James Richardson has been Chief Economist at the National Infrastructure Commission since April 2016. The NIC is an independent body, providing expert advice to the Government on pressing infrastructure issues. James heads the NIC secretariat’s economics team and leads on production of the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Assessment, an in-depth assessment of the UK’s major infrastructure needs on a 30-year time horizon.

Prior to this, James was Director, Fiscal and Deputy Chief Economic Adviser at HM Treasury. He was responsible for advising on the fiscal stance, fiscal risks and the fiscal framework. James was Director, Public Spending and Chief Microeconomist at HM Treasury from September 2008 to July 2012. He ran Spending Review 2010 and led on reforms to public service pensions, following Lord Hutton’s independent report.

James has a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics (LSE).

As Mott MacDonald’s Chief Technical Officer, Mark is accountable to the Executive Board for technical excellence across the Group. As the Head of the NDTp within the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), Mark contributes to the leadership of this ambitious programme.  In addition, he is the Digital Transformation workstream lead on “Project 13” for the Infrastructure Client Group, which represents the UK’s major infrastructure client organisations.  Mark is a keen champion of innovation in the context of collaborative delivery models and he is particularly interested in the transformation of the infrastructure industry, including: systems-thinking, digital transformation, connected digital twins, information infrastructure, low-carbon sustainable solutions and the circular economy in the built environment.

Fabian graduated from Lincoln University of Missouri (USA)-Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Civil Engineering Technology in 2007 and began his technical career at the Department of Transportation of Missouri as a Highway Materials Inspector. He returned to his home country Saint Lucia in 2009 where he served as clerk of civil works, overseeing the rehabilitation of schools across the entire island for the Ministry of Education. He later joined the Housing Ministry and developed housing metrics and affordable housing initiatives to help government reduce a large housing deficit. He later joined the private sector as a project manager during which he executed many beachfront hotel and residential developments in Saint Lucia. Fabian later joined UNOPS’ team in 2016 and contributed to projects in health facility assessment and re-construction, educational building re-habilitation, potable water treatment and supply systems design and construction, urban rejuvenation and city Planning among others across the Caribbean region. Currently back with the Government of Saint Lucia and embedded in the Department of Finance, Fabian’s unit [the NIPP] reports directly to the Permanent Secretary of Finance and the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia on Sustainable and integrated Infrastructure Planning. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP), holds an MBA and is a graduate member of the ICE. He is currently pursuing a Master Degree in Civil Engineering from Heriot Watt University.

Steve Crosskey is a Civil Engineer with nearly 30 years of experience in the Civil Engineering industry, within both the private and development sectors.  A major area of focus for Steve has been sustainability, and he has great experience in Institutional Capacity and Community Development in infrastructure projects, including review and recommendations on policy, and development strategy. Steve joined the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in September 2014. In his current position, Steven leads a multi disciplinary team that provides the standards, guidance and training for UNOPS in infrastructure and project management, and has also worked, inter alia,  on new strategies and tools to assist governments to provide infrastructure and project management solutions in the context of the global agenda  2030.  

Carlos Sanchez is a Climate Resilience Investment Director at Willis Towers Watson. His work focuses on the promotion of investment solutions aimed at fostering a more efficient pricing of physical climate risks within investment decision-making processes. Carlos is also the Executive Director for the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI). A flagship COP26 initiative, CCRI is led by the private sector and has a growing membership of 60+ institutions committed to the development and testing of solutions for resilient investment decision-making.

Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Carlos managed a climate resilience finance facility at the Multilateral Investment Fund – part of the Inter-American Development Bank Group – also dedicated to identifying specific investment opportunities in connection to physical climate risks.

In the past Carlos worked at the Economic Office of the Spanish Embassy in Angola as Foreign Direct Investment Advisor and later as Business Development Manager for a project finance advisory firm.

Carlos holds a Masters in Finance from the London Business School where he contributed to the drafting of the ESG chapter within LBS’ Private Equity textbook – and a Masters in Global Affairs from Georgetown University.

Mike is responsible for the Environment Agency’s long-term investment scenarios (LTIS) for flood and coastal risk management. LTIS is an economic assessment showing what future flood and coastal risk management could look like over the next 50 years in England. The latest LTIS study was published in 2019. Mike has previously worked on national flood risk assessment, and the plans to manage flood risk in the Thames Estuary until the year 2100 (TE2100). He has a PhD in hydrology and climate change, and is a Chartered Water and Environment Manager.

Tania oversees major economic policy and research initiatives related to digital infrastructure and policy to inform thought leadership, corporate strategy and operational engagements with clients, with emphasis on Africa. She supports dissemination of knowledge on digital development and contributes to the formulation and implementation of country operations targeted at reforms in the digital sector, building on collaboration within the World Bank Group and external partners.

Formerly Tania was the Global Lead for the World Bank’s Markets and Competition Policy Team.  Previously, Tania worked for the International Telecommunications Union, APOYO Consultoria, and the Peruvian telecommunications regulator (OSIPTEL). Tania holds a Master Degree in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard University.

William Lehr is an Internet and telecommunications industry economist and research scientist in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he is part of the Advanced Network Architectures group. Dr. Lehr’s research focuses on the economic implications of ICT technologies for public policy, industry structure, and the evolving Internet ecosystem. He is engaged in multiple multidisciplinary research projects focusing on issues such as broadband Internet access, cybersecurity, next generation network architectures, and spectrum management. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Lehr advises public and private sector clients in the US and abroad on ICT strategy and policy matters. Dr. Lehr holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, and MSE, BA, and BS degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. For more information, see http://people.csail.mit.edu/wlehr/

Prior to Facebook, I was principal scientist and program manager at Schlumberger Research, working on communication and sensing systems for Subsurface and Subsea systems in the oilfield domain. I received my PhD from MIT in 2006, where I was an MIT Presidential Fellow; my MS from UC Berkeley in 2001, where I received the Demetri Angelakos Memorial Award; and my BS from Purdue University in 1999, where I received the Rappaport Wireless Comms Scholarship.