Category Archives: Spotlight Interviews

Gero Meinecke, Global Market Segment Manager Energy, Georg Fischer Piping Systems

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A conversation with Gero Meinecke, Global Market Segment Manager Energy, Georg Fischer Piping Systems

Gero finished his studies in electrical engineering at the Technical University in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1999. As a qualified Dipl.-Ing. for automation technology, he joined Siemens Power Generation in Erlangen, Germany as a project manager for global power plant instrumentation & control projects. Further, as a strategic consultant he was responsible for the long-term product and technology planning of the entire Energy division. Finally, in the role as product line manager, he was driving the product development, marketing and commercialization of gas-fired power plant solutions. During this time, he collected all relevant professional experiences and got to know the power industry in all its diversity.

In January 2017, Gero joined Georg Fischer Piping Systems headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland as Global Market Segment Manager Energy. This new position makes him responsible for tailored regional go-to-market strategies in the energy segment and customer centred development of value selling approaches for GF products and solutions in the power industry.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

My wish is that the attendees will gain an appreciation of the benefits that advanced thermoplastic materials can bring to their industrial and especially power plant piping projects. And, that switching from metal to plastics is not a difficult or risky leap of faith when you have a solution focused partner like GF at your side, who not just sells “stuff” but guides customers all along their journey towards a successful piping project. There is added value for all the stakeholders in power generation projects, whether they are EPCs, Engineers & Consultants, Contractors or Owners & Operators and we would like to see more companies to make the change.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

I would like to hear reactions to the messages in the webinar, with focus on perceived stumbling stones that have held people back so far from substituting metal with more advanced materials. I’d also be interested in feedback, either good or bad, from audience members that have already had some exposure to thermoplastic piping materials in power generation projects.

BRW:  What do you enjoy most about your role?

I like that I am in a position to bring application expertise and customer understanding to a company that is dedicated to further develop from a product to a true solution provider and which puts the customer and value generation at the center of everything.

BRW: How did you get into the industry?

I joined the power generation industry many years ago, starting to work on power plant turnkey engineering and construction projects, first as a project engineer and later in project management. That took me around the globe quite a bit and always being close to the customers helped to build an genuine understanding of their pains and needs. The journey continued with stops in strategic marketing and long-term power industry market analysis. In my previous position as product line manager for turnkey power plant solutions I came to appreciate the role as “translator” or mediator between customer requirements and our product and solution developments as well as to return added value to the customers.

BRW: Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

Underwater, above a nice coral reef, on a sunny day, with a full tank of air on my back…

Join Gero Meinecke on 7th February for a webinar entitled ‘Solving Your Piping Corrosion Problems’ at 3PM London/10AM New York

Register Here!

Paul Attridge, Sr. Director, Vault RIM, Enterprise

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A conversation with Paul Attridge –Sr. Director at Vault RIM

Paul leads Veeva’s strategy team for the Vault product in the areas of regulatory and quality. A technologist and business development professional, he has spent the past 23 years in the life sciences industry, following eight years as a software engineer.

Previous roles have included leading the product management function in CSC’s Life Sciences Software Solutions Group. Prior to this, for 14 years he focused on product development, product support, professional services and business development associated with CSC’s Life Sciences solutions, heading up the European Life Sciences organisation during its transition from FCG Inc. into CSC.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

I hope that the audience will take away that digital disruption in Life Sciences is happening now and is real, and can drive significant improvements in their process effectiveness. However, we understand developing the case for change is hard, and we hope the audience will learn how to describe the value of transformation, understand the solution platform that can be used to deliver it and get some creative ideas around how they might enable the associated business changes necessary.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

Building the Industry Cloud for Life Sciences is Veeva’s vision, so I’m looking forward to discussing how, together with EY, we can tackle not just the technological approach but also the impact of change on business processes. It would be great to hear about what are today’s pain points for the Regulatory functions, and where they hope to see the major improvements.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role?

I find I spend most of my time educating customers on the art of the possible, providing inspiration for them to take away and start seeing things differently. Engaging in these sorts of conversations, hearing their challenges really makes this a fun job, but delivering significant improvements to their processes and seeing them proud of what they’ve achieved at the end of their implementations is the ultimate buzz, knowing that what they have delivered improved their efficiency and helped them have positive impact on the patient populations that their products treat.

BRW: How did you get into the industry?

I’m a technologist at heart, and started in software development many moons ago, my first entry into the space was in the area of content management, developing a software product for the review and approval processes associated with Quality documentation. It was a great experience and helped me see how technology can be an enabler for process improvement.

Join Paul Attridge on 15th February for a webinar entitled Digital Transformation in Regulatory at 3PM CET/2PM GMT.

Register Here!
 

Joanna Taylor, Senior Manager | EMEIA Advisory – EY

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A conversation with Joanna Taylor – Senior Manager | EMEIA Advisory at EY

Joanna Taylor is a member of EY’s European, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Advisory team with over a decade of experience in the Life Sciences industry, working globally across the R&D and Commercial functions.

She has implemented regulatory information management, document management systems, clinical data warehouse, clinical reference library, master data management and product lifecycle management systems and enjoys working with Business and IT stakeholders to help organizations to overcome the challenges of harnessing new and emerging technologies and create real business value.

Joanna has a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and an MSc in Management and combines her professional experience with PhD research into the benefits and challenges of social networking for those involved in the treatment and management of non-communicable diseases. She is a published researcher, presents at conferences and is a lecturer on the Business of eHealth and Public Health Informatics.

What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

I hope that the audience will be as energized and motivated as we are about the future of regulatory in Life Sciences and how digital technologies such as cloud based solutions from Veeva, robotics and artificial intelligence can achieve real business value to the industry. The technologies already exist and it is often the business change required for this type of transformation that poses the biggest hurdle.  We plan to discuss approaches to enabling business change during the webinar and hope that participants will learn something new about how they can achieve the success they are striving for.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

Building a better working world is our purpose at EY. I’m looking forward to hearing about the experiences of participants in digitally transforming their regulatory functions, where they have had the most difficulties, how they have addressed these and the potential they see for the future. Sharing these insights, experiences and “war wounds” amongst this community is where we learn from each other and convert theory into practice.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

The variety of interesting people that I work within the industry and how different companies are responding to the regulatory pressures and technology trends that they are faced with. I am a practical person and seeing tangible change in the industry, that ultimately have positive implications for patients, is why I get up in the morning.

How did you get into the industry?

After becoming a consultant, I had my first experience working in the industry during the implementation of a clinical trial management system. I was hooked and the rest is history.

Join Joanna Taylor on 15th February for a webinar entitled Digital Transformation in Regulatory at 3PM CET/2PM GMT.

Dr Jasmohan Bajaj, MD, PhD, Associate Professor – Virginia Commonwealth University

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A conversation with Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj, MD, PhD, Associate Professor – Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University

Active in research, Dr Bajaj has served as a principal or co-investigator for numerous clinical trials in hepatic encephalopathy, chronic liver disease and microbiome. He is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology and Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology and is on the editorial board for Journal of Hepatology and Liver Transplantation.

Dr Bajaj is the Chairperson for the North American Consortium for Study of End-stage Liver Disease and is the President of the International Society for Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

I hope that participants can understand how different roles within the hepatic encephalopathy (HE) management pathway can work synergistically to optimise outcomes. They will also learn of recently published data in the field of and the implications of these data for clinical practice.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

Personally I am looking forward to sharing results from a North American multicentre study that I have been involved in, which evaluates the role of junior doctors in HE management.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role?

I like patient-reported perspectives in HE and how this can inform our future strategies.

BRW: How did you get into your speciality?

I finished my training in several parts of the world and have benefited from the varying perspectives everywhere. What is consistent are the difficulties in determining how the brain is affected in patients with liver disease and developing strategies to define this remains my goal.

BRW: Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

Istanbul, comingling of old and new and Asia and Europe

Join Dr Jasmohan Bajaj, MD, PhD, on 25th January for a webinar entitled ‘Sharing Perspectives: What is new in the field of liver decompensation with hepatic encephalopathy (HE)?’ at 12:00 GMT/13:00 CET.

Register Here

Lee James, CTO EMEA, Rackspace

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A conversation with Lee James – CTO, EMEA at Rackspace

Before becoming Rackspace EMEA CTO, Lee gathered his experience on the user side developing and delivering industry leading cloud, analytics and SAP services for global organisations. This led to an innovation award for building BP’s first multi-cloud platform. Having been in the industry for over 20 years, Lee understands the benefits of working in a multi-cloud environment and enjoys sharing his expertise.

BRW: How did you get into the industry?

When I left university, I contracted at a number of IT companies, I’ve come up through support and worked my way through. I’ve always had an eye for spotting new technologies, new capabilities coming through that enable the business and then looked to take advantage of those and present them back to the business for us to exploit.
The big move I made was into GSK which took me into my first architecture role working across the whole business in all business units, and then moved into virtualisation and cloud technology.
My largest role was at BP to build their complete cloud management platform globally and was asked to run strategy and architecture across the whole of BP.
I made a personal choice after Uni to go into contracting rather than taking a graduate scheme to get the variety which I thrive on. I always wanted to get the variety on different industries and how they work and what they do. I moved down to London with some friends and contracting gave me the chance to move between oil and gas industries, financial services, trading floors, media, banking and utilities so it was fantastic. As you move through each one you build up knowledge and you apply that knowledge everywhere you go

BRW: Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

I come from Hull and I have travelled the world, I’ve been in helicopters in Colombia and on the beach in Rio, and the dock yards in South Korea for example. But my favourite place is where my home is. I love nothing more than going back to my home town where you walk the streets and those streets give you memories. When I go back to a place I’ve been on holiday, it fills me with happiness because I remember the good times I had, but you don’t remember the conversations you had walking down the street, or something silly that happened there, or the way you used to ride a bike, or the smells. In Hull there is Aunt Bessies – if anybody eats Yorkshire puddings, Aunt Bessies are actually made in Hull and so is a large degree of hot chocolate in the UK. When I go back now, different parts of the city will give you different smells, but smelling Yorkshire puddings being made and hot chocolate everything floods back and you remember that’s where you came from.

BRW: What do you like most about your role?

The variety. I meet so many different customers in different industries, I meet so many different people. But what I like the most, is I like helping people. People who are trying to do their job and trying to do it better and trying to improve all the time. Being a part of that is amazing. Today I have worked on a start up in Financial Services, I have then spoken to the leading furniture company, I had a conversation with a sports retailer this morning and then a bank this afternoon, and I’ve done all that in my meetings today. That variety is fantastic.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

I think the audience will learn 2 things. The first being the progression others have already made in this area and the jump into multi cloud and where multi cloud is going. Its not daunting, its being undertaken by many different companies in many different ways, but it’s the help and guidance we need to take them on in that journey.

The second thing is expertise. The voice of the customer in terms of what they are seeing. This is about giving comfort in this webinar, so one will be around don’t be scared, the second is, if you are going to make that jump, there are lots of choices for you so don’t think your hemmed in or you’re making a 5 year choice, you have the opportunity to move and try and test and go for different providers.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

Talking about the different industries. We don’t know who signs up for these webinars so firstly I’m really interested in who’s on the webinar, but then the questions could come from anywhere, public sector, not for profit, financial services, retail, telecommunications, so I always look forward to ‘what does this mean to me’ and ‘can you help me understand this’. I think that’s really important.

Join Lee James on 25th January for a webinar entitled Multi cloud: How can your business benefit? at 11AM London/6AM New York.

Register Here

Kate McCarthy, Senior Analyst – Forrester

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A conversation with Kate McCarthy – Senior Analyst at Forrester

Kate McCarthy is a senior analyst serving CIOs; she focuses on how healthcare organizations can leverage technology to optimize organizational performance and engage patients in new, innovative ways in the age of the customer. 

Kate is an expert on healthcare operations, healthcare reform, HIT adoption, and HIT competitive intelligence, providing analyses of trends from strategic direction to operational functions. Her research also addresses the security, system rationalization, and tools necessary to turn big data into actionable insights as well as the digital tools, tactics, and strategies needed to engage today’s empowered healthcare customer.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

Healthcare remains in its infancy on the road to becoming a digital business. Analog processes-paper and phone-remain prevalent in the industry and stand in the way of customer experience and encourage siloed, disconnected care. As the industry seeks ways to better engage their customers, building digital experiences should be top of mind for healthcare leaders. Life science organizations will play a key role in healthcare’s digital transformation journey. As clinical trials are disrupted with apps and as connected digital experiences enable better management of chronic diseases, the life science sector is at the forefront of the digital transformation journey. This webinar will help life science leaders build a digital transformation strategy that enables better customer experiences for personas from physician to caregiver to patient.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

I hope attendees bring curiosity about how healthcare is breaking down siloes to better engage its customers. Digital transformation brings new opportunities for life science companies to work hand-in-hand with direct care providers, insurers, and technology innovators to transform the patient experience. I look forward to questions about how to navigate this journey and both the challenges and opportunities ahead.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role?

Being an analyst allows me to see the healthcare industry from 30,000 feet. I work with organizations invested in making healthcare better. Seeing digital innovation disrupt the patient experience and deliver improved engagement and outcomes is energizing. Care continues to get closer to the patient as life science, medical device, direct care, insurer and big technology companies all work to digitally transform. Being able to help organizations successfully navigate that transformation is the most exciting part of my work.

BRW: How did you get into the industry?

From a very young age, I was fascinated with healthcare. I pursued a career in the industry in hopes of improving the patient and physician experience. I spent most of my career doing strategy work with providers and insurers, but shifted my focus to digital innovation after being diagnosed with a rare disease in my early thirties. After living through a clunky, disconnected, cost-prohibitive patient experience myself, solving for a more connected patient journey across the ecosystem is something I am personally and professionally committed to.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

Telluride, Colorado is my favorite place. It is a little ski village buried in a dramatic box canyon in the San Juan mountains. It is a place that feels stuck in a simpler time in history where outdoor adventures are literally right outside your front door. Whether you’re there for years or days, you will feel right at home in this friendly community. When I’m not working in healthcare, you will almost always find me outside. As John Muir famously said, “The mountains are calling, and I must go.”

Join Kate McCarthy on 25th January for a webinar entitled ‘Digital in Life Sciences: Are You Future Ready? at 4PM GMT / 11AM EST / 9:30PM IST.

Education: Powering the Future of Sustainable Energy

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Frank Gielen, Education Director at InnoEnergy, Europe’s innovation engine for sustainable energy.

What is the importance of life-long education in the sustainable energy sector?

The energy transition is in full force. Blink and you might miss the ‘next big thing’. It’s therefore imperative that sustainable energy companies have quality people in order to deliver innovation and remain competitive.

But, there are only so many graduates available, therefore companies should not rely solely on each new generation to drive new growth.

Instead, they should combine this hunt for the next game-changers with the constant education of their current staff. Sustainable energy companies should be asking themselves: ‘what kinds of skills will my workforce need in the future?’ And then educate their employees accordingly.

How do you think organisations within the sector should go about up-skilling their employees?

Organisations that grow using innovation don’t see training or development as a tick-box exercise. It is a key component of business strategy.

As such, it’s important that learning is holistic. It isn’t just the task of the HR department. Education must be everyone’s responsibility to promote a positive and continuous learning culture. If the next game-changers can see their education as directly connected to the strategy of the business, it will encourage their commitment to the organisation and support company growth. It’s a positive cycle of education and growth: the more motivated and engaged your employees – the stronger the growth potential. This was proven by IBM’s 2013 Smarter Workforce study, which found that 84 per cent of employees in the best performing organisations are receiving the training they need.

Companies must then think carefully about how this training is rolled out. The teacher/classroom scenario doesn’t work for every business as it often doesn’t motivate people to learn. We find that the most effective learning comes from working with peers.

That said, there isn’t always time for a collaborative approach, so we recommend blended learning as the best way to train staff. This is where companies use a mix of digital and peer-to-peer learning.

Digital and blended learning is a big priority of InnoEnergy, can you elaborate how this will help?

Digitalisation is fantastic because it offers people the chance to get basic knowledge quickly. We are seeing a major shift towards micro-learning, where individuals learn in bitesize chunks using technology as an aid. Micro-learning requires less investment of time, fits in with employees’ agendas, and promotes a better work/life balance.

Businesses can remove cost barriers by keeping learning digital and online. Micro-learning keeps the user engaged, without the additional costs associated with using tutors and third-party premises. This means that the potential for scalability is huge.

Sustainable energy companies that don’t seize the opportunity to attract game-changers and educate their workforce risk being left behind. It’s by embracing digital learning alongside peer-to-peer learning that the most innovative companies will survive and thrive through the energy transition.

Interested? Here are the upcoming courses from InnoEnergy

Blockchain in the Energy Sector: Understand how blockchain works, where the technology has come from and why it will empower energy customers like never before.

Hurry! registrations close 17 December.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/blockchain-energy-sector

Go Solar PV. This online course looks at solar PV in depth, examining its potential for today and the near future, exploring the technical challenges, and assessing the commercial opportunities.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/solar-pv

Registrations open until 22 December

Guy Matthews, Market Development Manager – Parker

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A conversation with Guy Matthews – Market Development Manager at Parker

Guy Matthews has worked in the biopharm industry for the last 20 years starting his career as a Scientist at a well-known CMO in the UK before moving to more commercial roles.

During this time he has been involved in many projects implementing single-use technology in both upstream and downstream bioprocessing.

At Parker, Guy is focused on bringing Parker’s expertise in motion and control to bioprocessing to create robust solutions in single-use technology that enable customers to improve the quality and accessibility of biopharmaceuticals

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

I hope to demonstrate that the validation of a single-use system goes beyond the usual areas of discussion – design, pressure, extractables and leachables, flow rates etc. – and that the audience needs to be thinking about how an assembly is used across a supply chain. Finally I’d like to show the value Parker can bring to ensuring the solution is fit for purpose.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

I look forward to hearing what level of testing they think is appropriate and where the line is drawn between the vendor and the end user in terms of responsibility for that testing.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role? 

The role I am in gives me an opportunity to interact with a great many customer across our industry, from the Big Pharma household names at one end of the spectrum to the start ups at the other. I like working with the appropriate Parker technology to find a solution to the challenges they face. I really enjoy the challenge and take pride in the fact that the solutions we create working together with the customer ensure the supply of medicines and vaccines that have a positive impact on the world.

BRW:  How did you get into the industry?

I would love to say it was all planned out, but in all honesty it was a series of happy accidents.  I enjoyed Science at school had an interest in biology so I studied that at degree level. After graduation I  worked at a CMO as a Microbiologist for a number of years before moving in to various commercial roles. The experience I have gained has given me a very board understanding of bioprocessing with a focus on single-use technologies.

BRW: Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

The centre of York racecourse. York is my home town and if I am on the race course ( on a non race day)  it means I am walking the family dog, usually with one of my two teenage daughters. Trying to get a teenager to communicate with you can be a challenge,  but throw a walk and a dog in to the picture and suddenly  the dialogue moves from one word answers to a conversation.

Join Guy Matthews on 14th November for a webinar entitled ‘Is There a Gap in Your Process Validation?’ at 3PM London/10AM New York.

Register Here!

Alan Cracknell, Commercial Services Director – ARCA

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A conversation with Alan Cracknell – Commercial Services Director at ARCA

Over 15 years experience providing solutions to the Retail Banking and Financial Services industry. Solutions that provide productivity gains and greater efficiency in the cash cycle by using cash automation technology.

In his role as the Commercial Services Director, Alan has worked on a range of cash automation implementations. Most notably, Alan worked on a project implementing the ARCA CM18b cash recycler into the branches of a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The implementation of ARCA cash recyclers in 87 of the bank’s locations resulted in a 60 percent reduction in overtime labor and resulted in a 10 month ROI.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar? 

For our audience to understand the value of ARCA’s branch transformation philosophy – branch evolution and how it can help banking institutions to respond quickly to an ever-changing landscape. Attendees will hopefully learn how to transform bank branches to create efficient, high service environments that are powered by innovation.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience? 

I look forward to discussing ARCA’s approach to transformation and to hearing what the audience feels are barriers to transformation and how together we could overcome them.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role? 

My role is very varied.  I speak with a broad cross section of clients from CEO’s to IT assistants, in Large High Street Banks, Building Societies and Foreign Banks.  This variety and constant challenge to provide viable solutions is what I enjoy most

BRW: How did you get into the industry? 

A lucky break really.  I had always been selling into the Finance Sector and then found myself working with a partner who then offered me a role in the cash automation industry, where I have now been for 11 years.

BRW: Where is your favorite place in the world and why? 

My favourite place has to be Anfield, the home of Liverpool football club.  There’s no other place like it on a European night.

Join Alan Cracknell on 14th December for a webinar entitled ‘3 Steps to Make Your Branch Transformation Easier’ at 3PM London/10AM New York.

Register Here!

Daragh O’Byrne, Vice President, Global Head of Marketing & Alliances – Nucleus Software

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A conversation with Daragh O’Byrne – Vice President, Global Head of Marketing & Alliances at Nucleus Software

Daragh O’Byrne is responsible for driving business transformation through integrated and strategic marketing initiatives.

He brings over 25 years’ experience in the Financial Services application software sector. Daragh’s key focus area has been ensuring that software provides tangible business benefits for customers and that these benefits are explained in a clear, concise and compelling way.

His industry experience and in-depth understanding of technology drives his passion to ensure that value is delivered to customers fast.

BRW: What do you hope the audience will learn from this webinar?

With so much data available at our fingertips, it can be really difficult to discern useful information from background noise. And while there are tremendous lessons to be learned from other peoples’ experiences, it can be really challenging to find examples that are relevant. In this webinar, I hope to take the audience on a journey – starting with customers’ expectations, moving through the latest developments in technology, leading to the implications of the change, the challenges that arise and crucially how to turn those challenges into opportunities. I hope the audience will be able to leverage our experiences for their benefit, helping them smooth their journey to becoming the digital bank of tomorrow – today.

BRW: What discussions do you look forward to having with the audience?

I look forward to hearing from the audience about how their digitization journey is evolving – whether they are just starting or are well into the journey. It would be interesting to discuss the challenges that they face and how technology can help them overcome those challenges.

BRW: What do you enjoy most about your role?

As I get to work with people all over the world, it gives me a unique opportunity to see where global trends turn meet local needs, and more importantly how our customers are translating those trends into products and services that their customers need.

BRW: How did you get into the industry?

I’ve always been interested in using technology to solve problems, so I trained as an application programmer. However before I sat my final exams I was offered a role in professional services – implementing core banking systems in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. As a 20 year old I was intrigued – travelling the world and meeting new people. And while I didn’t spend much time using my programming skills I did spend a lot of time figuring out how to use technology to solve problems. Ever since then, over 25 years ago now, I’ve been helping people get the maximum return from their investment in technology.

BRW: Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

I travel a lot, and always have, so my favourite place in the world is my home. I live in Ireland, which is not too warm, not too cold, not too dry, perhaps too wet but it is home. It is where my family is.

Join Daragh O’Byrne from Nucleus Software on 21st November for a webinar entitled ‘How Do You Become The Digital Bank of Tomorrow – Today?’ at 3PM London/10AM New York.

Register Here!