Global Speakers

Keynote: Updates on NSW Government’s $123 Million in Developing the World’s Most Advanced Transport Management System with Real-Time Information and Predictive Technology to Bust Congestion

Dr Rebecca Michael is Head of Public Policy at RACQ.

The RACQ is the peak advocacy body for Queensland road users and represents over 1.7 million members covering 50% of Queensland household. In her role, Rebecca oversees research and develops and advocates for policy to promote safe, affordable and sustainable mobility, both now and into the future. Rebecca has worked in the transport and infrastructure policy sector for several years and has delivered a diverse range of research, transport, infrastructure and economics projects and policies that focus on improving transport system outcomes to benefit Queensland.

Topic: Moving Beyond Motoring…… Bringing MaaS to the Masses

Topic: Latest Developments in Automated Truck Platooning, Connectivity and Deployment Challenges

Charles Allen is the Head of NSW and ACT for Uber (rides operations). In this role he works with government and businesses to help deliver safe, reliable and affordable transport options. Charles’ prior experience includes management consulting and trading. He spent five years working for the Boston Consulting Group in Sydney and London, and four years as a derivatives trader with Nomura in London. Charles studied at the University of Oxford and has a master’s in physics and Philosophy.

Topic: Uber Air – How On-demand Flying Taxi Has the Potential to Radically Improve Urban Mobility

Chris Koniditsiotis is an infrastructure and transport expert with over 30 years’ experience in both public and private sectors.  He has had international postings including with the World Bank and more recently Chief Executive Officer of Transport Certification Australia. With post – graduate qualifications in Engineering, Chris has undertaken the AICD Directors course and has held several Board positions, including the current Presidency of the International Society for Weigh-in-Motion.

Topic: Data Analytics and Transportation Modelling in Fast-Changing Urban Infrastructure: Better Traffic Management from Big Data

Justin Passaportis is GoGet Carshare’s General Manager for Victoria and South Australia.
He joined GoGet from Hertz Australia, where he headed fleet operations for carshare. Justin was part of the original core Flexicar carshare team which was acquired by the Hertz Corporation in 2010 and played a critical role in this transition.
Since his appointment to GoGet four years ago, the size of both the fleet and membership base across Melbourne and Adelaide has more than tripled to over 670 vehicles and 30,000 members.
His work with government and industry has helped establish carshare’s place as an integral part of the private-public transport landscape, and witnessed city councils embrace broad policy reform. The City of Melbourne is now targeting up to 30% of all households using carshare over the next decade. 
Recently, Justin led the launch of an Australian first: the integration of carshare on airport in Melbourne; an initiative GoGet is looking to roll out across its nationwide network.
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Justin holds an MBA. He is passionate about harnessing the productive disruption of the sharing economy for the benefit of the community.

Topic: The Impact of Carshare and Mobility as a Service: a Model for Congestion-Busting in Local Communities

Wagdy Samir is the CEO of Klarrio Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Klarrio. Wagdy has over 30 years of experience in engineering, research, strategy development and execution, and large deal business development. Prior to Klarrio, he held different senior executive positions with Bluechip multinationals. These include: Managing Director, Technology Solutions, Cisco APAC; SVP global Strategy and Corporate Development with Technicolor; Principal with Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group; Business Development Director with Alcatel Australasia; and Consulting and Strategy Lead with IBM Global Services. Wagdy holds a BE (hons), a PhD in Mathematics, and a full-time MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, all from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Topic: Intelligent Traffic Management – Data Driven Driving

Topic: On-Demand Transport – What Role on The Multimodal Journey?

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: Innovations in Mobility as a Service -Waverley Council Case

Topic: The Future of Smart Roads, Solar Highways and Intelligent Infrastructures

Topic: Accelerating to an Electric Future

Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Tony’s career in railway spans more than 38 years, during which he has been a member of two benchmarking organisations Nova/Comet for 15 years and a former ISBeRG Chairman for 2 years.

Tony holds a wealth of world best practice rail industry knowledge and is an internationally acclaimed and trusted transport leader. He has travelled to Transport Agencies across the world and held multiple key note speaking engagements. His experience covers signalling, operations, train control, train planning and incident management and he has examined global benchmarking performance and compared best practice.

In 1998 Tony was appointed to the high profile position of coordinating all rail operations in readiness for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He managed all aspects of operations including safety and detailed incident management planning across the RailCorp network.

In 2006 Tony’s contribution to the success of rail transport during the Sydney Olympic Games, along with other significant events including the 2003 Rugby World Cup, was formally recognised with the award of a Public Service Medal for ‘Outstanding Public Service, Dedication and Sustained Commitment to State Rail and RailCorp in NSW’.

In 2011 Tony was seconded to the UK, where he provided consultation to Transport for London on their rail planning in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2012 Tony was appointed to the role of Director Operations at RailCorp then in July 2013 he was appointed to the same role with Sydney Trains. As the Director Operations, Tony managed the strategic integration, coordination and seamless delivery of train and crew operations to deliver reliable rollingstock, well presented and professional train crew, best fit train planning and timetabling and on time running. Tony was key in planning for future demand for passenger rail services throughout NSW and the best way to deliver those services.

In 2016, Tony was appointed as the Executive Director of Future Network Delivery (FND), a new directorate that manages large scale rail projects, through the NSW Government’s 2056 Future Transport Strategy and More Trains More Services initiative. FND delivers the rail programs that meet the needs of significant capital investment and program delivery, through the successful integration of critical transport infrastructure.

In 2019 Tony led the successful construction, transformation and delivery of Australia’s first ever Rail Operations Centre (ROC). The ROC is a state-of-the-art purpose built centre, which brings 600 people from critical operations under one roof. Important to the success of ROC is the control room floor, which supports 100 staff on shift to manage the day of operations from one floor. Using world-class technology, the control room has the largest LED display, at 34 meters long and 3.5 meters wide.

Topic: How We Are Modernising Our Railway Moving from Conventional Operating Practices to New Digital Systems Supported with AI and Automation

Pascal Labouze is the Executive Director of Operational Systems in Transport for NSW, where he leads the vision to build more integrated systems to enable a more integrated transport network. He is responsible for the definition, delivery and management of multi-modal technology projects that enable efficient and safe operations of the roads, railway, light rail and ferries.

For more than 25 years, Pascal Labouze has held various transport industry roles designing, developing and deploying complex systems.

He started his career delivering Train Control Systems in Egypt, then went on to hold various positions with Thales in France where he was ultimately responsible for the worldwide delivery of Smartcard Fare Collection Systems. He was then called to Australia to deal with complex Air Traffic Management Systems where he won large contracts and delivered them.

Pascal is a strategic thinker who has developed a proficiency in shaping and developing business, and delivering large-scale complex technology systems. He has a passion for unleashing the power of people by creating a culture where diversity, openness and empowerment lead to a highly engaged workforce. He has an acute understanding of commercial or political stakes and an exceptional ability to negotiate win-win outcomes. His accomplishments range from delivering an e-ticketing system across the Netherlands to successfully negotiating the contract to refurbish Air Surveillance in the Philippines.

 Pascal is an Aeronautics Engineer who has lived in Australia for over a decade, eventually becoming an Australian citizen. He lives in Sydney’s North Shore with his wife and two sons, enjoys playing a game of tennis and tasting not only French but also Australian wines!

Topic: How Integrating Technology Fosters a New Transport Eco-System

Charles is the CEO of WSROC, a membership organisation that represents eight local councils in the Greater Western Sydney region. WSROC brings a collective local government voice to regional issues that includes transport, economic development, regional planning, energy and waste management.  

Charles Casuscelli RFD MP was elected as the Member for Strathfield (Legislative Assembly) in the NSW State Parliament in March 2011. His Parliamentary appointments included Chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee and Deputy Chair of the Transport Management Centre Review Committee.

Prior to this Charles worked in the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. He commenced in October 1997 as a Senior Executive Service Officer with a dual role, as the NSW Transport Management Centre’s Project Director he was responsible for the building and commissioning of the new facility in time for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.  As its inaugural General Manager, he was responsible for the development and delivery of a range of road transport operations services across the NSW road network. 

Prior to his role at WSROC Charles held a number of senior executive appointments in the public and private sectors, including agencies representing both the State and Commonwealth governments. His experience has been gained in diverse industries including the military, local government, transport, roads, emergency services, telecommunications and professional services.

Topic: The Expectations of Technology to Deliver Radical Improvements to Transport and Transit Networks are Unrealistic

Topic: Learning Lessons from Deployment of Autonomous Cars and Shuttles on Australian Roads
Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Chris is the Executive Director, Digital Products Delivery for the Customer Technology and Services Division at Transport for NSW.

The Digital Products Delivery branch leads customer facing digital transformation and innovation to improve the customer experience for Transport customers. Chris leads the Future Transport program, Open Data and Apps program, Customer Feedback Systems, the Opal customer experience and product roadmap, the Digital Accelerator, and customer facing digital initiatives. Chris also leads external relationships with industry and the startup community, to drive innovation.

Earlier this year, Chris was a recipient of the Public Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours List. Prior to joining Transport, Chris spent 15 years leading technology product development at companies including Nokia and Hewlett-Packard.

Topic: MaaS is the future: Update of MaaS Trials in Sydney
Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Topics: Advances in Smart Parking Deployment and Technologies to Reduce Urban Congestion
Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Nick’s first introduction to the NSW Taxi industry was in 2008 when he obtained his Taxi authority to drive. Since that time, he has operated his own Wheelchair Accessible Taxi business for over 5 years.

Prior to joining the NSW Taxi Industry, his roles have included Regional Sales Manager with Kellogg’s Australia, National Account Manager with GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, District Sales Manager, Coca-Cola Amatil, and Manager with McDonald’s Australia. Along with his extensive knowledge of the taxi industry, Nick brings to the Taxi Council expertise in operations, training and development, and a strong record of customer engagement and negotiation. In his role as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Nick has been involved in developing strategies and stakeholder relationships, as well as driving policy and advocacy for the NSW Taxi Industry.

Topic: On Demand Public Transport in Sydney, What Lessons Have Been Learned
Interactive Roundtable Discussion: MAAS – What does this mean for Taxis
Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Steve Cratchley is the Pricing Manager – Asset and Advanced Technology for PI CI Australia and NZ. He is a specialist on advanced automotive technologies and has been investigating these for many years. He is particularly well connected worldwide in this space with those working with these technologies.
Steve has worked in many fields at Suncorp across Strategy, Innovation and Underwriting roles and is uniquely qualified to talk about emerging vehicle technology.

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: Updates on Australia’s Policy Changes to Connected & Autonomous Vehicles
Panel: Impact of Mobility as a Service on Future of Urban Mobility

Topic: Mobility as a Service – The Queensland Perspective

Scott has over two decades of experience in the motor industry in technical, media, product planning and technology advocacy roles. At NRMA Scott worked in vehicle inspection, judging and writing on Australia’s Best Cars Awards and as a member of the Technical Working Group with the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). For the last 8 years Scott has been working for Hyundai Motor Company Australia in senior technical management, product planning, environment and Government engagement policy roles. Scott leads the company’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle project and future mobility programs.

As a passionate proponent of vehicle safety, renewable transport and autonomous vehicle technology, Scott has engaged with many levels of Federal and State Government, as well as policy and academic experts and key industry partners around the world.

Topic: Future Mobility, What Coming and is Australia Ready?