“Automation and AI: how are they reshaping roles and skills in logistics?”

Sergio Barbarino is currently Collaborative Research & Innovation Consultant at FIT Consulting, Specialising in European Collaborative R&I programs.

Previously Senior Director and R&D Research Fellow at the Procter & Gamble Brussels Innovation Center. He led the practice of open innovation, especially on large collaborative research projects. He was also the most Senior Process expert for the Home Care business.

He  is Senior Expert for the Solar Impulse Foundation. Sergio has won several awards for his contribution to logistic innovation and specifically the promotion of the Physical internet concept. Sergio has been the Chair of ALICE in 2016-2019, the EU Innovation Platform for Logistic aimed at realizing the Physical Internet and has served till recently on the ALICE board as Vice Chair.

Born in Naples, Italy, Sergio has a Master degree in chemical engineering from the University of Napoli Federico II and an MBA from the Solvay Business School in Brussels. Sergio has created in 2007 the first group of Supply Chain & Logistic R&D within Procter & Gamble, called Supply Network Innovation Center, of which he was the Scientific coordinator for 10 years.

Sergio has been the scientific leader of 2 EU FP7 Logistic projects: the C03 consortium aiming at increasing shipper collaboration on Logistics in Europe and Modulushca, aimed at the development of new shareable and reusable logistic standard modules for the last mile delivery. In the Chemical Engineering Domain, Sergio has represented P&G in the Large Collaborative projects Impulse and F3 on innovative micro processing leading some of the best demonstrators. Sergio has developed the manufacturing Processes of many well-known P&G Brands (e.g. Mr. Clean, Viakal,) and has been the chief designer for P&G of Innovative Liquid Manufacturing systems for developing markets.

He was also responsible for several P&G Academic Partnerships and has been Visiting professor – among others – at the Ecole des Mines de Paris, the City University of London, Laval University Quebec, Solvay Brussels School, Georgiatech and Purdue.

“From pilot projects to scalability: what does it take to deploy hydrogen and battery trucks at scale?”

Dragan ŠIMIĆ was born in 1973. He received the Dipl. Ing. degree in mechanical engineering from Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture University of Split, Split, Croatia, in 1999 and PhD from the Vienna University of Technology, Austria, in 2007, respectively. He received the MBA degree in Automotive Industry from the Vienna University of Technology, Austria and the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2013.

Since 2002, he has been with AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria as Senior Scientist / Thematic Coordinator of Vehicle System Simulation Team and Business Manager of Competence Unit Electric Vehicle Technology.

He published about 108 scientific papers.

He is member of the Modelica Association, VPPC Program Committee, SAE International.

He is leading at the moment several European projects, and he is involved in the preparation and also execution of national (Austrian) and international (European) projects.

“Autonomous vehicles in freight transport: an imminent revolution or a gradual evolution?”

Tim Johannes is a Senior Project Manager at New Mobility Solutions Hamburg GmbH (NMS), where he is responsible for strategic innovation projects in the field of autonomous mobility.

He currently leads the Hamburg use case of the European research project MODI and also contributes to the Pre-Large-Scale Demonstrator.

His career in autonomous driving began in 2019, when he helped build one of the first autonomous shuttle projects in Germany. He then worked for a German manufacturer of autonomous shuttles, where he served as Key Account Manager for the U.S. and DACH markets and was responsible for managing international customer relationships.

At NMS, he is driving forward sustainable, connected, and low-emission mobility solutions—aimed at making Hamburg’s transportation system more future-ready, efficient, and livable.

“Intermodality: What are the main barriers to large-scale adoption of intermodal transport today and how to overcome them?”

Serge studied Business Administration and National Economics. He brings 25 years working experience in logistics to the table, with focus on road and intermodal freight. Serge joined Trimble/Transporeon as Head of Partner Management back in 2020.

Serge is also Vice Chair in ALICE, Director at the European Freight & Logistics Leaders’ Forum and works for the European Commission as expert evaluator, just recently for Europe´s Rail Joint Undertaking. Among others Serge is co-author of the ALICE Whitepaper “Increasing the Use of Rail and Intermodal Transport in Europe” as well as the “Green Freight Report 2024” issued by Transporeon/Trimble/KLU/Smart Freight Centre.

“Supply chain innovation”

Michal Silhacek is a global procurement and supply chain executive with over 30 years of experience leading transformations across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, focused on building high-performing, sustainable, and digitally enabled supply chains that combine efficiency, quality, and long-term value creation.

He has delivered significant impact at IKEA, including transforming €2 billion land transport operations (around 2 million shipments annually), achieving a 6% cost reduction, 30% efficiency gains, and a 45% reduction in CO₂ emissions, while leading a global team across multiple continents. He also established procurement operations in Ukraine and Brazil, building €100 million sourcing capabilities with a clear cost advantage over competitors.

Alongside this, he has built and developed multicultural teams, supported startups, and driven innovation in sustainable logistics and digitalization, including early adoption of autonomous transport solutions. He is known for creating strong, trust-based partnerships that strengthen long-term collaboration.

He is currently open to senior leadership roles in supply chain transformation, procurement, and digital logistics, particularly in environments focused on innovation, change, and the integration of people and AI.

“Climate Logistics”

Alan McKinnon is Emeritus Professor of Logistics in Kuehne Logistics University, Hamburg and Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He has been researching and teaching logistics since the late 1970s and published extensively in journals, books and reports on many different aspects of the subject. He has also been an advisor to companies, governments and international organizations, including the European Commission, International Transport Forum, UN, World Bank and World Economic Forum. Most of his research over the past 20 years has focused on the environmental sustainability of logistical activities.

“Driving innovation through collaboration: emerging trends”

Dr. Fernando Liesa is Secretary General of ALICE – the Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe, a not‑for‑profit, industry‑led association based in Brussels and recognised by the European Commission as The European Technology Platform for Logistics. Fernando has led ALICE since its creation in 2013, driving its growth into a network of over 220 member organisations spanning industry, infrastructure, technology and research across Europe.

Fernando has more than 25 years of experience in research, knowledge management and innovation take up, with a strong focus on freight transport, logistics and supply chain transformation. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and has held senior roles at the Zaragoza Logistics Center (MIT Global Scale Network Center), where he served as Knowledge Transfer and External Funding Director, as well as General Manager of the Spanish Competence Center for Logistics (CNC-LOGISTICA) and the Logistics Technology Platform, LOGISTOP.

He is an appointed member of several European Commission (DG MOVE) expert groups, including the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum, European Union Research and Innovation for the Automotive Sector, and Urban Mobility. Fernando is also a recipient of the Physical Internet Pioneer Award (2017) and is widely recognised for his work in accelerating the transition towards zero‑emission, digital and resilient logistics systems in Europe.