Leading the mobility of the future

Chris Barton is the founder and creator of Shazam, a revolutionary app that changed the way the world identifies and discovers music, with over 2 billion downloads. In 2018, Shazam was acquired by Apple for $400 million, making it the company's sixth largest acquisition to date. Not only did the app become an essential part of everyday life for millions of people around the world, but it also paved the way for the consumer AI industry we know today.

In addition to being the mastermind behind Shazam, Chris has been an entrepreneur in three startups and is an advisor and investor in several startups in areas including artificial intelligence and therapies for inflammatory diseases. His impact on the tech industry is not limited to Shazam, as he was also the first Google employee responsible for mobile development, where he helped establish the framework for Android operator partnerships. He was also part of Dropbox, where he was one of the first 100 employees, and played a key role in the company's strategic partnerships with major mobile operators.

Chris has patented 12 technological innovations, including one used in Google's search algorithm, highlighting his contribution to the technology industry. He currently devotes much of his time to his latest start-up, Guard, which uses artificial intelligence to detect drowning in swimming pools, an unprecedented challenge that seeks to save lives through innovation.

In his lectures, Chris shares the story of how he turned an impossible idea into a globally used reality. From his early days of dreaming up a way to identify songs through mobile devices, to creating a technology that didn't exist, to building the world's largest music database, Chris has always shown an unwavering determination to overcome obstacles. Even when experts told him his idea was not feasible, he persisted and eventually created Shazam, which he launched as a phone service before the era of mobile apps. Years later, the launch of the App Store allowed Shazam to reach its true potential.

In addition to his success in technology, Chris is also a firm believer in the power of creativity and resilience, which is reflected in his personal story. The son of a French mother and British father, both university professors, Chris grew up struggling with academic difficulties due to undiagnosed dyslexia. However, he transformed this condition, which used to be a barrier, into what he now considers his ‘superpower’. This positive outlook has helped him tackle challenges in innovative ways, allowing him to excel in the competitive world of technology.

With degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Cambridge University, Chris has a strong academic background. Today, in addition to his entrepreneurial responsibilities, he spends part of his time teaching innovation and entrepreneurship at various online universities, inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs. His passion for creating technological solutions that solve seemingly impossible problems has made Chris Barton an influential and admired figure in the world of technology.

In his talks, Chris not only recounts his inspirational journey, but also motivates audiences to take action and challenge the seemingly impossible. His lessons on innovation, persistence and breaking down barriers give attendees new ways of thinking and push them to do great things in their own organisations.With his ability to create technological magic and his focus on transforming difficulties into opportunities, Chris Barton is a living example of how determination and vision can change the world.

She graduated with a PhD in Geography from Heidelberg University and is a registered architect in Germany. Iris has combined practice in the AEC industry with academia and held a tenure track as Assistant Professor at Tongji University Shanghai, and as postdoc with ETH Zürich in Switzerland and the Future Cities Lab in Singapore. She worked for gmp-architekten in China, Drees & Sommer in Germany and others.

He has 35 years of international experience in the energy and environment sector, having been global director of the energy area of Boston Consulting Group for 11 years until his retirement in 2018.

He is currently an independent director of several companies and entities in the energy sector such as Repsol, Tubacex, ENSO, EVE (‘Ente Vasco de Energía’) and Tecnalia.

Internationally, he is a member of the international advisory board of Innomissions (Innovation Fund Denmark) and of the Tikehau energy transition fund, as well as a member of the Industry Advisory Committee of the IEF (International Energy Forum) and of the executive committee of WPC Energy, and collaborates with entities such as AMER (Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable).

She is the chair of the ITE Standing Committee on Health and Transportation and is co-chair of the ITE People-Centered Mobility Great Idea Group. Kelly also serves on the Transportation and Public Health Standing Committee at the Transportation Research Board. Kelly is currently serving on a National Academies of Science Consensus Study Committee regarding the data, metrics, and methods for evaluating transportation equity. Kelly has a PhD in urban studies, a master’s degree in landscape architecture, and an undergraduate degree in urban and regional planning.

Benjie also convenes the Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda and edits and produces Pop Transport.
He also serves on the board of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the US Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, the UITP Informal Transportation Working Group, the Digital Transport for Africa Partners Committee, the MobiliseYourCity Steering Committee, and is a Senior Fellow for Mobility for the Canadian Urban Institute.
He served as the first-ever Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Seattle Department of Transportation. He and his team drafted the city’s Transportation Information Infrastructure Plan. He also led the development of Seattle’s New Mobility Playbook. 
He served on the advisory committees for L.A.’s Transportation Technology Strategy, the Mobiprize, and Cooper Hewitt Museum’s The Road Ahead: Reimagining Mobility and Design with the Other 90%: Cities.

Martine Kildeby is responsible for global partnerships and cross-border collaboration at BLOXHUB – the
Nordic Hub for Sustainable Urbanization. Representing 350 organizations, all working on creating our future cities, Martine Kildeby is framing a bigger picture of how competencies and solutions come together to solve the urban challenges of our time. Based on the experience that challenges of global urbanization and climate change require new ways of collaboration, Martine exchanges knowledge and innovation across spearhead communities, supporting business and sustainable change in cities and organizations worldwide.

With a background as Environmental Engineer and experience in the private and public sectors, Martine
has thorough insights into challenges and solutions aiming to create a more sustainable future. Creating
actual impact from across borders collaboration is the backbone of her professional life, where she
activates key knowledge into holistic and sustainable impact projects. Martine has headed implementation
projects at the Danish Energy Agency, led high-level stakeholder involvement processes, and expanded the collaboration across borders from a base in Munich for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In her current position as Head of Strategic Partnerships at BLOXHUB, Martine is activating unique competencies within the BLOXHUB ecosystem in cross-sector, cross-border collaborations worldwide.

Link to LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinekildeby/

Louis Zacharilla helped start and popularize the Intelligent Community movement.  As a founder of the Intelligent Community Forum, he developed the Forum’s iconic international Awards program which encourages cities and towns of all sizes to accelerate their growth through a very specific method. Lou speaks to and writes for audiences worldwide. He has helped ICF found three global Institutes for the study of the Intelligent Community. 

Mr. Zacharilla is a frequent keynote speaker and moderator at events related to cities, broadband connectivity and the future. He has been featured on Finnish, Swedish, Chinese, Canadian and Australian TV.  His work was the subject of a multi-part series in Taiwan’s Ideas Magazine. 

In 2012 he was invited to the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo to speak about communities’ role in establishing free and more open societies.  His TED talk is titled, “There is No Place Like Home.”

Lou hosts “The INTELLIGENT Community” Podcast and is co-author of four books, including Brain Gain. 

Mr. Zacharilla continues to lecture at universities around the world, including the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Laval University (Quebec City), Fordham University (NY), New York University’s Polytechnic Institute, Central European University (Budapest), Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University and Harvard University. 

He recently gave the keynote address at the Smart City conference in Casablanca and at Vietnam’s first Smart City conference where ICF was responsible for the transformation of Binh Duong into the nation’s first Intelligent Community.    

Mr. Zacharilla began his career in advertising as a copywriter before he founded a commercial company in the space and satellite industry.  

He was born in Lyons, New York and lives in Manhattan. 

Matthew Owen, Communications Director, ICF at +1 646-291-6166 (x105) or email: Mowen@intelligentcommunity.org or Auri Yates at production@creating-communities.com

X: @Newcommunities

 

Shin-pei’s experience converges on policy, design, and governance to shape inclusive and sustainable cities. She has spearheaded innovative approaches to systemic challenges across numerous urban issues, often with a focus on the public realm and transportation. 

Shin-pei was previously the global policy director for cities and sustainability at Uber, where she was named a Sustainability Star by AdWeek for her work on the company’s first global sustainability commitment. She founded Make Public, a social impact analysis firm, and was executive director of Gehl Institute, a non-profit that advocated for public life and public spaces. Shin-pei also served as deputy executive director of TransitCenter, a national foundation focused on improving urban transportation, and created the Cities and Transportation program under the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Shin-pei served on the NYC Public Design Commission and taught urban design at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Art, and Preservation and Parsons School of Design. She holds a BA from Cornell University and a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.