Speakers 2024
Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen
Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen, Vice President, Group Communications, is the head of Patria’s group communications. Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen (B.S.; MSc in Social Sciences) has had an extensive international career in leading and developing communications and change management operations and projects.
She has worked as a consultant and executive corporate positions and has headed group communications for example at Ixonos and Basware.
Philip M. Breedlove
Phil Breedlove is a highly decorated retired General of the United States Air Force with 39 years of distinguished service. He reached the pinnacle of the U.S. military as one of six geographic Combatant Commanders and the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Throughout his career, Breedlove held various demanding command and staff positions, leading large-scale, global operations across two combat theatres. As the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of US European Command, he spearheaded significant structural and policy security changes within NATO.
In other notable roles, Breedlove served as the Commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, and as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. His extensive experience includes command assignments across three continents and involvement in wartime, contingency, and humanitarian relief operations.
Currently, Breedlove contributes his expertise as a Distinguished Professor at Georgia Tech, CEO of Emerald Coast Strategic Solutions, and a board member of the Atlantic Council.
Merja Annala
KTM Merja Annala is responsible for the Defence sector sales of the international Systematic Group in Finland and the Baltic States and serves as the Managing Director of the Finnish subsidiary. She is a board member of the Defence and Aerospace Industry Association (PIA ry) and chairs the PIA ry’s Land Forces Group. With a long international career in the defence sector, she has worked in procurement, sales, marketing, and management roles within both the defence industry and defence administration.
Merja has been with Systematic for over 16 years. During this time, Systematic’s SitaWare systems have been sold to 50 countries, including NATO and the US Army. She has had the opportunity to witness first-hand the tremendous development of command and control systems and their implementation around the world.
Tommy Fränti
Tommy Fränti is working for Yle News as anchor and have the experience of 25 years of news and journalism.
Olga Dibrova
Olga Dibrova is the Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland and Iceland since 2020. She is a professional diplomat with over 20 years of experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
She covered relations of Ukraine with Türkiye, South Caucasus and Eastern European countries, as well as the EU integration of Ukraine. Before coming to Finland Olga Dibrova served as Director-General for State Protocol.
Jarna Hartikainen
Jarna Hartikainen works as the Head of Prepardness Planning Unit at the National Emergency Supply Agency. Her work focuses on developing the preparedness of critical sectors for national security. Hartikainen has contributed to preparedness development for over 15 years in collaboration with public administration, business sectors, and international entities.
Previously, she worked at the Cyber Security Centre of Traficom, ensuring digital connectivity and developing cyber security, particularly influencing the formation of situational awareness and collaboration networks. She holds an MSc in Engineering and has further strengthened her expertise with an EMBA program.
Heidi Hautala
Heidi Hautala is former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Member of the European Parliament in the Greens/EFA group. She was elected as a Vice-President of the European Parliament in October 2017 and served on the Committee on International Trade and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. In 2017, she established a Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct in the European Parliament.
In Finland Hautala served as a Member of Parliament from 1991 to 1995 and from 2003 to 2009. From 2011 to 2013, she was the Minister for International Development and State Ownership Steering. She holds a master’s degree in agriculture and forestry.
Mikko Hautala
Mikko Hautala is a Finnish diplomat who served as Finland’s Ambassador to the United States from September 2020 until August 2024. Prior to his term in Washington, Mr. Hautala was Finland’s Ambassador to Russia and served as Foreign Policy Advisor to President Sauli Niinistö.
Throughout his diplomatic career, Mr. Hautala has also worked at the Finnish Embassy in Kiev and as First Secretary of the Finnish Mission to the EU in Brussels. He has served as a diplomatic assistant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Ilkka Kanerva and Alexander Stubb. Mr. Hautala is a columnist for Suomen Kuvalehti. In October 2024, he will publish a book entitled Sotaa ja rauhaa — Venäjä, Yhdysvallat ja Suomi uuden suurvaltakilpailun aikakaudella.
Veera Heinonen
Veera Heinonen is the Director of Democracy and Participation programme at Finland’s Innovation Fund Sitra. She is responsible for ensuring that Sitra’s strategic objectives to strengthen democracy in Finland are implemented in practice. The programme’s objectives include advancing deliberative democracy in Finland by means of experiments, pilot studies and supporting the adoption of new forms of participation.
Veera and her team also focus on investigating how algorithm- and data-based means of operating and influencing can be harnessed to support democracy and participation. The rapid change in the media environment in recent decades has brought with it many new ways of participating in society and exerting new kinds of digital power.
Throughout her career, Veera has been involved in promoting democracy. First as a journalist and a correspondent, then as a civil servant and a diplomat, and finally as the Director of Communications, both at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and at the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland. Before her current position, she worked as Sitra’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs.
Mikko Heiskanen
Lieutenant General Heiskanen is a Reconnaissance Radio Operator (sissiradisti) from Sodankylä. During his career he has served in various positions in different parts of Finland, as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and as a diplomat in the European Union and NATO.
As a military representative, he was an active participant when the European Union became a military actor in February 2022 and when Finland’s accession to NATO took place. As Chief of Military Economy, he is responsible for the material readiness, infrastructure and medical equipment of the Defence Forces, as well as for related acquisitions and logistics.
Jaakko Hyvärinen
Jaakko Hyvärinen is a Managing Director and Technology Architect working within Accenture’s Global Innovation unit, leading Defense Simulation and Extended Reality Engineering capabilities. Jaakko has over 20 years of experience in system integration, primarily serving clients from the Defense and Public sectors. He has contributed to several large-scale programs in various roles.
For the past 10 years, Jaakko has focused on a broad spectrum of emerging technologies, including Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, Edge Computing, and Simulations. Jaakko holds a Master of Science degree in Information Technology from Jyväskylä University.
Jakub Kalenský
Jakub Kalenský is the Deputy Director of the Centre’s Hybrid Influence COI focusing on disinformation and countering of this threat. He joined the Centre of Excellence in 2022. Jakub has specialised in disinformation and Russian hybrid activities since 2015 when he joined the newly created East StratCom Task Force in the European Union’s diplomatic service, the EEAS. In the team, Jakub was responsible for raising awareness about Russia’s disinformation campaigns, and he and his colleagues founded the EUvsDisinfo campaign.
Between 2018 and 2021, Jakub worked in the Atlantic Council’s Ukrainian Election Task Force and in the Digital Forensic Research Lab. He testified in the European Parliament, in the US Congress and in other legislative houses in Europe on Russian disinformation attacks and the countermeasures against it. Since 2024, Jakub is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin). Before specializing in countering disinformation, Jakub worked as a journalist in the Czech Republic.
Jukka Kopra
Mr. Jukka Kopra is a Member of Parliament since April 2011 and chairperson of the Defence Committee of the Finnish Parliament since 28.6.2023. Among his other current positions as a Member of the Parliament are the memberships of of the Speaker’s Council and the Subcommittee for Administration and Security as well as deputy memberships of the Finance Committee and the Finnish Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. In addition, Mr. Kopra is the Vice Chair of the Finnish Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Mr. Kopra represents National Coalition Party from the Electoral District of Southeast Finland. Prior to becoming a member of the Parliament of Finland, Mr. Kopra worked as an entrepreneur. He holds a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from LUT University in Lappeenranta, Finland.
Mari Leppänen
Mari Leppänen, bishop of the Archdiocese of Turku, is also known as a columnist and writer on a variety of current topics. Bishop Mari has acquired graduate degrees in both Theology and Cultural Studies.
Timo Levo
Timo Levo is the Global Defense Lead at Accenture, with over 25 years of experience in driving large scale business transformations driven by technology across various industries. For the last 15 years, Timo has been serving Accenture’s defense customers at home as well as across the globe. His personal expertise is focused on Defense ERP solutions which support integrated force planning, generation and employment supported with defense logistics and backoffice support services. In this context, Timo also leads Accenture’s SAP defense capability with strategic partnership to SAP as the sole development partner for S/4HANA Defense & Security in unique defense ecosystem collaboration program with 11 nations.
He is managing our company investments in developing Accenture’s defense assets and solutions, which accelerate the digital transformation journeys for our defense clients for ERP, Cloud, Data/AI, Security, Common Synthetic Environment, and Multi Domain Operation support. Levo holds a Master of Science in Technology from the University of Helsinki and several industry certifications.
Anssi Munkki
Anssi Munkki (Commander, retired) has served continuously in the Defence Forces for over 32 years, 27 of which as a career officer. Alongside various instructor, staff and commander positions, Anssi has experience in the operational planning, force generation, and international defence cooperation at various levels of defence administration leadership.
During his career, Anssi has been responsible for the maintenance and development of the Defence Forces’ operational information systems as the system’s main user and as a project personnel. His experience in crisis management operations and service abroad as a representative of the Defence Forces has broadened Anssi’s understanding of the development prospects of the armed forces and international defence cooperation. Anssi joined Accenture’s growing team of defence sector experts in 2024.
Minna Nenonen
Minna Nenonen, 45, is the Executive Director of the Finnish Reservists’ Association and has been active in national defence for a long time. She holds the rank of sergeant major. Her interest in national defence began in childhood after listening to her grandfather’s stories from the Winter War and the Continuation War.
As a part-time agricultural entrepreneur, Minna has also recognised the importance of domestic food production for food security and national preparedness. Moving forward, reservist activities will take a more international direction. Minna has been actively involved in CISOR, the Confederation of Senior Non-Commissioned Officers, for a long time. This autumn, the Finnish Reservists’ Association will assume the chairmanship of the confederation.
Jukka Niva
Jukka Niva is the Head of Yle News Lab, the development division of Yle’s News and Current Affairs. The Lab is responsible for Yle’s news strategy, content development, news AI, media research, and R&D, as well as the development of election machines.
Jukka is also a member of the EBU Digital Committee. Jukka has worked at Yle News since 2003, including as the Head of National News, Executive Producer, Acting Editor-in-Chief, Head of National News, Deputy Managing Editor, and Foreign Correspondent.
Esa Rautalinko
Mr. Esa Rautalinko (M.Sc) is the CEO of Patria, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Millog and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Nammo AS. He is also Chairman of the Board at the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries
and Board Member at the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association Europe.
Mr. Rautalinko has been involved in general management, marketing, sales, exports and imports of branded goods and services, both fast moving and durables, throughout his whole professional career and holds strong background in ICT including cyber security complemented by a long history and expertise in finance.
Mr Rautalinko holds several positions of trust, especially in the field of defence, including Chairman of the Board at the Military Science Research Foundation and a Member of the Delegation at Finnish Naval Reserve Foundation. Mr. Rautalinko is also a Chairman of the Board of Directors of VR Group, Chairman of the Nomination Committee of NRC Group ASA, Norway and Member of the Supervisory Board at LocalTapiola Insurance Company, Finland.
Ari-Pekka Saari
Ari-Pekka Saari is the CEO of Steveco Oy. The Vaasa-born lawyer came to Kotka as a lawyer for the port operator in 1993. Over the past thirty years, in addition to his duties as the group’s lawyer, he has served as the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, CEO of the subsidiary Oy Saimaa Terminals Ab, Deputy CEO of Steveco Oy, and, since January 2023, as CEO.
Saari is actively involved in positions of trust at national and local level in the logistics sector. He is a board member of both the Finnish Port Operators Association and the Finnish Freight Forwarding and Logistics Association, a board member of the Kymenlaakso Chamber of Commerce, chair of the logistics sector committee, and chair of the board of the Kotka-Hamina Regional Development Company Cursor Oy.Saari serves as the Honorary Consul of Sweden in Kymenlaakso.
Sir Richard Shirreff
Sir Richard Shirreff was born in Kenya in 1955 where he spent his early years. Educated in England, he graduated from Exeter College, Oxford (Modern History) before being commissioned into the British Army from Sandhurst.
In his 37-year career, he commanded soldiers on operations at every level from platoon to division. This has included combat in the Gulf War of 1991 as a tank squadron leader and again in Iraq as a divisional commander, together with other operations in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Bosnia. In addition, he had extensive staff experience at brigade, Army HQ and in the Ministry of Defence. He commanded NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, and his final military assignment was NATO’s 4 Star Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR). In February 2016 he co-founded Strategia Worldwide Ltd, a global risk advisory company, which has since built up a sizeable portfolio of clients across different sectors.
In 2016 his novel ‘2017: War with Russia’ was published in the UK, USA and Poland. It became a best seller and has been translated into eight languages. He is an honorary fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.
Marita Toikka
Marita Toikka has served as the Mayor of the City of Kouvola since 2017. Before this, she held senior official positions in the cities of Imatra, Joutseno, and Lappeenranta in Southeast Finland from 2000 to 2016.
Toikka graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1999 with a Master’s degree in Law and holds the title of Deputy Judge. She also serves in trustee roles as a board member of the Municipal Guarantee Board and Itärata Oy.”
Lasse Tuominen
Lasse Tuominen is the Head of Defence Sales for the EMEA region at Varjo Technologies. He has been with Varjo for three years, delivering the world’s most advanced extended reality technology to defence projects in dozens of different countries.
Lasse strongly believes in the power of simulation in various training operations and actively promotes this message among European defence stakeholders.
Riitta Väkeväinen
Riitta Väkeväinen is an experienced communications and media professional. In recent years, she has led the communications of the National Emergency Supply Agency (HVK) and, as a member of the executive team, has developed a more open communication culture within the organisation.
Before her career in communications, Väkeväinen worked for a long time as a news and current affairs journalist, including at Yle. In her previous role as a lead consultant, she coached company executive teams and helped organisations build trust during crises.
Jaakko Wallenius
Jaakko Wallenius is the Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Elisa Corporation, the largest telecom operator in Finland. Jaakko’s responsibilities include overall corporate security and privacy; incident, crisis management and communications; and government security relations. He has extensive experience in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection on national, industry, and corporate strategic levels. Prior to the current position he has held leadership positions in major customer sales, business, and service development.
He is member of several security and resiliency related bodies and public-private-partnership networks, including the Finnish government Network Security Advisory Board. He has been involved in planning and execution of several major exercises in both civilian and military domains.
Jaakko holds MBA degree from the Henley Business School (UK) and MSc degree in telecommunications and industrial management from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University, Finland). He’s military rank is Major in FDF reserves.
Paula Werning
Paula Werning is the Chairperson of the Kouvola City Council and a second-term Member of Parliament. She is a member of the Parliament’s Administration Committee and the Constitutional Law Committee.
Additionally, she is the Chairperson of the Finnish Volunteer Fire Brigade Association and a member of the Police Affairs Advisory Board.