Below are the ECIE Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
Professor Fernando Moreira has been a member of the Science and Technology Department at Portucalense University since 1992, currently as a Full Professor, and a visiting professor at the University of Porto Business School. He was the head of the Science and Technology Department from May 2018 until February 2022. He is graduated in Computer Science (1992), M.Sc. in Electronic Engineering (1997) and PhD in Electronic Engineering (2003), both at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and Habilitation (2018). He teaches subjects related to undergraduate and post-graduate studies. He supervises several PhD and M.Sc. students. He is a (co-)author of more than 200 scientific publications with peer-review on national and international journals and conferences. He serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for several journals and books. He organized several special issues from JCR journals. He has already regularly served as a member of Programme and Scientific committees of national and international conferences. He was the MSc in Computation coordinator during the last ten years. He holds editorial experience, and he is co-editor of several books. He is associated with NSTICC, ACM and IEEE. His principal research areas are mobile computing, ICT in Higher Education, Mobile learning, Social business and Digital transformation. He was awarded Atlas Elsevier Award in April 2019
Shital Jayantilal currently, is the Head of the Department of Economics and Management at Portucalence University. She lectures under graduate and graduate courses in Strategy and Strategic Management. She, has a PhD in Business Studies from Extermadura University (2016) and a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics, University of Porto (1999). She is also a practitioner and an experienced Senior consultant, with more than 15 years hands-on experience in aiding more than 50 SMEs and family firms, across diverse industries promoting their sustainability and enhancing trans-generational family business wealth. Presently, she is a member of the research unit REMIT – Research on Economics, Management and Information Technologies, Porto. Her main topics of research are Main research interests: Family Firms; Strategy; and Game Theory, and has published in various international journals. Having been awarded by Entrepreneurship and Innovation Exchange and Family Business editorial teams, the 2021 Schulze Publication award.
Keynote Speakers
Prof Eurico Brilhante Dias holds a degree in Business Management, a Master's degree in Business Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Business Sciences. He is a Professor at ISCTE-IUL (ISCTE Business School) and served as a Deputy in the XIII, XIV, and XV Legislatures. He was also the Secretary of State for Internationalization during the XXI and XXII Constitutional Government. As a Member of Parliament, he served as the Vice-Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs and as a member of the Committee on Budget, Finance, and Administrative Modernization. He has served as the Director of the Management Degree at ISCTE and as the Coordinator of Master and Postgraduate Studies at INDEG ISCTE. He has spoken at national and international events, including EIBA 2012, the World Investment Forum, and the Progressive Economy Conference. He has published work in Business Logistics, Macro logistics, and the determinants of attracting Foreign Direct Investment and the Internationalization of SMEs. He is a member of the Order of Economists and the National Secretariat of the PS. Currently, he is the President of the PS Parliamentary Group.
Giuseppe Sofo is a Fintech Expert and Client Advisor, part of McKinsey Fintech Practice leadership. He lives and works between London and Berlin, where he leads client relationships with fintech companies and investors. He also runs the EMEA McKinsey Fintech Connect programmes, which are bootcamps for senior executives of banks, investment funds, tech and fintech companies to engage and start working together. In his client service, Giuseppe serves a number of fintech startups, PE firms, VC funds, large banks and some fintech hubs. He supports clients mainly on B2B Sales acceleration and shaping equity narrative, and focuses on Digital Banking, Core Banking, Open Finance and Sustainability. Beyond the McKinsey work, Giuseppe is a passionate music lover and DJ and also cofounded a few startups, including a global community for music producers.
Mini Track Chairs
Nasser Abouzakhar is the director of Anzar Property Investment Limited which was founded in 2017 and the author of the book Real Estate Investment: In the pursuit of building income-producing assets to grow your wealth. He is an award-winning author and a regular guest on the BBC Arabic TV channel. Between 2004 and 2019, he worked at different universities in the UK as an academic, teaching and researching different technology-related subjects. Nasser has a good understanding of the property investment business and finances. He has firm relationships with professionals in banking, legal, accounting, and valuation which assist with his responsibility as the company director. He leads a highly professional and experienced property management team.
Dr Carol Air has a PhD in entrepreneurship and is a Lecturer in purchasing and supply chain management at Aberdeen Business School, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Carol is currently working on a number of business innovation and pedagogical projects in which she is exploring the application of design thinking approaches. Carol is supervising doctoral students undertaking projects in innovation, entrepreneurship and design thinking.
Dr Nikolaos Apostolopoulos, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in European Policies in Sustainability and Entrepreneurship at the University of Peloponnese and visiting fellow at the Neapolis University Pafos. He also acts as scientific advisor at the Labour Institute of General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE) in Greece. He is co-editor of the edited volumes entitled: “Universities and Entrepreneurship: Meeting the Educational and Social Challenges”, “Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals and Entrepreneurship”, “Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU”.
Teresa Dieguez, Specialist on Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), Portugal. She founded her first company in 1995 and in 2007 she took a Master on Innovation and Technological Transfer. Now, Teresa is a professor and a co-promotor of different businesses and activities. She is a Social Judge, and she is taking her PhD on Social Sustainability and Development.
Isabel Ferreira, PhD in IS and Technology, from the University of Minho, Portugal. Research collaborator in the group IS and Technologies for the Transformation of Organizations and Society, University of Minho. Isabel, has been teaching in Higher Education since 2001, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave. Research interests: e-government, electronic public procurement, public policies, social innovation, and active learning methodologies.
Professor Heather Fulford has experience leading research and knowledge transfer projects with small business and third sector organizations in the UK. Her research interests lie in enterprise and social innovation. Heather is currently leading a project exploring the use of design thinking for business process improvement in SMEs, and is also engaged in a social innovation project work using systems thinking and design thinking approaches. Heather is supervising several doctoral projects focused on aspects of innovation, enterprise and design thinking.
Paula Loureiro, PhD student in Business Sciences, with several publications in the areas of Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior. Paula has been teaching in Higher Education since 1998. Experience in coordinating disciplinary areas of the Management Department. Research interests: Career Management, Skills management, Equal opportunities, and diversity management.
Dr Alexandros Kakouris, PhD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in entrepreneurial learning and education at the Departmnt of Management Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese and at the Hellenic Open University. He holds PhD in Physics, PhD in Entrepreneurship and a MSc in Adult Education. His special interests concern: fostering entrepreneurship and innovation to science graduates, context-aware entrepreneurship, support of youth entrepreneurship through teaching and counselling as well as nascent entrepreneurship, transformative and experiential learning. He is on the editorial board of International Journal of Management Education.
Dr. Margaret Mangion holds a Doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Leicester (UK), She is Director and Senior Lecturer at The Edward de Bono Institute for Creative Thinking and Innovation at the University of Malta, where she has been lecturing on creativity, innovation and leadership since 2012. Dr Mangion represents Malta as an ambassador for World Creativity and Innovation Week/Day events. In this role she coordinates various creativity-related incentives at the University of Malta and within the community. She is a member of the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI), the Society for Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC), the Possibility Studies Network (PSN) and the Serendipity Society. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed conference proceedings, edited books and journals. Margaret has considerable experience in the public and private sector.
Florinda Matos is a Professor at Iscte Business School - University Institute of Lisbon and an Integrated Researcher at DINÂMIA'CET – Iscte, Centre for the Study of Socioeconomic Change and the Territory. She is the founder and president of the Intellectual Capital Association (ICAA). She is researching the area of Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management, Innovation, Organizational Resilience, Digital Transformation & Sustainable Development.
Professor Renato Pereira, PhD in Management Sciences, is Professor of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and International Business at Iscte Business School, Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests cover the organizational implications if creativity and innovation, the role of emerging technologies on new business opportunities, and valuation methods of innovative start-ups.
Jordan Srour is an associate professor of operations management at the Lebanese American University (LAU). She holds a PhD in Logistics Management from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. With a background in both mathematics (BA from Carleton College) and transportation (MSE from UT Austin), her research and teaching focuses on data analytics for management problems across a variety of domains. Dr. Srour also serves as the Assistant Provost for Educational Resources and Innovation.
Christy Suciu works in the College of Business and Economics at Boise State University and completed her graduate work at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her research interests include design thinking and is published in the Academy of Management Learning and Education for a paper titled, “The Need for Design Thinking in Business Schools.” She has written the book “Design Thinking and Strategy” (Suciu & Kaupins) that is used in 3 different MBA “Design Thinking and Strategy” courses. She is the director for “The COBE Innovation Challenge.” She is also a consultant for major global companies such as HP, Blue Cross, Micron, and Wells Fargo.
Dr Andreas Walmsley, PhD, is Associate Professor in Business at Plymouth Marjon University. He conducts research in entrepreneurship, especially entrepreneurship education, graduate entrepreneurship and responsible entrepreneurship. He is on the editorial boards of the journals Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research.
Dr Birgitte Wraae, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Business and Technology and the Department of Applied Business Research at UCL University College Denmark. Her research interests are in entrepreneurship, especially entrepreneurship education: identity formation, emancipation, and employability. She excels in doing research in connection with the entrepreneurial learning space. She has recently published a book on the entrepreneurial learning journey.