MORE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED EVERY WEEK
Brando Benifei
MEP, Member and AI Act co-rapporteur, European Parliament
Brando Benifei
MEP, Member and AI Act co-rapporteur, European Parliament
Brando Benifei is an Italian MEP serving his second term and is the Head of Delegation of Partito Democratico in the European parliament. He is Rapporteur for the Artificial Intelligence Act, as a Member of the Committee for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He also works on Employment, Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He was also shadow Rapporteur of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age. In 2016 he was included by Forbes in its 30 under 30 to watch list
Prof Pasquale Stanzione
President, Italian Data Protection Authority
Prof Pasquale Stanzione
President, Italian Data Protection Authority
Pasquale Stanzione has been the President of Garante, the Italian Data Protection Authority, since 2020.
After graduating in Law (cum laude) in 1968 at ‘Federico II’ University of Naples, Italy, Prof. Stanzione held the position of private law full Professor at the University of Salerno for more than 40 years, where he also was the dean of the Law faculty and chaired the Civil Law Department and the Institute for Civil and Economic Relationships as well as the PhD program in “personal rights under a comparative perspective” .
As a lawyer, he was admitted to practise before the Italian Court of Cassation and was appointed as a member of the Chairing Board of Administrative Judges. He is a member of the Société de législation comparée.
Prof. Stanzione has authored over 200 books and scientific papers and has coordinated several research projects in Italy and abroad; he contributes regularly to leading scientific journals.
In 2021, he was awarded the ‘Knight Grand Cross’, Italy’s highest honour, by the President of the Italian Republic.
Irakli Khodeli
Head of Ethics of AI Unit, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO
Irakli Khodeli
Head of Ethics of AI Unit, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO
Irakli Khodeli has been with UNESCO since 2006. As part of Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology team at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, he has been facilitating global ethical reflection on emerging technologies, and supporting international standard-setting to safeguard human rights from the associated risks. He has also led the development of capacity-building initiatives to help countries translate global normative instruments into national policies and action.
From 2015 to 2020, he headed the Social and Human Sciences Unit of UNESCO’s Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in Jakarta, working with the governments and the civil society in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Timor-Leste.
Since 2020, he has rejoined UNESCO Headquarters to support the elaboration, adoption and implementation of the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. He is now leading the Ethics of AI team to assist countries around the world in the implementation of the Recommendation.
Adv Collen Weapond
Commissioner, Information Regulator (South Africa)
Adv Collen Weapond
Commissioner, Information Regulator (South Africa)
Johannes Collen Weapond is an admitted Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. His areas of specialization include information technology, risk management, forensic investigation, compliance management, business management as well as law with a specialization in the law of contracts. Amongst other Johannes hold the following qualifications, a B. Iuris, LLB (UNISA), B.Com (Honours IT) (UCT), B. Tech in Policing (TUT), Diploma in Education III (RCE), Diploma in Compliance Management (UJ), Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Forensics (Coursework) (UCT), Certificate in Fraud Examination (Cum Laude) (UP), Certificate in Policing (TUT), Masters in Business Systems (Coursework Completed).
Johannes is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee of the Office of the Premier in the Eastern Cape and Chairperson of the Risk Management Committee of the Department of Telecommunication and Postal Services. He also serves as a member of the Audit Committee of the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, the Limpopo Provincial Audit Committee, Freestate Provincial Audit Committee, Wholesale and Retail SETA, Freestate Department of Education. He is also a member of the Council of the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) and the Chairperson of the Strategy Subcommittee. He was appointed as the Independent Expert for Legal and ICT at the Quality Council for Trade and Occupation (QCTO).
Furthermore, Johannes served as a Non-Executive Director (Member of the Board) of the National Lotteries Commission and as the Chairperson of Risk Management Committee, Legal, Request for Proposal Subcommittee and Ad hoc Legal Subcommittees of the Board. He also served as a member of the Cybersecurity Advisory Council of South Africa, a member of the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) and a member of the Appeals Committee of Council. Lastly, Johannes also served as a Non-Executive Director and Coordinator of the Audit Function at Brakpan Bus Company (BBC), member of the Audit Committee of the National Department of Human Settlements, member of Council of the Forestry Advisory Council, member of Council of the Heraldry Council.
Liviu Stirbat
Head of Industry 5.0 & AI in Science, DG for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Liviu Stirbat
Head of Industry 5.0 & AI in Science, DG for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Liviu ȘTIRBĂȚ, is the Head of Industry 5.0 & AI in Science at the DG for Research and Innovation in the European Commission. He was previously a member of cabinet for Commission Executive VP Vestager in charge of innovation, space, and sustainability. He was Deputy Head of EU Adaptation to Climate Change, and Deputy Head of better regulation for research (including Horizon Europe). Prior to the European Commission, he worked for the OECD and the World Bank. He holds degrees in astrophysics and economics from Harvard, Leiden, and the Paris School of Economics.
Cian O’Brien
Data Protection Commissioner, Data Protection Commission – Ireland
Cian O’Brien
Data Protection Commissioner, Data Protection Commission – Ireland
Cian O'Brien was appointed Deputy Commissioner in May 2022, in a role that centres on all large-scale Data Protection Commission inquiries and investigations. Since joining the organisation in 2019, Cian’s roles in the DPC have included Legal Researcher and Senior Regulatory Lawyer. During this time, he was responsible for providing legal advice and assistance on large scale inquiries and investigations concerning both cross-border and domestic matters. Cian also acted as an advisor to the Inquiries Committee and oversaw and implemented the DPC’s process for confirming administrative fines in Court, as provided for in the Data Protection Act 2018. He graduated from University College Dublin and the Kings Inns Dublin. Cian was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2014. He practised law as a Barrister and tutored European Union law before joining the Data Protection Commission.
Kate Jones
CEO, Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum – UK
Kate Jones
CEO, Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum – UK
Kate Jones has been Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) since May 2023.
Kate’s knowledge of digital regulation stems from her immediate background as an expert consultant and researcher on the governance of emerging technologies, with particular regard to human rights law, public international law and diplomacy. In this field, her roles included Associate Fellow with the International Law Programme at Chatham House, Senior Associate with Oxford Information Labs, and membership of the advisory board of an AI ethics company. She has published and spoken widely on aspects of national and international tech governance, with specialisms in artificial intelligence, disinformation and foreign interference, and the role of technical standards.
In her work, Kate brings to bear her many years of experience as a legal adviser and diplomat with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including as Legal Adviser to the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. She also draws on her experience of leadership, skills and technical expertise gained as Director of Oxford University’s Diplomatic Studies Programme and as Course Director and Advisory Board member of the Centre for Political and Diplomatic Studies. Kate took her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law at the University of Oxford and qualified as a UK solicitor at Norton Rose.
Henri-Olivier Fliche
Director of Fintech & Innovation, ACPR
Henri-Olivier Fliche
Director of Fintech & Innovation, ACPR
Olivier Fliche is the Director of Fintech & Innovation at the ACPR, the French banking and insurance supervisory authority. He is in charge of the Fintech-Innovation Hub, which is the gateway for financial innovative project holders in the banking and insurance sectors, and coordinates with the Banque de France –the French central bank– and the French financial market supervisory authority (AMF). Together with the AMF, the Fintech-Innovation Hub steers the Fintech Forum, the body for consultation and dialogue with the French FinTech industry. Olivier Fliche is also responsible for the suptech mission of the ACPR, which aims at building on innovative technologies to improve the tools used for supervisory purposes.
Olivier Fliche started his career at the French Finance Ministry. After a secondment to the European Commission to help start the Solvency II project, he joined the supervisory authority where he held positions of Director of prudential insurance supervision and later of Director of business conduct supervision. Olivier Fliche holds a degree of the École Polytechnique and a degree of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. He is also a qualified actuary (Institut des Actuaires).
Mattias Levin
Head of Digital Finance Unit, DG FISMA, European Commission
Mattias Levin
Head of Digital Finance Unit, DG FISMA, European Commission
Mattias Levin is the acting head of unit of the Digital Finance unit of the European Commission’s Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union DG ("FISMA"). At FISMA, he has previously worked on regulation related to banks, investment firms, conglomerates and financial market infrastructures. Before joining DG FISMA, he was a member of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA), a think tank attached to the President of the European Commission. Prior to joining the Commission, Mattias was a Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). Mattias studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Lund University and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Strasbourg.