Chairs & CEO

Dr. Derek Peterson serves as chief technology officer at Boingo Wireless, a global connectivity provider. He leads Boingo’s technology strategy and innovation, advancing next-generation wireless networks across 5G, Passpoint, OpenRoaming, CBRS private networks and Wi-Fi 7. Under his leadership, Boingo’s neutral host networks connect people and devices at more than 130 airports and transportation hubs, more than 70 sports and entertainment venues, and more than 100 U.S. military installations, as well as hospitals, hotels, convention centers, offices and other large properties.

Dr. Peterson helps shape industry standards as chairman of the Wireless Broadband Alliance and a board director of the OnGo Alliance. His career spans engineering, product management and executive leadership, including strategic roles at Oracle, where he led global LTE initiatives. A veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Joint Endeavor, he served in the U.S. Air Force.

He holds a doctorate in computer science with a focus on enterprise information systems from Colorado Technical University, along with degrees from the University of Maryland and American InterContinental University. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Southern Utah University. Recognized for his leadership and innovation, Dr. Peterson has received multiple honors, including CTO of the Year from the Wireless Broadband Alliance, Los Angeles Business Journal and SoCalCIO, and was named a “Wireless Industry Executive to Watch” by Fierce Wireless.

Parley Casto is Vice President of Global Connection Management (GCM) within AT&T Network Planning, Construction and Engineering. In this role, he is responsible for AT&T’s multi-billion-dollar Access, Tower, In-Building, Pole and Data Center portfolio.

Before joining GCM, Mr. Casto was responsible for Pricing for Wholesale, System Integrator, Hyperscale, Government and Healthcare. Prior to joining the Business Marketing organization Mr. Casto was Regional Vice President of U.S. Domestic Sales for the AT&T Wholesale organization.

Before joining the Wholesale organization, Mr. Casto served as Executive Director of Special Access Product Management for SBC Communications, Inc and was responsible for product marketing, product development, rate development, contract pricing and tariff and policy development.

In the early part of Mr. Casto’s career, he served as Director of various product management organizations within SBC.  His responsibilities included directing switched access, advanced data, and various transport product management organizations. Mr. Casto began his career in telecommunications in 1989 working for AT&T Corp and then Illinois Bell in Outside, Network Operations and Engineering.

Mr. Casto received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Casto is married (Elaine Casto) and resides in the Dallas area and has 5 children and 2 grandchildren.

Matt MacPherson is Cisco’s Wireless CTO. Matt’s group has world-wide responsibility for Cisco’s Wireless thought leadership through analyzing technology and industry trends and providing direction to product and engineering teams.

The Wireless CTO team manages the innovation pipeline from idea to proof-of-concept and eventually, to execution decisions. The team has strong insights into market evolution and disruptions in the start-up ecosystem. They ensure Cisco has the leading wireless portfolio through build, buy and partner strategies. Domains include driving strategy for both Service Provider and Enterprise markets for a broad range of wireless solutions across licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum.

The Wireless CTO team engages at the executive level with customers and key technical influencers to partner and drive Cisco’s innovation activity. Matt’s team also works directly with Cisco’s world-class development engineering group for prototyping new technologies.

Through board of directors and workgroups, the team takes a strong leadership role in defining industry standards. Matt sits on the Board of Directors for the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and his team participates in standards groups for Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), GSMA, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and IEEE.

Matt joined Cisco in 1995 and has driven multiple service provider collaborations and strategic alliances. Prior to Cisco, he spent 11 years developing communication and control systems at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory – the high-energy physics particle research facility. Matt holds a Master’s Degree from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering and Systems.

Tiago Rodrigues is the President & CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA). Tiago is responsible for leading the overall strategy, together with the WBA Board, and the operational planning for the WBA. As well as overseeing the day to day management, Tiago takes a leadership role in understanding industry challenges and working with membership to agree the key focus areas and programs that need to be developed to ensure the wireless industry optimises market opportunities for Wi-Fi and works to resolve any business issues that impede the success of the industry overall.

Before he joined the WBA, Tiago spent 15 years at the Portugal Telecom Group. In his previous role as Head of Business Innovation, he collaborated with various departments within the company to identify and develop new business opportunities. Prior to this, he managed the Public Wi-Fi sector of Portugal Telecom Group where he was responsible for service management, development, strategy and internationalisation of the Wi-Fi service. He was also involved in strategic marketing, regulatory affairs, pricing, product development and roaming.

Tiago holds an M.Sc. in Economics and Management of Science and Technology, and a degree in Business Administration from the Higher Institute of Economics and Management at The Technical University of Lisbon He also has a BA. Honors Degree in Business Administration from Humberside University, UK.