Terminals are getting more and more powerful, electronics such as digital cameras have Wi-Fi connectivity embedded, and new phones will be able to connect to a variety of gateways and, in a few years, connect directly to one another through mesh networks. Infrastructures at the edge, by municipalities or by users, are rapidly growing in capabilities and extensions, and they may condition the evolution of the core networks and the strategies of big operators. How are the two forces going to merge or clash in the next few years?

Roberto Saracco Head, Long Term Research and Scientific Communication Telecom Italia

In his more than 30 years with Telecom Italia Lab, Dr. Saracco has held various positions and been involved in many areas of research, including switching, data networks, and network management. In the past 10 years, his interest and responsibility shifted to the economic aspects of innovation. He leads the area responsible for future trends and scientific communications in Telecom Italia. He set up and led a research team studying the economic implication of technological evolution at the Future Centre in Venice and has led a World Bank/Infodev project in Latin America, leading to more than 100 innovation project proposals.

Claudio Chiarenza General Manager and Chief Strategic Officer Italtel S.p.A.

Mr. Chiarenza was named chief strategic officer in December 2005 and was appointed general manager in February 2006. He was head of the products business unit, with a mission to develop and promote the business of next-generation network solutions and services—based on Italtel's proprietary products and third-party products—by leveraging in-house R&D competences and technological alliances. He has worked with Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University since 1999, where he held a series of lectures on telecommunications-related topics.

Alexander D. Gelman Chief Scientist Panasonic Princeton Laboratory

Dr. Gelman has spent more than 30 years in industrial research, working in different areas of communications and networking, including spread spectrum, DSL-based IPTV and Internet, ultra wideband communications, and Internet telephony. He has more than 100 publications, several patents, including some of earliest DSL system patents. He is a veteran IEEE volunteer. He served on several IEEE committees, served three terms as Communications Society vice president, was a member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Standards Association, and currently serves as ComSoc's director of standards. He is the 2006 winner of IEEE ComSoc's Donald W. McLellan Meritorious Service Award.

Alberto Lotti Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Technical Officer Alcatel-Lucent

Mr. Lotti has more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications. He has recently held various assignments in Belgium, Spain, and Italy, leading international systems engineering groups and marketing teams for telecom.

Dan Martin Chief Technology Officer, Assistant IBM

Mr. Martin has been in network planning, design, and implementation for more than 15 years. The past five years have been focused on making it easier for service providers to manage their networks. He works for the IBM Tivoli office of the chief technology officer as a liaison between IBM research and the Tivoli Netcool product line. He helps IBM researchers understand network management problems and Netcool productize solutions provided by IBM research.

Shawn McAllister Vice President, Architecture Solace Systems

Mr. McAllister is responsible for all aspects of Solace Systems' product design and architecture as well as analysis of customer technical requirements. Mr. McAllister has been a visible leader in Ottawa, Canada's thriving telecom technology sector for more than15 years. Prior to Solace, he led engineering teams in the development of ATM switches, metro Ethernet switches, and IP routers at Newbridge Networks and Alcatel.

John Mellis Chief Technology Officer and co-founder Evolved Networks

Mr. Mellis has many years of experience of leading project teams and functional units at BT, principally in telecom access and optical network development. He led the project in the BT/DuPont (now Agilent) joint venture, which launched the world's first commercially available optical amplifiers, and was a special rapporteur for the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. Prior to joining BT, he advanced system developments for Nortel and British Aerospace.