Carmel Ortiz is a seasoned engineering leader with over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications, satellite, and digital media industries. As the Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Intelsat, she leads the ideation, design, and development of transformative technology initiatives – including space, ground, and artificial intelligence systems – that reshape Intelsat’s service offerings.

Before joining Intelsat, Carmel served as Vice President and Chief Systems Engineer at OneWeb, where she was responsible for the end-to-end system design and performance of its low-earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication system. Prior to OneWeb, she co-founded Skjei Telecom, a technology consulting firm specializing in satellite communications, where she developed large-scale, mission-critical systems for both commercial and federal clients.

Earlier in her career, Carmel held various engineering roles at GTE Corporation, GTE Spacenet, and GE Americom. She is currently a Board Member of the Digital IFL (DIFI) Consortium and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). A graduate of Georgia Tech with a BS in Electrical Engineering, Carmel was inducted into its Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2022.

Caitlin McCarthy Clarke serves as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Cyber and Emerging Technology on the National Security Council. In that role, Caitlin leads the development of defensive-related cyber policy. Previously, Caitlin served as the Assistant National Cyber Director for Planning and Operations within the Office of National Cyber Director focused on federal coherence in response to significant cyber incidents or campaigns of significance. Prior to returning to government service in 2022, Caitlin was both the Director of Cyber Industry Partnerships and Regulatory Engagement and Director of Cyber Threat Intelligence at American Express. She has also served in various positions at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leading national preparedness policy and doctrine as well as operational planning efforts. 

Caitlin holds a B.A. in Political Science from Providence College and a Master’s in Public Policy, concentration in National Security, from George Mason University. 

Javier Albares Bueno is Head of Program at the Smart Network and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS-JU) of the European Commission. Previously, he worked as Head of Telco Solutions at Here Technologies, a location technology firm with focus on positioning and automation. He also collaborated in 5GAA, as Vice-chair of working group 5 (future business models). Between 2013 and 2021 he worked for GSMA, the world’s largest telecoms association, as Director of Innovation (Brussels office) and Director of Strategy (London office). During this time, he worked to identify future sources of value and opportunities for industry collaboration in the transition to 5G. Previosly, he worked for 13 years at Telefonica-O2, as Director of strategy, mobile services and alliances, both in Europe and Latin America. He started his career as Telecom analyst for HSBC Investment Bank in London. Javier holds an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD France, an MBA from IESE Business School and a double bachelor’s degree in business science and economics from ICADE-Comillas Pontificia University. He has also completed programs on Innovation Management at IMD and on Artificial Intelligence at MIT Sloan.

Stuart Strickland is Wireless Chief Technology Officer and Fellow at HPE Aruba Networking. His team represents HPE in wireless standards bodies, advances industry interests with regulators, runs a wireless lab generating performance and interoperability data, develops new product concepts, and oversees customer deployments of new technologies and features. Stuart is the principal architect of HPE’s enterprise 5G strategy, Aruba Air Pass to enable cellular roaming onto enterprise Wi-Fi networks, and the Open Locate indoor location technology initiative.

Prior to joining HPE in 2015, Stuart led Wi-Fi/small cell convergence and hybrid location strategies at Qualcomm, directing the team that developed the first time-based Wi-Fi ranging techniques. He served as Vice President of the Location Based Services Business Unit at Cambridge Silicon Radio, driving the initial adoption of GPS receivers in mobile phones, and he directed the GNSS receiver product line at SiGe Semiconductor, championing low-cost software-defined receiver architectures. As lead software architect at Siemens Mobile Networks, Stuart played a key role in the development of the first 3G mobile networks.

Before turning his attention to future technologies, Stuart trained as a historian of science, publishing extensively on the history of self-experimentation and the ideology of subjective experience in German Romanticism and co-founding the history of science program at Northwestern University.

Stuart earned his undergraduate degree in the Philosophy of Mathematics from Columbia University and his PhD in the History & Philosophy of Science from Harvard University.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks believes that communications technology has the potential to be one of the most powerful forces on Earth for promoting equality and opportunity. To unlock that potential, however, all Americans must have access. From combatting internet inequality to advocating for diversity in employment, entrepreneurship, and media ownership, Commissioner Starks fights for policies designed to ensure that modern communications technology empowers every American.

Because high-quality broadband is essential to participating in our economy and society, Commissioner Starks has been a champion for the millions of Americans who lack access to or cannot afford a home internet connection. As a native Kansan, he understands the communications needs of rural America. He has consistently advocated for broadband deployment that helps rural communities tap into economic and educational opportunities that may not be close to home, which both encourages young people to stay and attracts new residents and employers.

Bringing a wealth of enforcement experience to the Commission, Commissioner Starks advocates for consumer protection and accountability, particularly in managing the Universal Service Fund. Before he was appointed Commissioner, Starks helped lead the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, handling a wide variety of complex investigations. At the Department of Justice, he served as a senior advisor to the Deputy Attorney General on a variety of domestic and international law enforcement matters and received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service—the highest honor award a DOJ employee can receive.

Commissioner Starks is also a leader on national security policy, working to eliminate untrustworthy equipment from America’s communications networks. His Find It, Fix It, Fund It initiative brought national attention to the urgent need to support small and rural companies as they work to make their networks more secure. With regard to personal data security, while Commissioner Starks fully supports the promise of advanced wireless service and other cutting-edge technologies—and works to ensure that all communities share in the benefits of these advancements—he also fully appreciates the potentially intrusive powers of some communications technologies and is vigilant to ensure against any uses of those powers that would promote illegal discrimination or compromise personal privacy.

Mark Dankberg is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Viasat, Inc. He co-founded the company in 1986. Under his leadership, Viasat has consistently been one of America’s fastest growing technology companies, and has been recognized multiple times by leading business and industry publications including BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, DefenseNews, SpaceNews, and Washington Technology for its leadership.

Mark is a leading expert in aerospace, defense, and satellite systems and participates in both national and international organizations involved in delivering, defining, and governing space systems and services, including:

• The US National Academy of Engineering, a part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine
• The President’s National Security Telecom Advisory Committee
• As a commissioner-elect of the United Nations ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for sustainable development
• Founding Chairman of the Mobile Satellite Services Association
• Board of Directors of the Global Satellite Operators Association

He is globally recognized for leadership in defining, researching, and measuring safe, sustainable, and equitable access to scarce space orbital and spectrum resources as well as technologies and regulations that support achieving the benefits of space integration into national infrastructures while preserving the space and earth environment. He has co-authored and published research papers has been an invited speaker on these and other topics in numerous technical, industry, and governance venues.

Mark has received numerous awards for his industry and business leadership:

• San Diego Business Journal’s SD500 Leaders
• 2022 Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC) Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2018 UC San Diego CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
• 2017 LEAD San Diego Economic Opportunity Award
• 2016 Director of the Year Honoree by San Diego-based Corporate Directors Forum
• 2015 Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame
• 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Industry Innovator
• 2013 San Diego Business Journal Most Admired CEO Founders Award
• 2012 Visionary Executive of the Year, Satellite Markets and Research
• 2008 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aerospace International Communications Award
• 2003 Satellite Industry Executive of the Year
• 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego in 2000

Prior to founding Viasat, Mark was Assistant Vice President of M/A-COM Linkabit, a manufacturer of satellite telecommunications equipment, from 1979 to 1986, and Communications Engineer for Rockwell International Corporation from 1977 to 1979.

He earned B.S. EE and M.S. EE degrees from Rice University and is a member of the Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering Hall of Fame.