Senior Manager – NEC Laboratories Europe 

Dr. Ernö Kovacs holds a PhD from the University of Stuttgart and brings extensive experience in ICT research and innovation. He has held key roles at IBM (1986–1990) and Sony (1997–2004), focusing on multimedia communications, distributed systems and mobile technologies. Since 2005, he has been with NEC’s European Laboratories, where he currently serves as Senior Manager for Data Ecosystems Research and Standards. Dr. Kovacs leads a team specialising in context brokering, cloud-edge computing, real-time situation awareness and smart city solutions. He has played a pivotal role in developing international standards for context information management (OMA NGSI, ETSI NGSI-LD) and co-chairs the Smart Industry Mission Support Committee at the FIWARE Foundation. His team’s work on Digital Twin technologies—spanning smart cities, autonomous vehicles, drones and manufacturing—focuses on data enrichment and advanced analytics to drive innovation in urban environments.