OBJECTIVE & BOARD

OBJECTIVE

The current increasingly technology driven change has a huge impact on our societies by making people feel uneasy and longing for past structures that had made them feel secure. Globalization and business itself need to be thought in a different, wholistic way. WWIT intends to create broad awareness for these issues, to raise a voice helping industries and people to adapt to change and to be able to fulfil their responsibility towards a sustainable society. This will help creating a better future world for everybody. DWI is only the facilitator, providing the framework to reach an independent decision, free from any industry or social groups' interest.
WWIT adopts a unique approach, since candidates cannot apply, and it is organized outside any industry or political group. Nominations are made independently by the organizations behind the members of the jury board. Final decisions are made by highly respected senior experts in our board (see below).

Any company (or person) can be selected that has a true potential for an impact on society, industry or individual behaviour on a global scale.

We are looking at small early stage ventures, NGO or individuals that yet are having difficulties to have their voices heard.

CRITERIA IS "VIP"

Nomination rules for candidates:

Vision – Potential game changer

Impact – Most innovative companies with the highest potential.

Performance – Should have proven ability to perform (Proven Concept).

SUGGESTING PHASE

March: Suggestions must come from the continent the board member represents. Suggestions should NOT all come from a single market within the given territory.

The board member nominates a representative from his organization to collect, independently of him, three (3) suggestions and to pass it on with some basic information (web, and if available, news links) together with a short evaluation why the ORGANIZATION believes that it fits the criteria!
In addition each board member and DWI has a wildcard. They can (not must) nominate one candidate from outside their territory. In this case four (4) nominations are possible.

EVALUATION PHASE

April: Suggestions are passed to DWI director innovation and the academic partner VUB. A student group works out more detailed dossiers to introduce the candidates to the board.

PHASE 1

May – June: The dossiers of all candidates are shared with board members (excluding the suggestions made by the own organization). Each board member will rate the candidates, 10 points for the best down to 1. The three (3) top rated candidates make it on the shortlist.

PHASE 2

September: The shortlist will be discussed in a Zoom group meeting. The meeting is held after the summer break not later than mid-October.

THE LAUREATE

October: The WWIT Laureate will be announced early November.

THE BOARD (JURY)

Vasilisa Marinchuk

President of the Board

Vasilisa Marinchuk is a noteworthy global executive with 15 years of diverse international experience managing and driving impact projects both in corporate and emerging environments. Being recognised for her well-rounded and diplomatic approach she is well-known in the Blockchain industry for her ability to build meaningful relationships and lead ambitious initiatives. She skilfully combines roles of founding members and director of international relations and engagements at Center Blockchain of Catalonia and Managing Director of the international conference Democray4all. She often contributes to the international blockchain conventions as a speaker and shares her expertise by advising and mentoring selected projects. Vasilisa holds an MBA degree from a top ranked university IE Business School (Madrid, Spain) and currently resides in Barcelona.

Rini Elizabeth Mukkath

Senior Industry Expert (Asia)

Luxe Code (Mumbai)

Rini Elizabeth Mukkath is the Editor of Luxe Code, a magazine that explores art, design and the visual culture that impacts us. Before starting Luxe Code, she was Assistant Editor at The Hindu, a leading English daily in India, and covered stories ranging from art history, travel, and culture to human interest pieces. She has also written stories on human trafficking, interviewing victims in the U.S and the legal team supporting them, as well as the civil war in Sri Lanka, after speaking with local government bodies, aid workers and the victims of violence. During the course of her career as a newspaper journalist, she transitioned to a more dynamic role as the industry shifted to a digital-first medium. With her current role in the magazine industry, she looks at revenue streams that address the digital disruption the print media is experiencing. She received the Deutsche Welle fellowship for attending the Global Media Forum in 2014. She participates in various social events as a speaker and mentor and is keen to use the power of the media to address development challenges; particularly, human rights and education. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Stella Maris College in India and holds a Master in International Journalism from Cardiff University, United Kingdom.

Wendy Van den Broeck

Academic Partner

VUB (Brussels)

Wendy Van den Broeck is Assistant Professor in communication sciences at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is also head of the living labs unit and senior researcher within the imec-smit research group. Her main research expertise is in the domain of personalised and immersive media, advertising, and smart education. She also has an interest in research methodology and focuses mainly on living lab research and user research methods to foster media innovation. In the WIT board she follows Karen Donders who left VUB to become director public policy at Flemish public broadcaster VRT.

Dr. Ingrid Vasliu-Feltes

Experiential Marketing Expert (The Americas)

Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes is a healthcare executive, futurist and globalist who is highly dedicated to digital and ethics advocacy. She is a Forbes Business Council member, digital strategist, passionate educator and entrepreneurship ecosystem builder, known as an expert speaker, board advisor and consultant. Throughout her career she has received several awards for excellence in research, teaching or leadership. She is the recipient of numerous awards most notably: WBAF World Excellence Award-Social Entrepreneurship 2021, Top 25 Quantum Technology Leader, Top 20 Global Leaders in Digital Twins Technologies, Top 50 Global Leaders in Health Tech, Top 50 Global Ecosystem Leaders, and some more. Additionally, she serves as an Expert Advisor to the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum, and was appointed to the Board of Advisors for several organizations. She is CEO of Softhread Inc., the Founder and CEO of The Science, Entrepreneurship and Investments Institute, Founder & CEO of Revexpo Consulting and currently serving as a Country Director for WBAF USA, Senator of WBAF, Faculty Member of the WBAF Business School- Division of Entre-preneurship, and teaching the Executive MBA Business Technology Course at the UM Business School. Among others she is also acting as the Chief Innovation Officer for Government Blockchain Association. Additionally, she is an Honorary Advisory Board Member of several companies, entrepreneurship incubators or accelerators.

Phunza Dyani

Business Development Executive (Africa)

Phumza Dyani is an expert Business Development Executive for Africa.

She has a particularly strong passion for Technology and the role it can play in the development of Africa's industrialisation. She spent over 18 years in Senior roles in the ICT industry and is a partner in the Southern African region for the Regional Consortium of Experts for Development (RCD Africa).

She has worked for the major Mobile Operators in the continent, MTN and Vodacom, and has operated across spheres in her career. She holds an MBA from Bond Australia and a myriad of other Global Leadership Qualifications.

Our gratitude will last forever since without their contributions we could not have accomplished the task of establishing such a project.

Maria Dolores Rua Aguete

Senior Industry Expert (Europe)

Omdia (London)

Maria Rua Aguete is Senior Research Director for TV, Video and Advertising at Omdia, the newly merged business intelligence entity of Informa Tech and IHS Markit Technology. She is a keynote speaker and member to many industry boards. Media and entertainment analyst with 20 years experience in the TMT sector.Maria is a skilled media and entertainment executive, with extensive contacts and strong relationships with broadcasters, studios, telcos and media companies worldwide. She currently leads a team of analysts tracking the evolution of media companies globally and leads the Consumer Research around - Vídeo, TV, Devices, Media & Usage. Maria joined media analyst firm Screen Digest in May 2000, where she formed and launched the Television research team before it was acquired by IHS Markit (and now part of #InformaTech). Maria has collected many accolades throughout a storied career, and she is one of only 11 Technology Fellows named by IHS Markit during her time at the company, an honor that recognizes her deep expertise and exceptional standing within the analyst community. Maria holds a first-class degree in economics and business studies from Vigo University in Spain, and an MBA from Cardiff Business School in Wales.

Robin Eckermann

Senior Industry Expert (Australia)

Robin Eckermann AM is a recognised pioneer of the Australian Telecommunications Industry and led the introduction of advanced broadband to Australia. He has a strong technology background and is an advocate for using technology to address the world's environmental sustainabiliy challenges. He is a member of the Order of Australia and a Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee.

A BIG "THANK YOU" TO FORMER BOARD CONTRIBUTORS

From the very early stages the WWIT jury board was supported by individuals that had to decide to leave the WWIT. Therefore, we are giving honor to them:

Gülden Türktan is still with us in another position. She was presiding the board in the first two seasons and now will be heading WWIT Alumni.

Karen Donders was forming our academic partnership with Vrije Universiteit Brussels, VUB, till she left the university to take a position with the Flemish public broadcaster VRT in Belgium.

Gillian Rose from NBC Universal was representing the Americas in the first season 2020/21 and was followed my Story Tech founder and "Tech Cat" Lori R. Schwartz for the following season.

Kirtan Bhana, publisher of The Diplomatic Society in Pretoria represented the African continent for the first two seasons, 2020/21 and 2022.

Thierry Watrin, green energy advisor to the Rwanda government was representing Africa on the 2023 board.

For the same two season Australia and New Zealand was represented by Jonathon Hutchinson from the University of Sydney.