Summit Opening Ceremony and Partner Reception

Speakers for this event

• Blais, Marie-Josée

  Blais, Marie-Josée

  Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Innovation, Ministry of the Economy, Science and Innovation, Government of Québec

  Marie-Josée Blais was appointed in February 2016 as Assistant Deputy Minister for Science and Innovation. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of Québec's research and innovation strategies. Previously, Marie-Josée held various strategic and management positions in public organizations both in Quebec and abroad. As Director of International Collaborations and Director of the Coordination for International Affairs (now Export Québec), Marie-Josée has participated in several government missions. From 1991 to 2001, she carried out various technology assessments in the United Kingdom and then in AETMIS. She is a member of the boards of directors of key partners in research and innovation (Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec, Génome Québec, Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec), and was recently appointed a member of the Commission de l’éthique en science et en technologie. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of Montreal and a Certificate in Health Economics from the University of Aberdeen.

  Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Innovation, Ministry of the Economy, Science and Innovation, Government of Québec

• Child, Patrick

  Child, Patrick

  Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation

  Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation

• Legre, Yannick

  Legre, Yannick

  Managing Director, EGI Foundation

  Managing Director, EGI Foundation

• Robbert Fisher

  Robbert Fisher

  President, Knowledge4Innovation

  Robbert Fisher specializes in strategy and policy in the fields of R&D, technology transfer and innovation in general. His key focus is on ICT policy. Since 1st January 2020 he is principal associate investigator at the University de las Campinas in Sao Paolo Brazil, where he focuses on the further development of Big Data and AI for policy analysis, development and monitoring. Robbert is on the board of several start up companies, a trusted expert for the European Commission in the field of big data and AI, and since 2017 the president of K4I. From 2011 to 2019 Robbert was the managing director of the Joint Institute for Innovation Policy, a Brussels based think tank of four renowned RTO’s (TNO, VTT, Tecanalia and Joanneum Research). Prior to that he has founded two companies, from 1989 until 2000 he was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1991-1995 Robbert was seconded as an expert to the European Commission DG XIII (now DG CONNECT) in Luxembourg. Robbert received a Master’s degree Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands with special subjects Intellectual property, Information Systems and Business economics. He holds degrees in marketing and public relations. In addition, he is an alumnus of the PwC International Management Development Programme, and has followed executive courses at Darden Business School and Oxford Said Business School.

  President, Knowledge4Innovation

• Roland Strauss

  Roland Strauss

  Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

  Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation