Accelerating the transition to a digital economy

Kurt is a partner currently based in our Brussels office, with over 20 years of experience in strategy consulting. He has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and North America, and is active in a broad range of sectors including energy, electronics, automotive, consumer goods, industrial goods and private equity. His main focus has been on Digital Shift as well as on complex strategic, organizational and operations transformation programs.

Pat Breen has been a member of the Irish parliament for 18 years, the last 4 as Minister for Trade, Business & Digital Affairs when Ireland's unemployment rate fell from 15.1% to 4.7% with a record 2.3m people employed before the outbreak of Covid 19.  Previously a Chair of the powerful all-party Foreign Affairs Committee, Breen led 35 international trade and investment missions on behalf of the Irish Government on every continent as both inward investment and Irish exports broke all pre-existing records. He has represented Ireland at EU Council meetings on Trade and on Competitiveness and sat on the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for 6 years prior to entering Government. 

An architect by training, Breen is a familiar face to key decision makers in Washington, Brussels and London who has worked closely with two Irish Prime Ministers and has been at the heart of the drive to rebuild Ireland's economy after the financial crash and again as it prepared its enterprise community for the challenges that Brexit creates.  He is a native of Co. Clare in the West of Ireland and is passionate about Irish enterprise, technology’s capacity to transform lives and Ireland's role in the EU and beyond.

Mario Grotz started his career at the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Craft, where he acted as advisor to SME’s in areas concerning business creation and business management. In 2001, he joined the Ministry of the Economy where his focus was on the evaluation of R&D projects implemented by the private sector. From 2009-2012 he was appointed Head of the Directorate for Infrastructures and Technology. Since 2012, he is the Director General for Research, Intellectual Property and New Technologies, responsible for the development of the technology-based sectors in Luxembourg: cleantech, biotech, ICT and space. He also represents the State of Luxembourg in different boards of private companies. In 2012, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company Creos Luxembourg.

In 2018, Mario Grotz became President of Luxinnovation, the national innovation agency, which offers a wide portfolio of services to companies and public research organisations. 

Mario Grotz has been a key advocate of the country’s space industry and commercial space activities. In context of the SpaceResources.lu initiative, he has played a crucial role in the setup of the regulatory, legal and financing frameworks that have positioned Luxembourg at the forefront of space resources utilisation. Most recently, in September 2018, the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) officially launched operations with the goal of promoting the further economic development of the Grand Duchy’s space industry by attracting businesses, developing human resources, providing innovative financial solutions and supporting educational and research infrastructure.

Thibaut KLEINER is the Director for Policy, Strategy and Outreach at DG Connect. He has worked since 2001 at the European Commission. The first ten years of his career in the Commission were spent in the area of competition policy (merger, antitrust and State aid). He was notably member of the cabinet of Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for Competition, in 2007-2010 and head of unit for State aid coordination in DG Competition. In September 2011, he moved to the digital policy area, as advisor of Vice-President Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda, and supervised Internet policies at large (Internet Governance, cybersecurity, cloud, data). From January 2014 to June 2016, he was head of unit in charge of network technologies (5G and Internet of Things) in DG Connect. From June 2016 to December 2019 he was the deputy head of cabinet of Commissioner Oettinger, in charge of Budget and Human Resources and he then came back to DG Connect to head the unit in charge of Research Strategy and Coordination. An economist by training, Thibaut holds a Master from HEC Paris and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Minna Kivimäki is the Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the EU since 1 September 2016. During the Finland’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2019, she chaired the Committee of Deputy Permanent Representatives (Coreper 1). Previously, she worked as Director General for Transport Policy and for Transport and Communications Services at the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Helsinki between 2010-2016, as well as Director for Transport Services between 2008-2010 in the same Ministry. Furthermore, she has held the position of Ministerial Counsellor for EU Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Communications as well as Transport Counsellor in the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU and she also chaired the Transport Working Party at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU in during Finland’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2006. Kivimäki holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Helsinki.

Prof Michele Geraci is Professor of Practice in Economic Policy at Nottingham University, China and Adjunct Professor at NYU Shanghai. He is the former Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, responsible for International Trade and Investment, in the Conte I cabinet. Prior to that, he lived for ten years in China where he worked as macro-economist and prof of finance in various universities. Prior to moving to China in 2008, Mr Geraci lived in London for 20 years working as Top Telecom Investment Banker in the City of London and as Electronic Engineer. In 2018, he was one of the nominees for Italy’s Prime Minister, before taking the role as under-secretary. He is also a frequent guest on major international media and conference and has been awarded Italian Knighthood honor by Italian President Mattarella. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan. He speaks 5 languages, including Chinese. 

Michael is a partner based in our Munich office, with over 25 years of experience in management consulting. He has been leading our TIME practice in Central Europe since 2013. Since joining Arthur D. Little in 2010, his main focus of expertise has been on Digital Transformation, definition of innovative operating models, and design of growth strategies.

Andrew Williamson is currently Vice-President and Economic Advisor of the Government Affairs team at Huawei Technologies. In this role, Andrew is a key aide on global macroeconomic, political and industry trends. His research also involves the contribution ICT makes to economic growth and society. Before joining Huawei, Andrew was Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet and Global Leader of its Country Risk department. His team of economists and analysts provided their clients with timely advice and research on operational risks internationally, with a special focus on the risks faced by companies’ individual supply chains. Andrew spent a few years furthering his interest in the theories of environmental economics, policy drafting and environmental impact assessment by undertaking a MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation at the London School of Economics. He worked subsequently at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, specialising in research on the opportunities and risks posed by climate change on the financial sector. Previous to this Andrew held a number of roles over many years at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including Global Director of Economic Research and Deputy Director of Country Forecasting. He began his career in the British Diplomatic Service.