White text on a blue background reads: Change in the Executive Committee at Digital Futures.

Three new members to the Executive Committee at Digital Futures

Digital Futures welcomes three new members to the Executive Committee – Yifang Ban as Associate Director Dissemination & Impact, Emil Björnson as Associate Director Seminars & Workshops and Jelena Zdravkovic as Associate Director Diversity & Inclusion.

Photo of Yifang Ban

Yifang Ban – Associate Director for Dissemination & Impact. Yifang Ban is the Chair Professor and Director of the Division of Geoinformatics, Department of Urban Planning and Environment at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Yifang is also PI of research project EO-AI4GlobalChange, a Supervisor for Postdoc project Unraveling the potential of AI and Earth Observation for accurate population predictions in urban regions (POPAI), as well as a Supervisor for Postdoc project Fusion of Radar and Optical Remote Sensing Time Series for Wildfire Monitoring with Deep Learning at Digital Futures. Before joining KTH in 2004, Dr Ban was a tenured Associate Professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. She was an Assistant Professor at Stockholm University during 1998-2000 and a Senior Research Engineer at KTH during 1996-1997. She received a PhD from the University of Waterloo in Canada in 1996.

Link to the profile of Yifang Ban

Yifang Ban at UN COP26 – Earth Observations to build sustainable and climate-resilient cities


A man with short light brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a black collared shirt, is smiling slightly at the camera against a plain white background.

Emil Björnson – Associate Director for Seminars & Workshops at Digital Futures. Emil Björnson received the M.S. degree in engineering mathematics from Lund University, Sweden, in 2007, and the PhD degree in telecommunications from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, in 2011. From 2012 to 2014, he was a post-doc at the Alcatel-Lucent Chair on Flexible Radio, SUPELEC, France. From 2014 to 2021, he held different professor positions at Linköping University, Sweden.

In 2020-2021, he was a part-time Visiting Full Professor at the KTH. From 2022, he is a tenured Full Professor of Wireless Communication at KTH.

Link to the profile of Emil Björnson

Emil Björnson awarded Tage Erlanders prize

Emil Björnson – elevated IEEE fellow


A woman with curly hair, wearing a striped jumper, stands outdoors and smiles with her arms folded. She is leaning against a glass wall that reflects her image. Trees and a building structure are visible in the background.

Jelena Zdravkovic – Associate Director for Diversity & Inclusion at Digital Futures. Professor Jelena Zdravkovic is Head of the department for Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University. Here you will find information about my research and teaching as well as some blog postings. Jelena received her BSc and MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering Sciences from the University of Belgrade in 1992 and 1996, respectively.

In 2004, she received an MBA in E-commerce and in 2006 her PhD in Computer and System Sciences from KTH Royal University of Technology. In the same year, she became an assistant professor at KTH and later moved to Stockholm University. She currently works in the area of analysis of information systems.

Link to the profile of Jelena Zdravkovic

Meet Jelena Zdravkovic – interview

More news

A man in a grey shirt and jeans stands in a modern office corridor with wooden walls. A window labelled “digital future.” is visible beside him. Overhead lights and an emergency exit sign illuminate the space.

Paul Walton elected Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

21/01/2026

Paul Walton, Scholar-in-Residence at Digital Futures from August to October 2025, has been elected Foreign Member...

A large group of professionally dressed people stand together and smile for a group photo in a modern, well-lit indoor setting with wooden walls and round lights in the background.

Indian Delegation visits Digital Futures at KTH to strengthen Indo-Swedish research collaboration

21/01/2026

On 21 January 2026, Digital Futures at KTH Royal Institute of Technology welcomed a high-level...

A bald man wearing glasses, a suit, and a tie is standing in front of a bookcase filled with various books. He is looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.

The future of wireless is multifunctional: A conversation with Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas de Abreu

19/01/2026

Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas de Abreu is a leading figure in modern wireless communications, whose work...

A woman with long dark hair wearing a white top and sunglasses on her head stands outdoors in a sunlit forested area with tall trees in the background.

From sensing to strategy: How Zhiqi Tang is advancing Smarter Multi-Vehicle Systems

13/01/2026

Dr. Zhiqi Tang’s postdoctoral journey at Digital Futures and KTH Royal Institute of Technology marked...