Erik Bohlin is Professor at the Department of Technology Management & Economics at Chalmers University of Technology. He has published in a number of areas relating to the information society – policy, strategy, and management. He is Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Telecommunications Policy. He obtained his graduate degree in Business Administration and Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics (1987) and his Ph.D. at Chalmers University of Technology (1995).

Dr. Levin joined the Department of Economics in the School of Business at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1972, became Professor of Economics in 1985, and was Chairman of the Department of Economics from 1986 to 1994. He became Professor Emeritus in 2002. In November, 1984, he was appointed Commissioner of the Illinois Commerce Commission, the state utility regulatory agency, by Governor James R. Thompson, serving until March, 1986, when he returned to the University. From 1996 until 2002, Dr. Levin was Director of the School of Business’ International Exchange Programs. In addition, Dr. Levin is President of the Resource Group, Inc., an economic consulting firm, and he has served as a member of Bellcore’s Advisory Board. He was a consulting economist to the Chicago Regional Office of the Federal Trade Commission from 1979 to 1983, and he spent a sabbatical leave in 1978 at the Energy Service of Data Resources, Inc., in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Levin has a B.A. in Economics from Grinnell College and a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Michigan. He has published numerous articles, papers, reports, and monographs, including articles in the Southern Economic Journal, The Review of Economics and Statistics, the Review of Industrial Organization, the Journal of Energy Law and Policy, Telecommunications Policy, and the International Review of Economics and Business. He is also a co-editor of a book on antitrust and a book on telecommunications. In addition, he has presented papers at professional economics meetings, served as an expert witness in antitrust and regulatory proceedings, and testified before federal and state regulatory commissions in the U. S. and in Canada and in U. S. federal and state courts. Dr. Levin consults in the areas of telecommunications, energy, antitrust, and economics, and his clients have included companies and public agencies in the U. S. and in several countries around the world. He has organized economics conferences and has spoken to a variety of professional and trade groups. He is on the Board of Directors of the International Telecommunications Society, has been a trustee and president of the Illinois Economic Association, and is a member of several professional economics organizations.

Patricia Hirl Longstaff is a Senior Research Fellow in the Moynihan Institute at Syracuse University, specializing in interdisciplinary and international policy. Her current interests are policy issues for resilience in various systems and for artificial intelligence. She is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Subcommittee on International Disaster Recovery Communications. Her book, The Communications Toolkit: How To Build or Regulate Any Communications Business, (MIT Press) integrates ideas from her interdisciplinary search for clues for answers to the problems confronting communications businesses and their regulators.

She has earned the following advanced degrees:
Harvard University, Master of Public Policy (1994)
University of Iowa, JD (1976), and MA in Communications (1976).

Lee Schmidt is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Economics. Immediately after graduation in July, 1959, he joined GTE, a major telecommunications services firm operating multi-nationally. His entire career, spanning almost forty years, was spent in various capacities with GTE, primarily in public policy, regulation and strategic planning matters.

From 1965 to 1984, Lee’s primary focus was on the U.S. domestic public policy arena, dealing with various state and federal regulatory agencies and legislative bodies.

It was during this time that the philosophical paradigm was shifting from regulation of monopoly telecom services suppliers to one of competitive supply of services. Therefore, there was a transformation of the entire basis of public policy application to the telecom sector of the economy.

After 1984, Lee, in addition to continuing to oversee these matters within the U.S., added the international scene to his portfolio. From 1989 through to his retirement from GTE in October, 1998, Lee was heavily involved in a wide range of international negotiations. He helped countries transform their telecom sectors from state ownership to private ownership. His long experience in telecom public policy matters was very useful in the negotiations in foreign nations.

Lee became involved in ITS activities in the early 1980s. After several years of attending and speaking at ITS conferences, Lee was appointed to the ITS Board of Directors at the Venice Biennial Conference in 1990. He was subsequently elected ITS Treasurer at the ITS Biennial Conference in Seville in 1996. Even after his retirement from GTE, Lee continues to be very active in ITS matters. He believes ITS activities keep him involved in critical telecom/information service public policy debates.

Besides, he likes to meet up with his many friends world-wide and (of course) travel to interesting places!

Stephen Schmidt is Vice-President, Telecom Policy & Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel at TELUS Communication, a major provider of wireline, wireless, Internet and television services, based in Vancouver, Canada. Mr. Schmidt leads a multi-disciplinary team of professionals responsible for (i) making policy and legal submissions to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Industry Canada, the Competition Bureau, the Federal Cabinet and other government bodies; (ii) conducting and directing appellate advocacy before the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada; and (iii) advising on compliance with public law frameworks for telecommunications, both in Canada and internationally.

Prior to joining TELUS, he worked at AT&T Canada and ACC TelEnterprises, with a focus on regulatory and legal matters respectively.

Mr. Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manitoba. Mr. Schmidt’s publications on communications law and policy have appeared in Info, Canadian Business Law Journal, Telecommunications Policy, and International Telecommunications Law (Juris Publishing).

In June of 2016, Mr. Schmidt was elected Chair of the Board of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS), an international forum where academic, private sector, and government communities can meet to identify pressing new communications policy problems and issues, share research results, and develop new approaches to address these issues. Mr. Schmidt has been a Board member of the ITS since 2004.

Dr. Georg Serentschy is Managing Partner of Serentschy Advisory Services GmbH and is active on global level for Governments, Regulators, operators, vendors and the digital industry. He possesses particular expertise in the digital sector (including traditional telecommunication), media and technology, and the postal sector. He has over 40 years of professional experience advising the C-suite and experts in these sectors on strategy, policies, regulatory and spectrum issues, innovation and communication.

Georg is a former CEO (Telecommunication and Postal) of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunication. While in this role, he served as Chairman of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication (BEREC) in 2012, and Vice-Chairman in both 2011 and 2013. He has also held the position of Head of the Austrian Competence Centre Internet Society (KIG), a governmental advisory body. Previously Georg served as a Director at Arthur D. Little and CEO of the Austrian Aerospace Company.

More can be found at www.serentschy.com and on LinkedIn.

Xu Yan has recently been promoted to Associate Professor of the Department of Information and Systems Management of the HKUST Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He received his PhD from the business school of the University of Strathclyde of the UK in 1997. He had working experience in the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) of China, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, British Telecom’s Laboratories and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). His research and teaching interests include corporate management, competitive strategy and regulatory policy of telecommunications. He has also provided extensive research and consulting for the former MPT of China, British Telecom, China Mobile, China Telecom, Nortel, OFTA, Audit Commission of Hong Kong Government, the Internet and Telecom Association of Hong Kong (ITAHK) and the ITU. He has published extensively in renowned international journals such as Telecommunications Policy. His recent book (with Douglas Pitt), Chinese Telecommunications Policy, published by Artech House, is regarded as the benchmark in the analysis of Chinese telecommunications policy. He is currently on the board of directors of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS).