Agenda and Speakers

During the Twipe Digital Growth Summit, attendees learned from distinguished speakers, industry insiders and outsiders providing a fresh view on the future. Through presentations, panel discussions, interactive discovery sessions and Q&As attendees were immersed in the world of Metaverse, Web3, Audio and AI. You will learn how these technologies will shape our future news production and consumption.

8:30 – Arrival & Registration; Refreshments

9:00 – Welcome commencement

Part I – Strategies for a changing media landscape

Claudius Senst

CEO at BILD group & WELT group

Nick Hugh

CEO at The Telegraph

Danny Lein

Founder & CEO at Twipe

Nic Newman

Senior Research Associate at Reuters

Digital News Report – Key insights and learnings

This year’s report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov survey of over 93,000 online news consumers in 46 markets covering half of the world’s population.

Hear directly from Nic Newman, author of the report, the key findings of this research.

Ezra Eeman

Change Director at Mediahuis

Challenges and opportunities in a changing Media Landscape

As change director at Mediahuis, Ezra is at the forefront of technology, innovation and change management.

In this session you will learn what are the upcoming technologies that are likely to impact news media and how your company can adapt and thrive in this ever changing environment.

Jack Davies

Senior Researcher at nChain

Web3 Starter: Introduction to Web3, NFTs, Blockchain and opportunities for publishers

Web3, NFTs and Blockchain have recently taken the world by storm, promising to revolutionise the way we use the Internet in the upcoming years.

Learn from Jack Davies what these technologies are all about and which opportunities are out there for news media publishers.

Howard Elston

Principle Creative Technologist at The Telegraph

Demystifying NFTs and the Metaverse, deep dive session with The Telegraph and Renovi

Presented by Howard Elston , an exciting hands-on session awaits you at this year’s Digital Growth Summit: minting your own NFT. This interactive experience, will take you step-by-step through setting up your own crypto wallet, creating and minting a uniquely designed NFT. 

We will guide you through Decentraland and uncover together the way in which NFTs are connected to the Metaverse. This experience is available exclusively for guests who join us in-person in London on October 19th.

11:10 – Networking break

Part II – Web3 & NFTs in the publishing world

Laurent Bainier

Editor in Chief at 20 Minutes

The 20 Mint story: Key learnings and next steps from the sale of 999 NFTs

This spring, 20 Minutes launched 20 Mint, the world’s first free consumer magazine entirely devoted to web3. They offered readers the opportunity to buy one of the 999 Ethereum NFTs from the 20 Mint Typewriter collection each with a unique combination of attributes.

Learn from Laurent Bainier what was remarkable about the project and the results achieved.

Haris Fazal

Lead Web Project Manager at Le Parisien

Le Parisien: 1000 NFTs retracing history

In blending the historic with the groundbreaking, Le Parisien has launched a remarkable initiative to sell iconic front pages of their publication as NFTs. Attracting subscribers and fans alike, Le Parisien’s NFT project delivers varying levels of rarity and exclusive benefits to customers.

Learn from Haris Fazal what was remarkable about the project and the results achieved.

William Ban

VP Operations Web3 at TIME

TIME: Engaging communities with NFTs

William Ban is the VP of Operations for TIME web3 where he oversees TIME’s growth within the web3 ecosystem including NFTs, Metaverse, and IP Licensing business units. An industry leader, TIME’s NFT and web3 community, TIMEPieces, has grown to include well over 55,000 artists, collectors, and enthusiasts. He also drove TIME’s web3 strategy, generating eight figures of revenue as the brand expanded from NFTs to community building to partnering with several NFT creators to develop their unique IP into animated series for TV with TIME Studios.

William’s presentation will focus on the journey that TIME has gone through with NFTs and how they can be used to interact with audiences and communities.

Hear and by heard by leaders of three of the most groundbreaking and innovative NFT projects in the publishing industry.

12:40 Lunch

Part III – Product Innovations

Debbie McMahon

Product Director at Financial Times

Edward Roussel

Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times

Mathieu Halkes

Head of Product at Schibsted

Matthieu Dubois

Head of Product at Twipe

Kara Chiles

Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at Gannett

Gannett: Learnings and next steps from multiple experiments at Gannett

In her role as Sr. Vice President of Consumer Products at Gannett, Kara leads the consumer product management team and is responsible for full product lifecycle, strategic development and optimization of experiences for web, video, native apps, newsletters and messaging. Her team oversees the largest network of news outlets in the United States with more than 230 properties.

Kara’s presentation will take you through the learnings and successes from her series of experiments at Gannett.

Han-Menno Depeweg

Chief Digital Officer at NRC Media

NRC Audio: How to leverage podcasts to grow your audience

NRC Audio is helping NRC Media future-proof journalistic audio. 

Learn directly from Han-Menno Depeweg, one of the minds behind this product, why NRC Media decided to invest in Audio and how it is helping them grow their audience.

Agnes Stenbom

Head of Lab at Schibsted

Prototyping inclusive news with the help of AI

With more and more people actively avoiding the news, Schibsted is exploring ways AI could help bring them back. Agnes is recognised as a spokesperson for responsible use of AI within and beyond the media industries.

Learn from Agnes Stenbom about their experiments at Schibsted’s Lab.

Adonis Zachariades

Co-Founder of Renovi and Renovi Studios

Demystifying NFTs and the Metaverse, deep dive session with The Telegraph and Renovi

Presented by Adonis Zachariades, an exciting Hands-on session awaits you at this year’s Digital Growth Summit: minting your own NFT. This interactive experience, will take you step-by-step through setting up your own crypto wallet, creating and minting a uniquely designed NFT. 

We will guide you through Decentraland and uncover together the way in which NFTs are connected to the Metaverse. This experience is available exclusively for guests who join us in-person in London on October 19th.

15:30 – Networking break

Part IV – Metaverse and the Media

Sofie Hvitved

Futurist at Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies

Getting Macro with the Metaverse: The future of Immersive content and web3

As senior advisor and head of media at The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, Sofie Hvitved looks at how changes in media have an impact on how we as citizens and organisations orient ourselves in a hyper-digital society.

Sofie will share eight trends to look out for in 2023 in the tech and media industry that point towards the future media landscape.

Sander Duivestein

Co-author of Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes, and the Metaverse

Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes and the Metaverse

Sander will explore the new rules of the Metaverse and share what we can learn from Generation Z and Alpha. Sander is the co-author of the recent book “Real Fake”. He spends every Monday in the virtual world to understand what this new reality will mean for our economy and society. 

16:55 – Summarised learnings & Closing speech


Nick Hugh

CEO at The Telegraph

Nick has almost 25 years of digital experience with companies that range from global media players to innovative start ups.  Before joining The Telegraph he was Yahoo’s Vice President for EMEA.   

Nick Hugh was appointed Chief Executive Officer of The Telegraph in June 2017 and is charged with continuing to grow the penetration of The Telegraph’s quality journalism and diversifying revenue across the group, whilst ensuring the company maintains its rightful place as one of the UK’s leading media brands.

He has been recognised in the Campaign ‘A’ List 2018-2020, Who’s Who in 2020, The Drum Digerati 2017 and shortlisted for Ad Tech personality of the year in 2017. As an NED, Nick participated in the sale of Esure (to Bain Capital) and GoCo (to Future), and is currently a Board Member of Childline, part of the NSPCC. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a BA Hons degree from Manchester, England.


Claudius Senst

CEO BILD group & WELT group

Claudius Senst, born in 1986, studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), as well as at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany). In 2008, he started his career as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group.

Claudius Senst joined Axel Springer in 2013. Initially as Junior Executive and Chief of Staff to the board division of BILD and WELT. This was followed by several positions at Insider Inc. in New York, where he served most recently as COO. Today, he is a member of the Board of Directors at Insider Inc. as well as Morning Brew.

In July 2021 he became CEO BILD Group and WELT Group. In this role he is responsible for Axel Springer‘s news brands in Germany.


Sander Duivestein

Co-author of Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes and the Metaverse

Sander’s recent book looks at the importance of and the changing reality introduced by the virtual world of fake reality.

In Sander’s eyes, technology is changing the world at lightning speed. “Accelerated change is the one constant in the digital age” . It is Sander’s mission to indicate the impact of technology on people, companies and society. Companies should not resist new technology, but rather use it to change. It’s Digital Darwinism. It’s adopt or die!

Sander’s presentations are characterised by their high visual character. Sander immerses the viewer into the future, inspiring, challenging, and making the viewer think.


William Ban

VP Operations Web3, TIME

William Ban is the VP of Operations for TIME web3 where he oversees TIME’s growth within the web3 ecosystem including NFTs, Metaverse, and IP Licensing business units. An industry leader, TIME’s NFT and web3 community, TIMEPieces, has grown to include well over 55,000 artists, collectors, and enthusiasts. He also drove TIME’s web3 strategy, generating eight figures of revenue as the brand expanded from NFTs to community building to partnering with several NFT creators to develop their unique IP into animated series for TV with TIME Studios.


Sofie Hvitved

Futurist and Head of Media at Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

Sofie Hvitved is a Futurist and Head of Media at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, where she is currently working on the future of the Metaverse. She is strongly engaged in the intersection between media, technology and entertainment and has a solid strategic background in the media industry, among others by her work in DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). She is also a member of the Danish Media Board under the Minister of Culture. Sofie has lived and worked in various cities around the world in Europe and South America, and is currently living in Copenhagen. She has an MA in Media Studies from Aarhus University, Denmark.


Ezra Eeman

Change Director at Mediahuis

Ezra Eeman is Change Director at the international media company Mediahuis, where he is responsible for coordinating newsroom transformation and digital acceleration across a wide range of cross-media brands. Ezra has almost 20 years of experience in media, innovation and journalism. Previously he was the Head of Digital, Transformation and Platforms at the EBU, The European Broadcasting Union. Before that he worked as head of an innovation lab at VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster and was a journalist and editor in chief at the Flemish commercial broadcaster VTM.


Kara Chiles

Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at Gannett

Kara is a sharp, savvy leader and strategist experienced in developing award-winning consumer media products and platform solutions for brands including USA TODAY, Whole Foods Market and WebMD. In her role as Sr. Vice President of Consumer Products at Gannett, Kara leads the consumer product management team and is responsible for full product lifecycle, strategic development and optimization of experiences for web, video, native apps, newsletters and messaging. Her team oversees the largest network of news outlets in the United States with more than 230 properties.


Nic Newman

Senior Research Associate at Reuters

Nic Newman is a journalist and digital strategist who played a key role in shaping the BBC’s internet services over more than a decade.

He was a founding member of the BBC News Website, leading international coverage as World Editor (1997-2001). As Head of Product Development for BBC News he helped introduce innovations such as blogs, podcasting and on-demand video. Most recently he led digital teams, developing websites, mobile and interactive TV applications for News, Sport, Weather and Local.

He has played an important part in the development of social media strategies and guidelines for the wider BBC. Nic was a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He is married with three children and lives in London.


Debbie McMahon

Product Director at Financial Times

Outcome focused senior leader and product director at FT. Debbie is passionate about delivering products at scale, she believes in putting the user at the heart of the design process and thrives in environments that care about transformation of services.



Edward Roussel

Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times

Edward Roussel is head of digital for The Times & The Sunday Times, Britain’s leading news brand, a post he took on just over a year ago. Previously, Edward was chief Innovation officer for The Wall Street Journal, based in New York, where he worked for eight years. At WSJ, Edward oversaw the launch of new businesses as well as relations with the Silicon Valley tech platforms, including Apple, Google and Facebook. 


Jack Davies

Senior Researcher in the R&D team at nChain

Jack is a Senior Researcher in the Research & Development team at nChain, a global leader in enterprise blockchain solutions. His current research focuses on the network theory underpinning blockchain systems like Bitcoin, as well as the practical applications of blockchain-based cryptographic techniques to real-world problems in data management, supply chain, and identity verification.


Han-Menno Depeweg

Chief Digital Officer at NRC Media

Han-Menno Depeweg is Chief Digital Officer at NRC Media, part of Mediahuis, where he is responsible for all digital customer-facing products. Han-Menno has been working at NRC for the last 25 years and has been a driving force behind the digital transformation of NRC. He is also a board mebmebr of VINEX ( Verenigde Internet Exploitanten (VINEX) is the United Internet Operators association, a Media Owned Committee).


Mathieu Halkes

Head of Product at Schibsted

Mathieu leads product managers in 6 different teams that are part of Schibsted Media’s shared products & platform offerings. Their solutions are used by millions of Scandinavians, and drive business value for brands like Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, VG, Aftenposten and many more.

Mathieu is also responsible for developing overall product strategy for Schibsted, leading the other domains within the product & tech organisation.


Howard Elston

Principal Creative Technologist at The Telegraph

Working in publishing & media for over 20 years, focusing on technology, supporting the digital transformation of journalism and the newsroom, providing strategic & innovative approach to business challenges and needs.


Adonis Zachariades

Co-Founder of Renovi and Renovi Studios

Adonis has a Masters in Investment Analysis from Stirling University with majors in Economics and Finance. 
He has researched extensively through his thesis the efficiency of cryptocurrency markets and worked as an alternative investments manager before co-founding Renovi and Renovi Studios, in which he currently leads the idea creation and Metaverse departments. 
He is a futurist and a Metaverse/NFT advocate and enjoys sharing views and ideas about how the future will change our current status quo.  


Agnes Stenbom

Head of Lab at Schibsted

Agnes Stenbom leads a new experimental effort by Schibsted and the Tinius Trust exploring how emerging technologies can make journalism more inclusive. She is a PhD candidate in industrial economics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where her research centers around hybrid processes combining artificial intelligence (AI) and human competences for newswork. 

Agnes is recognised as a spokesperson for responsible use of AI within and beyond the media industries. She is the co-founder of Nordic AI Journalism (an industry network bringing together 170+ professionals from 30+ media organisations), a columnist for Dagens Media, and a future analyst for the Think Tank Global Utmaning. In 2021, she was named one of the 30 most promising talents under 30 across the globe by the International News Media Association (INMA). 


Laurent Bainier

Editor in Chief at 20 Minutes

Laurent Bainier is editor-in-chief of 20 Minutes where he created the 2.0 section in 2007. In 2022, he created 20 Mint, a magazine entirely dedicated to Web 3, financed by the sale of 999 nfts. The buyers of these nfts could participate on discord in the construction of the free newspaper, with a circulation of 800,000 copies. He also hosts a show on Twitch about the Web3.


The Twipe Digital Growth Summit 2022 took place on Wednesday 19th October at The Brewery in Central London, UK. The Brewery is an intimate venue chosen to foster interactivity and creativity in a stunning environment.

The Brewery – Twipe Digital Growth Summit 2022 Event Location

Full Experience Passes include access to all presentations, participations in live Q&A, networking, refreshments on arrival and lunch as well as access to all of our exclusive panels, presentations and deep dives.
Digital Only Passes only provide remote access to the live presentations.

Learn from previous editions of the Digital Growth Summit

The Digital Growth Summit 2022 is Twipe’s 5th instalment of the event. We have hosted a range of speakers from across the world at previous events. You can catch-up on what happened at the Twipe 2021 Digital Growth Summit here or take a look at pictures and videos from previous summits below.

Behind the scenes at Twipe Digital Growth Summit 2021

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Re-live the Digital Growth Summit 2022

During the Twipe Digital Growth Summit, attendees learned from distinguished speakers, industry insiders and outsiders providing a fresh view on the future. Through presentations, panel discussions, interactive discovery sessions and Q&As attendees were immersed in the world of Metaverse, Web3, Audio and AI. Watch the after-movie here.


Programme highlights

This year we focus on Technology Shaping the Future of News. Emerging technologies like Metaverse, Web3, Audio and AI will undoubtedly reshape how news will be consumed in the future. We will discover together how these emerging technologies will impact the news media industry. Eager to learn more?


Keynote speaker: Sander Duivestein, author of Real Fake

What will be the role of journalism in a world in which it will become even more difficult to distinguish between Real and Fake?In his recent book, Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes and the Metaverse, Sander Duivestein captures how the world that Generation Z and Alpha are growing up in is changing in the context of fake reality and how it is possible to capitalise on this changing environment.


Deep Dive into NFTs and the Metaverse

We guided attendees you through Decentraland and uncovered together the way in which NFTs are connected to the Metaverse. This experience is available exclusively for guests who join us in-person in London on 19th October.

Previous Digital Growth Summit guests joined us from:

Questions or Suggestions?

For any questions regarding this year’s Digital Growth Summit, don’t hesitate to contact our team via contact@twipemobile.com.