Strategic speakers

Viorel Peca is Head of Unit of Transition and Business Acceleration Services of the EIC (European Innovation Council). His unit mission is to bring EIC supported innovations & technologies to the market while establishing Europe as innovation leader contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of all Europeans. Previously he was HoU of Future and Emerging Technologies Unit within DG Connect and led the Innovation unit between 2012 and 2016. He joined DG Connect in 2011 as Head of Unit for Networked Electronic Media.  After joining the European Commission in 2008, he was Project Manager and Chief Business Analyst for the eFP7 team of DG DIGIT. Viorel started his career in R&D at Alcatel Romania in 1996, and then moved to Belgium in 2000 where he worked for several Alcatel products spanning all the layers of the network. Later he worked as feature development team leader, then as IPTV project manager. Viorel holds an MSc in electronics and communications from University "Politehnica" from Timisoara, Romania and has a Master in Industrial Management from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), a postgraduate diploma in Applied Informatics from Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and a Certificate in Leadership and Management, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin.