BDVA Staff

Ana Garcia Robles - Secretary General
Ana joined BDVA as Secretary General in September 2016. She holds a Masters Degree in Telecommunications Engineering and an International Executive MBA. Ana has a strong ICT industrial background in the Telecommunications sector, with over 10 years’ experience in the design, implementation and configuration of large-scale telecom networks and services, and, in the research and techno-economical assessment of new technologies and solutions for large-scale implementation. Ana has specialised in Innovation management and ecosystems, and she has an extensive experience at both local/regional and international level in Open innovation ecosystems, Living Labs, and socio-economic impacts of technology with over 5 years’ experience managing international associations and projects in this area. Ana has participated in multiple research and innovation collaborative projects and programmes in the areas of Smart cities and urban innovation, Open and Big Data, IoT, Open Platforms, Digital social innovation, e-Health, Digital cultural Heritage, ICT for Education, ICT for food, and Intelligent mobility. She is speaker in conferences, inventor, and contributor to different research papers and publications in the field of Smart Cities and innovation ecosystems. Ana speaks fluent English and French on top of her native Spanish.
Contact her at secretarygeneral@bdva.eu

Daniel Alonso Román - Senior Technical Lead Big Data and AI ecosystems
Daniel is working with Big Data Value Association (BDVA) as Senior Technical Lead Big Data and AI ecosystems, focused on (i) leading the activities to generate relevant outcomes in relation to Data Spaces, Big Data Value technologies and industrial AI, (ii) supporting the development of strategic agendas, roadmaps, reports, architectures, frameworks, methodologies, standards, and paths for technology adoption, value creation and market uptake, and (iii) engaging with stakeholder networks at International, European, National and Regional level.
With background on telecommunications and ICT technologies and more than 25 years of professional experience dedicated to both research, innovation and industry on these fields, during the last years Daniel has been involved in most relevant regional and European technology innovation ecosystems, participating in forums and discussions, co-organizing strategic activities and events, contributing to Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas, leading working groups and coordinating strategic projects. In recent times, Daniel has been chairing the BDVA i-Spaces group from 2018, and coordinating the EUHubs4Data project (aimed at creating an European federation of data driven hubs) from the beginning September 2020.
Contact him at daniel.alonso@bdva.eu

Savvas Rogotis - Data Ecosystem Senior Project Manager
Savvas is a Senior Data Ecosystem Project Manager for BDVA/DAIRO with a strong focus on identifying and establishing an effective collaboration with relevant stakeholders at European, International and National/regional level, thus, contributing to the development of a Community of Practice for Data Sharing in Europe. Savvas has a demonstrated history of working in the IT sector in multiple verticals (Agriculture, Tourism, Security & Surveillance and e-Governance among them). He received his diploma in electrical & computer engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2010, and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the same university in 2012. Over the past 10 years he has been involved in the design, implementation and management of multiple EU funded and national projects. He is particularly enthusiastic about Innovation Management, fundraising and R&D having contributed in institutions of different type (Research, Public & Private sector) under several roles including business manager, project manager and software engineer. Savvas exhibits a great interest in applied research and how data-driven solutions can foster sustainable growth, from an economic, societal and environmental point of view. Savvas speaks fluently English and has a strong knowledge in French besides his native Greek.
Contact him at savvas.rogotis@bdva.eu

Sinna Rissanen - International Secretariat and Events Manager
Sinna Rissanen is in charge of BDVA's secretariat, while also coordinating the association's events, meetings, membership and financial administration. She supports the Secretary General with other administrative duties and overviews partnerships. Before joining BDVA, Sinna worked for nearly 12 years at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU, where her highlight moment was the Finnish EU Presidency 2019 project, for which she contributed as the Presidency Coordinator. Previously, Sinna worked in the private sector for two years, dealing with import&export and accountancy and in the context of art museum for three years. Sinna speaks English, French, Russian, Swedish and Finnish (mother tongue) and she has also studied Slovenian, Spanish and Dutch.
Contact her at sinna.rissanen@bdva.eu

Mattia Trino - Operations and Policy Manager
With more than 5 years experience in Brussels, Mattia is Operations and Policy Manager at BDVA/DAIRO and is responsible for managing the different activities of the association. With a MA in European Studies (Maastricht University) and a MSc in New Media (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Mattia has a solid background in European affairs with a special focus on ICT, research and innovation. Before joining BDVA/DAIRO, Mattia has worked at the European Commission (DG Connect) and in the private sector in the context of European funds for research & innovation. Mattia is a passionate investigator of the socio-economic changes and challenges brought by ICT and is highly motivated to work at the interface of technology, society, and government. He speaks English, French and German on top of his native Italian.
Contact him at operations@bdva.eu

Konstantina Kinikli - Junior Secretariat Officer
As a university degree holder in political science, in the field of International and European Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Konstantina (shortly Nantia) is a young hardworking person, with strong academic knowledge in the field of politics, administration and digital media according to her Master degree in the field of Media and Digital Cultures. She developed her work experience in the fields of international relations, crisis management and political science during her traineeships at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Delegation of Greece to UNESCO, as she took part in a lot of international conferences, gaining a strong knowledge about crucial international political topics and meeting with people from all around the world. On the other hand, by starting her MA studies in the field of Media, she discovered a more creative and open-minded world that had to do with web designing, social media management and digital communications. Nantia speaks fluently English and French, has a strong knowledge in Spanish and her native language is Greek.
Contact her at konstantina.kinikli@bdva.eu

Angelos Stratis - Operations Officer
Angelos is BDVA's Operations Officer, where he leads the operations of i-Spaces and Hubs activities, supports Task Forces and various other activities of European Projects. Previously, he worked for the European Commission and ENTSO-E, where he managed Data & IT projects, monitored budgets, ensured SLA compliance and mitigated risks. Angelos is a certified Project Management Professional (PRINCE2®) with 5 years of work experience in project management roles, encompassing various domains such as software development, IT field services and legal and regulatory projects. With a master’s in European Law (LLM) and an advanced master’s in European Integration (MSc) from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, he has a solid background in European affairs with a special focus on Environment, ICT and External Relations. He speaks fluently English and Greek, basic German and is currently learning French.
Contact him at angelos.stratis@bdva.eu

Daniel Djamo - Communications Manager
Daniel Djamo is in charge of BDVA's communication, design work, publications and outreach. With a career of 14 years as an artist, researcher and filmmaker, he has exhibited/presented in several museums, such as the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (BOZAR), Louvre Museum, Arsenale di Venezia, etc. and has directed several documentary feature films. Laureat of the Special Award for Documentary Film given by the Romanian Filmmakers Union (2015), Daniel holds a PhD in Visual Arts, a Masters and a BA in Photography and Video Art and a BA in Journalism and Communication. Previously, he was the Digital Asset Manager for EUNIS - the European Nature Information System (AEIDL and the European Environment Agency) and the Communications Manager for the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. Between 2018 and 2020 he developed an artistic research project at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (Ispra, IT). Beside speaking Romanian (native), Daniel is fluent in English (C2) and French (C1) and intermediate level in Dutch (B1) and Italian (B1). Daniel is also an EP - ESMH contributor.
Contact him at daniel.djamo@bdva.eu