S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a weekly rundown of executive and board changes in the European technology, media and communications industries.
TOP MOVES
* Telecom Italia SpA on Oct. 21 appointed Salvatore Rossi its new board chairman. Rossi will also be an independent director on the Italian telecom operator's board. He was senior deputy governor of the Bank of Italy and president of the Italian Institute for Insurance Supervision, among other previous roles. Rossi will take over the role vacated by Fulvio Conti, who stepped down in late September.
* U.S. tech giant Apple Inc. named Tatiana Akhmatova country manager and director for Russia, according to Akhmatova's LinkedIn account. Akhmatova, who has been Apple's head of retail sales in Russia and the former Soviet Union countries since 2014, will succeed Vitaliy Morozko, who is moving to a new company, Telecompaper reported Oct. 22, citing Prime.
MEDIA INDUSTRY MOVES
* BBC Studios Ltd. executives Hilary Salmon and Radford Neville are leaving the company as they set up a new production company called The Lighthouse, TBI Vision reported. The two executives will work with Nick Betts, a BBC Studios executive who earlier announced plans to exit the British Broadcasting Corp. unit.
* ITV PLC appointed Emma Gormley managing director of ITV daytime, while entertainment head Katie Rawcliffe will now be in charge of commissioning for the U.K. broadcaster's afternoon and weekend morning slots, TBI Vision reported. The promotions are in line with the exit of ITV's joint daytime chiefs Clare Ely and Jane Beacon.
* The BBC appointed Anne Foster head of workforce diversity and inclusion. Foster will be in charge of implementing strategies focused on making the BBC a "modern and diverse workplace," according to an Oct. 21 statement. She will work closely with June Sarpong, who was recently appointed director of creative diversity at the public broadcaster.
COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY MOVES
* Vodafone Italia SpA named Andrea Ghizzoni its new head of strategy, Telecompaper reported Oct. 22. Ghizzoni joins the Vodafone Group PLC from Tencent Holdings Ltd., where he was most recently director for Europe of messaging platform WeChat.
* Venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners LP, which targets technology and software companies, will invest $145 million in German software technology company commercetools GmbH. In relation to the investment, Insight Partners Managing Directors Richard Wells and Matt Gatto will join commercetools' board.
* Telia Co. AB nominated Lars-Johan Jarnheimer as its next chairman, following the Swedish government's request for a change of board leadership. Jarnheimer will replace Marie Ehrling, who has chaired Telia's board since 2013. An industry veteran, Jarnheimer chairs the board of media holding company Egmont International Holding A/S. He also was CEO of Tele2 AB and has sat on the boards of Modern Times Group and Millicom International Cellular SA, among other previous roles.
* Swedish company Sentor Managed Security Services AB said Oct. 21 that it opened an office in Helsinki as part of an expansion to meet the demand for its cybersecurity offerings. Sentro hired IT security veteran Nicolas Gabriel-Robez as regional director to develop its business in Finland.
* Croatian software company Infobip appointed former VimpelCom CEO Boris Nemsic as its chairman, effective this month, Bloomberg News reported. Nemsic's appointment came at a time when Infobip is preparing for a potential IPO. VimpelCom is now VEON Ltd.
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