Conference: The clusters for digital and
green development of the regions

Atanaska Nikolova

Member of the Board of the Association "ProspectiM"

Atanaska Nikolova is personally involved in the topic of the green transformation of society and the realization of a just transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.

In the period 2014-2020 was a Deputy Minister of Environment and Waters in three governments of Bulgaria, with scope of responsibilities Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy; Air Quality Management; Biodiversity Protection and Natura 2000 Management; EU Coordination and International Relations. She was appointed Head of Bulgarian Delegation in the Convention of the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution; Head of Bulgarian Delegation in the Danube River Protection Convention; Head of Bulgarian Delegation in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 22/23/24/25).

Atanaska Nikolova has experience in the local self-government. As Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Burgas in the period 2009-2015 she was responsible for the sectors Environment and EU Policies and Programs. She was part of the team devoted to the idea to turn Burgas into a model for a green, smart and sustainable city.

Atanaska Nikolova is well-regarded adviser and policy-maker in the field of Environment Protection, Sustainable Development, Climate Policy, Marine Protection and Blue economy, Circular economy, with more then fifteen years of experience in strategic planning and policy development. Proficient in project management. She is cofounder and member of the Board of the ProspekiM Association.

Currently she is an adviser to the Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Petko Georgiev

Chairman of ICT Cluster-Burgas

Petko Georgiev is an innovative entrepreneur and seasoned public figure in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. With a decade-long track record in the industry, Petko is the founder and chairman of the ICT Cluster – Burgas and Southeast Digital Innovation Hub - DIGIHUB. His work has been instrumental in shaping the tech scene in Burgas and fostering a dynamic, innovative environment for businesses and startups.

Under Petko's leadership, the ICT Cluster has seen several successful initiatives come to fruition, including free training for burgeoning IT talents and students, attracting major companies to the city, and establishing a vibrant business and startup ecosystem.

Petko is currently overseeing the ICT Greening Up Initiative, an ambitious project aimed at accelerating the transition of SMEs and startups in the ICT sector towards a sustainable, climate-neutral, and zero-pollution operating model. This initiative is aimed at boosting the competitiveness and innovation potential of companies in the Burgas region.

Alexander Milev

Executive Director at Proxiad SEE

Alexander Milev is the executive director of Proxiad for South-Eastern Europe (SEE). He is a professional with over 18 years of experience in outsourced IT services and business processes, managing large international teams and working with leading global organizations in various sectors. He took over the management of the company at the end of 2018 and for the last 4 years he managed a number of new processes and transformations.

As part of the company's positioning strategy in Southeast Europe, it expands its portfolio of services, develops and positions new software products, increases the scale of operations in Bulgaria and opens a new office in North Macedonia.

Reneta Koleva

Deputy - Minister of the Ministry of Environment and Water

Reneta Koleva was born on September 7. She is a law graduate from the New Bulgarian University. For 11 years she has been part of the Ministry of Environment and Water, thereby holding various positions since 2012 - legal advisor, director of the Directorate of Administrative Legal and Financial Services at the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities (EMEPA), and since 2014 - Executive Director of the EMEPA.

Reneta has been involved in the drafting and amendment of numerous legal acts in the environmental field, including national programmes and strategies in the sectors of water management, waste management, air quality improvement, etc. Over the years, she has participated in a number of national councils, and has also been the team leader for the management and implementation of projects funded by the Operational Programme Environment and the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme for the reduction of economic and social inequalities within the enlarged EU funded by the Swiss confederation.

Renera held the position of Deputy Minister in the Ministry of the Environment, in the periods August 2022 - June 2023, May 2021 - December 2021, and February 2017 - May 2017.

She has worked as a legal adviser in the private sector.

Natalia Miteva

Deputy Minister of Education and Science

Natalia Miteva has extensive international experience in education. She worked as a manager of "Strategic Programs for Education" at Google, where she worked with countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, for nearly 10 years, he was the program director for "Good Education and Work Skills" at the America for Bulgaria Foundation, where he managed a significant portfolio of investments aimed at increasing the quality of teaching, innovation, entrepreneurship, technology and STEM skills. Member of the Commission for Innovations at the Ministry of Education and Science since its inception. She has worked extensively with Columbia University and Bank Street College of Education in New York in the area of pedagogical practices and effective teaching technologies. Representative for Bulgaria of the Finnish organization for educational innovations HundrEd.

She graduated with a master's degree in public policy from the University of Maryland in the USA and a bachelor's degree in international relations from Columbia College in the USA. She specialized in impact assessment at the World Bank and Carleton University in Canada, as well as investing for social impact at the University of Oxford.

Fredrik Syversen

Director of Strategy and Corporate Development at IKT Norge

IKT-Norge is Norway's premier business organization for digital companies. Frederik jobs includes close contact with IKT Norge's members and key partners, as well as political institutions, companies, networks and technology environments that are at the intersection of digitalization and business development. The position is responsible for developing IKT Norge's work on sustainability and technology. To facilitate membership growth in all areas of the ICT industry.

Key areas of responsibility:

• Lobby on behalf of the ICT industry
• Head of contact with Innovation Norway and Norwegian Research Council (Public innovation funding body), Ministry of Health, Directorate of Health, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Energy, and Directorate of Energy
• Head of IKT Norge’s eHealth initiative
• Helping companies excel in meeting the demands of the market, owners, financial environment, and public funding bodies
• Head of startups and entrepreneurship

Prof. Hristo Bozov

Rector of the University "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" - Burgas

Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozov is rector of the University "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" - Burgas and manager of the Municipal Oncology Center - Burgas. Before being elected rector, he led as dean the Faculty of Public Health and Health Care, and subsequently the newly formed Faculty of Medicine.

For 5 years, Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozov has been the deputy mayor for health care and social activities of the Municipality of Varna.

The rector of Burgas University is the chairman of the Bulgarian Scientific Society for Public Health.

Assoc. Nikola Todorov

University "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" - Burgas

Assoc. Dr. Nikola Stoyanov Todorov is a lecturer in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection and head of the Ecology, Technologies and Innovations Laboratory at the Research Institute of the University of Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" - Burgas.

Professor Todorov's professional interests are related to environmental monitoring, recycling of food and beverage packaging from PET (PET), noise pollution and air pollution with fine dust particles.

Ivaylo Slavov

Entrepreneur, Executive Director of Finance Partner and Chairman of Easy Consult

Ivaylo Slavov is a serial entrepreneur and corporate executive specialized both in developing start-up and established organizations. He has more than 30 years of international experience in the fields of Information Technology, Financial Services, IT-Outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing and Human Resources.

In his position of a Chairman and stepping on his strong background in digital business and human resources, Ivaylo Slavov is advising Easy Consult to ensure its sustainable success on the way to becoming a leading provider of flexible workforce solutions on all core markets of the company. As a CEO and founder of Finance Partner, Ivaylo is leading a consulting and investment company with focus on innovation in Green and Renewable Energy and Workforce Management.

Prior to that, Ivaylo founded BULPROS (predecessor of DIGITALL) and under his leadership the company became one of the largest in the Bulgarian IT sector and among the fastest growing technology companies in prestigious rankings such as Deloitte's reports "Technology Fast 50 Central Europe" and "Technology Fast 500TM EMEA" as well as according to the Inc. 5000 Europe, Financial Times 1000 Europe and others. Prior to BULPROS Ivaylo spent 20+ years in different managerial roles at Microsoft, Adecco, SEB, Unisys, Comparex (PC Ware) across EMEA.

For his entrepreneurial success and significant contribution to the development of the IT sector, Ivaylo has won numerous awards, including twо Audience Awards and three nominations for the Top 10 Managers of Bulgaria in the "Manager of the Year" contest, organized by the Manager magazine and the consulting company Deloitte. In 2021, he won the special People's Choice Award at the Forbes DNA of Success Awards.

In addition, Ivaylo is board member of several business organizations and associations such as AHK German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Burgas Free University and a member of the Board of the Vocational High School for Computer Programming and Innovation in the city of Burgas. Ivaylo Slavov is one of the founders and was a board member of the Association for Innovation, Business Services and Technologies (AIBEST). Prior to AHK, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the AmCham and co-chairman of the AmCham Digital Economy Committee.

Silvia Bakardzhieva

Consultant on implementation of EU law on climate, environment

Silvia Bakardzhieva is a legal consultant with extensive knowledge and experience dedicated to the harmonization and implementation of EU law on climate, environment and food safety.

He is currently an international legal expert for the "Green Transition - Implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive in Serbia 2021-2025" project; Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology, University of Belgrade, Serbia.

For 4 years, Bakardzhieva was Attaché for Environment and Climate - Presidency of Bulgaria of the Council of the EU and Permanent Representation of Bulgaria, Brussels, Belgium.

Silvia Bakardzhieva also has extensive experience from her work in a number of institutions such as the European Commission, the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ivelina Vasileva

Member of the board of the Mission to the European Commission for the protection of oceans, seas and waters

Ivelina Vasileva has extensive experience of more than 15 years in the public sector. After 10 years in the corporate business, in 2007 she became deputy mayor of the city of Burgas and was responsible for the environmental and EU policies at local level. Following that she was Deputy Minister of Environment and Waters and Head of the national delegations in both the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution.

In the period 2014-2017 she was Minister of Environment and Waters in the government of Bulgaria. During her office in the Ministry of Environment and Waters, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the national environmental protection and climate change policies, monitoring and control, as well as the national and donor environmental financing programs.

Ivelina Vasileva was elected four times as a member of the Bulgarian national parliament and during her last mandate from 2017 to 2021 she was Chair of the Permanent Committee of Environment and Waters and Deputy Chair of the European Affairs and Monitoring of EU Funds Committee. Currently she is a Mission Board Member of the Mission “Restoring Our Ocean and Waters” of the European Commission.

Hristo Kovachev

CEO at ORBIS Digital Services

Founder and manager of ORBIS Digital Services - one of the largest IT companies in Burgas and the region, with a constantly growing team of over 60 professionals in the field. For more than 5 years now, the company has been focused on software development, digital marketing and outsourcing solutions, working closely with partners and clients from Germany, Austria, the USA and Bulgaria.

ORBIS Dev. Inc - the intensive IT program that provides a chance to develop young talents who want to start a career in web programming and software development.

Know-how built over years, based on successfully developed business strategies in the IT sector and beyond.

Education: Economics at LMU in Munich, BA and MA from UNSS.

Dimitar Nikolov

Mayor of the Municipality of Burgas, member of the Board of the NSORB

Dimitar Nikolov has been mayor of Burgas since 2007. In 2006 is the manager of "KBS" OOD - Burgas. In the period 1998-2006, he was the executive director of "Pobeda" AD. He graduated from Higher Economics - University of Economics - Moscow, has a professional diploma in management and a professional certificate in management - Open University and NBU Master in Financial Management - SA Svishtov.

Prof. Sotir Sotirov

Vice Rector of the University "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov"-Burgas and member of DIGIHUB's Board of Directors

Prof. Dr. Sotir Sotirov graduated from the Technical University in Sofia, and then became an assistant in "Microprocessors and Computers" at the Technical College in Burgas (which subsequently became part of the "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov" University). He defended his thesis in the field of "Informatics", and in 2016 he became a professor of "Systems with artificial intelligence". The scientific development of Prof. Sotirov includes two of the most current topics in the field of artificial intelligence - Neural networks and Fuzzy sets.

In the field of neural networks, Prof. Sotirov has over 60 developments related to the modeling of the structures and training of the main types of neural networks. A large part of his developments are related to intuitionistic fuzzy sets, where both the degree of belonging and non-belonging, as well as the degree of indeterminacy to a given state are reflected.

Ana Yancheva

OIC - Burgas

Ana Yancheva has experience as a coordinator of European projects in the field of environmental protection, entrepreneurship, institutional cooperation and community-led local development.

Participant and lecturer in international trainings and seminars.

Silvana Rizzi

Member of the EU EIT "Raw materials" expert group and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Sustainable resource expert group

Silvana Ritsi has in-depth knowledge in the application of European and Bulgarian legislation in the field of the circular economy, waste from electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life vehicles, waste from batteries and accumulators and hazardous waste regulations. I have extensive practical experience in working with waste from the moment of its generation, characterization, monitoring, collection, pre-treatment, recycling and recovery of the above-mentioned waste.

He is a member of the EU EIT "Raw materials" expert group and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Sustainable resource expert group.

He has extensive experience in conducting scientific research projects in the field of waste and critical raw materials, from the moment of initial research to their commissioning.

Silvana Rizzi is the manager of development of waste activities at Makmetal Holding.

Alexandra Kamenska

Senior Expert, Risk and Compliance at Telelink Business Services

Aleksandra Kamenska is a Senior Risk and Compliance Expert at Telelink Business Services with 10 years of experience as an implementеr and auditor of processes and management systems in accordance with international standards, frameworks and good practices. During the last 5 years Aleksandra is responsible for the design, implementation, and continual improvement of processes to meet the highest industry standards. Her expertise is focused on information security and data privacy, IT service quality management, business continuity, and anti-bribery.

Ina Agafonova

Representative of DIGIHUB tools of the EEN network for accelerating the green transformation of the ICT sector

Ina Agafonova is Executive Director of Digitalization and Integration of New Technologies Foundation (DINT). She is an experienced executive officer with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables & environmental industry. Strong entrepreneurship professional with a master degree in International Economic Relations and second master in Ecology. Skilled in negotiation, business planning, strategic planning and business development.

Eng. Dimitar Stoyanov

Member of the Board of the National Committee of Bulgaria in the World Energy Council

Member of the Board of the Industrial Cluster for Electric Vehicles.

Advisor on energy policies to the Minister of Regional Development Rosen Plevneliev(2009-2010)

Experience in the energy sector, the innovation ecosystem, education and knowledge management.

Master in Nuclear Energy and Industrial Management, Sofia Technical University.

Ivelina Strateva

Director of the Economy and Business Activities Directorate, Burgas Municipality

Ivelina Strateva graduated from the University of Economics - Varna, majoring in "Economics and Industrial Management". He has a master's degree in "International Business and Management" from the D.A. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov. He has been the Director of the Municipal Directorate "Economy and Business Activities" since 2010 and the Chairman of the School Board of the Vocational High School for Computer Programming and innovations - Burgas.