Programme

Alison Smale came to Berlin in Aug. 2013 as chief correspondent for The New York Times for Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. She previously served almost 10 years as managing editor and then executive editor of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The NewYorkTimes. Ms. Smale came to the IHT from The Times, where she had been deputy foreign editor since March 2002. She was in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 and organized much of the prize-winning Times coverage of the war in Afghanistan and the later war in Iraq. Prior to that, she covered the Balkans wars of the 1990s and the fall of Communism across Europe for The Associated Press, and crossed Checkpoint Charlie with the first East German to cross when the Wall fell on Nov. 9, 1989. Ms. Smale is married to the Russian pianist and composer Sergei Dreznin. She speaks fluent German, French and Russian.

David leads the Channel Ecosystem across Europe including all Partners in the IBM One Channel Partner program. Including Value Added Distributors, Value Resellers, Cloud Service Providers, Industry Solution Vendors and Global System Integrators across the full IBM portfolio of Hardware, Software and Services. Prior to this role David was General Manager for IBM's business in Central and Eastern Europe - part of IBM's European Unit - where he was responsible for 29 countries including Russia/CIS, Poland and Baltics, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and the remaining Adriatic region. Central to this role was to lead all sales across the IBM portfolio, integrating the teams and bringing value to IBM's clients and Business Partners across this region. Previously David was the Vice President of sales for IBM’s channel organization in the Growth Markets region, including Greater China, India/South Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. David led the end to end operations of IBM’s channel business, from strategy to execution. He was responsible for IBM’s business controls, deal making, helped shape IBM’s image in the market through press and analysts and led a team of IBM employees and IBM’s Business Partners.

Mark Otty is a Member of the Global Executive Committee. Mark was appointed Managing Partner of EY EMEIA Area in 2008 – a diverse Area spanning Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. The EMEIA Area formally began operations on 1 July 2008, bringing together 81,000 people, across 12 regions and 93 countries with 3,628 partners to create an US11.4bn organisation, making the firm the first of the Big 4 to achieve integration on this scope and scale. Originally from South Africa, Mark’s career has spanned multiple disciplines and locations. Having originally joined Ernst & Young as an audit trainee, he has also worked with clients in the fields of corporate finance, advisory and tax, in South Africa, Canada and the UK. Mark has a particular focus on helping EY people bring the firm’s values to life in their dealings with each other, and with clients and others. A South African Chartered Accountants, Mark graduated from the Witwatersrand University with degrees in Accounting and Commerce. Now based in London, Mark is an enthusiastic marathon and ultra marathon runner.

Born 11 July, 1979, Perm; PhD Economics 2000: Graduated from Perm State University with a degree in economics and mathematics. PhD (Economics). 2002: Earned a degree in linguistics and translation. 1998 — 2002: Worked in various businesses. 2002 — 2005: Head of Budget Planning Division, Head of Division for Regional Finance and Investments, Deputy Head of the Main Economic Directorate of the Administration of the Perm Region. 2005 — 2007: First Deputy Chairman, Planning Department, Perm Region; First Deputy Head of the Executive Office under the Governor of the Perm Territory. 2007 — 2009: Deputy Director, Department for Inter-Budget Relations; Director, Department for Monitoring and Evaluation of Efficiency of Government Authorities of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Regional Development of Russia. 2009: Head of the Executive Office of the Governor of the Perm Territory. 2009 — 2010: Director, Department for State Governance, Regional Development and Local Government of the Government Staff of the Russian Federation. 2010: First Deputy Chief of Staff to the Moscow Mayor and Moscow Government. 23 April, 2012: Appointed Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Moscow Department for Economic Policy and Development by an executive order of the Mayor of Moscow. June 6, 2013: Appointed Acting Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Department of Economic Policy and Development. September 17, 2013: Appointed Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Department of Economic Policy and Development. Actual State Councillor of the City of Moscow 1st Class. Awarded Honorary Certificate of the Government of the Russian Federation and Letter of Gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation.