10th European Innovation Summit

Buzek, Jerzy

Member of the European Parliament

Polish politician and university professor, Jerzy Buzek is a former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Parliament. A member of the European Parliament since 2004, he currently chairs European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). He is the chairman of the European Energy Forum, a platform for discussion between European energy stakeholders and policymakers. Presently, he lead's EP's work on Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation, being formerly responsible for, inter alia, the Security of Gas Supply legislation, the EU Internal Energy Market, European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) and the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research. In 2010, together with Jacques Delors, he proposed the creation of a “European Energy Community”, a strategy to strengthen energy legislation and cooperation within and outside the EU which laid foundations for EU's Energy Union. He has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities and is an honorary citizen of more than a dozen cities in Poland.

Legre, Yannick

Managing Director, EGI Foundation

Maletić, Ivana

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Neppel, Clara

Senior Director, European Business Operations, IEEE European Public Policy Initiative

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.

Roland Strauss

Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

van Nistelrooij, Lambert

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Willem Jonker

CEO , EIT Digital

Prof. Willem Jonker (1962) has a broad background in ICT, both in industry as well as in academia. He studied mathematics and computer science at Groningen University, worked at Delft University of Technology, received his PhD from the University of Utrecht, and is a part-time full professor in computer science at Twente University. Willem Jonker's industrial experience covers telecommunications (KPN), IT (European Computer industry Research Centre, Munich) and consumer electronics (Philips). He held several positions as researcher, international project leader, department head, sector head, and account manager. In 2006 he was appointed Vice President Philips Research. Prof. Dr. Jonker has served European ICT research in various ways amongst others as project leader, reviewer, and advisor.

Żochowska, Monika

Co-founder & CEO, Phenicoptere Sp. Z o.o.

Monika Żochowska is the Co-founder and CEO at Phenicoptere Sp. Z o.o., a Warsaw based company with sales in over 60 countries. Monika has created a disruptive product under the GLOV brand in the cosmetic industry that revolutionises every day routine of removing makeup. The idea is to remove makeup only with water, simplifying the traditional makeup removing process. Monika is the main visionary behind Phenicoptere’s products and overall strategy, and has received many awards, among others she was named as Entrepreneur of the Year by EY, the most creative entrepreneur by BRIEF, and she was acknowledged by Sukces Pisany Szminką (in collaboration with Forbes) as Businesswoman of the Year in 2016. Aside from working at Phenicoptere, Monika runs a Diamond Advisory company as a Certified Diamond Grader by HRD. Prior to that she worked for 2 years in Antwerp in the Diamond District for Boulle Rough Diamonds as a Marketing Manager developing ultra luxurious diamond jewellery brand. Monika has been living in Jacksonville FL, Valencia, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, London, Dubai, Warsaw.

Arancio, Paolo

Global Head of Strategic Innovation Partnership, Nestlé Skin Health

Dr. Paolo Arancio is a strategist, an entrepreneur, an innovator that has dedicated the life to the creation of nutrition and health solutions, bringing value to people, business and society. He has been working in 5 continents and across more than 10 businesses for Nestlé, where he currently is the Global Head of Strategic Innovation - Nestlé Skin Health, and as partner in Innovation Platforms with global foot print. Over his 20 years of career in innovation, he played a key role connecting businesses, R&D and operations, leading global technology platforms, health programs across food categories and launching in Asia, Africa and South America healthy nutritious products for infant and kids. His professional career is built on a broad business and scientific education. He holds a PhD in Food Process Engineering (ETH Zurich), an MBA in Innovation (joint venture Nestlé-University of Geneva), Master in Sweden (SIK institute, today part of R.I.S.E) and a degree in Food Science and Technology. Currently he lectures part-time and collaborate with the University of Udine.

Maletić, Ivana

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Oettinger, Günther H.

Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources

Günther H. Oettinger is European Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources since January 2017. From November 2014 to December 2016, he held office as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society after being European Commissioner for Energy from February 2010 to October 2014 and lastly also Vice-President of the European Commission in 2014. From 2005-2010, he was Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and, since 1984, a member of the regional Parliament ("Landtag"). He was the leader of the CDU Landtag group from January 1991 to April 2005. A lawyer by training, Günther H. Oettinger became actively involved in politics during his adolescence. He is a member of the Federal Executive Committee and of the Steering Committee of the CDU Germany.

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.

Roland Strauss

Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

van Nistelrooij, Lambert

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Audet, Michel

Québec Delegate General in Brussels

Michel Audet took up his duties as Québec Delegate General in Brussels on December 1, 2014. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Audet was Deputy Minister at the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie. He was also the Commissioner General of the French Language World Forum held in Québec City in 2012. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Audet was the first Québec Government representative at UNESCO. Earlier, he was a full professor in the Department of Industrial Relations in Université Laval’s Faculty of Social Sciences and served as director of the Francophone Centre for the Computerization of Organizations (CEFRIO), as well as of the Institute for Information technologies and Societies (IITS), and of the Institute for Advanced International Studies (HEI).

del Castillo Vera, Pilar

Member of the European Parliament

Former Minister of Education and Culture from 2000 to 2004, del Castillo was elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2004. She belongs to the Partido Popular (People’s Party), which in turn is a member of the European People’s Party. She is the European Parliament's rapporteur on the European Electronic Communications Code. She has also been, among others, the rapporteur of the Telecoms Single Market Regulation; the Directive on Security of Networks and Information Systems for the ITRE committee; the Regulation on the Body of European Regulators in Electronic Communications' (BEREC); the report on Cloud Computing Strategy for Europe and the Report "A Digital Agenda for Europe: 2015.eu, to name just some examples. Del Castillo is the Chair of the European Internet Forum (EIF), Vicepresident of the European Energy Forum, member of the board of Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) and member of the Transatlantic Policy Network. Del Castillo is Professor in Political Science and Administration. She obtained a PhD in Law from Universidad Complutense. Before, she had attended Ohio State University on a Fulbright scholarship, graduating with a Master’s degree in Political Science. She was the Executive President of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (Sociology Research Centre) from 1996 to 2000.

Dr. Hewitt, Ted

President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Chair of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee

Ted Hewitt was appointed president of SSHRC in March 2015. Dr. Hewitt was vice-president, research and international relations, at Western University in London, Ontario, from 2004 to 2011, where he had been a professor of sociology since 1989. A leading authority on Brazil, in 2018, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations named him Grand Officer of the Order of Rio Branco—one of the highest levels of merit—for the many years he has fostered bilateral business and research partnerships between Brazil and Canada. Dr. Hewitt’s current research focuses on national and international innovation systems, with emphasis on the roles of universities, industry and government in promoting economic prosperity in Latin America and beyond. He is co-chair of the Canada-Brazil Joint Committee for Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation, and a member of the board of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce. He holds a PhD in sociology from McMaster University.

Geerdink, Charlotte

Founder of Charly Speaks

Charlotte is the founder of Charly Speaks. By coincidence, she started moderating high level events and found out that she loved doing it. Voilà, her own business case was born. Although she commenced her moderations in the EU science and innovation area in which she worked for more than 8 years, she has meanwhile taken on moderation jobs in different areas as well. Charlotte is a Dutch national, fluent in English, German and with a good command of French. Her style of moderating can best be described as informal, relaxed, and witty. It is her aim to bring across complex material in an understandable way. Making the speakers, panellists and audience feel at ease is what she always strive for. Her life motto ‘sharing is caring’ is well applicable to both my character and moderation style. More info: https://cgeerdink.wixsite.com/charlyspeaks

Golding, David

EUREKA UK Deputy High Level Group Chairman

David is Deputy Chair of EUREKA during the UK Chairmanship - 1ST July 2018 to 30th June 2019. EUREKA facilitates global collaboration on innovation enabling businesses and research organisations to innovate with the best partners regardless of where they are in the world. It brings together the world’s largest grouping of national innovation funding ministries and agencies from 45 countries, including the European Commission. EUREKA provides a common framework through which countries can work together. David works for Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency and is also a UK representative of the European Commission’s SME and Risk Finance Programme Committee, the UK Board member for TAFTIE (the Association of European Innovation Agencies), and the UK representative on the Enterprise Europe Network Steering and Advisory Group.

Leskiw, Michael

International Senior Contract Administrator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Michael Leskiw is the International Senior Contract Administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). OSP has institutional authority for the negotiation and signing of all sponsored (non-gift) agreements at MIT, and within this office Michael is responsible for agreements with international sponsors, foundations, and state and local governments. Michael’s previous roles at MIT have included establishing a research center in Singapore (SMART) and a new university outside Moscow (Skoltech). Michael is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Prof. Martucci, Moacyr

Brazilian National Contact Point Coordinator European Programmes

Full professor at the Department of Computing Engineering of Escola Politecnica of University of Sao Paulo - USP, Coordinator of the Institute for Studies Brazil Europe, a Research Support Nucleus under the Research Pro-rectory and Deputy Dean of the Institute of International Relations of USP. BSSC in Electronics Engineering in 1973, MSc in 1978, PhD in 1981, Associate Professor in 1992, and Full Professor in 1999. Martucci has been working in the Information Technology area since 1971 He was the Brazilian coordinator of the European Commission funded projects in the 6th Framework programme, in the 6th Framework program, in the 7th Framework programme, in Europeaid programme and in the Horizon 2020.

Prof. Nagano, Hiroshi

Visiting Fellow, Center for R&D Strategy (CRDS), Japan; Former Chairperson, Global Science Forum, OECD; Former Director-General, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan

From August 2010 to the present, Prof. Nagano has worked as Visiting Fellow of JST’s Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS). He was appointed as Guest Professor of Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences from March 2009, and as Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 2015. He had also served as Chair of Global Science Forum (GSF), Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to joining CRDS, Prof. Nagano had worked as Director-General for International Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and as Executive Director of JST.

Russo, Cristina Maria

European Commission, Director of International Cooperation, DG Research and Innovation (RTD)

Maria Cristina Russo is Director for International Cooperation in DG Research and Innovation with responsibilities for developing and implementing the EU international strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation and the international dimension of the Horizon programme. She has been working for the European Commission since 1992 where she held several policy and managerial positions related to external relations, the EU decision-making process and various EU policies, in particular research & innovation. She was part of the team dealing with technical assistance to former Soviet Union, then member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner in charge of research policy when the European Research Area was launched. She was later on appointed Head of Unit in the Secretariat-General of the European Commission on different positions dealing with inter-institutional relations and policy making, and in the department in charge of consumers' policies and financial services before being appointed in 2013 in her current position. Maria Cristina holds a degree on Political Sciences from the Luiss University of Rome and a Research Master Degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. She has three children

Kalimo, Harri

Professor, University of Eastern Finland, Finland

Professor Harri Kalimo is a Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute for European Studies in the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is the Director of IES’s post-graduate programme in European and international law (“PILC”). Harri works in the IES research clusters on European Economic Governance, and on the Environment and Sustainable Development. His research focuses on areas where European, American and/or international economic and environmental laws and policies interact, notably in the areas of the circular economy (in particular Extended Producer Responsibility, WEEE and renewable energy), environment-and-trade issues and policy instruments. He collaborates closely with the University of Eastern Finland on these themes.

Koistinen, Arto

Research Director of University of Eastern Finland

Arto Koistinen works as a Research Director at the University of Eastern Finland. He is an expert on biomaterial science, especially on material interactions and chemical analysis. He received his doctoral degree in Physics (material science) in 2012 and was awarded by docentship (adjunct professorship) in biomaterial characterization in 2014. Thereafter, he worked as laboratory head and research manager at the University of Eastern Finland. Currently, he is a department director and a research director, leading research related to material science, surface chemistry, and especially microplastics. He utilizes e.g. modern microscopic and spectroscopic techniques in his research to understand materials’ interaction and their effects at molecular level.

Lahtela-Kakkonen, Maija

Adjunct professor, University of Eastern Finland, Finland

Docent Maija Lahtela-Kakkonen has a versatile experience in computational chemistry. She started as a graduate student in 1992 at University of Joensuu in Finland. She received her doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry in year 1997. After that she was working at the Finnish supercomputing center (CSC-ICT solutions for brilliant minds) in Espoo until 2004. This time gave her solid background in computational techniques in biosciences and chemistry. Since 2004 docent Maija Lahtela-Kakkonen has been working at School of Pharmacy in the University of Eastern Finland. She has long term experience in many aspects of the drug development on several different targets. She is the head of the sirtuin research group at School of Pharmacy in Kuopio. She has published over 60 scientific articles and supervised 8 doctoral theses.

Mänttäri, Mika

Professor, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

Mika Mänttäri received his Doctor of Science (Technology) degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Finland, in 1999. He currently holds professorship in membrane technology at LUT. His research concerns separation and purification processes, especially membrane based processes, in biorefineries, water treatment, food, mining and metallurgic industries and development of separation materials. He is interested in refining novel products from biobased materials such as lignocellulosic materials and converting wastewater to value added products. He aims to renew wastewater treatment more toward utilisation of wastewater compounds than only to degrade and dispose of them. Prof. Mänttäri has published about 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and is an inventor in 10 patents.

Radziejewski, Grzegorz

Member of Mr Jyrki Katainen´s cabinet

Grzegorz Radziejewski is currently member of cabinet of Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness. He joined Mr Katainen's team in November 2014, and his current responsibilities cover green growth, energy union, transport and budget. In the previous Commission mandate, since June 2012 he was Deputy Head of Cabinet and subsequently Head of Cabinet of Mr Lewandowski, Commissioner responsible for budget and financial programming. Before joining the Commission he served as Financial Counsellor in Poland's Permanent Representation to the EU from January 2007 to May 2012 as the Head of Budget and Finance Section. Before moving to Brussels he worked in the Finance Ministry in Warsaw, Poland from 1999 to 2006.

Saarni, Saija

Post Doc Researcher, University of Turku, Finland

Saija Saarni has graduated as MSc from University of Oulu and PhD from University of Turku. Specialized in aquatic sediments, she has studied climatic, environmental and anthropogenic forcing in catchment processes and sedimentation in seasonal resolution. Saarni has led several field work campaigns in Finnish fresh water and marine environments, attending also international drilling projects in Japan, Egypt, Macedonia as well as ICDP and IODP programs. Deep understanding in microfossil techniques and geochemical processes are gained from research exchange periods in Danish Universities (Århus, Copenhagen) and German Research centre for geosciences. Large multidisciplinary network from national universities and international partners (Universities and research centres in Sweden, Iceland, Japan, UK, Latvia and Germany) is achieved by outgoing, active and enthusiastic attitude. Currently, Saarni’s main research focus is to investigate microplastic influx in coastal freshwater and marine systems in order to increase understanding of the processes controlling the deposition of microplastic.

Simpson, Peter

Senior Scientific Officer, European Chemical Agency

Peter Simpson is a Senior Scientific Officer at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki. Peter is an environmental toxicologist and works on the risk management of hazardous chemicals under the EU’s REACH regulation, including Authorisation of uses of substances of very high concern (SVHC) and Restrictions. Peter is leading ECHA’s scientific investigation into uses of ‘intentionally added microplastics’. Peter is also working on restriction investigations on ‘oxo-degradable plastics’ and cyclic siloxanes in consumer and professional products. Previously, Peter has worked on restriction proposals for several PBT/vPvB substances and uses of lead in PVC and in shotgun ammunition. Prior to joining ECHA, Peter worked as a chemical risk assessment consultant and for the Environment Agency of England and Wales.

Virkkunen, Henna

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Henna Virkkunen is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. She advocates the Digital Single Market and European Energy Union. She is working with files on Horizon Europe, online platforms, and Connecting Europe Facility. Virkkunen has worked as a rapporteur on blockchain technologies. Virkkunen promotes an innovation-friendly Europe. She is a keen advocate of education and skills as these equip European people for future trends such as digitalisation. She has served several ministerial posts in Finland as a Minister of Education and Science, Minister of Public Administration and Local Governance and Minister of Transport. Virkkunen is a licentiate of Philosophy.

Wagner, Martin

Associate professor, Norwegian University Science and Technology, Norway

Martin Wagner is a biologist interested in what plastics and plastics-associated chemicals do to freshwater ecosystems and human health. To study this, he works at the interface of ecology, toxicology, and chemistry. In 2013, Martin received his PhD degree from the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main for his research on endocrine disrupting chemicals leaching from plastic food packaging. Then, Martin became head of the research group Bioanalytical Toxicology at Goethe University, which focused on the impacts of microplastics as well as advanced wastewater treatment in several European projects. Since 2017, Martin is an associate professor for Environmental Toxicology at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology in Trondheim, where he continues his research into endocrine disrupting chemicals and plastic pollution. He has published more that 15 papers on plastic pollution and has recently edited a book on freshwater microplastics. More information: www.biotox.de.

Zandaryaa, Sarantuyaa

Programme Specialist, UNESCO Division of Water Sciences

Żochowska, Monika

Co-founder & CEO, Phenicoptere Sp. Z o.o.

Monika Żochowska is the Co-founder and CEO at Phenicoptere Sp. Z o.o., a Warsaw based company with sales in over 60 countries. Monika has created a disruptive product under the GLOV brand in the cosmetic industry that revolutionises every day routine of removing makeup. The idea is to remove makeup only with water, simplifying the traditional makeup removing process. Monika is the main visionary behind Phenicoptere’s products and overall strategy, and has received many awards, among others she was named as Entrepreneur of the Year by EY, the most creative entrepreneur by BRIEF, and she was acknowledged by Sukces Pisany Szminką (in collaboration with Forbes) as Businesswoman of the Year in 2016. Aside from working at Phenicoptere, Monika runs a Diamond Advisory company as a Certified Diamond Grader by HRD. Prior to that she worked for 2 years in Antwerp in the Diamond District for Boulle Rough Diamonds as a Marketing Manager developing ultra luxurious diamond jewellery brand. Monika has been living in Jacksonville FL, Valencia, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, London, Dubai, Warsaw.

Benifei, Brando

Member of the European Parliament

Brando Benifei, 31, European Federalist, is one of the youngest MEPs and is from La Spezia, Italy. He has been chair of European affairs for the Young Democrats and Vice-President of ECOSY (youth organization of PES) for 4 years and was part of the PES working group which originally drafted the European Youth Guarantee. His main fields of legislative work in the EP are Employment and social affairs and Foreign affairs. He is co-chair of the Youth Intergroup and vice-chair of the Disability Intergroup. Among his parliamentary activities in the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs, he was responsible for key legislative and non-legislative reports on the social inclusion and integration of refugees into the EU labour market; youth employment policy such as the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative; digitalisation and rights of persons with disability.

Burgelman, Jean Claude

Head of Unit Open Data Policy & Science Cloud, DG RTD, European Commission

Jean-Claude Burgelman is Head of Unit Open Science at DG RTD. He joined the European Commission in 1999 as a Visiting Scientist in the Joint Research Centre (the Institute of Prospective Technological Studies - IPTS), where he became Head of the Information Society Unit in 2005. In January 2008, he moved to the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (attached to the president of the EC) as adviser for innovation policy. Since 1-10-2008, he joined DG RTD, as advisor and then Head of Unit in charge of top level advisory boards like the European Research and Innovation Area Board, the Innovation for Growth Group and the European Forum for Forward Looking Activities. Till 2000 he was full professor of communication technology policy at the Free University of Brussels, as well as director of the Centre for Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication and was involved in science and technology assessment. He has been visiting professor at the University of Antwerp, the European College of Brughes and the University of South Africa and sits on several academic journals. He chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Innovation and was a member of its Science Advisory Committee.

de Bruin, Ronald

Director, COST Association

Dr Ronald de Bruin was appointed Director of the COST Association on 1 June 2016. Before joining the Association, Ronald was Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Head of Department of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). For almost eight years, he played a key role in managing and setting up these European Union agencies from scratch. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director of a public-private partnership platform for the Information Society in the Netherlands for over three years. His main responsibilities included drafting the annual work programs including public-private partnership projects, managing the implementation of national multi-stakeholder projects, and coordinating EU-funded projects. For almost three years, he worked for a global .COM company with top-100 clients. During his one-year stay as manager at KPMG, he worked on developing e-security services for the growing e-commerce market. He started his career as Policy Advisor for the Dutch national government, where, for three years, he was responsible for developing a national policy on e-security services, and scenarios for introducing digital TV. He is Ambassador to Brussels for the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Europe and Founding Director of the Greenleaf Center in Brussels. Dr De Bruin has also authored several books on servant-leadership, digital television, online consumer trust and computer security. He holds a Ph.D.in Law and Computer Science, an M.Sc. in Technology Management and a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering.

Herczog, Edit

Director, Vision & Values

Edit Herczog is the Director of her company Vision & Values situated in Brussels and is member of the Research Data Alliance Global Council since April 2017, where she is Co-Chair of the Financial Subcommittee. She is appointed Senior EU Liaison Adviser for GÉANT. She sits on the Administrative Board of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators and is Member of the Board at the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN). Prior to establishing her company, she served two consecutive terms in the European Parliament as MEP (2004-2014). She was member of the ITRE, IMCO, BUDG and CONT committees. As MEP she served as Member of the K4I governing board, was one of the governors of the European Internet Foundation and was vice-president of the Kangaroo Group and the European Energy Forum. Prior to her election to the EP she was member of the Hungarian Parliament in which role she was delegate to the Council of Europe as well as active member of the Committee for European Integration. Before her public career, she worked for the private sector as a regional sales and technical manager for a specialty chemicals company called National Starch & Chemical (belonging to Unilever and later to ICI) She has an MSc in food conservation engineering. She was research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and professor’s assistant at the University of Horticulture. Edit holds a Certificate of Company Direction for strategic marketing, financial management and company law from the Institute of Directors at Pall Mall, London.

Herczog, Edit

former MEP, Advisor at the Research Data Alliance

Hollman, Susanne

Scientific Manager, University of Potsdam

Susanne Hollmann is chemist and biochemist by training. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and used to work as a postdoc for both- industry and academia. Dr. Hollmann was one of the managers for the first German funding program FORSYS on systems biology and participated in the development of a business concept for a European infrastructure on systems biology. Dr. Hollmann is member of the ISO TC 276 on “Standardization in Biotechnology” and has long-term expertise in the development of standard operating procedures (SOP), which form the prerequisite for subsequent translation of research results into application. Dr. Hollmann is initiator and coordinator of the COST Action CHARME bringing together 30 countries to work on the harmonization of standards in the life sciences. She has long-term and outstanding expertise in the development and management of scientific projects, especially in EC programs and German funding initiatives. Dr. Hollmann does work as scientific manager for the Potsdam Research centre for Plant genomics and Systems Biology. In addition she works at her company SB-ScienceManagement UG, a spin-off of Potsdam University, founded in 2014.

Kauermann, Göran

Head of Chair of Statistics, Department of Statistics, LMU Munich

Göran Kauermann is an acknowledged expert in the field of applied statistics. After his degree in mathematics and doctorate in statistics at the TU Berlin in 1994 he was postdoc at the University of Chicago, USA. He completed his habilitation in 2000 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich and took a position as senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. In 2003 he became full professor of statistics at the University of Bielefeld and since 2011 he is professor at LMU Munich. Kauermann has numerous publications in the field of applied statistics. From 2005 to 2013 he was chairman of the German consortium of statistical societies (Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Statistik - DAGStat). Since 2016 he is speaker of the international elite graduate program ‘Data Science’ at LMU Munich and grant holder of COSTNET (COST action CA15109).

Koureas, Dimitris

Programme Director, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden

Dimitris is the Director for the International Biodiversity Research Infrastructures programme at Naturalis Biodiversity Center and head of Department. Coordinator of the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) Research Infrastructure. He also serves as a chair of the executive committee of the international organisation for Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). Dimitris has a PhD in biosystematics and post-doctoral expertise in biodiversity informatics

Milani, Federico

Deputy Head of Unit, Data Policy and Innovation Unit, DG for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission

Federico Milani is the Deputy Head of Unit of the Data Policies and Innovation Unit of CONNECT Directorate General. The unit supports the data economy in the Digital Single Market through policy initiatives addressing new and emerging issues (such as data ownership and brokerage, open data policies by ensuring the correct implementation of the Public Sector Information Directive). The unit steers together with industry the strategic research and innovation agenda. Federico Milani has previously worked as a project officer for making accessible European digital content since October 2001 and as Deputy Head of Unit the Creativity Unit As responsible for supporting the creative industry sectors and Europeana project since 2008. Mr. Milani studies comprise a PhD in neural networks and intelligent systems, and a degree in electronic engineering.

Plaut, Pnina

Professor in Transportation Planning, Technion Israel Institute of Technology

Pnina Plaut is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Pnina was the Chair of COST Action TU1305 on Social networks and travel behaviour. Her input is critical in understanding thelink that exists (and probably increasingly in the future) between the use of social media, and the mobility patterns in urban spaces

Nagtegaal, Caroline

Member of the European Parliament

Caroline Nagtegaal MEP (1980) was elected in the European Parliament since November 2017 on behalf of the Dutch liberal party VVD. The VVD is part of the ALDE Group, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. As a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) she is involved in subjects as macro-economics, financial regulations, EMU, FinTech, Bitcoin and crowdfunding. She focusses on improving the resilience of the financial markets and enhancing growth potential of European SMEs, for example by developing an EU framework for crowdfunding. She is also working on a new budgetary tool that promotes structural reforms in the Member States. As substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) she deals with energy, cyber security, space, quantum technology and robotics. She took care of the new cyber security legislation. She is also committed to Horizon Europe, a programme dedicated to excellence and innovation. At this moment, she is shadow rapporteur on the Space Programme. Besides that, she is vice-president of the delegation on relations of the European Parliament with India and co-chair of the Innovation Group. Prior to her election to the European Parliament, Ms. Nagtegaal worked at Royal Schiphol Group and Port of Rotterdam Authority. She dealt with public & external affairs for those companies.

Prof. Dr. Dabrock, Peter

Chair, University of Erlangen / German Ethics Council

Professor Peter Dabrock, born 1964, studied Protestant and Catholic Theology, Philosophy and Social Sciences in Würzburg, Bonn and Bochum, Germany. After several positions in academia as researcher, Assistant, Associate and Full Professor in Bochum and Marburg (from 1995-2010) he has been Chair of Systematic Theology (Ethics) at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg since October 2010. Beyond serving in many high-level national and international advisory bodies in academia, Church, and Society including the European Group on Ethics (2011-2016) he has been an appointed member of the German Ethics Council since 2012. Since 2016 he has been its elected Chairperson. Dabrock has published several books and more than 200 articles with special focus on ethics of life sciences, of technology (including ethics of energy), of social justice and of life styles.

Schwille, Petra

Director, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

Petra Schwille studied physics in Stuttgart and Göttingen and obtained her PhD in 1996 with Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. After a postdoctoral stay at Cornell University (Ithaca, USA) she established a research group at the MPI Göttingen in 1999 and accepted a call as professor and chair of biophysics at the BIOTEC of the TU Dresden in 2002. In 2011, she was appointed as scientific member of the Max Planck Society and director at the MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried. Her research interests range from single-molecule biophysics to bottom-up synthetic biology of artificial cells.

Théry, Manuel

Research director CEA

Manuel Théry works on cell shape and internal architecture. He studies the skeleton of the cell, the “cytoskeleton”. He has developed micro-devices to control cell shape in order to study how cytoskeleton filaments form networks that sense and adapt to geometrical boundary conditions. Recently he developed “in vitro” cell-free reconstitution assays in which isolated filaments grow and adapt to geometrical cues.

Thole, Esther

Science journalist and writer

Author of Creators of Life (original NL: Makers van Leven), Maven Publishing (2018). In her book, editor Esther Thole describes how scientists build structures on the nano-scale towards hierarchically ordered materials or building blocks for life.

Arancio, Paolo

Global Head of Strategic Innovation Partnership, Nestlé Skin Health

Dr. Paolo Arancio is a strategist, an entrepreneur, an innovator that has dedicated the life to the creation of nutrition and health solutions, bringing value to people, business and society. He has been working in 5 continents and across more than 10 businesses for Nestlé, where he currently is the Global Head of Strategic Innovation - Nestlé Skin Health, and as partner in Innovation Platforms with global foot print. Over his 20 years of career in innovation, he played a key role connecting businesses, R&D and operations, leading global technology platforms, health programs across food categories and launching in Asia, Africa and South America healthy nutritious products for infant and kids. His professional career is built on a broad business and scientific education. He holds a PhD in Food Process Engineering (ETH Zurich), an MBA in Innovation (joint venture Nestlé-University of Geneva), Master in Sweden (SIK institute, today part of R.I.S.E) and a degree in Food Science and Technology. Currently he lectures part-time and collaborate with the University of Udine.

Bell, John

Vice President External Innovation and New Business Models for Johnson & Johnson Consumer

Dr. John Bell is Vice President External Innovation and New Business Models for Johnson & Johnson Consumer. In this role, he is responsible for driving the cooperation with entrepreneurs, strategic suppliers, partner companies and universities to co-create game-changing innovations. His team represents the J&J Consumer Business in the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers. Before he joined J&J, John was VP of Strategy and New Business Development at Philips Research. Prior to that, he was responsible for Strategic Alliances in Philips and also worked as Strategy Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. John has a strong background in open innovation, new business creation, partnerships and strategy. John has a track record of creating new emerging businesses, setting up an internal Incubator, driving the cultural change towards Open Innovation and managing alliances. He is also responsible for strategy and business development in a promising high-tech hardware start-up. John has a degree in business economics and a Ph.D. on Joint Ventures from Tilburg University. Currently, he is part-time professor at Tilburg University.

Delimar, Marko

Chair of the IEEE European Public Policy Committee, IEEE

Professor Marko Delimar is an electrical engineer, educator and researcher. He holds BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Diploma in Management. At present, he is Vice Dean of Education and Professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, where he has been with the Department of Energy and Power Systems since 1997. His interests include electric power and energy systems, simulations and modelling, intelligent systems, and engineering education. His current research focuses on analysis and design of smart grid architectures and large-scale integration of renewables. An IEEE volunteer since 1994, he previously served as IEEE Secretary and IEEE Region 8 Director and is known as a co-creator of IEEEXtreme. In 2018, he serves as Director (Member of the Board) of the IEEE Foundation.

Heinen, Brian

Founder, Local Producer

Topic: Agriculture and Food Value Chain Brian is an advocate and strategic director drawing on 15 years of collaborating with an extensive network of multinational influencers and professional resources in Blockchain, Crypto, Fintech, Procurement/ Supply Chain, Agriculture/ Food Value Chain, Open Innovation and Tech – helping brands and organizations with business community development. Producer of Bitcoin Foundation's Bitcoin2014 Initiative and Founder of Blockchain in Europe. Brian believes the best opportunities for integrating blockchain are within the food value chain, as well as, the greatest rewards.

Kaili, Eva

Member of the European Parliament

Eva Kaili is a Member of the European Parliament, elected in 2014. In her capacity as the Chair of the European Parliament's Science and Technology Options Assessment body (STOA) she has, been working intensively on promoting innovation as a driving force of the establishment of the European Digital Single Market. She has been particularly active in the fields of blockchain technology, m/eHealth, big data, fintech, AI and cybersecurity. Since her election, she has also been very active in the field of taxation, where she has been the Rapporteur of the ECON committee's annual tax report. As a member of the ECON committee, she has been focusing on EU's financial integration and the management of the financial crisis in the Eurozone. Prior to her position in the European Parliament, she has been elected two times in the Greek Parliament (serving between 2007-2012), with the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). She holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering, and Postgraduate degree in European Politics. Currently, she is conducting her PhD in International Political Economy.

Lima, Claudio

Chair of the IEEE Blockchain in Energy Standards, IEEE

Topic: Blockchain Enabling Energy Grid Modernization Dr. Claudio Lima is a seasoned technology executive and thought leader in Advanced Blockchain, IoT and AI technologies with expertise in energy (utilities, oil and gas), smart city and telecom/IT digital transformation. He has a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering at the UKC (England). Previously he was the Global Smart Grid CTO of Huawei Technologies in Europe-Asia-Pacific and a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS) at Sprint Advanced Technology Labs (Sprint ATL), in Silicon Valley-CA. Dr. Lima currently leads the IEEE Blockchain Standards development as Chair and Vice-Chair of IoT and Energy Working Groups. He also serves as the Blockchain Cybersecurity Industry Advisory Board Member of the Department of Energy (DOE)/PNNL

Louca, Soulla

Professor and Director of the Blockchain Initiative, University of Nicosia

Topic: Self-Verifiable Digital Records Soulla Louca received her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1994 from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. She has participated/coordinated numerous projects funded by the NSF-USA, RPF-Cyprus and the European Framework programs. In 2006, she was appointed by the RPF to represent Cyprus in the Domain Committee for ICT for the European program COST (www.cost.eu) and for six years (2008-2014), she was the elected Chair of the Domain for the 36 Member States of COST. She is one of the first academics to get involved in blockchain technologies (2014) by assuming the responsibility of the Blockchain Initiative at the University of Nicosia (UNIC). The Blockchain Initiative has designed and developed the first MSc worldwide in Digital Currency, the technology for publishing academic certificates on the blockchain (http://block.co/) and organized several events including Decentralized 2017/18 (www.decentralized.com). She is a professor as well as the Director of the Blockchain Initiative at UNIC.

Ramadoss, Ramesh

Co-Chair of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative, IEEE

Topic: Blockchain for Next Generation Supply Chains Ramesh Ramadoss received his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India in 1998 and PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA in 2003. Between 2003 and 2007, he was employed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University, Alabama, USA. Between 2008 and 2017, he was employed as a Manager/Director in technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Currently, he is the President & CEO of BitCasas Inc., a Silicon Valley based startup working on blockchain-enabled tokenization of real estate mortgage loans. He is the author or coauthor of 1 book, 4 book chapters and 55 papers. He is an IEEE Senior Member. He is a Co-Chair of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative. He is also the Chair of the IEEE P2418.1 Standards Working Group focusing on Blockchain for IoT.

Schaake, Marietje

Member of the European Parliament

Marietje Schaake is a Dutch politician and has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. She is a member of D66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group. She is Coordinator on the International Trade committee, where she is the ALDE spokesperson on transatlantic trade and digital trade. Schaake also serves on the committee on Foreign Affairs and the subcommittee on Human Rights. She is the Vice-President of the US Delegation and serves on the Iran Delegation and the Delegation for the Arab peninsula. Furthermore, Schaake is the founder of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Digital Agenda for Europe. In 2017 she was Chief of the European Union Election Observation Mission in Kenya. Since 2014, Schaake is a ‘Young Global Leader’ with the World Economic Forum and she was recently appointed as co-chair of the WEF Global Future Council on Agile Governance. Schaake is a Member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace and chair of the CEPS Taskforce on Software Vulnerability Disclosure in Europe. Furthermore, she is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and an advisor to the Center for Humane Technology. Schaake was featured by Politico as one of the 28 most influential Europeans in the ‘class of 2017’.

Stavrou, Angelos

Founder and CEO, Kryptowire LLC

Topic: Security & Privacy Dr. Angelos Stavrou is Founder and CEO of Kryptowire LLC, a Virginia based Mobile Security company. Stavrou has served as principal investigator on research awards from NSF, DARPA, IARPA, DHS, AFOSR, ARO, ONR, he is an active member of NIST's Mobile Security team and has written more than 90 peer-reviewed conference and journal articles. Stavrou received his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, M.Phil. and Ph.D. (with distinction) in Computer Science all from Columbia University. He also holds an M.Sc. in theoretical Computer Science from University of Athens, and a B.Sc. in Physics with distinction from University of Patras, Greece. Stavrou is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Reliability and IET Journal on Information Security. His current research interests include security and reliability for distributed systems, security principles for virtualization, and anonymity with a focus on building and deploying large-scale systems. Stavrou received the GMU Department of Computer Science Outstanding Research Award in 2010, 2016 and 2018 and was awarded with the 2012 George Mason Emerging Researcher, Scholar, Creator Award, a university-wide award. In 2013, he received the IEEE Reliability Society Engineer of the Year award. He is a NIST guest researcher, a member of the ACM and USENIX, and a senior IEEE member. Under DHS funding, Kryptowire designed and implemented novel MDM and analysis software that can collect mobile application and network telemetry from mobile devices for which his team was awarded the DHS Cyber Security Division’s "Significant Government Impact Award" in 2017.

Willem Jonker

CEO , EIT Digital

Prof. Willem Jonker (1962) has a broad background in ICT, both in industry as well as in academia. He studied mathematics and computer science at Groningen University, worked at Delft University of Technology, received his PhD from the University of Utrecht, and is a part-time full professor in computer science at Twente University. Willem Jonker's industrial experience covers telecommunications (KPN), IT (European Computer industry Research Centre, Munich) and consumer electronics (Philips). He held several positions as researcher, international project leader, department head, sector head, and account manager. In 2006 he was appointed Vice President Philips Research. Prof. Dr. Jonker has served European ICT research in various ways amongst others as project leader, reviewer, and advisor.

Zanero, Stefano

Associate Professor, Polytechnic University of Milan

Topic: Introductory Remarks Stefano Zanero received a PhD in Computer Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, where he is currently an associate professor with the Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria. His research focuses on malware analysis, cyberphysical security, and cybersecurity in general. Besides teaching “Computer Security” and “Computer Forensics” at Politecnico, he has an extensive speaking and training experience in Italy and abroad. He co-authored over 90 scientific papers and books. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, the IEEE Computer Society (for which he is a member of the Board of Governors), and a lifetime senior member of the ACM. Stefano co-founded the Italian chapter of ISSA (Information System Security Association). He has been named a Fellow of ISSA and sits in its International Board of Directors. A long time op-ed writer for magazines, Stefano is also a co-founder and chairman of Secure Network, a leading information security consulting firm based in Milan and in London; a co-founder of 18Months, a cloud-based ticketing solutions provider; and a co-founder of BankSealer, a startup in the FinTech sector that addresses fraud detection through machine learning techniques.

Zilgalvis, Pēteris

Head of the Digital Innovation and Blockchain Unit, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Topic: EU’s initiatives in Blockchain Pēteris Zilgalvis is the Head of Unit for Digital Innovation and Blockchain in the Digital Single Market Directorate in DG CONNECT and is the Co-Chair of the European Commission FinTech Task Force. He was nominated on the list of CoinDesk’s Most Influential People in Blockchain 2017. He was the Visiting EU Fellow at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford for 2013-14, where he is an Associate of the Political Economy of Financial Markets Programme. From 1997 to 2005, he was Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department of the Council of Europe, in its Directorate General of Legal Affairs. In addition, he has held various positions in the Latvian civil service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment). He was Senior Environmental Law Advisor to the World Bank/Russian Federation Environmental Management Project and was Regional Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Countries at the World Bank. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1991, completed his J.D. at the University of Southern California, his B.A. in Political Science Cum Laude at UCLA, and the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School. A recent publication of his is “The Need for an Innovation Principle in Regulatory Impact Assessment: The Case of Finance and Innovation in Europe” in Policy & Internet.

Mengal, Philippe

Executive Director, Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU)

Philippe Mengal is the Executive Director of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) since 1 October 2015. His mission is to further consolidate the role and responsibilities of the BBI JU. The Executive Director is the legal representative of the BBI JU. He is the chief executive responsible for the day-to-day management of the BBI JU in accordance with the decisions of the Governing Board. Mr. Mengal trained as an engineer in Chemistry and Bio-industry at the Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech University and later on in Strategic Innovation Management at INSEAD - Fontainebleau in France. He started his career in 1990 in France as R&D engineer in the field of biomass fractionation and purification. In 1995 he became Technical Director of a research centre dedicated to biomass valorisation and between 1990 and 1997 he taught in a Master programme on chemical engineering in Rennes, France. He has published a number of scientific papers and awarded 5 patented license agreements. In his 25 years of professional experience before joining BBI JU, Mr. Mengal held strategic managerial positions in France and Belgium such as CEO of three companies, Global R&D Director of a multinational and Senior Consultant in food ingredient, engineering and life science industries.

van Eetvelde, Greet

Group Head of Energy and Innovation Policy, INEOS Group

Prof.dr.ir. Greet Van Eetvelde, INEOS Group / Ghent University Professor Van Eetvelde (°1965) holds engineering degrees in bioscience and chemistry, an advanced Master's degree in environmental sciences, and a PhD from Ghent University in Belgium. In 1994, during her doctoral research on wood preservation, she was granted a British Council fellowship at Building Research Establishment in outer London. Appointed professor in 2000, she still heads the Energy & Cluster Management research group at the UGent faculty of Engineering and Architecture, while successively leading the university's Environmental department and (in 2007) assuming the role of director of the UGent Energy platform Power-Link as well as CEO of the Greenbridge science park. Since 2011 dr. Van Eetvelde is employed at INEOS AG in Switzerland as Group head of Energy & Innovation Policy. She steers the pan-INEOS carbon & energy network and directs research & innovation projects tackling grand industrial climate challenges. She represents INEOS in the Cefic Climate Change & Energy as well as Innovation programme councils, is INEOS' delegate in the SPIRE partnership, and is chairwoman of SusChem Switzerland. She co-leads the Energy section of EFCE and coordinates or participates in many industrial and academic platforms and projects. Since 2015 Van Eetvelde is also visiting professor at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in the Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering group.

Vandenberghe, Kurt

Director Policy Development and Coordination, EU Commission

Kurt is Director for Policy Development and Coordination at the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation since 1st February 2016. Before that, he was Director for 'Climate action and resource efficiency' at DG Research and Innovation since July 2013. He served in the Cabinet of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin (1999-2004) and as Head of the Cabinet of Janez Potocnik, who was Commissioner for Research and Innovation (2004-2009) and subsequently for Environment (from 2010). Kurt joined the European Commission in 1996 as co-ordinator of the Commission’s Intermodal Transport Task Force and of the Transport Research Programme. Before entering the Commission, Kurt worked for 4 years as a manager at Ernst & Young Association Management, where he set up, managed and represented international trade associations. After reading French and Italian literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) and obtaining a degree in Public and International Affairs at the University Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), Kurt gained a Master of Arts degree in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (S.A.I.S.) in Bologna, Italy and Washington D.C., US. Kurt is co-founder and board member of Journalismfund.eu and the VZW Scriptieprijs.

Wachsen, Olaf

Head of Group Process Technology at Clariant and SPIRE Board Member

In 2010 Olaf Wachsen was appointed Head of Group Process Technology at Clariant‘s central research and development function Group Technology & Innovation. He is responsible for bringing innovation to scale and having best and innovative technologies in place in order to ensure high plant performance combined with priorities on sustainability and environment protection. In 1996, he joined Hoechst AG and moved to Clariant in 1999. He held various positions linked to chemical engineering and operations topics covering R&D, innovation management, sales, investment projects and plant management on a global level. In 2015, Olaf Wachsen was appointed Deputy Head of Dechema Expert Group Reaction Engineering, and became an SPIRE Board Member in 2016, after a few years driving innovation related topics in the SPIRE partnership. In this function, his intention is to shape chemical engineering research topics and to develop the education of scientists and engineers. His motivation is to discover innovation needs for the process industry and drive things forward. Olaf Wachsen holds a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Polymerization Reaction Engineering from the Technical University Berlin.

Wierinck, Lieve

Member of the European Parliament

Lieve Wierinck is a Belgian Member of the European Parliament since May 2016 for the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, which sits in the ALDE Group. She succeeded Philippe De Backer, who became Secretary of State in the Michel Government.

Demski, Patryk

LOTOS Group, Poland

Mr Demski has held the position of Vice President of the Management Board of Grupa LOTOS S.A. of the 10th term since May 22nd 2018 as a Chief Investment and Innovation Officer. Mr Demski is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In 2014 - 2018 he served as Mayor of the Pelplin Municipality. Member of the council of the Polish Tourist Organisation since 2018, and member of the Supervisory Board of the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdańsk since 2017. From 2006 to 2014, Mr Demski was Deputy Branch Manager, acting Deputy Branch Manager, and Chief Specialist at the Gdańsk field branch of the Agricultural Property Agency. In 2011-2014, he served on the Supervisory Board of Zakład Gospodarki Mieszkaniowej Sp. z o.o. in Tczew. In 2006, Mr Demski was Deputy Director of the Pomeranian Governor's Office in Gdańsk.

Granger, Richard

President, European Office, Technology Partners Foundation Consulting

Richard Granger is president of the Brussels office of Technology Partners, the association of Poland’s leading applied R&D institutes, and an independent consultant with 40 years’ experience in managing research, development and innovation. He directed the recent SINTRAS project, advising the European Commission on future transport policy. His chief interests include technology strategy; the management and commercial exploitation of R&D; and the organisational and cultural issues involved in technology transfer and in stimulating innovation. He has worked in these areas worldwide, for leading corporations in many industries and for public sector bodies. He also teaches technology and innovation management on MBA, MSc and executive programmes at several business schools.

Ph.D. Eng Wieczorek, Piotr

Specjalist in Department of Liquid Fuels and Bioeconomy, Automotive Industry Institute

Ph.D. Eng., Specialist in Department of Liquid Fuels and Bioeconomy, Automotive Industry Institute. Alumnus of Warsaw University of Technology. Research topics: electromobility (particularly chemistry and application of Li-ion cells), low-emission transport, biofuels and their commercial applications, special-purpose fuels, catalysis of biomass conversion processes. Participant of 28th Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland.

Prof. Szynkarczyk, Piotr

Director, Industrial Research Institute for Automation & Measurements (PIAP), Poland

Ph.D. Eng. Piotr Szynkarczyk, prof. PIAP – director of Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements PIAP (Poland). Directs nearly 300 people in research and development in the field of automation and robotics, conducts analytical and expert work in the fields of automation and robotics. Expert in the fields of unmanned ground systems for special purposes, including civil and military operations. Prof. PIAP (2012), Lodz University Faculty of Administration – postgraduate studies on commercialization of innovations and new technologies (on license from IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, USA, 2010), Ph.D. - Military University of Technology (2000), graduated from Warsaw University of Technology (automatics & robotics, 1992). Expert, member of Committee on Automatic Control and Robotics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Council of Polish Research Institutes, International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction

Śliwowski, Dariusz

Vice-President of the Management Board of the Industrial Development Agency (ARP)

Dariusz Śliwowski graduated from the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology Faculty of Computer Science and Management. Throughout his professional career he has dealt with computer science and software projects for the banking sector, public administration and business. He has held management positions in international IT and consulting companies. He has participated in IT projects implemented in Poland and abroad. A member of the ARP S.A. Management Board since December 2016.

Leclercq, Christophe

Founder Euractiv

He is the founder of EURACTIV media network & Chairman of Fondation EURACTIV, plus adviser & commentator. After launching EURACTIV in 1999 and managing it for 10 years, Mr. Leclercq then focused on deepening the network and external relations. Since January 2018, Christophe Leclercq is one of the experts on the High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on disinformation. He leads the new projects #Media4EU and Stars4Media (Erasmus4Media). He also teaches notably at Institut d’Etudes Européennes/ULB (Brussels). Previously, Mr. Leclercq was EU Commission official with DG Competition (coordinator for Information Society). Before that, he was a management consultant with McKinsey, founder of the EuroManagers job fair, and market research manager at Renault Deutschland.

Maletić, Ivana

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

van Ransbeeck, Wietse

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, CitizenLab

Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2018 in Law & Policy In January 2018, Wietse Van Ransbeeck got awarded as one of the 30 under 30 innovators in the field of Law & Policy. The jury recognised Wietse, as founder of CitizenLab, for “the potential it has to radically transform our democracies”.

de Bruin, Ronald

Director, COST Association

Dr Ronald de Bruin was appointed Director of the COST Association on 1 June 2016. Before joining the Association, Ronald was Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Head of Department of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). For almost eight years, he played a key role in managing and setting up these European Union agencies from scratch. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director of a public-private partnership platform for the Information Society in the Netherlands for over three years. His main responsibilities included drafting the annual work programs including public-private partnership projects, managing the implementation of national multi-stakeholder projects, and coordinating EU-funded projects. For almost three years, he worked for a global .COM company with top-100 clients. During his one-year stay as manager at KPMG, he worked on developing e-security services for the growing e-commerce market. He started his career as Policy Advisor for the Dutch national government, where, for three years, he was responsible for developing a national policy on e-security services, and scenarios for introducing digital TV. He is Ambassador to Brussels for the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Europe and Founding Director of the Greenleaf Center in Brussels. Dr De Bruin has also authored several books on servant-leadership, digital television, online consumer trust and computer security. He holds a Ph.D.in Law and Computer Science, an M.Sc. in Technology Management and a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering.

de Graaf, Gerard

Director, Digital Single Market in Directorate-General \"Communications Networks, Content & Technology\"

Gerard de Graaf is Director for the Digital Single Market in Directorate-General "Communications Networks, Content & Technology" (DG CONNECT). In this capacity, he is responsible for a number of policies and instruments which are key to the development of the digital economy in Europe. In addition to overall DSM coordination and future digital policies, his directorate is inter alia responsible for e-commerce, digital platforms, standardisation, innovation policies, blockchain, start-up Europe, access to finance, digital skills, ICT reforms as part of the European Semester, competition aspects and economic analysis of the digital economy (through the Digital Economy and Society Index - DESI).

van Nistelrooij, Lambert

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Willem Jonker

CEO , EIT Digital

Prof. Willem Jonker (1962) has a broad background in ICT, both in industry as well as in academia. He studied mathematics and computer science at Groningen University, worked at Delft University of Technology, received his PhD from the University of Utrecht, and is a part-time full professor in computer science at Twente University. Willem Jonker's industrial experience covers telecommunications (KPN), IT (European Computer industry Research Centre, Munich) and consumer electronics (Philips). He held several positions as researcher, international project leader, department head, sector head, and account manager. In 2006 he was appointed Vice President Philips Research. Prof. Dr. Jonker has served European ICT research in various ways amongst others as project leader, reviewer, and advisor.

Bergkvist, Erik

Chair of the Executive Committee, Region Västerbotten

Dr. Erik Bergkvist, Chair of the Executive Committee, Region Västerbotten. PhD in Economics, Umeå University 2001. Member of the Social Democratic Party since 1981. Priority policy areas are regional development, child and youth policy, international relations and welfare financing. Member of the Social Democrats party board. Vice-chairman of the Norrland Trust Fund (Norrlandsfonden), vice-chairman of Almi Nord, as well as member of the Västerbotten County Council. Dr. Erik Bergkvist has been very active in the European policy debate. Among other issues, he has emphasized the need for a stronger cohesion policy in Europe to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges. As well as championing the position of regions in policy-making, building partnerships and promoting solidarity within Europe and between regions, especially in the European part of the Arctic. He is member of the Executive Committee of the Baltic Sea Commission and member of the CPMR (Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions) political bureau.

Coyle, Seamus

Chairman, Irish Northern and Western Regional Assembly

Councilor Seamus Coyle is an elected Member of Monaghan County Council and a regional representative sitting on the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. For 2018 Seamus was elected as Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) for the region overseeing the introduction of the first Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies in Ireland and providing the oversight on our BMW Regional Operational Programme. His area of focus for 2018 is the continued delivery of EU structural funds 'to the regions; and by the regions in Ireland'. As an elected member representing border communities Brexit plays a considerable role in the Chairpersons strategic priorities. Seamus is also a full-time farmer.

De Nichilo Rizzoli, Melania

Regional Minister for Education, Training and Employment, Lombardy Region Government

Melania De Nichilo Rizzoli is Regional Minister for Education, Training and Employment of Lombardy. She was born on May 31st, 1956 in Rome. She is a surgeon. As a Member of the Italian Parliament (Chamber) from 2008 to 2013, she was involved in the Social Affairs Committee as well as in the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on mistakes in the health field and on the causes of regional health deficits. She is author of several informative texts on health and social matters. In the current Regional Legislature, on March 29th, 2018, President Attilio Fontana appointed her as Regional Minister for Education, Training and Employment. In the Lombardy Region Government, she is in charge of these subjects: education, training, work, employment and corporate crises, training tools for job placement.

Droba, Juraj

President of the Bratislava Region

Juraj Droba is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur and businessman, who was elected as a President of Bratislava Region in 2017. He was a Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 2010 to 2017, serving as a Vice-chairman of the Mandate and Immunity Committee as well as a Member of the Permanent Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Prior to his political career, Juraj was a Director of External Affairs and a Member of Executive Management Board in T-Mobile Slovakia. Juraj graduated as a Master of Political Management from the George Washington University in Washington D. C. and holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. His passions are languages and sport, which he studied at Comenius University in Bratislava and Rijksuniversiteit in Gent. Juraj lives in Bratislava with his son.

Eichtinger, Martin

Minister for Housing, Labour and International Relations, Lower Austria

Martin Eichtinger received his J.D. from the University of Graz in 1983 and went on to acquire a Diploma in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s Bologna Center. He joined the Austrian Foreign Service in 1986 and served as personal secretary to the Foreign Minister. His diplomatic assignments included Mexico and Washington, D.C., where he headed the Austrian Press and Information Service from 1992-1999. Between 1999 and 2007, he was Chief of Cabinet of the Austrian Special Representative for Payments to Former Forced and Slave Laborers of the NaziRegime, Director for International Affairs at the Austrian Federation of Industry, manager in a private company, Chief of Staff and later Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor. From 2007 to 2010, he served as Austrian Ambassador to Romania and the Republic of Moldova. From July 2010 to January 2015, he was Director General for Cultural Policy at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. From 2015 until 2018 Martin Eichtinger served as Austrian Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Since January 2018, he is a Member of the Government of Lower Austria, responsible for Housing, Labour and International Relations.

Halme, Esa

Region Mayor of Tampere Region

Mr Esa Halme is the region mayor of the Council of Tampere Region since 2010. He is an architect specialised in landscape architecture by education. Prior to starting at the Regional Council of Tampere Region he worked as an executive director at the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme. He has worked at engineering and architecture companies, Regional Planning Authority of Provincial Vaasa and Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). Mr Halme has either chaired or been a member of numerous regional development and planning related committees and working groups on European, national and regional level. In addition he has published papers on European structural funds and urban planning.

Lambertz, Karl-Heinz

President, European Committee of the Regions

Karl-Heinz Lambertz was elected as President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in July 2017 after serving a two and a half year term as First Vice-President. He is also a member of the Belgian Senate representing the German-Speaking Community. Born on 4 June 1952 in Schoppen, Karl-Heinz's interest in politics came early in his career having served as President of the German-speaking Youth Council (1975-1980). After a number of functions linked to his academic background in law, he became Member of Parliament of the German-speaking Community in 1981. Between 1990 and 1999 he held numerous Ministerial posts in the German-speaking Community Government before being elected its Minister-President (1999-2014). He was then President of Parliament until 2016 before taking post as Senator. Karl-Heinz has been a CoR member since 2001 and was President of the CoR's PES Group (2011- 2015). Since 2000, he has been a Member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in which he is currently Vice-President. He is married to his wife Sylvie, has two children and four grand-children.

Mikl-Leitner, Johanna

Governor, Lower Austria

Johanna Mikl-Leitner studied Business Education at the University of Economics and Business in Vienna and worked as a business consultant. From 1990 to 1993 she was a trainee at the Federation of Austrian Industries before becoming the deputy publishing director at “Signum Verlag” from 1993 to 1995. In 1995 Johanna Mikl-Leitner became the head of marketing and in 1998 the executive director of the Lower Austrian’s People’s Party. In 1999 she became a Member of the Austrian Parliament. From 2003 until 2011 she served as the Minister for European Regional Policy, Social-, Labour- and Family affairs of the Government of Lower Austria. From 2011 until 2016 she took up the role as Federal Minister of Interior of Austria before returning to regional politics where she served as deputy Governor of the Government of Lower Austria in 2016. Since 2017 she is the Governor of Lower Austria.

Netolicky, Martin

President of Pardubice Region

Martin Netolicky, born in 1982 is Czech Social-Democratic politician and President of the Pardubice Region since 2012. He had studied law and entered his active political career in 2000 as a member of Czech Social Democratic Party. Lately, he was elected a member of municipal assembly of his native town Ceska Trebova. As a president of the region he hold also a various other functions within the Association of the Region of the Czech Republic.

Paasch, Oliver

Minister President of the German Speaking Community, Belgium & President of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)

Oliver Paasch was born in Malmedy on 21.10.1971 and is a Belgian politician of the German-speaking ProDG party (free citizen list). Between 2004 and 2014, he held several ministerial posts in the Government of the German-speaking Community. Since June 2014 is he the incumbent Minister-President of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Before his political carrier, he studied Law at the University of Namur and Louvain-la-Neuve and worked as a bank manager at Crédit Général in Liege and as Manager of the Business Centre of CBC bank in Verviers

Pauk, Goran

President, Croatian County Association

Goran Pauk, born in 1962, studied economics at the University of Split. He started his professional career in the private companies and after that, he worked in police administration, first as a chief of police administration and later as Police official for economic crime. Since September 2006 he is county prefect of Šibenik-Knin county and in October 2017 was elected for the president of the Croatian Association of Counties for the second mandate. Also, Mr Pauk is head of Croatian delegation in The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. He was honoured with the medal of the Croatian president Dr Franjo Tuđman with the Order of Nikola Šubic Zrinski for heroism in war.

Rijsberman, Michiel

Regional Minister, Province of Flevoland

Regional Minister for the Province of Flevoland, responsible for European affairs Cohesion policy related functions as Regional Minister: • IPO spokesperson on cohesion policy on behalf of the Dutch Provinces in Brussels (IPO is a member of CEMR) • Committee of the Regions (CoR) member of the COTER group o CoR rapporteur for the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund o CoR rapporteur for the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union • Assembly of European Regions (AER) chair of the taskforce on cohesion policy • Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) member of the cohesion policy core group • Responsible for regional economy on behalf of the Randstad Region (a partnership between the provinces of Utrecht, North-Holland, South-Holland and Flevoland). N.B. Randstad Region is a member of the Vanguard Initiative.

van Nistelrooij, Lambert

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Weinmeister, Mark

State Secretary of European Affairs, Land of Hesse

State Secretary Mark Weinmeister studied various subjects. He studied German, History, Pedagogy, and Politics at the University of Göttingen. He then spent time in various positions until he became a Member of the Hessian Parliament from 1999 to 2008. He then worked as State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Agriculture and Consumer Protection until he became State Secretary for European Affairs to the Minister of Federal and European Affairs and Commissioner of Land Hesse to the Federation in January 2014.

Boni, Michał

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

A graduate of the University of Warsaw, where for many years he lectured in the Department of Polish Culture History. Involved in "Solidarity" underground movement since 1980, since 1987 its leader on University of Warsaw and from march 1983 till 1989 editor in chief of underground weekly newspaper "Wola". Since 1989 a member of the national authorities of "Solidarity", in 1990 – chairman of the "Mazowsze" Region Managing Board. In 1991, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, from 1992 to 1993 he held the position of the Secretary of State in the same ministry, where he was responsible, inter alia, for labor market policy. Member of Parliament of the first tenure. From 1998 to 2001, the chief advisor to the Minister of Labour and Social Policy. Key expert cooperating in shaping of the National Development Plan and the National Action Plan for 2007-2013. Since January 2008, the Secretary of State in the Prime Minister's Office. In 2009 appointed to the office of the Minister – a member of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers. Since 2008 he was the Head of Strategic Advisors to the Prime Minister. The Minister of Administration and Digitization of Poland from 2011 till 2013. The host of the Congress of Freedom on the Internet, the organizer of the consultation on digital privacy and data protection, creator of the Governmental Operational Programme Digital Poland 2014-2020. Since 2014 the Member of the European Parliament active in LIBE and ITRE Committees. The member of Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and the Vice-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. The co-founder of the Intergroup Digital Agenda for Europe.

Kober, Jens

Assistant Professor, Cognitive Robotics department, TU Delft

Jens Kober is an associate professor at the TU Delft, Netherlands. He worked as a postdoctoral scholar jointly at the CoR-Lab, Bielefeld University, Germany and at the Honda Research Institute Europe, Germany. He graduated in 2012 with a PhD Degree in Engineering from TU Darmstadt and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. For his research he received the annually awarded Georges Giralt PhD Award for the best PhD thesis in robotics in Europe and the 2018 IEEE RAS Early Academic Career Award. Jens was awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant in 2018. His research interests include robotics, machine learning, and control.

Nagtegaal, Caroline

Member of the European Parliament

Caroline Nagtegaal MEP (1980) was elected in the European Parliament since November 2017 on behalf of the Dutch liberal party VVD. The VVD is part of the ALDE Group, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. As a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) she is involved in subjects as macro-economics, financial regulations, EMU, FinTech, Bitcoin and crowdfunding. She focusses on improving the resilience of the financial markets and enhancing growth potential of European SMEs, for example by developing an EU framework for crowdfunding. She is also working on a new budgetary tool that promotes structural reforms in the Member States. As substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) she deals with energy, cyber security, space, quantum technology and robotics. She took care of the new cyber security legislation. She is also committed to Horizon Europe, a programme dedicated to excellence and innovation. At this moment, she is shadow rapporteur on the Space Programme. Besides that, she is vice-president of the delegation on relations of the European Parliament with India and co-chair of the Innovation Group. Prior to her election to the European Parliament, Ms. Nagtegaal worked at Royal Schiphol Group and Port of Rotterdam Authority. She dealt with public & external affairs for those companies.

Van Wynsberghe, Aimee

European Commission High Level Expert Group on AI, Rapporteur for Values and Principles working group

Aimee van Wynsberghe has been working in ICT and robotics since 2004. She began her career as part of a research team working with surgical robots in Canada at CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advance Robotics). She is Assistant Professor in Ethics and Technology at TU Delft in the Netherlands. She is co-founder and co-director of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics, on the board of the Institute for Accountability in a Digital Age, and an advisory board member for the AI & Intelligent Automation Network. Aimee also serves as a member of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI and is a founding board member of the Netherlands AI Alliance. Aimee has been named one of the Netherlands top 400 influential women under 38 by VIVA and was named one of the 25 ‘women in robotics you need to know about’. She is author of the book Healthcare Robots: Ethics, Design, and Implementation and has been awarded an NWOpersonal research grant to study how we can responsibly design service robots. She has been interviewed by BBC, Quartz, Financial Times, and other International news media on the topic of ethics and robots, and is often invited to speak at International conferences and summits.

Viola, Roberto

Director General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT)

Roberto Viola is Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission. He was the Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT, European Commission from 2012 to 2015. Roberto Viola served as Chairman of the European Radio Spectrum Policy group (RSPG) from 2012 to 2013, as Deputy Chairman in 2011 and Chairman in 2010. He was a member of the BEREC Board (Body of European Telecom Regulators), and Chairman of the European Regulatory Group (ERG) in 2007. He held the position of Secretary General in charge of managing AGCOM, from 2005 to 2012. Prior to this, he served as Director of Regulation Department and Technical Director in AGCOM from 1999 to 2004. From 1985-1999 he served in various positions including as Head of Telecommunication and Broadcasting Satellite Services at the European Space Agency (ESA). Roberto Viola holds a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

van Nistelrooij, Lambert

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Citroën, Philippe

Director General, UNIFE - The European Rail Industry

Philippe Citroën joined UNIFE in 2011 as Director General. He began his career as Transport Advisor at the French Permanent Representation to the EU and then became Member of the Cabinet of the French Transport Minister. In 1993 he became Manager and Chief of Staff at RATP Paris, and joined the SNCF as Strategy Director in 1999. Prior to assuming his position at UNIFE, he served for 8 years as CEO of Systra, one of the world’s leading public transport engineering companies. P. Citroën is a graduate of Paris II University in Public Law, holds a Diploma from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and also studied at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), where he also lectured about Rail and Urban Transport.

Cré, Ivo

POLIS Network, Poland

Ivo is involved in Polis’ policy coordination and activities of EU project development. He leads Polis' thematic pillar Access and coordinates the Polis working groups on parking and Access. He is currently working on the European Projects Future Radar, CIVITAS SATELLITE, PARK4SUMP and SUNRISE. Ivo has extensive experience in city networks and policy in the field of mobility.

Demski, Patryk

LOTOS Group, Poland

Mr Demski has held the position of Vice President of the Management Board of Grupa LOTOS S.A. of the 10th term since May 22nd 2018 as a Chief Investment and Innovation Officer. Mr Demski is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In 2014 - 2018 he served as Mayor of the Pelplin Municipality. Member of the council of the Polish Tourist Organisation since 2018, and member of the Supervisory Board of the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdańsk since 2017. From 2006 to 2014, Mr Demski was Deputy Branch Manager, acting Deputy Branch Manager, and Chief Specialist at the Gdańsk field branch of the Agricultural Property Agency. In 2011-2014, he served on the Supervisory Board of Zakład Gospodarki Mieszkaniowej Sp. z o.o. in Tczew. In 2006, Mr Demski was Deputy Director of the Pomeranian Governor's Office in Gdańsk.

Dr.-Ing. Neugebauer, Stephan

Director Global Research Cooperation, BMW Group and Chairman of European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC)

Stephan Neugebauer is Director Global Research Cooperation at BMW Group and Chairman of European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) since 2015. He completed his university studies in mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. He was a scholarship holder of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation. After this, while being research assistant at the “Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Vehicles”, he completed his doctorate by obtaining the title of Dr.-Ing.. Stephan Neugebauer started at BMW in the diesel engine development department in Steyr (Austria). In 1998, he returned to Munich in different functions in the development of BMW Gasoline Engines. In 2005, he was transferred to the total vehicle development, taking over a new function as Head of the Energy Management Department and later as Head of the Thermal Management Department. From 2012 to 2015, Stephan Neugebauer was Head of Vehicle Project, current BMW 3 series and 4 series.

Granger, Richard

President, European Office, Technology Partners Foundation Consulting

Richard Granger is president of the Brussels office of Technology Partners, the association of Poland’s leading applied R&D institutes, and an independent consultant with 40 years’ experience in managing research, development and innovation. He directed the recent SINTRAS project, advising the European Commission on future transport policy. His chief interests include technology strategy; the management and commercial exploitation of R&D; and the organisational and cultural issues involved in technology transfer and in stimulating innovation. He has worked in these areas worldwide, for leading corporations in many industries and for public sector bodies. He also teaches technology and innovation management on MBA, MSc and executive programmes at several business schools.

Prof. Szynkarczyk, Piotr

Director, Industrial Research Institute for Automation & Measurements (PIAP), Poland

Ph.D. Eng. Piotr Szynkarczyk, prof. PIAP – director of Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements PIAP (Poland). Directs nearly 300 people in research and development in the field of automation and robotics, conducts analytical and expert work in the fields of automation and robotics. Expert in the fields of unmanned ground systems for special purposes, including civil and military operations. Prof. PIAP (2012), Lodz University Faculty of Administration – postgraduate studies on commercialization of innovations and new technologies (on license from IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, USA, 2010), Ph.D. - Military University of Technology (2000), graduated from Warsaw University of Technology (automatics & robotics, 1992). Expert, member of Committee on Automatic Control and Robotics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Council of Polish Research Institutes, International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction

Śliwowski, Dariusz

Vice-President of the Management Board of the Industrial Development Agency (ARP)

Dariusz Śliwowski graduated from the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology Faculty of Computer Science and Management. Throughout his professional career he has dealt with computer science and software projects for the banking sector, public administration and business. He has held management positions in international IT and consulting companies. He has participated in IT projects implemented in Poland and abroad. A member of the ARP S.A. Management Board since December 2016.

Virkkunen, Henna

Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Henna Virkkunen is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. She advocates the Digital Single Market and European Energy Union. She is working with files on Horizon Europe, online platforms, and Connecting Europe Facility. Virkkunen has worked as a rapporteur on blockchain technologies. Virkkunen promotes an innovation-friendly Europe. She is a keen advocate of education and skills as these equip European people for future trends such as digitalisation. She has served several ministerial posts in Finland as a Minister of Education and Science, Minister of Public Administration and Local Governance and Minister of Transport. Virkkunen is a licentiate of Philosophy.

Volkery, Axel

Policy Officer - DG MOVE B4 – Sustainable and intelligent transport, European Commission

Axel works in the "Sustainable and Intelligent Transport" unit of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, where he coordinates work on clean transport. He is also the responsible policy officer for the Clean Vehicles Directive and is involved in setting up a European Clean Buses deployment Initiative.

Buzek, Jerzy

Member of the European Parliament

Polish politician and university professor, Jerzy Buzek is a former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Parliament. A member of the European Parliament since 2004, he currently chairs European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). He is the chairman of the European Energy Forum, a platform for discussion between European energy stakeholders and policymakers. Presently, he lead's EP's work on Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation, being formerly responsible for, inter alia, the Security of Gas Supply legislation, the EU Internal Energy Market, European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) and the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research. In 2010, together with Jacques Delors, he proposed the creation of a “European Energy Community”, a strategy to strengthen energy legislation and cooperation within and outside the EU which laid foundations for EU's Energy Union. He has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities and is an honorary citizen of more than a dozen cities in Poland.

Hijmans, Hielke

Expert on EU law, the GDPR and governance of privacy

I work from Brussels as independent legal advisor and researcher in the domains of fundamental rights, EU law, privacy and data protection. My current focus is on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in all its aspects. I was closely involved in the legislative process and am now working in various national, EU and global contexts on its implementation. I have special interest in the interaction between national and EU jurisdictions and in the roles of supervisory authorities. Another key domain is ethics and accountability. In my practice, not only substance and legal quality, but also communicative and organisational aspects play an essential role.

Leijten, Jos

Senior Policy Advisor JIIP

Now working as an advisor at JIIP, Dr. Jos Leijten was programme manager Strategies for Industrial Innovation in TNO (Netherlands). He built JIIP as an initiative of TNO, VTT, Joanneum Research and Tecnalia. Earlier he held management positions in innovation policy research in TNO and was Visiting Scientist at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Seville. He studied geography and urban and regional planning at the Radboud University of Nijmegen (1975) and received his PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam in 1991 for a thesis on technology assessment and technology policy. He has been a member of several EU expert groups.

Pilat, Dirk

Deputy Direcor, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation

Dirk Pilat, a Dutch national, is Deputy Director of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation. He helps oversee OECD’s work on science and technology, innovation, productivity and business dynamics, digital economy policy, consumer policy and industry policies. Dirk joined the OECD in February 1994 and has worked on many policy issues since then, including innovation, the role of digital technologies for economic growth, climate change and environmental innovation, labour markets, regulatory reform, global value chains, productivity and entrepreneurship, as well as health innovation. He is currently helping to coordinate the OECD's Going Digital project, which is a multidisciplinary, cross-cutting initiative that aims to help policymakers better understand the digital transformation that is taking place and help develop recommendations for pro-active policies to help drive growth and societal well-being. Dirk was responsible for the OECD’s Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy from 2006 to January 2009, and for the Committee on Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from February 2009 to December 2012. Before joining the OECD, he was a researcher at the University of Groningen, where he also earned his PhD in Economics, working primarily on productivity and economic growth.

Polt, Wolfgang

Head of the Centre of Economic and Innovation Research - POLICIES, Joanneum Research Ltd.

Wolfgang Polt is Head of the Institute of Economic and Innovation Research – POLICIES of JOANNEUM RESEARCH Ltd. and authorized representative of this organisation, which is one of the major public research organisations in Austria. He is an economist and has long experience in innovation research and policy studies in science, technology and innovation policy. The scope of the studies includes policy design, policy evaluation and policy implementation. He has carried out evaluations of programmes, policies and institutions for DG Research, DG Enterprise and DG Information Society of the European Commission, and for institutions in countries like Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland. He supported Ministries in Austria concerning EU policy alignment, joint programming and stakeholder process for EU FP9. As an expert, he has contributed to the recent country studies of the EU and the OECD on innovation policies in Estonia, Greece and Hungary. Most recently, he was the study director of a project analysing and comparing the research system of Germany.

Popper, Rafael

Principal Scientist in Foresight, Organizational Dynamics and Systemic Change, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Rafael Popper (PhD) is Principal Scientist in Business, Innovation and Foresight at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Dr Popper is also Director of Executive Education in ‘Foresight and Sustainable Futures’ and Honorary Research Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) of the University of Manchester in the UK. In 2018 Dr Popper was also appointed Professor of Foresight and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Governance at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia. In addition, Dr Popper has over twenty years of experience working as consultant in the areas of foresight, horizon scanning, sustainable development and innovation policy for several international organizations, including the European Commission, ECLAC, UNIDO, UNDP, World Bank, United Nations Economic and Social Council, UN-REDD Programme, Andean Community of Nations (CAN), as well as for several government and business organisations in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

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.

van der Zee, Frans

Senior Strategist, TNO and JIIP

Senior Strategist specialised in the economics of innovation and innovation policy analysis and advice, with a strong and broad background in economics and public policy and over 25 years of experience in European project research and consultancy. Employed by TNO, the principal Dutch Research and Technology Organisation, and JIIP, the Joint Institute for Innovation Policy, Brussels. Former co-director of SEOR, a consultancy of the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Erasmus University Rotterdam, senior consultant at ECORYS and former professor of public economics and finance at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Wageningen University. Van der Zee has excellent editorial and writing skills and a strong track record as a team and project manager in various international projects, ranging from policy evaluations and impact assessments, sector policy studies, feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses to innovation and competitiveness analyses; future/foresight and scenario studies. Recent project topics and themes include: fast growing enterprises; robotisation, automation and the future of skills and jobs; open innovation and eco-system development; clusters, regional development and smart specialisation; Smart Industry/Industrie 4.0; 3D printing; Key Enabling Technologies (KETs); integrated miniaturized systems; ICT-innovation systems. Van der Zee holds an MSc in Development and Agricultural Economics (1989, cum laude), a PhD in Economics, and a PhD-graduate diploma of the Netherlands Network for Quantitative Economics (NAKE, 1990).

Vonortas, Nicholas

Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

Nick Vonortas is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at The George Washington University (GW) in Washington D.C. Professor Vonortas is editor of the peer-reviewed journal Science and Public Policy. Professor Vonortas concurrently holds a ‘São Paulo Excellence Chair’ in Technology and Innovation Policy at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), State of São Paulo, Brazil. He also serves as a member of the Innovation Policy Forum of the US National Academies of Science. Professor Vonortas’ teaching and research interests are in industrial organization, in the economics of technological change, and in technology and innovation policy and strategy.

Bogovič, Franc

Member of the European Parliament

Born on 2nd February 1963 in Koprivnica, Slovenia, Franc Bogovič graduated from the Agronomy College in 1984 and became an Agricultural Engineer. His professional career constitutes of several different posts, such as agricultural extension expert, agricultural trade entrepreneur, Mayor of Krško Municipality, member of Slovenian National Assembly and Minister of Agriculture and Environment. On 2 March 2013, Bogovič was elected President of the Slovene People’s Party, the position he held until 6th December 2014. Bogovič is currently serving his second term as a Member of the European Parliament, where he is engaged in topics related to agriculture, rural and regional development, cohesion policy, as well as environment and energy. Bogovič is also leading the Smart Villages initiative in the European Parliament. With ensuring EU funding of pilot projects and preparatory actions on Smart villages in the last few years, Bogovič is working closely with the European Commission so that Smart Villages are going to become a significant part of the future EU regional and rural development policy.

de Maré, Carl

VP Technology Strategy, ArcelorMittal

Carl De Maré is a civil engineer with a Master Specialization in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from Ghent University. He joined ArcelorMittal in 1988, and has been active in different areas, such as IT Developments, Research Centre for Steel Applications, as well as Quality Responsible for the Finishing Area. Between 2002 and 2006, De Maré was General Manager of the Steel Plant Department of ArcelorMittal in Ghent. After which, he then moved to the segment level of ArcelorMittal, first as Continuous Improvement Responsible for Flat Europe, and in May 2008 was nominated as Vice-President of ArcelorMittal, as CTO of Flat Carbon Europe, being responsible for technology, strategy, innovation and continuous improvement. In 2014, De Maré became Vice-President of ArcelorMittal, as Head of Technology Strategy. In this function he has been responsible for the global programme on Low Impact Steel Technologies. And as of 2017, he also became Chairman of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), which represents European steel stakeholders.

Gauthier, Daniel

Chairman, A.SPIRE

Daniel Gauthier serves as a President of CBR SA, European Cement Research Association and ISF (Ingénieurs sans Frontières). He is a Strategic Advisor to the Chairman of Heidelberg Cement. He serves as a Member of the Management Board at Carmeuse Holding S.A., Genlis-Metal and Adial, Miema, Laserco and the University of Mons and as a Member of the Global Advisory Group of Birdlife International. Mr. Gauthier has more than 30 years’ experience in various operational positions in the cement sector. He received his graduate degree in Civil Engineer Mining from the Mons University, a graduate degree in Management from the UCL and a graduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Liège.

Mc Nerney, Oonagh

Director, IRIS

OONAGH MC NERNEY is the co-founder and Director of IRIS, an advanced engineering company established in 2007 specialised in photonics and ICT-based process monitoring solutions for Smart Manufacturing. IRIS employs 70 engineers and scientists and has sites in Barcelona and Dublin. Oonagh graduated from the University of Stirling (Scotland) with a Degree in Business in 1992, and from 1993 until setting up her own businesses she worked in the innovation eco-system in Barcelona with industry, universities and technology institutes, as well as Business Development Agencies in the areas of technology transfer, innovation, business development and industry foreign direct investment with Malta Enterprise. A digital enthusiast, she is passionate about the power and opportunities of digital technology for driving smart manufacturing, as well as smart working.