Keynote Speakers
BERTRAND PICCARD
DOCTOR, PILOT, LECTURER, AUTOR
SOLAR IMPULSE : A NEW VISION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Descended from a dynasty of explorers and scientists who conquered the heights and depths of our planet, Bertrand Piccard seems predestined to perpetuate one of the greatest family adventures of the 20th century. As psychiatrist, aeronaut, internationally renowned public speaker, president of the humanitarian foundation "Winds of Hope" and roving ambassador for the United Nations, he aspires to combining his scientific family heritage with his commitment to exploring the great adventure of life.
Pioneer of free flight and of ULM in Europe and winner of the first transatlantic balloon race (the Chrysler Challenge 1992), Bertrand Piccard was also the initiator of the Breitling Orbiter project. His success as flight commander of this first non-stop, round-the-world flight in 1999, catapulted him to the front of the stage as a "savanturier" – a combination of the French “savant”, meaning scientist, and “aventurier”, meaning adventurer.
Following this success, he received the Legion of Honour, the Olympic Order and the highest distinctions from the International Aeronautic Federation, the National Geographic Society and the Explorer's Club.
THOMAS A. STEWART
INFLUENTIAL AUTHOR
For six years the Editor of Harvard Business Review, Thomas A. Stewart oversaw the flow of ideas that, as The Economist puts it, "almost single-handedly shape the agenda for management worldwide." There he worked with leading scholars and other experts such as Michael A. Porter, Michael Dell, Larry Bossidy, Gary Hamel, C. K. Prahalad, Geoffrey Moore, Warren Bennis, Clayton M. Christensen, Jeffrey Immelt, Katsuaki Watanabe, Ram Charan, Lawrence Summers, Jeff Bezos and others. He is a chief architect of the field of intellectual capital, a subject he pioneered with landmark cover stories in Fortune in the 1990s and in two books, Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations (1997: a bestseller translated into 17 languages, finalist for the Financial Times's business book of the year award, etc.) and The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the 21st-Century Organization (2001: again, multiple translations). As one of the most influential living business thought-leaders, Stewart dispenses both strategic counsel and a practical course of action, showing how fundamental shifts in productive forces are now transforming management. He emphasises the concrete capabilities that CEOs and senior managers need to develop to cope with the most daunting dilemmas of the new global business landscape. He is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and a member of GLTE's Advisory Board. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College (summa cum laude in English literature) and received an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from City University London.
JACQUES ATTALI
PRESIDENT OF PLANET FINANCE
Jacques Attali is an eminent economic advisor and was recently nominated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy as the head of the Commission to promote French Growth. From 1981 to 1991 he was special advisor to François Mitterrand and in 1990 he became the first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD. Currently he is chairman of A&A, an international consultancy company and the founder and president of PlaNet Finance, an international non-profit organisation that uses the Internet to combat poverty concentrating on the microfinance sector.
In 1984 he founded Eureka, the main European programme on new technologies. Then in 1989, he launched an international action programme against massive floods in Bangladesh. Recently, he also served as Conseiller d'Etat in Paris and has advised the United Nations Secretary General on nuclear proliferation.
PIERRE GADONNEIX
Pierre Gadonneix, who has a Doctorate in Business Economics from the Harvard Business School, is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Moteurs, and has a degree in Economics.
An experienced businessman, Pierre Gadonneix has spent the major part of his career in industry.
Pierre Gadonneix, EDF’s Chairman and CEO since 15 September 2004, has steered and committed the Group, one of the leaders in the European Energy market, to an industrial plan for profitable growth, mainly in Europe. Under his impetus, EDF confirmed its financial recovery and in 2005 successfully took joint control of Edison, Italy’s second largest energy supply company before the Group’s expansion into the international energy markets in 2007 with the relaunch of nuclear power generation. EDF, a Public Limited Company which was quoted on the Paris stock exchange in November 2005, is a member of the CAC 40.
Besides this, Pierre Gadonneix has other international responsibilities in the energy sector. In 2006, he was elected Chairman of the World Energy Council which brings together the principal players of this sector in the world. He has been the European Vice Chairman of this organisation since 2004. From 1993 to 1999, he also chaired the Conseil Français de l’Energie (French energy council).
Pierre Gadonneix is a member of the Conseil Economique et Social (Economic and Social Council).
He is also a member of the Board of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (National Foundation of Political Science).
Pierre Gadonneix is a Commander in the National Order of the Legion of Honour and Commander in the National Order of Merit and in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Born in New York on 10th January 1943, he is married with three children.
