexandr Nogrády
Mayor
The Town of Český Krumlov
Public sector
Alexandr Nogrády has been the mayor of Český Krumlov since 2022. Among other things, his work focuses on ways to encourage young people to actively participate in public life.
He founded the Český Krumlov Children and Youth Parliament with the idea not only to give young people a voice, but also to make that voice heard. He views the younger generation not merely as the future of the city, but as an active part of it today. That is why, under his leadership, the city supports student projects and creates opportunities for children and students to participate in transforming the environment in which they live.
At the same time, he advocates for the integration of digital technologies into the operations of the city administration and supports smart solutions that simplify communication with citizens, streamline public administration, and help prepare the city for future challenges.
He believes that young people are the natural drivers of innovation and that combining their creativity, their courage to come up with new ideas, and the possibilities offered by modern technology can yield concrete solutions for the city’s development.
Kateřina Nohelová
EU Funds Business Support Coordinator
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Public sector
At the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Kateřina Nohelová is involved in preparing for the upcoming programming period, both in terms of cohesion policy and in negotiations regarding the European Regional Development Fund. Before joining the Ministry of Industry and Trade, she worked at the National Coordination Body within the Ministry of Regional Development.
Konstantin Novikov
CEO
VR medical s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Ing. Konstantin Novikov, Ph.D., MBA is the co-founder and CEO of VR Medical, where he connects the world of technology, healthcare and innovation. He believes that virtual reality should not be just a fancy novelty, but a practical tool that helps patients and clients, therapists and healthcare or social institutions in their everyday care. He studied industrial engineering and management at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he received his Ing. and Ph.D. degrees. He also gained valuable experience during his studies in Turkey and Taiwan and expanded his management education with an MBA at Cambridge Business School with a focus on financial management. In 2018, he co-founded VR Medical, which today cooperates with leading healthcare institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad. Konstantin is a person who likes to find ways to make complex things simpler, more meaningful, and with real impact. He's not about showing what technology can do. He's about showing who and how it can really help.
Rayen Ochi
Project Manager
EurA AG
Industry & Business
Mr. Rayen Ochi is a Project and Network Manager at EurA AG and is responsible for coordinating the Interreg Danube project “PilotInnCities – Pilot-based Innovation Ecosystems for Smart Cities” in Germany.
Role and Responsibilities
In his role as project manager, he supports the development of agile innovation ecosystems in which municipalities serve as testing grounds for smart city solutions from startups and SMEs.
In doing so, he assists cities and regions in six countries of the Danube region with the planning, implementation, and scaling of practical pilot projects.
Professional Background
Mr. Ochi has a technical background in Energy Systems Engineering and combines this expertise with innovation and networking.
His focus is on sustainable, data-driven urban development strategies as well as the transferability of successful pilot projects to other municipalities.
Contribution to the URBIS Panel
At the URBIS Smart Cities Meetup in Brno, Mr. Ochi will share insights from the implementation of more than 20 agile pilot projects in the Danube region.
He will demonstrate how structured pilot programs break down procurement barriers, connect innovation partners, and pave the way for smart cities in Central and Eastern Europe
Laura Otýpková
Head of the Responsible Energy Section
Frank Bold
Civil society
Laura Otýpková is a lawyer who believes that law can be a tool for real change. At Frank Bold, she leads the Responsible Energy team – together with her colleagues, she promotes the development of renewable resources and community energy, and strives for legislative and systemic changes that move the entire sector forward.
Her work is not just about sections of law. Laura and her team actively support specific community energy projects and stood at the birth of the Community Energy Union. What drives her most of all? Seeing that her work has a real impact and makes the world around us a bit better.
She is looking forward to sharing experiences at URBIS – because changes happen faster when they are spoken about out loud.
Martina O´Reilly
OPZ+ Project Coordinator
MAS Frýdlantsko-Beskydy z.s.
Public sector
"Martina O’Reilly is a patriot of the Beskydy Mountains who has long been dedicated to the development of this region and the support of local communities.
For more than 12 years, she has been active in the village of Čeladná, where she is involved in the cultural commission and is currently serving her second term on the municipal council. She naturally followed up on these activities through her work at LAG (Local Action Group) Frýdlantsko-Beskydy, where she and her colleagues focus on supporting rural development, primarily in the social sphere.
As a project coordinator for the Operational Programme Employment Plus, she focuses on strengthening social work in small rural municipalities, developing community activities for youth and seniors, and coordinating community planning for social services. In her activities, she connects the needs of residents, local governments, and social service providers with the goal of building functional and self-sufficient communities. Thanks to a collective effort, an inter-municipal social support model based on shared capacities, coordination, and mutual cooperation has been successfully created."
Kamil Papež
Ministerstvo pro místní rozvoj
Vrchní ředitel sekce
Má přes 15 let zkušeností s prací pro veřejný sektor.
Od roku 2024 je ředitelem odboru regionální politiky na MMR, pod který spadá příprava politik spojených s regionálním rozvojem i agenda Smart Cities.
Před příchodem na ministerstvo pracoval 10 let v soukromém sektoru, v poradenství, kde se věnoval strategickému řízení a plánování primárně na samosprávách.
Miroslav Pavelka
Internal PhD Candidate
Department of Information Technologies, FEM, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Academia & Research
Ing. Miroslav Pavelka is a senior security consultant, teacher at the Czech University of Life Sciences and lecturer at the Judicial Academy. He has been living in IT, personal data protection, cybersecurity management and IT and security law for 30 years. He is an internal doctoral student and lecturer at the Department of Information Technology at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. He has been dedicated to education across the public, commercial and non-profit sectors for a long time, and is involved in university projects, ICT management and eGovernment development. In his practice, he focuses on understandable and practical solutions. He enjoys debunking common myths, translating complex cybersecurity into normal Czech and reminding management that it is not just about laws, but above all about their own managerial responsibility. He still loves to learn and tries to solve two big mysteries: why management is so happy to commit mass digital suicide by ignoring cyber threats, and why this myth about headless cliff jumping is still unfairly carried by the Norwegian Lemurs.
Dagmar Peřinová
Deputy Director, Head of Participation Team
South Moravian Agency for Public Innovation JINAG
Public sector
In the South Moravian Region, Dagmar has long been dedicated to how to better connect municipalities, cities and the public and how to create space for meaningful debate and cooperation. At JINAG, she prepares and leads projects, events for various target groups and educational programs that help people become more involved in the events around them. She devotes a large part of her work to children and young people. For example, she is behind activities such as HackaTEEN or Improve your school, because she believes that what we do with the young generation today will come back to us in the future - in how they will think about their surroundings, how they will get involved and what shape they will one day give to municipalities, cities and the entire society. Dagmar with her team also work on other topics — from cooperation on social issues, to assistance in implementing the climate action plan, or building the Infopoint agenda at MAS. She enjoys work that connects people, good ideas, and concrete changes in practice. She also talks about her field experiences at conferences here and abroad. When she's not working, you can find her in front of the choirmaster's podium at the children's choir, on a motorbike, or at the shooting range.
Katya Petrikevich
Participation Factory
Co-Founder and International Director
As Co-Founder and International Director of Participation Factory, she is committed to advancing democratic innovation and ensuring inclusive participation for all. With over six years of experience, she focuses on designing participation-driven processes that bring communities together while upholding the values of democracy, human rights, and diversity.
She specializes in process design, capacity building, partnership management, and the use of cutting-edge digital tools to support initiatives that strengthen public participation at both local and international levels. She also led the development of the Civic Tech Market Report and the Participate Practically online course, contributing practical knowledge and resources to the field of participatory democracy.
As a board member of People Powered, Katya contributes to promoting best practices in participatory democracy worldwide. Their work is grounded in political science and human rights, with a strong focus on advancing gender parity and ensuring that marginalized voices are meaningfully included in civic life.
Jiří Pokorný
Deputy
Vysočina Region
Public sector
Jiří Pokorný is the Deputy Governor of the Vysočina Region responsible for regional development and the region’s grant policy. He focuses on strategic issues related to the region’s development, such as energy policy and the impacts of the construction of the new units at the Dukovany II Nuclear Power Plant. He has long been an advocate of modern technologies and the use of IT tools to enhance work efficiency.
Martina Pšeničková
RIS3 manažer
ARR - Regional Development Agency
Public sector
Martina Pšeničková works at the Regional Development Agency of the Liberec Region, where she focuses on supporting regional innovation, education, and developing cooperation between cities, companies, schools, and other partners in the region. She participates in the preparation and implementation of projects aimed at innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship, and regional development. She enjoys connecting people, looking for new opportunities for the Liberec Region, and putting interesting ideas into practice.
Daniela Procházková
Head of the Public Sector Regulation Division
NÚKIB
Public sector
Daniela operates professionally on the border between the professions of a lawyer and a security expert. She has been working at NÚKIB (National Cyber and Information Security Agency) for a number of years and participated in shaping the new Cyber Security Act; now she is in charge of putting it into practice and advising on its implementation, particularly for public sector organizations.
Martin Příborský
Representative
Brno City Hall
Public sector
JUDr. PhDr. Martin Příborský, EMLE A member of the Brno City Council responsible for strategic development and metropolitan cooperation. He holds degrees in law and political science and has professional experience from the European Commission in Brussels, where he focused primarily on competition policy, the protection of the EU’s financial interests, and EU funds. He has been active in Brno’s local politics for several years. In his work, he focuses on supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, science, and research, as well as on preparing key strategic development documents. In the area of metropolitan cooperation, he is primarily responsible for managing EU funds and the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) instrument, which support strategic metropolitan projects.
Lumír Prejda
Senior constable
Hlučín City Police
Public sector
As a senior police officer, Lumír and his colleagues are responsible for the well-being and safety of the city's citizens. That's why he decided to use the eHelper device to make grandparents feel comfortable.
Petra Pučálková
Project Manager at ZVOLNI
Partnership for Urban Mobility, Inc.
Civil society
Petra believes that the city should primarily belong to people. As a project manager at ZVOLNI, she makes sure this vision becomes a reality. Her workday is a colorful cocktail: she communicates with cities, fine-tunes marketing, plans campaigns, and oversees that Želvák (the Tortoise) gets exactly where education on safe movement in the streets is needed. You will see her in full action at this year's URBIS. As a moderator, she will guide you through the program, as a panel discussion speaker, she will analyze the deeper context of urban mobility, and for the rest of the time, she will be bringing together the team and visitors at the ZVOLNI booth. In short, Petra is the soul and motor of a project that teaches us that in traffic and in life, it pays off to slow down a bit sometimes. Come chat with her at the booth about how to transform our cities into more pleasant places to live.
Radulescu Irina Gabriela
Manager
Danube Engineering Hub Cluster
Academia & Research
Irina Gabriela Rădulescu is Professor PhD at Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vice-president of Export Business Center Association from Bucharest, member of the coordinating team of European Digital Innovation Hub – Wallachia eHub for South-Muntenia region and manager of Danube Engineering Hub Cluster.
She is involved as member or coordinator in national and international projects related to international trade, entrepreneurship or digital transformation processes.
She is expert in international trade at Export Business Center from Ploiești, Prahova County and expert in organic agriculture, Integrated Export Services for SMEs in Romania Project, funded through the ""Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Program for Reducing Economic and Social Disparities within the Enlarged European Union”.
Certificates of Achievement in Creating Quality E-commerce Content, delivered by the SME Trade Academy, International Trade Center, New Development in International Trade and Investment, Institute of Economics and Business Administration, Technical University of Lisbon, Political Economy of Trade Policy and Development: Theories and Institutions, Universita degli Studi di Milano, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Martin Rehárik
Deputy Mayor
The Municipality of Židovice
Public sector
Martin Rehárik is the deputy mayor of the municipality of Židovice in the Podřipsko region and the initiator of the regional project for measuring air quality and noise in Podřipsko. He has a long-term focus on topics related to transport infrastructure, the environment, and the use of data for local government decision-making. Within the project, he connects municipalities, expert institutions, universities, and technological partners with the aim of creating a modern network for the long-term monitoring of air quality, noise, and meteorological data. The project responds, among other things, to the planned construction of a high-speed rail line in the region and the need to have quality and credible data available regarding the environment in which people live. He is an advocate for open communication, cooperation between municipalities, and the use of modern technologies in the municipal sphere.
Pavel Rouček
CEO
Technical Networks Brno, a.s.
Public sector
CEO of Technické sítě Brno, a.s., where he combines his technical education with expertise in cybersecurity and law.
Since 2016, he has led the company to become a provider of technology and infrastructure solutions in Brno. TSB manages public lighting, sewer networks, and the operation of municipal data networks and data centers.
He actively participates in infrastructure modernization, the implementation of advanced technologies, and the strengthening of cybersecurity, with an emphasis on the city’s sustainable development.
Johannes Röder
Consultant
Center for Digital Development.de
Industry & Business
JOHANNES RÖDER is a consultant at ZDE. From 2014 to 2020, Mr Röder worked for local governments in Germany and France, gaining experience in the fields of urban development and cultural management and conducting academic research on these very topics in parallel. He holds a Master's degree in International Corporate Communication and Media Management and a Bachelor's degree in international business administration as well as the certified qualification as a "Smart City Expert". His academic work has dealt with topics such as strategic communication in municipalities, communication pitfalls in the Smart City sector, the use of augmented reality in city marketing and creative ways of citizen participation. For his master's thesis Johannes Röder was awarded with the Kulturpreis Bayern (Bavarian Cultural Award) in 2022. At ZDE, Mr Röder has been working as a project manager on the ERASMUS+ project “DCEx” for Europe-wide training in Smart City issues and is a lecturer at the ZDE Academy as well as Neu-Ulm University of applied sciences from october 2025 on. Currently, he works as a project manager on the INTERREG project „PilotInnCities“ led by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Katarína Ruschková
Head of Environmental Department
Statutory City of Jihlava
Public sector
Katarína Ruschková is a long-time head of the environmental department, a singer, deputy mayor of Sokol, a coach of acrobatics on scarves, but also a mother of two sons and an active citizen for whom the responsibility of each of us for what is happening around us is important. In this spirit, she tries to influence her surroundings at all levels.
Jan Růžička
Researcher
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Jan Růžička works at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University and at the Czech Technical University UCEEB, where he focuses on sustainable construction, natural building materials and building quality assessment. In his work, he connects technical, environmental and social aspects of design and has also been involved in the issues of BIM and comprehensive building assessment for a long time; Jan also works as a practicing architect focused on ecological architecture and passive houses.
Martin Rybár
Deputy Governor for IT and European Affairs
Pilsen Region
Public sector
After graduating from college, he joined telecommunications, first in sales support, then as head of the sales department, then moved to the area of construction of telecommunications structures, mainly FTTH networks, which he led as a project manager. Since 2022, he has been a councilor of the city of Přeštice. Martin worked at the Ministry of the Environment in the minister's office for two years, and since 2025, he has been the deputy governor of the Pilsen region. He is the father of two small children, and spends his free time hiking. He is a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi, which he consumes in the form of books, comics, films and series.
Jakub Rybář
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Representative for Science Outreach and Talent Development
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
Public sector
A person who believes that "concrete investment into concrete talent is more than concrete itself." At the Ministry (MŠMT), he is responsible for ensuring that Czech R&D is not merely about drawing funds, but about a genuine leap toward joining the social and intellectual elite. A fan of supercomputers, a scout for scientific talent, and a firm believer that even public administration can have real drive. If you don't catch him at a panel discussion, he’s likely busy networking and planning how to transform the Czech Republic into a global technological hotspot.
Lukáš Řádek
Deputy Mayor
Statutory City of Hradec Králové
Public sector
Deputy Mayor of Hradec Králové city with a focus on a strategic development and investments, modern energy and urban mobility. In 2023 - 2025, he also served as an advisor to the Minister of Industry and Trade. He bases his professional efforts on finding synergy between specific solutions, and a long-term vision of a harmonious environment.
Christina Salmhofer
Sustainability strategist
Development Administration
Public sector
Christina Salmhofer has worked as the sustainability manager for Royal Seaport at the Development Administration, City of Stockholm, Sweden, since 2011. Her responsibilities include the implementation of the overall sustainability goals, supervising the monitoring, evaluation and improvement of policies, targets and strategies. In addition, her work covers cross-departmental cooperation and collaboration with private developers, utility companies, universities and the initiation of research and development projects.
Prior to joining the City of Stockholm, Christina served as a consultant for WSP Environmental and as environmental manager for Wihlborgs AB and Fabege AB, Swedish real estate companies.
Christina holds a Master´s degree in Environmental Management and Policy from the University of Lund, Sweden, and a Bachelor´s degree in Environmental Sciences from the Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria.
Christina loves to:
• netwok by involving and connecting people
• work systematically and structured with focus on the whole picture
• learn new things and to rethink
• share experiences
• challenge norms and settings ways of doing things
• making people to contribute and work together
Monna Salmi
Senior Specialist
Council of Tampere Region
Public sector
Monna is a Finnish urban development and innovation professional working at the intersection of cities, public governance, competitiveness and innovation policies. Her work focuses on strengthening regional innovation ecosystems and building cooperation between cities, regions, the state, research institutions and companies. She is especially interested in how cities can act as strategic platforms for economic growth and renewal, and brings practical experiences from the Tampere region, one of Finland’s leading innovation environments.
At URBIS, Monna will share insights from the Finnish model of collaborative governance and innovation policy, with a particular focus on Finland’s Sustainable Urban Development strategy and InnoCities network. Her perspective combines strategic public leadership, regional development thinking and a strong belief in cities as engines of innovation, renewal and public value.
Patrik Seidl
Head of the Equipment and Design Section
Make designers
Industry & Business
Patrik Seidl works at Make Designers, where he focuses on developing open workshops and communities centered around digital fabrication. He was instrumental in founding the Next Zone technology center and the HW Lab open workshop. He has long been helping to create an environment where people have access to technologies such as 3D printing and CNC and can quickly test and implement their ideas. He bridges education, design, and entrepreneurship and supports the creation of new projects at the intersection of technology and creativity.
Gretel Schaj
Head of Markets and Partnerships Department. Expert in Governance and Digital Innovation
BABLE Smart Cities
Industry & Business
Gretel Schaj is Head of Markets and Partnerships for Southern Europe and Senior Governance and Digital Innovation Specialist at BABLE Smart Cities. For the past decade, she has worked at the intersection of governance, sustainability and digital transformation – designing multi-stakeholder processes, governance frameworks and co-creation strategies that help governments and cities turn complexity into concrete action. She has managed numerous projects across Europe, secured nearly €100 million in public sector funding and trained civil servants in over 20 countries. She brings both deep policy knowledge and practical experience in the areas of ethics and governance of new technologies.
Miroslav Scheiner
Minister's Representative for Smart Cities
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Public sector
Miroslav Scheiner has been active at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic for 13 years. As the Minister’s Commissioner for Smart Cities, he coordinates the Czech innovation ecosystem surrounding the smart city theme, including its key international partnerships. Within the European project PilotInnCities, he is introducing the Finnish method of agile piloting to the Czech Republic and the Danube region, which supports innovation experiments by startups in municipalities. Miroslav also actively contributes to the development of the newly established Czech Living Labs Platform (CZELLAP). Furthermore, he coordinates the long-standing Czech participation at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, as well as the renewed domestic platform URBIS The Smart Cities Meetup in Brno.
Stanislav Schneidr
Section Director
Ministry of Regional Development
Public sector
Since 2023, Stanislav Schneidr has served as Director General of the EU Funds and International Relations Division at the Ministry of Regional Development – the National Coordination Authority. In this role, he is involved, among other things, in negotiating new EU legislation on European funds for the 2028+ period.
From 2016 to 2023, he served as the expert coordinator for external relations at Škoda Auto, a.s. Prior to that, he held managerial positions at the Office of the Government, the Prague City Hall, and the Ministry of Regional Development, and from 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU in Brussels. He graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University with a degree in economics and Western European studies.
Victor Scholten
Director Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship
TU Delft
Academia & Research
Victor Scholten is an associate professor and director of the Delft Center for Entrepreneurship at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Victor has been leading the center since 2016. Previously, he was head of the Master’s program in Management of Technology at Delft University of Technology and coordinator of the Bachelor’s minor in Technology-based Entrepreneurship. He has led and participated in many EU research projects. He specializes in technology entrepreneurship, founding teams and their networks, business model creation and business strategy. He has published in international journals such as Technovation and is the author of several books.
Barry Singleton
Engagement Manager
Nexus
Academia & Research
Barry Singleton is the Partnership Manager at Nexus Leeds, the University of Leeds’ innovation hub. With 30 years of experience in sales and marketing across a range of industries including music, graphic arts and printing, Barry most recently served as the Director of Customer Relations at Scaled Insights, a Toronto-based AI startup that chose Nexus as its R&D partner for its innovation in ‘behavioural AI’. He now develops, supports and nurtures the community of innovation-driven businesses within Nexus. Barry has extensive experience in partnering, mentoring international founders and supporting R&D collaborations. He is passionate about mentoring start-ups and uses his extensive network and expertise to help entrepreneurs grow.
Michal Skyva
Project Manager
Information Technology Administration of the City of Pilsen, a public institution
Public sector
Project manager of SIT Port at Pilsen's TechTower. He dedicates himself to the development of technological labs, workshops, and community activities that connect students, talents, schools, companies, and people interested in technology. He ensures that ideas do not just become notes in a drawer, but real projects and prototypes instead. He enjoys finding ways to open the doors to technology, practical experience, and entrepreneurship for young people and starting creators.
Zdeněk Slejška
Director
Eduzměna Endowment Fund
Civil society
He graduated with a degree in biology and physical education teaching, but his view of education was shaped mainly by his experiences in scouting and his time at Prázdninová škola Lipnice (Lipnice Outward Bound). It was there that he encountered the principles of active motivation, teamwork, reflection, and the long-term sustainability of systems that do not rely on a single person.
Starting in 2006, he spent four years leading the methodological portal RVP.cz, which aimed to support creative teachers, and in 2010, he co-founded the EDUin organization with the goal of bringing the topic of education more into the media and public debate. He also became a member of the international network of social innovators, Ashoka Fellows, which brings together individuals with a long-term impact on social change.
Since 2018, he has been leading the Eduzměna Endowment Fund, whose goal is a systemic transformation of the Czech school system. Eduzměna works with entire regions and, through Education Support Centers, connects teachers, principals, parents, and school founders, who together create better schools for all children.
Dalibor Smažinka
Security Expert
VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Faculty of Safety Engineering
Academia & Research
Mgr. Dalibor Smažinka, MBA, LL.M. has been working in the field of security technologies and physical protection for 20 years. He is a doctoral student at VŠB-TUO - Faculty of Security Engineering, where he is dedicated to the use of intelligent technologies for crime prevention and reducing IZS reaction times in urban environments. He cooperates with trusted manufacturers of security solutions, the closest to which is the Swedish company Axis Communications. He has been connecting three layers of security – physical, cyber and privacy protection – for a long time. He believes that a smart city must not only be effective, but above all safe and resilient.
Marek Sovka
Deputy Governor
South Moravian Region
Public sector
Marek Sovka is the Deputy Governor of the South Moravian Region for Regional Development and Coordination of the EDU II Project (Units 5 and 6 at Dukovany). He has long been dedicated to rural development, supporting municipalities, and major strategic projects in South Moravia. Today, he is most engaged with the project for the new units at Dukovany, where he brings together municipalities, the region, the state, and the public so that the entire region benefits from this “project of the century.” Beyond politics, he is deeply involved in the community life of small towns—from supporting associations and cultural events to projects for seniors and landscape revitalization. He enjoys modern communication, social media, and finding ways to explain complex topics to people in a simple and understandable way.
Roman Srp
President
ITS&S
Industry & Business
Roman Srp is President of the Czech Intelligent Transport Systems & Services Association (SDT in Czech). He is active in intelligent transport systems, smart mobility, transport digitalisation and C-ITS deployment. Roman represents the Czech ITS community in national and European initiatives incl. ITS Nationals and currently serves as a member of the European ITS Advisory Group of the European Commission.
Tijana Stefanović
Senior manager
Digital Serbia Initiative
Civil society
A project manager with a college degree in IT and business and more than 10 years of experience across the technology sector, consulting services, and nonprofit organizations. His professional background includes working at one of the largest technology companies in Southeast Europe, within the Big Four professional consulting network, and at a nonprofit organization supporting the development of the digital ecosystem in Serbia.
He has experience leading international and interdisciplinary teams and managing innovation and educational initiatives. He has collaborated with organizations such as UNDP, USAID, GIZ, and UNICEF, focusing on implementing high-impact projects and fostering collaboration among various stakeholders.
Dušan Struna
Department Head
The City of Olomouc
Public sector
Dušan Struna holds a degree in geography, regional development, and public administration from the Faculty of Science at the University of Ostrava. His professional career has focused primarily on the preparation of strategic documents, grant projects, and development concepts for cities, municipalities, and micro-regions. For more than ten years, he worked at the Regional Development Agency for Central Moravia as a project manager, where he contributed to the development of strategic plans, spatial analysis reports, and projects funded by European funds. Since 2014, he has worked at the Olomouc City Hall, where he focuses on strategic planning, project management, coordination of the city’s development activities, and promoting public engagement in city planning and management. He currently holds the position of Head of the Department of Strategic and Sustainable Development.
Jiří Sucharda
First Deputy Mayor
Town of Varnsdorf
Public sector
If all goes well, Sucharda will live to be 62 years old. He is divorced, but with his four adult children he is trying to save the planet. He started as a car mechanic and driver, soon added a mechanical engineering degree, a round stamp from fire protection and has been extinguishing whatever he can since then. And that literally - for more than 30 years he has commanded the volunteer firefighters in Varnsdorf and for over 10 years the city police. He took root in Varnsdorf in 1989, where he first directed traffic, sold technical gases, managed a foundry, and finally settled at the city office as a fire prevention specialist and historically the first IT specialist.
He handles crisis management, occupational safety, city radio, the website and the magazine. He has been trying his hand at politics in the city as a representative, councilor and deputy mayor since 2002 and is now a representative in the Ústí nad Labem region for the second year. In his free time, he repairs vintage cars, flies a drone, takes photos, goes scuba diving, or travels around Europe on a motorbike. Following the example of his father and brothers, he is an active and engaged citizen and accepts every new activity as a challenge.
Jasna Sýkorová
Manažer FutuRegio Hub CRR
Center for Regional Development of the Czech Republic
Public sector
Jasna Sýkorová leads and facilitates the FutuRegio Hub think tank at the Centre for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, which focuses on interdisciplinary exchange of experience and expert collaboration. Previously, she worked in strategic consulting in marketing and communications, as well as in project management for the launch of new brands and services in both the Czech and international markets.
Luděk Šantora
Director
Pilsen City IT Administration
Public sector
Luděk Šantora works in the Information Technology Administration of the City of Pilsen, where he is dedicated to the digitalization of city services, data infrastructure, cybersecurity and the development of technology projects, including city drone activities (dronySIT). He is also the executive director of the city innovation center BIC Pilsen. He participates in the development of the Pilsen innovation ecosystem and the creation of technological start-ups. Luděk has a long-term focus on the practical use of innovations in public administration and the development of the security ecosystem of the city of Pilsen.
Kristína Šabová
Senior consultant
Frank Bold Society
Civil society
Libor Šebestík
Director of Municipal Police
Municipal Police Prostějov
Public sector
Graduate of administrative activities at the Faculty of Education of the University of Prague in Olomouc and the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague. Because education is never enough, in 2025 he added an MBA degree from the Institute of Forensic Sciences and Security Studies - apparently to be sure that he would really have no free shelf for diplomas left at home. He is one of the founding members of the modern Prostějov Municipal Police, so when you say MP Prostějov, most colleagues think of him - and vice versa. Since 1996, he has been working as a deputy director, which is a position in which a person knows everything, solves everything and is responsible for everything. Since 2021, he has been officially handling this as a director. In 2000, he came up with the idea of a city camera system. At a time when it was not yet common to have a "smart" phone, let alone a city. At the time, it was a visionary step, but today it is a standard without which no one can imagine security in Prostějov. He has not only studied security, but also served it with honor. Instead of grand gestures, he prefers to build systems that work - and when they don't work, he knows exactly why. He is interested in modern technology and the history of technology and municipal police, so he can talk enthusiastically about both the latest camera chips and how it worked "under the emperor".
Martin Šinko
Digital Twin Program Manager
The City of Žilina
Public sector
From game engines and weather forecasting to the management of modern local government. Martin Šinko works as the manager of the digital twin agenda for the city of Žilina within the framework of the national project "Supporting Local Governments on the Path to Digital Twins and Digital Services". A former lecturer of 3D virtualization at the University of Žilina and an expert in 3D visualizations in Unreal Engine, he now helps the city of Žilina build intelligent data structures. Thanks to his research background – particularly his work on the AI project PREDICON, which focused on short-term predictions from image data – he knows exactly that the true value of a digital twin lies not just in nice 3D graphics, but in analytics and the ability to predict future scenarios. In a panel discussion at the URBIS conference, he will discuss how artificial intelligence and real-time data processing can help local governments efficiently manage urban systems and transform technological concepts into pragmatic solutions for citizens.
Eva Škorničková
Marketing specialist - Project LIFE COALA
Moravian-Silesian Region
Public sector
I am a marketing specialist in public administration, dedicating myself to communicating topics related to climate change, the adaptation of cities and municipalities, and the quality of public space. I enjoy connecting people, expert topics, and regional experiences so that good ideas do not just end up in a drawer or on paper. I believe that inspiration and sharing concrete examples can motivate other municipalities and individuals to make positive changes. This is exactly what the LIFE COALA project allows me to do, as we look for and showcase examples of good practice from cities and towns.
I co-create the content for the MiSe Klima portal, where we look for ways to explain expert topics clearly, openly, and without unnecessary scaremongering.
Public administration is not always the easiest environment, but that makes it all the more important to search for functional pathways and meaningful solutions within it. I believe in small steps and also that it makes sense to stay active, both in work and in everyday life.
Lucie Šmardová
Data Analyst
the City of Zlín
Public sector
Lucie Šmardová is an art historian; since 2024, she has also been working as a data analyst for the statutory city of Zlín, where she collaborates with the Zlín City Architect's Office. She initiated the creation of the Zlín Architecture Manual (www.zam.zlin.eu), where she has served as an expert guarantor, editor, and project manager since its inception.
She graduated in Art History from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno and in the Theory and History of Modern and Contemporary Art from UMPRUM in Prague. She is the author of various texts, has been preparing the Potkej Zlín! (Meet Zlín!) guided tour series as a guide since 2019, organizes lectures, and leads educational programs. Between 2015 and 2016, she worked as a curator at the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts, and since 2017, she has been active in the aArchitektura association.
Marek Šmíd
Consultant
OICT
Public sector
Marek worked as a researcher in the field of Smart City – Urban Climate. He has experience in both the public sector (UK Environment Agency, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Basque Centre for Climate Change, and several universities) and the private sector (data science in the media industry and BI/DWH issues in the energy sector). At OICT, he works within the Golemio data platform, focusing on the areas of energy and the digitalization of agendas and processes for the Prague City Hall.
Hana Šolcová
Head of the "Entrepreneurial Mind" Department
Lipka - Environmental Education Center in Brno
Public sector
Hanka searches for real-world examples where entrepreneurship thrives and shares them with the world through the Entrepreneurial School certification. For several years, she worked at a primary school as an entrepreneurship coordinator, and currently, she is the head of the Lipka facility "Podnikavá mysl" (Entrepreneurial Mind). She is grateful for the opportunity to meet like-minded people and offer them support on their journey toward entrepreneurship education. But as she says, children already come to us entrepreneurial. It is up to us not to leave too much of a negative mark on them.
Kamil Števanka
Deputy Director of the Nuclear Energy Division
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Public sector
Head of the Department for the Development of New Nuclear Power Sources at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where he currently (2026) oversees the planning and construction of new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic. As department head, he is primarily responsible for supporting and coordinating projects to build new nuclear power plants at Dukovany and Temelín.
He has been with the ministry since 2021 and represents the Czech path to energy self-sufficiency at professional and international forums.
Petr Štěpánek
Chief Executive Officer
Center for Regional Development of the Czech Republic
Public sector
Petr Štěpánek manages the Centre for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, an agency that administers European funds focused on regional cohesion and cross-border cooperation. Previously, he headed the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic, stood at the inception of the Green Savings (Zelená úsporám) program, and worked as a consultant on projects for the European Investment Bank and the UNDP.
At the University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT) in Prague, he focuses on topics related to smart cities, design, and brand management; he previously worked at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague and at the Faculty of Art and Architecture of the Technical University of Liberec. He has also participated in policy research in the area of affordable and sustainable housing.
Andrea Švestková
Letter of Appointment from the Mayor of Hlučín
The City of Hlučín
Public sector
Andrea combines technical matters with a simple human approach – she is interested in what people truly need, what their options are, and what will help them feel safe at home.
Lubomír Teichmann
Executive Director
Health and Social Services Ltd.
Industry & Business
Lubomír Teichmann is engaged in research and production of modern technologies for connecting the social and health sectors.
Braňo Tichý
CEO
SafetyCrew
Industry & Business
Braňo Tichý acts as a security manager for public events in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including music festivals, concerts, and public gatherings. In addition to his background in psychology, he is a certified sports security manager and a graduate of specialized training in crowd management and soft target protection.
Áron Tkadleček
Project Team Leader
Community Energy Union
Public sector
He studied environmental studies and sociology at MUNI, the University of Bremen, and Friedrich Schiller University Jena. He has a long-term focus on ecological economics and degrowth; his professional experience includes working in the non-profit sector, academia, and journalism. He has been and remains active in a wide variety of social movements and volunteer initiatives, ranging from the climate justice movement to volunteer firefighters. Currently, he works for the Community Energy Union (Unie komunitní energetiky) and Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA).
Tuan Trinh
Regional Node Director East
28DIGITAL
Industry & Business
Tuan Trinh has 15+ years experience as tech leader and innovator with a strong background in R&D.
He has a broad background in ICT, both in industry and in academia. He received his MSc degree in Compute Science and his PhD in the same field at the Budapest University of Technology (BME) and Economics, Hungary. He worked as an associated professor in Computer Science at Corvinus University of Budapest, and as a visiting professor at University of Bern, Switzerland. Tuan Trinh has been invited as a visiting scientist at Ericsson Research Budapest (Hungary), British Telecom (UK), Eurecom Institute (France), University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg), ILNAS Luxembourg, among others. He also acted as an evaluator of funded projects for the European Commission and Hungarian government.
One of the main highlights of his carrier was to take a leading part in the foundation of two innovation centres focusing on Education-Research-Business integration at universities, namely the Network Economics Group at BME focusing on innovation on disruptive technologies in the frontier between economics and network technology and the Fintech Centre at Corvinus University of Budapest, an innovation centre focusing on Financial Technology.
Tuan Trinh is a recipient of the Pollák-Virág prize from the Hungarian Scientific Association for Infocommunications.
Radim Trojan
Public Affairs Manager
Change for the Better
Industry & Business
Radim Trojan leads the public affairs team at a sustainability-focused business platform that represents over 100 members and 12% of Czech GDP. He has experience in both the private sector, where he worked for a waste management company, and in non-profit organizations. He spends his free time either in nature, reading, or composing ambient music.
Michal Ulrich
SUMP National contact point
Public sector
Michal Ulrich has been dealing with transport issues throughout his professional life, focusing on sustainable urban mobility planning, economic efficiency of projects and financing from EU funds. He has been working at the Ministry of Transport since 2011. In connection with transport planning (not only in urban regions), he has always promoted and continues to promote the idea of placing the issue in a broader context. Since 2025, he has been acting as the National Contact Point for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP National Contact Point).
Petr Vaněk
Chief of Staff to the Governor (2000–2006)
Regional Office of the Moravian-Silesian Region (until 2006)
Public sector
Former Head of the Office of the Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region, active at the time of HMMC's (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech) arrival in the region. After that, 13 years at HMMC to experience it from the other side as well...
Yvette Vašourková
Founder
CCEA MOBA
Civil society
Yvette Vašourková is the co-founder of the Centre for Central European Architecture and MOBA studio. CCEA MOBA focuses on cultivating the urban environment in Central Europe, empowering local communities, and advancing the public good. Over the past 15 years, CCEA MOBA has prepared more than 100 international competitions for both the public and private sectors. In addition to competitions, their long-term initiatory projects includes 1KM of Urban Change: Revitalization of Negrelli Viaduct—was a finalist for the NEB Prizes 2025 and was nominated for the EU Mies Award 2026.
Yvette studied at the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University and later completed postgraduate studies in urbanism at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. In 2018, she earned her Ph.D. from her alma mater in Prague. She served as a guest professor at L’ESA Paris) and as a Fulbright Scholar at Pratt Institute in New York and is currently a Loeb Fellow 27 at Harvard University, awarded to distinguished mid-career professionals.
Koen Vervoort
Senior Stakeholder Strategist
European Network of Living Labs
Civil society
Since 2006, Koen Vervoort has been involved in living labs at i-City, IBBT, iMinds, City of Things and iMec and now serves as Senior Stakeholder Relations Strategist at ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs), where he strives to build bridges and create opportunities for all members and stakeholders.With twenty years of experience in user engagement, panel management, and stakeholder collaboration, they strive to strengthen the living lab community around the world.
Jiří Vojta
Solution Development Manager
Yunex Traffic
Industry & Business
Jiří Vojta works at the intersection of products, solutions, customers, and development teams in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and traffic management.
At Yunex Traffic, he serves as Solution Development Manager and Project Manager for innovative projects in the field of ITS and smart mobility. He helps translate mobility challenges into feasible solutions—from understanding customer needs through collaboration with product and development teams to deploying systems in real-world operations.
He holds PRINCE2 certification and manages complex projects involving a large number of stakeholders and technologies.
He has also long focused on cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS / C2X / V2X) and international cooperation. He represents the Czech Republic on the C-Roads Platform, which coordinates the harmonization of C-ITS services in Europ
Kateřina Vosičková
Director
Olomouc Region Energy Center, z.ú.
Public sector
Kateřina Vosičková graduated in Management and Economics in the Public Sector from the Moravian Business College in Olomouc and in Public Administration and Regional Development from the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. Between 2013 and 2024, she worked as a municipal energy manager for the Property Management and Maintenance Department of the City of Prostějov, where she implemented an energy management system across municipal organizations and focused on the management of supply points, recording energy consumption, securing energy supplies, energy legislation, as well as projects aimed at reducing the energy performance of buildings and renewable energy sources.
In 2024, she joined the Olomouc Region as the Head of the Energy Department, and since 2025, she has been serving as the Director of the Energy Center of the Olomouc Region.
Ondřej Vysloužil
Director
Urban Studio of Spatial Planning and Architecture
Public sector
Ondřej graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology. After his studies, he worked at the Atelier 8000 studio in Prague, then at the Atos 6 studio in Ostrava, and then founded his own office Vysloužil architekti. Since 2019, he has held the position of director of the Municipal Studio of Spatial Planning and Architecture (MAPPA), which he helped build from its beginning to its current form. MAPPA is Ostrava's main conceptual workplace in the field of architecture, urbanism and city development. He has long been dedicated to the topics of urban development, public space and housing, focusing on cooperation between the public and private sectors. He is an authorized architect and a member of the Czech Chamber of Architects and the Housing Investment Advisory Board (HIAH).
Jaromír Wasserbauer
Head of Division
Ministry of the Environment
Public sector
Jaromír Wasserbauer, Ph.D., was born on April 30, 1985, in Havlíčkův Brod. He graduated from the Secondary Industrial School of Chemistry in Brno and subsequently from the Faculty of Chemistry at Brno University of Technology, where he earned his Ing. and Ph.D. degrees in the field of mechanical properties of inorganic materials. In 2021, he was appointed associate professor in the field of Chemistry, Technology, and Properties of Materials at the Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology. He served as head of the Laboratory of Metals and Corrosion at Brno University of Technology. He has established himself professionally in the field of materials research and surface treatments of metal alloys. He also oversaw collaboration with industrial partners and was responsible for the technical and administrative management of grant projects (e.g., TAČR, TRIO, and GAČR). He is the author of numerous publications in impact-factored journals, holds EN ISO 9001 laboratory certification, and serves as the course coordinator for several courses in chemical engineering. At the Ministry of the Environment, he intends to focus on environmental protection through modern technological processes. His interests include his family, self-education, energy, ecology, and new technologies.
Robert Wawerka
Head of Research Department for Monitoring and Management of Smart Buildings
CTU UCEEB
Academia & Research
Robert Wawerka is a graduate of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology. He gained professional experience during several years of work in Scandinavia and Southeast Asia, where he focused on sustainable construction and building energy. At the ČEZ Group, he specialized in the area of Smart City and the development of electromobility. Since 2019, Robert has been leading the research department Monitoring and Control of Intelligent Buildings at CTU UCEEB. He participates in solving national and international projects, including the Horizon 2020 ARV project, focused on creating climate-positive and circular communities in Europe, where he acts as the main coordinator of the Czech consortium.
Ákos R. Wetters
Co-founder & Director
Kimitisik B.V.
Industry & Business
Ákos R. Wetters is a mentor, coach and lecturer working at the intersection of entrepreneurship education, educational innovation and innovation ecosystems. He started his career in multinational corporations in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, before founding four companies in operations, supply chain consulting, intrapreneurship and open innovation. In academia, he researches problem-based learning in entrepreneurship education. Today, he mentors students, professionals and startups, helping them build entrepreneurial mindsets, foster collaboration, build relationships and drive innovation across teams, organisations and ecosystems. He is curious, creative and positive by nature and is inspired by new ideas, adventure and great espresso.
Georg Würffel
Chef Executive Officer
Zentrum für Digitale Entwicklung GmbH/ Center for Digital Development
Industry & Business
GEORG WÜRFFEL is the Managing Director of the Center for Digital Development (ZDE). He has over 17 years of municipal professional experience as managing director or head of the business and start-up promotion division. He brings a broad range of knowledge in the field of application and project management both in the area of EU funding, federal funding programs and competitions into his projectmanagement. The ZDE has already been able to develop the first “Smart City Expert (IHK)” certificate in Germany and further expand this experience in European projects. Mr. Würffel actively contributes this special application and concept knowledge, as well as his broad network, to the strategy and technical consulting of the ZDE and was thus able to successfully support different German Smart City model projects in the development of strategies and the implementation of immediate measures and bring them into the implementation. For implementing applications sustainably, it is important, to build up “digital skills” within the administrations and to incorporate them into the administrative processes.
Aliona Zapanovici
Chief of Staff
Minister of Finance of Moldova
Public sector
Aliona Zapanovici is an Agile Coach, author, and practitioner working at the intersection of organizational change, leadership, and transformation. She is co-author of From Resistance to Resilience: Practical Agile Lessons for Transformation. With an educational background in architecture, business, and construction project management, she brings a practical understanding of how systems, people, and environments influence each other. Her work focuses on helping teams and institutions move through change in a human, context-aware way, with attention to resilience, collaboration, and real-life impact.
Jan Závěšický
co-owner of the company, consultant
ASITIS s.r.o.
Industry & Business
Jan Závěšický is a co-owner and consultant at ASITIS, a company that helps cities, municipalities, and regions prepare practical solutions in the field of climate change adaptation and mitigation. He dedicates himself to strategic planning, municipal energy, energy communities, and projects that increase regional resilience, reduce energy performance, and help municipalities better respond to current environmental and economic challenges.
He has a long-term focus on connecting expert perspectives with public administration practice, facilitation, and communication with local stakeholders. He focuses on solutions that are not just formally correct, but also make economic, social, and operational sense. He perceives sustainable development primarily as the ability to make smart decisions: saving resources, strengthening local self-sufficiency, improving the quality of life, and preparing projects that municipalities can actually implement.
Petr Závodský
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
ČEZ
Industry & Business
Petr Závodský (1970) joined the ČEZ Group in 1994, working at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant during the construction of Units 1 and 2, serving among other roles as the manager of independent verification and validation of safety system software.
In the autumn of 2006, when ČEZ decided to prepare a new nuclear unit, he was one of the first members of the new team, where he was responsible for the technical aspect of the preparation. In April 2009, he became the director of the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Department, responsible for nuclear construction within the ČEZ Group, i.e., the new nuclear power plants in Dukovany, Temelín, and Jaslovské Bohunice.
Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s.
Marie Zezůlková
Executive Director
BVV Living lab
Industry & Business
Dr. Ing. Marie Zezůlková is the Executive Director of BVV Living Lab, a living laboratory operating at the Brno Exhibition Centre. She connects the academic, public, and private sectors in the testing and implementation of innovations in the fields of smart cities, smart mobility, sensor technologies, and energy systems, enabling new technologies to be tested in a real urban environment.
After graduating from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology and the Institut Français d’Urbanisme in Paris, she began her professional career at the Brno City Municipality, where she served as Head of the Brno City Strategy Office. She later moved to Prague to become Director of the National Centre for Energy Savings within ČEZ ESCO. She also served as Director of the Regional Policy Department at the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic.
She considers herself both an innovator and a strategist. Marie was involved in the establishment of the innovation ecosystem of the South Moravian Region and has long been dedicated to strategic planning and the development of innovative projects. She is an active member of several professional platforms and expert teams, including within the academic sphere, and has long served as Vice-Chair of the Masaryk University Board of Trustees.
Last but not least, she is the author of the slogan: “Experience Brno”.
Dáša Zouharová
Instructor
Lipka – Brno Environmental Education Center, a state-funded organization
Public sector
RNDr. Dáša Zouharová
She holds a degree in education, specializing in mathematics and biology, and has many years of teaching experience at the elementary school level, including as a coordinator for the development of the School Educational Program. For several years, she has served as a methodologist and instructor at Lipka—an educational facility for environmental education in Brno. She is the initiator of continuing professional development (CPD) on the topic of entrepreneurship education, initially in the South Moravian Region and now with nationwide impact. She oversaw the development of key competencies for entrepreneurship and work for the new Framework Educational Program (FEP). She asserts that “reading the landscape beyond the schoolyard” represents a great adventure, and she is also the author of the publication Methodology for the Creation of Regional Textbooks.
Jan Zvara
Head of Data, Analysis and Evaluation Department
City of Brno
Public sector
Jan Zvara has been involved in regional development, data visualization and publication for a long time. He is behind the creation and development of the key city portal data.brno.cz, which serves as a central hub for open data, interactive analyses and visualizations of life in Brno. His main mission is to promote the principles of data-based decision-making (evidence-based policy) in the administration of a modern metropolis. Jan believes that transparent work with data and its understandable interpretation are the basis for effective communication between the city and its residents. He regularly speaks at professional conferences, where he shares Brno's know-how in the field of digitalization and smart city concepts.
Miroslav Žbánek
Chairman
The Statutory City of Olomouc, the Association of Municipalities of the Metropolitan Area and Agglomerations of the Czech Republic, the Chamber of Deputies
Public sector
Miroslav Žbánek, MPA, is the chairman of the Association of Municipalities of the Metropolitan Area and Agglomeration (SO MOA). He serves as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and as vice-chairman of the Committee on Public Administration and Regional Development. He is a member of the Government Council for Public Administration and the Committee on Regional Policy of the Czech Republic. He has many years of experience at both the municipal and metropolitan levels—he served as mayor of the Statutory City of Olomouc for seven years and chairs the Steering Committee of the Olomouc Agglomeration. In his role, he strives to build a stable platform for the coordination of metropolitan areas and agglomerations. He emphasizes the sharing of know-how, strengthening cooperation, and preparing for the 2028+ period, including participation in the creation of strategic documents. Another key issue for him is the importance of integrated territorial investments as a tool for developing and strengthening the role of metropolitan areas in the Czech Republic.