Below are the ECKM Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
NĂłra Obermayer, PhD is a Full Professor, Head of Department of Management and Vice-dean for Development at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2008 focusing on Knowledge management. She won the Best Young Researcher and Scientist Paper Award, Winner of Elsevier Scopus Young Researcher Award and the Order of Merit of Hungary, Knight's Cross, Civilian Grade. She is the General Secretary of Knowledge Management Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She is full member of The New Club of Paris, the International Association for Knowledge Management and the Program Committee of the European Conference on Knowledge Management.
Prof. dr habil Andrea Bencsik CSc, Ph.D is a professor at Pannon University in Hungary and at J. Selye University in Slovakia. She has been engaged in research and teaching of knowledge management in Master and PhD courses for 22 years. Her work in this field is marked by numerous books and scientific publications. 18 Ph.D students completed their research on knowledge management under her supervision. She is a member of the editorial and advisory boards of several international journals and a member of international professional organisations. She is responsible for events at the Knowledge Management Working Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Contributor and professional leader in international projects related to knowledge management, invited and keynote speaker at international conferences. Her scientific work has been honoured with awards and distinctions.
Key Note Speakers
Stephanie Barnes is a seasoned and visionary executive with over 25 years of success helping global organizations to achieve short- and long-term objectives by driving innovation, technology transformation, cultural change, and continuous improvement. Accomplished Knowledge Management leader with strong expertise in designing knowledge management strategies and frameworks, delivering knowledge management initiatives, and providing essential knowledge management toolkits. A strategic thinker with proven expertise in shaping long-range knowledge management strategy, roadmap, and process, and aligning people, processes, technology, and departments to achieve corporate goals. Collaborative and creative problem solver with a demonstrated ability to work across all organizational levels and global teams to drive transformational initiatives. Engaging communicator with extensive international working experience in Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Cindy Hubert is an APQC inaugural Fellow in Knowledge Management (KM), responsible for building upon the organization’s rich legacy as one of the foremost innovators and leaders in the field of Knowledge Management. She has over her 30 years with APQC, during which she has been instrumental in building the organization’s intellectual capital in KM through the design and implementation of various tools, methodologies, and research practices. During her tenure, Cindy has provided leadership and oversight to more than 500 client projects around the world involving the transfer of best practices, benchmarking,knowledge management, andprocess and performance managementusing APQC's proven methodologies. She has provided subject matter expertise in APQC’s extensive KM research program which has completed more than 35 collaborative research projects and ten Advanced Working Groups on various KM topics.
Mini Track Chairs
Dr. Desireé Cranfield is Senior Lecturer/Deputy Programme Director, Postgraduate Business Management programmes within the School of Management, Swansea University. She has a Ph.D. in Knowledge Management from Southampton University and she is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and an assessor for the SFHEA. Her academic experience spans more than 18 years in the UK and South Africa. She has co-authored papers on Knowledge sharing and knowledge management, the impact of Covid-19 on students and staff, as well as cyber security perceptions and practices within HEIs. She has recently co-authored two book chapters with a focus on Leadership in a digital age and Knowledge sharing in Higher Education.
Beáta Fehérvölgyi, PhD is an Associate professor, Head of Department of Innovation Management (Institute of Management) and Dean at the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Pannonia, Veszprém. She obtained her PhD in Business and Management at the University of Pannonia, in 2010 focusing on the “Boundless opportunities along the border”. She has been interested in management, tourism and innovation practices, especially in social innovation. Her scientific research currently focused on the developments of regional and touristic destinations, place marketing, social alliances and the exploration of the third mission activities of the higher education institutions. Furthermore, she is actively engaged in teaching both BsC, and MsC level courses and she is dedicated in educating MBA students. She has been actively involved in international and national research projects, such as TINLAB (National Laboratory for Social Innovation NKFIH-875-4/2020 and National Laboratory for Climate Change NKFIH-872-2/2020), or SKIPPER (Skill portfolio of Professional development).
Andrew Herd is a knowledge management and lessons learned senior expert and practitioner. He has worked at the European Space Agency for 20 years and for the last 7 years been dedicated to the area of knowledge management, including being the lead for corporate lessons learned since its conception at the Agency. Andrew has been part of internal activities for KM as well as knowledge sharing on KM and LL processes outside of the Agency: with industry, academia and other non-profit organisations. Whilst working as a thought leader in this area, he is actively open to new ideas and adopting or adapting these within the specific organisational context of the Agency.
Prof Ali Hessami was the Chair and Technical Editor of IEEE’s first global standard “Model Process for addressing Ethical Concerns in System Design”, referred to as P7000. This generic process standard that’s been published as IEEE 7000 in September 2021 is aimed at identification, evaluation and protection of ethical human values in products, services and systems. Ali is also VC of IEEE Ethics Certification Programme for Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (ECPAIS).
Dr Yayoi Hirose is a professor of Business Management at Toyo University, Japan. She received her Doctoral degree in Management from Henley Business School. Her main research areas are multi-cultural knowledge transfer and management, including Anglo-American and Asian countries, and engineering and business experts. She also proposes global digital business strategy, including DX strategy and SDGs to various Japanese companies.
Kathrin Kirchner is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Her research focuses on the influence of new digital technologies (e.g., Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence) on knowledge work and employees’ well-being. She is co-editor of the International Journal of Workplace Health Management.
Patrycja Krawczyk PhD, graduated from the University of Economics in Wrocław (Poland). Her research interests are focused on management processes taking into account the international perspective. She focuses her attention on learning new areas, especially non-financial reporting. She is interested in various aspects related to sustainable development from the point of view of the individual person, the organization and the economy. She works at the Częstochowa University of Technology.
Anna Maria Melina is Research fellow in Organization studies at University of Messina. Her research focuses on Knowledge Management, Family Business, Small & Medium Business, Generational Change and Healthcare System. She is a speaker in national and international conferences. She is the author and/or co-author of several publications, including books, articles, research reports and working papers.
Ludmila Mládková works at the Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic. She specialises in management, knowledge management, management of knowledge workers and spirituality. Ludmila lectures and publishes on these topics. She strongly believes that only a systemic management approach benefits organisations.
Dr eng. Luiza Piersiala, is Assistant Professor at the Czestochowa University of Technology. Shis is a Doctor of Management and Quality Sciences a member of the Association of Women of the Częstochowa Region (Poland) and author and co-author of more than 50 scientific publications. She is Editor of multi-author monographs and reviewer of papers in Polish and foreign journals. She participated in a foreign internship at the Technical University of Ostrava and has been responsible for organising a national conference. She is a multiple winner of the Rector's Awards of the Czestochowa University of Technology and is supervisor of the “Lean&Smart” Student Scientific Club.
Walter Vesperi is Research Fellow in Organization Theory and HRM at University of Palermo. His research topics are on knowledge transfer, university entrepreneurship and agri-food sector. His publications appeared in academic journals and presented his research at several international conferences. Also he is member of editorial board of International Journal of Management Practice.
Yong Wang is Professor in Family Business & Entrepreneurship at Wolverhampton Business School and Fellow of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA). Prof. Wang’s research focus on family business and entrepreneurship. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of Strategic Information System, Journal of Family Business Strategy, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, as well as others.