Mariagrazia La Piscopia, Executive Director, SESAR Deployment Manager

La Piscopia is the Executive Director of the SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM). The Single European Sky’s ATM Research project (SESAR) is one of the most ambitious modernisation projects launched by the European Union in the air transport domain, contributing to the implementation of the Single European Sky. The SDM is in charge of co-ordinating and synchronising the deployment of the most innovative Air Traffic Management infrastructure and services, ensuring the full engagement and commitment of the ATM industry in the delivery of SESAR.

As Executive Director La Piscopia is responsible for the overall strategic management and day-to-day operations of the SDM. Before being nominated as Executive Director, she covered the role of SDM Chief Strategy and Programme Management, in charge of planning, co-ordinating and executing technical programmes.

La Piscopia has more than 20 years of experience in aviation and air traffic management at technical, operational and strategic level, spanning R&D to deployment. Before the establishment of the SDM, she was the Head of International Co-ordination and ATM Planning at one of the major European Air Navigation Service Providers (ENAV).

Her background is operational with an extensive experience in many air traffic management areas and technical domains, covering both the airport and the en-route dimension, from different aviation stakeholders’ perspectives.