Mr Marios Demetriades assumed office as Minister of Transport, Communications and Works on 14 March 2014. Mr Demetriades was born in Pafos on 27 August 1971. Over the last six years he held a managerial position at Piraeus Bank (Cyprus). Prior to that he worked at Laiki Bank Group for approximately ten years. He studied Business, Finance and Economics in the United Kingdom (1990-93 University of East Anglia). During his studies he was the recipient of many awards. Since 2000 he is a member of the CFA Institute (Chartered Financial Analyst). Since 1996 he is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (Chartered Accountant) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC). During the period 1993-96 he worked at the international firm BDO Stoy Hayward in London as a trainee Chartered Accountant. From 1996 until 1998 he was manager of the Pafos local office of the international audit firm Ernst & Young. From July 1988 until August 1990 he served his military service at the National Guard. Mr Demetriades is married to Maria and they have two children.

Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in United Kingdom with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding. He continued his studies at the same University and he gained a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). In 1993 Mr. Chrysostomou joined the Department of Merchant Shipping, the Competent Authority for Maritime Affairs of the Government of the Republic Cyprus, as a Marine Surveyor and in 1994 he has been transferred to the Cyprus High Commission in London as the Counsellor Maritime Affairs and Alternate Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the International Maritime Organization, a position he held for 10 years.

Throughout the years he has been actively involved and has constructively contributed in all spheres of shipping, ranging from safety and security, protection of the marine environment, legal and administrative issues. He has served as Chairman of the Design and Equipment Subcommittee of the IMO and for the decade 2003-2013 has served as Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), one of the main Committees of IMO.

In 2004 he was transferred back to the Head Quarters of the Department of Merchant Shipping where he is heading the Department’s division responsible for Maritime Policy, Multilateral Affairs and Standards. From April 2014 till September 2015 he served as Acting Director of the Department and as from 1st October 2015 he is the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping.

Beyond his work with the IMO he has worked with other UN agencies such as the International Mobile Satellite Organization where he was elected Chairman of its Assembly twice consecutively. Furthermore, he served as member of the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) and he is one of the Past Presidents of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMAREST).

Mr. Chrysostomou’s work includes a number of papers presented in Conferences and Seminars around the globe and chaired a number of non-government related seminars and conferences.

Finally as a result of Mr. Chrysostomou’s skills and integrity, he has been acknowledged by peers and has been manifested by awarding him the 2011 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Shipping. In November 2011 he has also been presented with the Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, for his invaluable service to International Shipping and in 2013 the GST Award - Leading Shipping Personality of the Decade 2003 - 2013. Furthermore Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou was awarded The Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Award - “International Personality of the Year” 2015.

Owner of Mastermind Group Ltd, a shipowning / shipmanagement company which currently fully owns, manages and operates 16 vessels worldwide.

German-born Captain Adami began his nautical career studying at Elsfleth Nautical University. In addition to his successful merchant marine career, which saw him serve as Master of the Bremen-owned cargo ship Condor P, Captain Adami has a wealth of experience as master with tall ships, spanning more than 25 years. He has sailed on and captained both the SS Thor Heyerdahl and the SS Grossherzogin-Elizabeth (formerly the SS Ariadne) and still retains an association with both sail-training vessels.

Barbara Bersani has more than 10 years of experience in the satellite communications sector working for Marlink, Vizada and now Airbus Defence and Space. She joined Marlink as a Sales Manager for the sales regions in France, Monaco, and Switzerland in 2005. In 2008 she took responsibility for Maritime Sales for Europe West and Europe East. In 2012 Barbara was appointed as Head of Sales Maritime for Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa. Earlier in her career, she held Business Development and Marketing positions within the Defence Industry. Barbara holds a BA from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva and a DBA from the LSE – London School of Economics.

Pawel has been Head of IT Department at Intership Navigation since 1991.

Throughout his military career spanning more than two decades, Manos tried to link the Conceptual and Strategic Thinking with Technology and Innovation. After finishing his Postgraduate studies in Communications and Electronics Systems in the USA, Manos served among other posts as Director of the Communication and Information Systems (CIS) and Electronic Warfare Directorate of the Hellenic Navy Operational Command and Head of the Command and Control Systems Department in the Hellenic Navy General Staff, where he led the innovation, Information Security and Cyber Defence functions effectively and efficiently. Manos, since 2010, has been actively involved into the Cyber Defence capabilities development in an International Defence organisation. Due to his previous experience onboard ships combined with extensive knowledge on cyber capabilities Manos is able to identify the most suitable Cyber security solutions and support the Maritime domain in general.

Captain Andreas Constantinou graduated from the Marine Academy of Syros and then served as Officer and Master Mariner on Greek flag vessels for a ten year period, while he studied at the World Maritime University (MSc in Maritime Safety Administration).He joined the (Cyprus) Government Service and served at different posts (Maritime Consular Officer at Piraeus, Permanent Mission of Cyprus at the UN). He retired in May 2010 with the rank of Senior Marine Surveyor and he was appointed as General Secretary of the Cyprus Union of Ship Owners in June 2010.During his long Government service he was entrusted important tasks and missions by the Government, the International Maritime Organization and the European Union. (Head of the Cyprus Delegation at numerous International Conferences, Rapporteur of the EU High Level Group on Transport, Chairman of IMO Panels, Evaluator of EU funded research projects, Member of the EU Transport Advisory Group). He served as General Secretary and President of the Cyprus Master Mariners Association. He is a Member of the DNV (Cyprus) Technical Committee and Member of the Board of Directors of the (Cyprus) Mission to Seafarers.

Dirk Fry’s sea-going career started in 1970.  He obtained his Master Mariner and Diplom Nautiker Licences in 1976, during employment with Hansa Line of Bremen, Germany.  In 1980 he joined Columbia Shipmanagement as Managing Director and in 2013 he took the role of Advisor to Top Management.  Dirk is on the Board of Directors and past president of InterManager.  He is also on the Board of Directors for International Transport & Intermediaries Club and Transport Intermediaries Mutual Insurance Association.  He is on the Board Executive Committee of BIMCO and Chairman of the Maritime Security Committee, BIMCO.  In 2011 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from International Transport Management UK.

Constantinos Hadjistassou is Assistant Professor of Engineering Science, at the University of Nicosia, and research associate at the University of Cyprus. At the University of Nicosia he coordinates the BSc and the MSc in Oil & Gas Engineering while teaching classes on pipeline transport networks, natural gas monetization and oil & gas engineering. His research interests include flow assurance, natural gas liquefaction and environmental footprint of O&G. Professional experience includes working on behalf of BP, Exxon-Mobil, Petrolina and Hellenic Petroleum. He holds a Master’s from MIT, USA, and a PhD from the University of Oxford, UK.

Walter Hannemann have professionally participated in the development of IT since the 80’s, from his education in Electronics and Information Systems. His responsibilities have involved software development to solution architecture, infrastructure design and management, IT service delivery and even “.com” entrepreneurship. With a passion for “making things work”, shipping applications and all digital equipment onboard became his interest from 2008. Having headed IT departments in Maersk Tankers and Torm, has recently become Product Manager for Dualog. Based in Copenhagen, Walter enjoys finding solutions for big (and small) business problems using IT, while keeping the overview and a forward-looking approach, with deep dives in technical subjects when necessary – or possible.

George was appointed an IMO Maritime Ambassador in Sept 2015. George is the InterManager Vice President of Projects, Executive Committee Member and was Chairman of InterManager's "KPI Committee". He was a Director of the KPI Association Ltd. He is an Advisor to the Board of Directors of “Seagull AS of Norway”. He was non-executive director of Seagull AS of Norway. He is the Founder “Face of Shipping” and Founder “NewsLink Services”, of Cyprus. Between 2009 and 2012 he conducted and distributed video interviews of more than 100 shipping personalities on the NewsLink quarterly Infotainment DVDs and Face of Shipping web site and to seafarers on more than 8,000 ships, plus seafarer centers around the world.

He was given a special award by the Cyprus Shipping Chamber in 2013 for his contributions to the Digital Ship Cyprus conference on the anniversary of the 10th Digital Ship Cyprus conference. He was a Director of the Seafarers Emergency Fund Foundation. In 2010 he was awarded a Fellowship by the Nautical Institute. He is the 2011 Life Time Achievement Award recipient from Lloyds List/Informa at the Asia Pacific Manning & Training Conference.

He was the creator of the “Year of the Seafarer” mosaic that is on permanent display in IMO headquarters. He is the creator of the “I Am a Seafarer” electronic, video mosaic that is currently under development.

George participates in many international conferences, seminars, exhibitions, workshops and forums every year. He has chaired, moderated and spoke at Maritime Cyprus, Informa/Lloyds List, ACI and Digital Ship conferences in London, Cyprus, Athens, Oslo, Manila, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Singapore, Poland, and other locations, several times. He was keynote speaker at the Maritime stream at the Satellite 2012 and also the Satellite 2014 conference in Washington DC.

He has participated in “Humanitarian Response to Piracy” committee and is a Patron to the Nautical Institutes' "ALERT!" project. He was one of the prime initiators and participated in all 3 of the 2010 "Year of the Seafarer" conferences (Manila, Poland and New Delhi).

He is also an advisor to GlobalMET's board of directors, and a member of the GlobalMET Projects Committee. He is an associate member AMMITEC - Association of Maritime Managers of Information Technology and Communication. George was founder & CEO of "CP3500 International", combustion catalyst. He was also non-executive director- Rydex Industries, ship-shore communications

A master mariner and a committed proponent of the maritime users’ perspective, Rear Admiral Nick Lambert concluded a long naval operational career as the UK National Hydrographer in December 2012. He advises on a wide range of maritime issues including the importance of spatial data infrastructures and hydrography for maritime economies, the evolution of eNavigation and GNSS vulnerability, near or real time situational awareness (especially that derived from space based assets and applications), human factors, and training and education in the maritime sector.

Manos graduated from West London College with a Degree in Computer Science in 1993.  He has been the Information Technology Manager at Marlow Navigation for 18 years and specialised in network security projects and Intrusion Prevention Systems, developing signature algorithms for high end IPS systems.

Tore Morten Olsen has 20 years of experience in the satellite communications sector working for Telenor, Vizada, Marlink and now Airbus Defence and Space. He started in 1994 as a Technical Product Manager and moved into the commercial field responsible for the governmental market sector in 1997.

In 1999 Tore Morten moved to Slovakia to lead the international satellite communications activities of Telenor and he returned to Norway to take responsibility of Telenor Satellite Networks AS in 2004. Since 1999 Tore Morten has held several senior positions within the company to include CEO Telenor Slovakia spol.s.r.o, Chairman of the Board of Directors in several Telenor Satellite Networks companies, Country Manager for Telenor in Slovakia and CEO of Telenor Satellite Networks.

Following the establishment of Vizada, Tore Morten has taken responsibility of the Maritime VSAT and Mobile Satellite Services retail activities of the company, operating under the Marlink brand. He was CEO of the Marlink Group and held numerous Board positions in the Vizada Group.

Following the Astrium Services acquisition of Vizada Group, Tore Morten was appointed CEO of Astrium Services Business Communications – Maritime division, taking responsibility for both indirect and direct sales within the Maritime segment in the newly established business division. Following the rebranding into Airbus Defence and Space he acts today as the Head of Maritime for the Satellite Communications business line.

Tore Morten holds a M.Sc in Telecommunications from the Norwegian Technical University, and has participated in Executive MBA programs both at Wharton Business School in the US, Insead in France and the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden.

Kymeta is commercializing a new, innovative software-controlled metamaterials-based flat panel antenna for satellite communications enabling easy-to-install and low-cost solutions for satellite connectivity on any moving platforms.

Håkan joined Kymeta just before it was founded in August 2012. As Vice President of Maritime he sets the vision and strategy for Kymeta’s efforts in Maritime, and defines the business model and strategic partner alliances. His role also include defining the business- and market requirements for flat panel satellite antenna solutions that Kymeta develop, including managing the internal teams on point for developing these solutions.

Before Kymeta, Håkan worked at Microsoft for 17 years where he gained in depth experience working in the Windows, XBOX and OEM divisions taking new software solutions to markets worldwide through OEM and Retail partners.

Håkan holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Physics and Electromechanical Engineering from Linköping University in Sweden. He also has a Marketing Professionals degree from Kellogg University in Chicago. Håkan was born and raised in Sweden and moved to Seattle in 1998.

George Panayi is a Research Fellow with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics of the Cyprus University of Technology. He possesses a PhD in Electronics Engineering from the University of South Wales, UK/Wales. His research interests are mainly focused in magnetic induction tomography/spectroscopy, electronics and biomedical instrumentation and telemedicine.

Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou is joint Managing Director of the Tototheo Group of Companies, an organization in the Maritime Satellite Communications industry. She has been with the group since 2005.
Since 2013, Despina is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and is chairing the Chamber’s Development and Promotion Committee since 2015.

In 2011 Despina founded WISTA Cyprus – a member of WISTA International – and is the Association’s current President. So far during her presidency WISTA Cyprus has organized the WISTA Med conference in June of 2012 and the WISTA International AGM & Conference 2014 in Limassol with 300 participants from 33 countries.  In 2015 during the International AGM in Turkey, Despina was elected Secretary of WISTA International.

Despina is the national advocate for the European Commission’s “Equality Pays Off” Initiative and was included in the list of the 200 most powerful women in Cypriot Economy (In Business Magazine, 2012). She also won the titles of “Top Professional” and “Cyprus Business Woman of the Year 2015” at the 9th National Cyprus Business Woman of the Year Awards 2015.
She holds a bachelor degree in Economics from the National and Capodistrian University of Athens and an Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics from the Copenhagen Business School.

John Pottle (BSc, MBA, FIET, FRIN) John holds a first degree in Communication Engineering from University of Plymouth and a Masters in Business Administration from the Open Business School in the UK. John has spent his career in satellite-related fields, firstly with communications and broadcast and more recently satellite navigation. John is a Director for Spirent’s Positioning division in the UK, a Fellow of the IET and a Fellow and member of Council of the Royal Institute of Navigation.

Katerina Raptaki is the IT Manager of Navios Group of companies, including 4 NYSE-listed companies, with branches in cities all over the world, owning and managing more than 150 vessels. Katerina is also the former president of AMMITEC, the Association of IT Managers in Shipping. She graduated from the National Technical University of Athens with a degree in Naval / Mechanical Engineering and has 28-years’ experience in IT and Communications. With more than 16 years of experience in Shipping, having deep knowledge in Marine Satellite systems, vast experience in shipping software and Project Management, Katerina has been holding Managerial positions in various companies allowing her to have a full understanding of technical issues and operational procedures. Her excellent people management skills include the ability to transfer her expertise in technical systems delivery, business analysis and the management of cross-functional business projects and project teams.

Mr. Adonis Violaris is the Chairman of the ICT Sub-Committee of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and until recently the Managing Director of Telaccount Overseas Ltd with Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. Mr. Violaris holds an MBA in Business Administration from Freie Universität in Berlin. Throughout his education and professional experience, he maintains close links with the IT and Communications Industry and is one of the main speakers at various IT and Communications conferences. With regard to his service role, Mr. Violaris is involved at national and local levels in Marketing, and Information and Communication Technologies. He serves as the Chairman of the ICT Sub-committee of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber for the last 15 years.