2027 Speakers
Raymond Valk, CTO Office - SME Mission Critical Communications, Druid Software
Raymond studied data and telecommunications in the Netherlands and began his career in the telecommunications industry in 1998, focusing on mission-critical communication networks for the public safety sector. After several years, he transitioned into the commercial mobile domain, where he spent six years working with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). Since 2008, Raymond has specialized as a Product Manager in multi-operator and mission-critical Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), as well as Private Network solutions serving a wide range of industries. He has been actively involved in the acquisition of spectrum for private networks since 2007 and played a key role in the first deployments of private 2G networks following the availability of private spectrum. Raymond is the author of the first formal documentation used to certify Private Networks in accordance with Dutch silent evacuation regulations (NEN 2575) and was closely involved in the deployment of these certified systems. His experience includes participation in large-scale hospital network deployments and collaboration with system integrators responsible for care-home network implementations in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In addition, Raymond conducted research into the applicability of Private Networks within regulated healthcare environments, including efforts to align and, where possible, certify these networks under the Medical Device Directive (MDD). Currently, Raymond Valk serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for mission-critical communications within the CTO Office at Druid Software. In this role, he supports the company's commercial teams and customers worldwide, collaborating closely with them to design optimal architectures for 3GPP-compliant mission-critical networks. With more than 25 years in this industry, Raymond brings a holistic, ecosystem-level perspective to mission-critical network design, maintaining a strategic helicopter view that extends well beyond the core network to encompass devices, radio access, applications, and operational requirements. In addition, he acts as Druid Software's primary point of contact with the TCCA, representing the company within the global mission-critical communications community.