Meet a distinguished personality, Fernando Murias the Chairman and CEO of Digital Global Systems, Inc. (DGS). He is an exceptional personality with a demonstrated history of working in the Wireless industry with a focus on network optimization and critical asset protection.
Skilled in the development of Business Models, Strategic Partnerships, Revenue Growth Initiatives, Accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Tax, and Management, Fernando is known for his strong entrepreneurship experience and business acumen, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland with a double degree in business and economics.
An Outstanding Record of Fernando’s Journey
An adroit leader with 35 years of distinguished experience in various leadership roles with Arthur Andersen & PWC. Before retiring from PwC to lead DGS, Fernando was the Managing Partner of the Washington Metro Region for PwC. He consulted some of the PWC’s largest clients while serving as the managing partner and practice leader for a specialty group operating throughout Latin America and the United States.
Having spent most of his career focused on the high-tech and telecom markets, Fernando saw a need for technology that could support the anticipated growth in the wireless sector.
Fernando joined DGS in 2013 from PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he held several leadership positions in both the United States and Latin America. Fernando was responsible for starting and growing three distinct businesses within PWC. His experience over 32 years in public accounting was concentrated in the telecommunications and government contracting sectors.
Before joining DGS, Fernando received numerous philanthropic awards for his success in raising money for charities like the American Heart Association, The National Kidney Foundation, The Leukaemia, & Lymphoma Society, and Fisher House to name a few. He also was chosen by the NFLPA to receive a Humanitarian Award for his work in the community. While CEO at DGS, the firm was just awarded the “Most Innovative Product of 2024” award by Frost and Sullivan.
In addition, Fernando has raised almost $100M to fund the development efforts at DGS without any VC or PE involvement. This capital has enabled the DGS team to focus heavily on developing a cutting-edge patent portfolio of over 160 issued US patents, 8 International patents, and over 50 pending patents. Their patent portfolio is second only to Qualcomm in the area of Spectrum Management.
DGS’s Vision and Mission
Founded in 2013, DGS is a Spectrum Management company. The company’s goal is to deliver transformational technology to enable new wireless services that will require low latency and high reliability operating in a shared spectrum environment. Its overall mission is to monitor signals at the edge to provide RF insight into the spectral environment in real-time enabling firms to optimize their spectrum assets.
DGS’s Best-in-Class Offerings
As a leader, Fernando believes in leading as an innovator and creating top-notch offerings for its clients. At DGS, it is the market leader in patents dealing with Signal Capture, Signal Processing, and Spectrum Sharing. It is also a market leader in the use of ML and AI to optimize the use of Spectrum. It aims to deliver a high degree of differentiation from other firms in the market. The company believes these are critical areas to support the shift to a services environment in the new digital economy.
DGS stands apart from its competitors as it’s the only firm to have a Dynamic Shared Spectrum solution that analyses the spectrum in multiple dimensions. The US just recently announced that all future repurposing of spectrum for commercial use will require a Shared Spectrum Solution.
DGS’s solutions are geared to both government and commercial use. Its focus on the commercial side focuses on First Responder Networks, Private Wireless Operators, RAN Producers, and the Public Wireless sector.
Most recently, DGS received the “Most Innovative Product of the Year award for 2024” from Frost and Sullivan for its remarkable work.
Marking an Impact with Technology
DGS’s unique technology will facilitate the rollout of 5G and 6G services that require ultra-low latency and high reliability. In addition, the spectrum offered for these services will require a dynamic spectrum-sharing solution. Fernando adds, “We lead all companies in patent awards for the key categories required to optimize the spectrum.”
Combating Challenges Effectively
Like any start-up, DGS faced a market resistant to change, even when new technology was superior. The company partnered with large marquee brands by investing in proof of concept to help combat the typical concerns of dealing with a new company.
Being part of a fast-paced and highly lucrative industry, DGS tries to integrate constant market feedback from numerous proofs of concept engagements provided strong market feedback from engineers in various market segments to keep up with the changing dynamics.
Fernando’s Journey to Reach the Forefront
Fernando was fortunate to achieve leadership positions early in his professional career, however, leading a large services firm with people of similar financial and business experience, was different from leading a small product-oriented group of engineers focused on innovation. Fernando’s initial challenges involved shifting his leadership style for a better understanding of the company’s challenges and how best to motivate individuals with non-financial backgrounds.
In addition, raising capital for a company with an unknown brand and no revenue also proved challenging. Fernando adds, “Surrounding myself with strong people made all the difference along with a strong passion to not let roadblocks and market shifts deter us from our goal.” Today, DGS stands as a global industry leader in spectrum management technology by successfully navigating many challenges and reaching the harbor of success.
Leveraging with Technology
DGS actively looks for how it can apply its technology to certain market challenges and then find the market leader in that sector to form a strategic alliance with them by looking for ways to integrate its technology platform or ways to solve problems their clients are facing.
DGS’s Dynamic Spectrum Sharing has been its recent focus as well as the use and impact of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to improve the performance of its technology.
A Collaborative and Comprehensive Team Culture
Fernando’s CTO, Armando Montalvo, is a highly respected RF engineer who participates in numerous technical committees advising the US government. He is an innovator who loves to teach with a strong appreciation for business. A rare combination. His COO, Mark Zaroogian does an excellent job of keeping the operations humming. DGS’s Head of Engineering, John Chiochetti has done a masterful job creating designs for various use cases along with Jeremy Levin its VP of Product Development.
DGS strives to work as a team and minimizes silos which tend to form naturally when people are innovating. The company brought in an outside consultant to speak with everyone and advise the leadership team. His goal is to ensure everyone feels they have a voice.
Looking Forward to a Prosperous Future
Although DGS company just moved its R&D and is accelerating into its commercialization phase, it is partnering with some outstanding global brands and expects to reach $1B in revenues in the next five years. Currently, the company is a critical component of the new digital economy.
