Steve Cast
President – Common Europe
i-UG (UK)
Steve Cast is the Regional Lead, EMEA & APAC, at Fresche Solutions. He started his career as an RPG programmer in 1984, then became an early adopter of the CA:2E/Synon CASE tool in the late eighties, project managed multi-million-pound projects and subsequently formed Redbourn Business Systems in 1994, a company acquired by Fresche Solutions in October 2024. An expert in modernisation, project management, systems analysis, database design, technical architecture and the software development cycle, Steve Cast uniquely combines both technical and business skills. Steve Cast is an IBM Champion since 2022, a regular speaker at IBM i events, former chair of the CA:2E/Synon User Group, former Marketing Director of Common UK (i-UG) and served as Treasurer of Common Europe from 2024-2026 before taking up his current role of President of Common Europe.
TORBJÖRN APPEHL
Vice President – Common Europe
Sweden
Torbjörn has been working with IBM i and its predecessors since 1997. Today he has his own company focusing on helping IBM and their Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to fully take advantage of all technologies available on the platform. Currently Vice-president of Common Europe, he was a member of the board for Common Sweden for 10+ years, member of the Executive Committee for Common Europe for several years and is an IBM Champion for Power systems since 2016
IGOR NOVOTNY
Treasurer- Common Europe
President COMMON Czech Republic & Slovakia
Igor is an eternal IT pilgrim who has already experienced the position of a teacher, customer and also supplier and for more than 30 years has been fully engaged in data processing and storage systems.
Founding member & standing president of Common Czech Republic.
PIOTR TKACZYK
Executive Committee Director
President, COMMON Poland
Piotr has been working with the IBM I since 1998 focusing on training, system management and technical support for biggest BP in Poland. He has a BS of Polish – Japanese Institute of Computer Science and numerous IBM’s certification.
He has been a member of Common Poland since 2002, a Board Member since 2013, and President since 2015. He has held the position of Common Europe Treasurer since 2016.
Zouhair Oulli
Executive Committee Director
France
Zouhair is an IBM i specialist at Kyndryl and started his professional career in 2022. He likes to share his knowledge about IBM i through technical courses, articles and speaker sessions in events. He was recognised as an IBM Champion for his contributions. He became active in user groups and events through Common France and became Executive Committee Director at Common Europe since June 2026.
JONATHON SAWDON
Executive Secretary
Jonathon is a professional actor, writer, presenter and voice coach. He is the resident drama teacher at the International School of Belgium and runs regular voice workshops for The Bridge Theatre in Brussels. He has several film and TV credits to his name, has appeared in numerous corporate films and advertisements as well as various corporate and commercial voice overs.
He also works in the business sector as a drama-based trainer and facilitator.
He has been Executive Secretary for CE since 2018.
CHRISTOPH CUSCOLECA
Representing COMMON Austria
Christoph has been Vice President of COMMON Austria since 2000 and on the COMMON Europe Board of Directors since 2008. He is a Professor of IT, teaching mainly IBM i System Management and programming at schools and Universities in Austria. He is also a freelance consultant targeting Europe & East Asia.
PHILIPPE VANDEN BUSSCHE
President, COMMON Belgium
Philippe Vanden Bussche has been a member of the Common Europe Advisory Council for 10+ years, helping to shape the future of IBM i. For his expertise in IBM i, IBM has recognized him as an IBM Champion since 2021.
Philippe started his IT career 40 years ago on System/38 and has never quit the IBM i platform since then. His focus moved from Application Development to IT Management to IT Architecture and System Management. As a GDPR trained IT professional he has given significant attention to security and privacy on IBM i.
JESPER HEMMETT OMER
Event Manager, COMMON Denmark
Jesper Hemmet Omer is IT Operations Specialist at Logitrans A/S which manufactures internal lifting equipment with facilities in Denmark, China and USA. He has worked with the IBM Power platform and its predecessors since 1993.
He has been an active member of Common Denmark since 2009, working as event manager and previously as the chairman of the board.
He is an IBM Champion and has been an enthusiastic member of the international Common community for many years.
NATHANAËL BONNET
President, COMMON France
Nathanaël , president of Common France, is co-owner of Gaia Mini Systems, a company specialized in IBM i training and expertise.
His entire career is tied to IBM i: share knowledge, support customers, implement new solutions, modernize and allow more possibilities. It is in this spirit that he participates in Common France.
JUHA EKLUND
President COMMON Finland
Juha has a long background in the ICT-area. He started working in the 80s, initially as an operator for HP3000’s and after that in many areas ( IBM AIX, HP-UX,some solaris, storage, SAP etc ) with many roles (operator, system analyst/specialist, consultant, departmental manager etc ). He has had a long career in Tieto/TietoEnator/TietoEvry and now works as a Solution Architect at Valtori (Finnish ICT services for the government).
NILS HEINISCH
President COMMON Germany
For over 17 years, Nils has worked in the IT solutions sector, primarily in sales of data center solutions, Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud, and managed services. His goal is to help clients digitize their business processes and communication and operate their IT infrastructure efficiently and securely, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
As a sales professional at bluvisio GmbH, an IBM Business Partner, he has leveraged certifications in IBM Power Systems Infrastructure Sales and IBM Systems Business Partner for Enterprise Storage to develop tailored solutions for clients’ needs and challenges. He works closely with colleagues and partners to create and negotiate high-quality, innovative offerings. He prides himself on building long-term, trusting relationships with clients and contributing to their success.
PEDRO GIMENO
President COMMON Iberia
ROBERTO DE PEDRINI
FAQ400 (Italy)
Roberto has been an RPG Developer for about 30 years, IT Manager before that, and then founder of different small companies in Italy. He has been an IBM Champion for the last three years.
His passion for AS400 before and IBM i after has always led him over the years to create services for the IBM i community in Italy: starting from a forum (Faq400.com) that has collected a community-usergroup (the Faq400 community) and finally a service company (Faq400 Srl). “I believe in i.”
ANDREA RIBUOLI
President Common Italy
CLAUDE MULLER
President COMMON Luxembourg
Claude has been working at Intesa Sanpaolo Servitia since 1986, starting on S/38 and then from 1989 on AS400.
He runs all activities around production, development, security, quality and system engineering.
He has been President of Common Luxembourg since 2012.
JAN VAN DE GRIENDT
President COMMON Netherlands
Jan is the IT Technical Developer at Bidfood Netherlands.
ERIK-ROBERTO AASLAND
Representing COMMON Norway
I have worked with the s36 environment and as400 since 1988 and now with IBMi. The last 6 years have been for Fremtind Insurance, which is one of the largest insurance companies in Norway.
I have worked with everything from PCs and networks in previous years to project management, department manager and am now responsible for the core solution (IBMi) in Fremtind Insurance.
I have also attended many of Common Norway’s conferences over the years and Common Europe as well. I have also participated in Common USA’s conferences. So, I feel I know Common very well.
I was elected to the Board of Common Norway in 2023.
MICHEL ROETHLISBERGER
President COMMON Romandie (Switzerland)
Michel is co-founder and CEO of InnoBoost SA and president of COMMON Romandie IBM Users Group since 2021. As IBM business Partner, he has more than 20 years experience in the Swiss market, notably in the banking sector and with scientific institutions. He is now focused on new IBM technologies like AI, post-quantum cryptography and Quantum computing.
Besides his strong interest in fundamental physics, he is also passionate about sailing and astronomical observations.
MATS LIDSTRÖM
President COMMON Sweden
Mats has been working with IBM i (and it predecessors) since 1987 as a Programmer, Designer, Head of development, CIO and Architect. He has been part of a number of national and international projects throughout the years. Since 2018 he has been working for Apper and is helping customers to take care of their applications with the focus on using the latest IBM i technology to make their business processes as effective as possible.
He also does presentations and runs education around the platform and its technologies.
He is president of Common Sweden/Data3, a member of CEAC – Common Europe Advisory Council and an IBM Champion for Power Systems.
HEIDI SCHMIDT
President COMMON Switzerland
Heidi studied sociology and technical computer science. In this, at first glance, contradictory professional combination, she has discovered exciting (success) potential in the course of her career, which she likes to share with other managers in lectures and workshops. She is the managing partner of PKS Software GmbH and, with her team of over 50 women and men, she concentrates on software transformations in the legacy enterprise environment.
SIMON PORSTENDORFER
ISV Ecoystem Leader EMEA – IBM Systems Power
Simon spent the last 20 years with IBM in various sales roles from Client Executive in the Business Partner Channel up to being the Sales Leader for Scale Out Servers in Europe. He was the responsible Principal Offering Manager for Power Scale Out Worldwide during the Power9 launch with a focus on the non Linux business around IBM i and AIX. Right now he is driving an initiative in Europe to revitalize the ISV ecosystem for Power.