Roundtable: Data & AI

Moderator: Elizabeth Jordan, Global Railway Review

Participants:
Dr Joe Preece, Research Fellow at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE)
Hannah Richta, Head of Algorithms for Operations at DB InfraGO
Matt McInnes, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Lynxx
Richard Adams, Head of Digital Architecture at LNER

Meet the panel

Matt McInnes started his railway career in the UK working for train operating companies and has since worked for a range of organisations in consultancy, systems supply and commercial railway operations. He moved to Australia with the Siemens mobility business and now heads up Lynxx in the Asia Pacific region, providing AI systems, operations and econometrics consultancy to railway clients around the world.

Hannah Richta is Head of Algorithms for Operations at DB InfraGO. She is an economist and gained a broad knowledge in AI and Data in several roles at DB Cargo and DB InfraGO. She started her career in railroading in 2012 at DB Cargo. Her previous roles included lean and IT management as well as building DB Cargo’s first dedicated data science team and leading a project to predict estimated times of arrival for freight trains by machine learning. She publishes in trade magazines on a regular basis and speaks occasionally at trade events.

Dr Joe Preece is a Research Fellow at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), where he focuses on the convergence of computer science and the railway industry. His research explores the application of nascent technologies and techniques, including the use of blockchain for smart ticketing systems, leveraging machine learning techniques to predict track geometry degradation, and employing data science methodologies to extract key insights in the transport domain.

Richard Adams is currently Head of Digital Architecture at LNER, he has also worked as a consultant at GBR. Before joining rail just before COVID, he worked in emerging tech and transformation for over 30 years, including stints at Microsoft XBox, Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC, Sky and many more. He has also worked in education, founded a university department in digital art, was Principal of and helped found a college of creativity and he is a noted keynote speaker.