Program Committee

Panos Alexopoulos, Head of Ontology at Textkernel BV, specializes in data, semantics, and software, crafting intelligent systems since 2006. Leading a team in HR and Recruitment, he develops a cross-lingual Knowledge Graph. He authored "Semantic Modeling for Data" and serves as a speaker and trainer, bridging academia with industry.

Kurt Cagle is the former contributing editor for Data Science Central. Kurt is a published author with more than twenty books to his credit, and has been working as a technology editor for years, writing for Forbes, O'Reilly Media, IDC and others. He has also been a consulting information architect and ontologist with more than twenty years experience working with Fortune 100 companies and US and European agencies, and is a frequent speaker at conferences on data technologies.

Mike Dillinger, PhD, blends human expertise with AI to advance cognitive computing. With experience at LinkedIn/Microsoft, eBay, and Intel, he emphasizes accessible knowledge representation for both humans and machines, aiming to create next-gen hybrid intelligence. He works on making knowledge shareable and valuable to all stakeholders.

Natasa Dimou, an assistant professor at KU Leuven, focuses on Semantic Web technologies and Knowledge Graphs, specializing in Data Quality, Integration, and Graph Annotation. She's affiliated with the Declarative Languages and Artificial Intelligence (DTAI) section and is a member of Leuven.AI. She actively engages in teaching activities related to her expertise.

Ashleigh Faith, PhD in Advanced Semantics, boasts over 15 years in the search and data realm, collaborating with corporate giants like eCommerce and Digital Asset Management, as well as governmental and manufacturing entities such as the Federal Reserve, John Deere, NASA, NATO, Gulfstream, DoD, and NLM on data strategy and knowledge management.

Heather Hedden is a Data and Knowledge Engineer in the professional services team of Semantic Web Company, vendor of PoolParty software for taxonomy, ontology, and knowledge graph management. She trains clients in getting started in building taxonomies and ontology models. Previously she worked as a taxonomy consultant. Through Hedden Information Management she continues to teach an online course in taxonomy creation, and she has given numerous conference and corporate taxonomy workshops.

Veronica is Knowledge Graph Lead at Capgemini, working on turning unstructured and chaotic data into a wonder of semantic knowledge graphs. Veronica is a public speaker on topics as Semantic Technologies, Knowledge Graphs, Natural Language Processing amongst others. Guest lecturer at the University of Oslo.

Amy E. Hodler, former Neo4j's AI and Graph Analytics Program Manager, champions graph analytics to uncover network structures and predict behavior, co-authoring "Graph Algorithms," highlighting knowledge graphs' importance in industry transformation, providing practical approaches, and citing examples from Refinitiv and NASA.

Katariina Kari (née Nyberg), with dual Master's in Science and Music, specializes in the semantic web, notably leading the creation of Zalando's Fashion Knowledge Graph to enhance customer experience. She leverages graph technologies to enhance Zalando's corporate tech and offers pro-bono support to Nu Cycle, a circular economy startup, in developing waste offset products.

Ora Lassila, a Principal Graph Technologist in the Amazon Neptune team at AWS, primarily focuses on knowledge graphs. His extensive experience spans graphs, graph databases, ontologies, and knowledge representation. Notably, he co-authored the original RDF specification and contributed to the seminal article on the Semantic Web.

Paco Nathan, a renowned "player/coach," excels in data science, machine learning, and cloud computing with 40 years of industry experience. He advises Amplify Partners, IBM Data Science Community, Recognai, KUNGFU.AI, and Primer, and leads PyTextRank development. Formerly with Databricks and Apache Spark, he was named among the Top 30 People in Big Data and Analytics by Innovation Enterprise in 2015.

Axel Ngonga heads the DICE research group at the University of Paderborn, focusing on machine learning, knowledge graphs, and big data, with over 12 years of experience in developing algorithms for Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Text Mining, and the Semantic Web, earning distinctions such as best paper and presentation awards.

Teodora Petkova, a content writer and PhD candidate, explores the Semantic Web's impact on communication and marketing. With a background in Classical Studies and Creative Writing, she delves into how digital content shapes our lives. Passionate about the transformative power of words, Teodora investigates the evolving landscape of online communication.

Tara, a PhD in Information System Engineering, is a leader in Semantic technologies and Ontological Engineering with a decade of experience. At Mphasis, she spearheaded knowledge engineering projects and co-founded NextAngles, a compliance automation platform. As a chief ontologist, Tara specializes in "smart compliance" solutions, analyzing financial transactions for compliance violations.

Brad Rees, Manager at NVIDIA's AI Infrastructure group and lead of the RAPIDS cuGraph team, brings over 30 years of experience in designing and supporting advanced software and hardware systems, specializing in complex analytic systems, particularly graph techniques for social and cyber network analysis, with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Tony Seale, a Knowledge Graph Architect at UBS, specializes in delivering production-ready Knowledge Graphs for Tier 1 investment banks. With expertise in Enterprise Knowledge Graph architecture, he navigates data pipelines, triplestore optimization, and graph visualization. Tony's adeptness extends to guiding development teams and interfacing with stakeholders across all levels.

Ivo Velitchkov, a 25-year consultant, focuses on strategy and structures for large organizations, having authored "Essential Balances" and co-authored "Enterprise Architecture and Connected E-Government: Practices and Innovations." With a PhD in Computer Science, he advises on Linked Data and Semantic Technologies for major entities such as the European Commission and EU regulatory agencies.

Andrea Volpini, CEO of WordLift and co-founder of Insideout10, is a visionary entrepreneur with 25 years of expertise in semantic web, SEO, and AI, speaking at global events and contributing to publications like the Web Almanac, while initiating RedLink GmbH in 2013 to specialize in semantic content enrichment and natural language processing.