Annual Europe Digital Communications and Media Forum 2026

Adam Ingle is the Global Lead for Digital Policy at the LEGO Group, where he helps LEGO maintain high standards of safety, privacy and security in their digital products and advocates for policy that empowers children online. Previously, Adam led the ICO’s Emerging Technology Unit, where his team assessed the data protection impact of emerging technologies like AI, immersive worlds, blockchain and advised both industry and government on how to mitigate privacy risks. Before moving to the UK, Adam was an Assistant Director within Australia’s Department of Home Affairs. His responsibilities included reforming the investigative powers of Australia’s security and intelligence agencies to adapt to present and emerging communications technology and helping form national approaches to ethical AI, content moderation and social media governance.

Aedín Conboy is a Senior Public Policy and Government Relations Manager in the TikTok Brussels Government Relations team, where she has worked for over four years. Within the team, she is responsible for AI, copyright and audiovisual policy.
Prior to joining TikTok, Aedín was a Senior Policy Officer at DOT Europe (formerly EDiMA), a Brussels-based technology trade association, where she led the association’s work on the EU Copyright Directive, the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).

Aedín holds a degree in Law and French from University College Cork and an LL.M. in European Law from the University of Edinburgh.

Bio coming soon …..

Alejandra de Iturriaga Gandini holds the position of Director of the Telecommunications and Audiovisual Sector at Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) since 2013. Alejandra has an extensive career in the telecommunications sector with nearly 30 years of experience. Previously, she held the position of Director of Regulation at the former telecommunications market Commission CMT, since 1998.

Prior to join de Spanish telecom regulator, she worked as a lawyer specializing in public law and telecommunications at the consulting firm Price Waterhouse Cooper. Ms. de Iturriaga is responsible for managing, supervising and coordinating the CNMC activity on electronic communications and audiovisual services. Her functions in the electronic communications sector involve the analysis of electronic communications markets, reference offers, conflict resolution between operators, sanctioning procedures, and consultancy activity, amongst others.

Likewise, she has been BEREC Vice Chair, and also of the IRG Board in 2017, 2021 and 2025. This year 2026 she is Incoming Berec Chair 2027. Additionally, she takes part in the relevant international fora and maintains active collaboration with key stakeholders, both public and private.

Bio coming soon…

Amma Asante, born in Ghana and raised in the Netherlands, holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and has built a distinguished career spanning over 25 years in public service. She has held a range of influential positions, including Chair of the National Client Council for Social Security, Senior Researcher at Movisie, Member of the Amsterdam Municipal Council, Member of the National Board of the Dutch Social Democratic Party (PvdA), and Member of the Dutch Parliament. She currently serves as Chair of the Dutch Regulatory Body for Audiovisual Media through a ministerial appointment and as Vice Chair of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services.

Andrea Muñoz Gómez graduate of the University of Cauca, Andrea holds a Master’s in Administrative Law from the University of Rosario and is specialized in Business Law and Telecommunications Law from Externado University of Colombia. She has completed programs in Senior Management in Negotiation at the University of Los Andes and in Comprehensive Regulatory Impact Analysis at the University of Florida.

With 28 years of experience, of which 25 have been in the ICT sector with a focus on regulation, Ms Muñoz Gómez has held various managerial positions and has consulted in the areas of television and public utility services, specializing in the application of efficient regulatory methodologies. She currently teaches in the Master’s program in State Law with an emphasis on Regulation and Management of Telecommunications and ICT, as well as in the Master’s program in Economic Law at Externado University of Colombia.

Ania Helseth is a Strategic Policy Manager for EU Affairs at Meta, based in Brussels. Since joining Meta in May 2016, Ania has played a key role in the EU Affairs Team, focusing on strategic policy engagement with European institutions and stakeholders. Her work centers on digital regulation, public policy strategy, and supporting Meta’s advocacy efforts across the European Union. Ania is recognized for her expertise in navigating complex regulatory environments and fostering constructive dialogue on digital policy issues.

Prior to that, she worked at various trade associations, including American Chamber of Commerce the EU, and served as a Telecom Attache at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU. She started her career in Brussels as an MEP advisor in the 2004-2009 legislature. She holds a law degree from Oxford University.

Audrius Perkauskas is deputy head of unit “Audiovisual and Media Services Policy” at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT). During his 20 years at the Commission and DG Connect, Audrius Perkauskas has acquired the experience of policy-making and regulation in several areas related to digital economy and society and/or media: telecoms, data economy, copyright, audiovisual regulation, media freedom and pluralism, media literacy. Before joining the European Commission, Audrius Perkauskas worked as a lawyer, lecturer at Vilnius University and advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania. Audrius Perkauskas studied law at Vilnius University (LLM, PhD) and the University of Cambridge (LLM).

Ben Wreschner joined Vodafone in February 2011 and is the Group Regulatory Policy Director for the Vodafone Group. Prior to joining Vodafone Mr Wreschner qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999 and then joined the PwC telecoms consulting practice. In 2009 Ben joined Ovum’s regulatory consulting practice. Mr Wreschner is an expert in regulatory strategy, market analysis, regulated pricing, cost modelling and regulatory accounting overseeing Vodafone’s work in this field across all its territories and having previously advised operators and regulators on such matters in over 25 different countries. He has worked extensively in the Brussels policy environment representing Vodafone at key meetings with policy makers (European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, BEREC) and industry bodies (GSMA, ECTA).

Mr Wreschner passed the Certified Financial Analyst exams (CFA) in 2003. He holds a BSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics.

Bernardo Herman is Executive Board Member of the BIPT – the Belgian regulator for postal services and telecommunication – where he is responsible for departments related to network security, device control, postal services and IT.

Before joining the BIPT, Mr Herman has been holding various legal, regulatory and management positions for over 20 years in the electronic communications and audio-visual sectors in several private and public organisations such as the mobile operator KPN-Orange/Base Company, the European trade association ETNO and the CSA, which is a Belgian regulator for audio-visual matters.
In his last positions at the CSA, he was Director General and then Director of European Affairs.

Mr Herman holds a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Saint-Louis in Brussels and a master’s degree in law from the University of Louvain-La-Neuve

Charlotte has a broad range of experience in the field of digital safeguarding – for 10 years she led Becta’s advice and support to Government, local authorities and schools on keeping children safe online. She also worked with Dr Tanya Byron on her review of Safer Children in a Digital World – leading the implementation and co-ordination of the education recommendations in the Review as part of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS).

In April 2010, Charlotte became Director of Practice at the children’s charity ”“ Beatbullying, where she was responsible for the innovative Cybermentors programme, a peer to peer online support service for children and young people.  In 2011, Charlotte was seconded to NCA CEOP where she conducted a review of CEOP’s educational programmes and made recommendations to CEOP’s board on the future direction of the Thinkuknow programme which has been delivered to thousands of professionals across the country.

In 2013 Charlotte started her own consultancy ”“ Charlotte Aynsley Consultants ”“ Rethinking Safeguarding and she has worked on several high profile programmes and initiatives including the NSPCC’s Share Aware campaign, The It Starts With you online safety campaign from Walt Disney/Club Penguin, Parent Zone’s Parenting in the Digital Age programme, the Keeping Children Safe online safety guide and the Sexting in schools ”“ what to do and how to handle it document.

She has spoken about digital safeguarding at several key national and international events including the UN and supported local authorities, the police, children’s organisations and international NGO’s in educating professionals, parents, children and young people on all things online safety related.

In 2016 Charlotte worked with UKCCIS and NCA CEOP authoring national advice on responding to incidents of sexting ”“ Sexting in schools and colleges: Responding to incidents and safeguarding young people.  Since the advice has been published she has delivered training to over 500 professionals supporting them in planning their response to incidents of sexting.

More recently Charlotte has been working with several high profile organisations including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), NCA ”“ CEOP, the Princes Trust, Girlguiding, The Mayor of London and the NSPCC to develop leading edge safer platforms and advice and resources for professionals working with children to keep them safer online.

Chris Gow is Senior Director for EU Public Policy and Head of the Brussels Office for Cisco’s Government Affairs team, responsible for engagements with the EU institutions. 

Having joined Cisco in 2008, he oversees all of Cisco’s EU public policy positions and advocacy. He is currently deeply engaged in security, digital sovereignty, cloud, AI and data issues in region and globally. Chris has held multiple industry leadership roles. He is currently a Member of the Board of the European Internet Forum (EIF) and has previously served on the Executive Board of DIGITALEUROPE and as the Chair of DIGITALEUROPE’s Privacy and Security Group.   

Prior to Cisco, he was responsible for campaign strategies and digital economy policy work at EICTA (now DIGITALEUROPE). He has been in Brussels since 2003, initially as an Assistant to a Member of the European Parliament, working on internal market and legal affairs issues. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.  

Claudia is responsible for advancing AT&T’s international policy and regulatory priorities in countries outside the United States. In her role, she leads a team that advocates before international departments of the US government, and all branches of government outside the US, including executive, legislative and regulatory agencies, for AT&T and its affiliates. Claudia‘s group responsibilities include complying with obligations stemming from the maintenance of 94 regulatory licenses, supporting and guiding the business through various local regulations, advocacy on policy matters that promote investment, innovation, business transformation in support of AT&T’s international portfolio.

Based in Brussels, Claudia serves in Brussels Associations and Think tanks, including current role as Member of the Board of AMCHAM EU, and past roles as Chair of the Board of the European Internet Foundation (EIF), Member of the Board and Chair of the Digital Economy Committee as well as of the Trans-Atlantic Task Force in AMCHAM EU, Chair of the Business Constituency within ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

Prior to joining AT&T, Claudia worked at the European Commission, DG Information Society and in the European Parliament.

Dan Sjöblom is the Director General of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) and was appointed by the Swedish Government on 1 February 2017.

He served as Chairperson of BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication) in 2020, having served as a vice-chair in 2019.

Prior to taking up his position, Mr Sjöblom was the Director General for the Swedish Competition Authority for eight years, between 2009 and 2017.

He is also board member of the Swedish Broadband Council.

Mr Sjöblom has served as a civil servant at the European Commission between 1996 and 2009. He holds a Master of Laws from Stockholm University.

David is the Director of EU Affairs at Verizon, where he leads the company’s advocacy strategy on EU digital policy. Throughout his 30 years of experience in the ICT sector, David has held various leadership positions bridging the gap between complex technical infrastructure and policy & regulatory frameworks. His experience at Verizon spans from leading international operational teams and developing advanced network solutions to his current role navigating EU policy. A self-described “tech-savvy early adopter” with a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from KU Leuven, David is uniquely positioned to harmonize technical realities with global policy frameworks.

David Mekkaoui is the CEO of All Digital, leading efforts to expand digital inclusion and education across Europe, with over 2.5 million citizens trained last year.

An Oxford graduate with expertise in governance and entrepreneurship, David began his career at The Wall Street Journal Europe and helped launch Expedia in Europe. With a track record of scaling impact-driven organisations, David led Euractiv’s growth for over seven years. He is also serving on the boards of Europe MédiaLab and Alliance Française, strengthening media and education so that more Europeans can access digital skills and participate fully in society.

Since November 2025, Despina Spanou is the Deputy Director-General in charge of the Directorate for Cybersecurity and Trust in the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission.

She was previously the Head of the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas (2019-2024). In this capacity she coordinated the Vice-President’s work on security, migration and asylum, health, skills, education, culture and sports. She also coordinated the Vice-President’s EU Security Union work, ranging from counterterrorism, organised crime and cybersecurity to hybrid threats.

Prior to that, she was Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity at the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Communications Network, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission. Ms. Spanou was responsible for the European Union’s cybersecurity policy and law, served as a member of the management board of ENISA, and of the Steering Board of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU

Institutions (CERT-EU). She is a founding member of the Women4Cyber initiative and advocate for the need for more cybersecurity experts in Europe. She also teaches EU Cybersecurity policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

In her 20 years in the European Commission, Ms Spanou has held a number of senior management positions in the areas of Health and Consumer Policy and served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioners Kyprianou and Vassiliou. Before joining the European Commission, she practised

EU competition and trade law with a US law firm for a number of years. Despina Spanou is a member of the Athens Bar Association and holds a Ph.D. in European law from the University of Cambridge.

Feyo is a Principal Regulatory Counsel to Bird & Bird’s Regulatory & Public Affairs practice in the Netherlands and Brussels with a focus on tech and comms and digital markets regulation, drawing on in-depth business knowledge and extensive experience in TMT and public administration.

Feyo co-leads Bird & Bird’s European Cybersecurity Steering Group and is a member of the AI strategy team. He focuses on telecoms regulation, cybersecurity, data regulations and artificial intelligence. He assists international businesses with advocacy in Brussels and leads large multijurisdictional regulatory compliance and implementation projects.

Feyo is chairman of the NLconnect Groep Graafrechten (Rights of Way Association), representing ten national telecoms operators in the Netherlands. He is also chairman of the NLconnect Groep Digitale Diensten (Group Digital Services) consisting of the four main telecoms operators in consumer markets.

He is a frequent speaker at industry trainings, workshops and international conferences.

Bio coming soon…

Giacomo Lasorella is, since October 2, 2020, President of Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), the independent Italian regulatory Authority in charge of electronic communications, media and postal services, recently designated as Digital Services Coordinator pursuant to the DSA regulation.

Mr Lasorella has served as Chairman for 2023 of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual media services – ERGA, and he has been reappointed for 2024.

Lawyer and expert in legislation and in parliamentary procedure, he has been Deputy Secretary General of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and he has held for many years the responsibility to assist the President and the vice Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies in conducting the work of the Assembly.

In his long career as parliamentary officer (to which he was appointed after an official public contest), he was also Secretary of the Communication Parliamentary Commission and responsible of the staff to the Parliamentary Commission on radio and television services.

He is a contract Professor of parliamentary law at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, and he is author of many publications on parliamentary and constitutional law published in relevant academic
journals.

Bio coming soon…

Isolde Goggin has over twenty years experience working at the highest level in telecommunications regulation, competition policy and consumer protection. She was chairperson of Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission from 2014 to 2021 and, prior to that, chaired one of its predecessor bodies, the Competition Authority, from 2011 to 2014. She was a commissioner of ComReg, the Irish Commission for Communications Regulation, from 2002 to 2006, and chairperson from 2004 to 2006. From 1996 to 2002 she was a member of the Competition Authority.

Isolde’s involvement in the telecommunications sector dates back to 1980 when, after qualifying with an engineering degree from Trinity College, Dublin, she joined the incumbent telecommunications operator. She completed a masters in business administration at University College, Dublin, in 1988, and subsequently moved to an advisory role in the European Commission, working on satellite policy. She also worked for the Swedish telecommunications manufacturer Ericsson for several years.

Isolde has represented Ireland in many international fora, including the European and International Competition Networks, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, the EU’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group, the European Consumer Protection Co-operation Network and the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network. She has provided advice to government on spectrum policy, next generation networks, data protection and online safety.

Isolde is an honorary life member and fellow of Engineers Ireland, a chartered engineer and member of the IET. She is also a member of the board of Trinity College, Dublin, and of the Central Bank of Ireland’s consumer advisory group. Reflecting a lifelong interest in the classics, she gained a BA in the subject from the Open University in 2021, and a masters from Trinity College Dublin in 2023. She is also a keen open water swimmer and last summer combined the two interests by participating in the 6.5 km Bosphorus Cross-Continental Race in Istanbul.

Jeremy Godfrey is the Executive Chairperson of Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator and development agency. He took up this leadership role in March 2023, following the establishment of An Coimisiún under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022. Under Jeremy’s leadership, Coimisiún na Meán has grown to over 300 staff members and taken on and operationalised new responsibilities in areas such as online safety, video-on-demand regulation and media development and funding. Jeremy has played a critical role in shaping the growing organisation and its work.

Jeremy has held a series of influential positions in the public and private sectors, with over 30 years of regulatory, governmental, and industry experience in the communications, technology, and online sectors across Ireland, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.

Before joining Coimisiún na Meán, Jeremy served as Chairperson of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) from, where he led the organisation during a period of expanding enforcement powers under new competition and consumer rights legislation.

Prior to this, he spent eight years as a Commissioner and Chairperson of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), during which he also held roles as Chair and Vice‑Chair of BEREC, the EU body coordinating telecoms regulation.

Jeremy has been involved in regulatory developments such as the EU’s Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the Open Internet Regulation. As Hong Kong Government CIO, he had responsibility for the e-government programme and cloud computing strategy, as well as for Internet governance, digital inclusion and promoting online safety. As a consultant, he advised clients about online business strategies and on regulatory issues in the communications, energy, transportation and financial services sectors. While in the telecommunications industry he was involved in the launch of the world’s first commercial online video-on-demand service as well as in many regulatory issues.

Jeremy started his career as a civil servant in the UK government. He holds an MA from Cambridge University, where he studied mathematics. He has also completed further executive education, including programmes at Bond University and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dr Kamila Kloc joined the European Commission in December 2004.

As of July 2023 Kamila was nominated as the Director of Directorate B Digital Decade and Connectivity of Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) after acting in this position from February 2023. She held a position of the Head of Markets’ Unit in the same Directorate from 2019.

Previously she served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Vice President Ansip responsible for Digital Single Market. Prior to joining the Cabinet, she worked at Directorate General for Energy coordinating exemptions from regulatory access rules for gas pipelines. During the Polish Presidency in 2011, she was seconded by the Commission to the President’s office of the Polish Energy Regulatory Authority.

Earlier, she worked for 5 years at the Directorate General for Competition dealing with merger and antitrust cases.

Prior to joining the Commission, she was employed at the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection in Poland as Adviser to the President. Kamila Kloc started her professional career in academia and taught at the Warsaw School of Economics as Assistant Professor. She has written her PhD on the role of competition policy in the public utilities sector with a special emphasis on telecommunications. She was a Fulbright scholar at the University of California in Berkeley and a Chevening fellow at Oxford University.

Karen Massin leads Google’s Government Affairs & Public Policy team in Brussels. She drives the development and implementation of outreach strategies, and engages in various policy areas affecting the digital industry such as platform policies, AI, privacy, cybersecurity, content management, economic recovery, energy and sustainability. She is a board member of DOT Europe and ITI and part of the Executive Policy Advisory Committee of DigitalEurope. Previously, Karen was the CEO of a public affairs consultancy in Brussels and worked at the UN, the European Commission and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Karim Ibourki has been Chair of CSA (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel) since November 2017. He was Vice-Chair of the Media Board (European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services) for 2 years before being elected as Chair from 2021 to 2022 and he has been a Board Member since then. Mr. Ibourki holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He also obtained, from the same University, two Master’s of Science: one in Journalism and Communication and another one in Political Science. Before to join the CSA, he was Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of the Minister President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (2012-2015) and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Cabinet Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of the Minister President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (2007-2012).

Lynn Robinson became Director General of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), in March 2020.

Lynn is an experienced senior director and trustee / non exec-director, having held key senior leadership positions in the technology, built environment, regulation, accreditation and dental industries. She has extensive experience of professional membership bodies working within the full spectrum including, Regulatory bodies, Industry associations and Chambers of Commerce. Lynn is a well-known and established ambassador in these areas having led on many strategic programmes to aid engagement, growth, retention, change management, stakeholder and political engagement.

An active voice in European AI policy, Malte leads Amazon’s advocacy on the landmark EU AI Act and the growing body of emerging AI policies. With over 15 years of experience in tech policy, he operates at the critical intersection of industry and politics, balancing the imperatives of technological progress with the broader public interest. In this role, he represents the perspective of a global technology leader that not only develops cutting-edge AI models but also deploys AI at scale across Amazon’s diverse businesses, products, and services.

Mark D. Cole is Professor for Media and Telecommunication Law at the University of Luxembourg since 2007 and Director for academic Affairs at the Institute of European Media Law (EMR) in Saarbrücken since 2014. At the University of Luxembourg he is also Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) and Affiliate to the Institute of Digital
Ethics (ULIDE) as well as Study Programme Director for the Master in Space, Communication and Media Law and speaker for the Research Area in Technology Law at the Department of Law.

He is member of the Advisory Committee of the Luxembourg Independent Media Authority (Autorité luxembourgeoise indépendante de l’audiovisuel, ALIA), Co-Director of the Institute of Legal Informatics (Institut für Rechtsinformatik) at the Universität des Saarlandes and takes seat in the Advisory Committee of the European Audiovisual Observatory of the Council of Europe.

He is appointed (2026-27) to the Council’s Committee of Experts on Media Regulators in a Platform-Based Environment (MSI-eREG), and was previously (2020-21) in the Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform (MSI-REF) as well as one of eight experts to the Future Council (“Zukunftsrat”) for the German Public Service Broadcasting on behalf of the Länder Broadcasting Committee in 2023-24.

He specialises in European and Comparative Media Law, covering the whole range of the regulatory framework for both traditional mass media as well as the law of the new information technologies which includes data protection, intellectual property law, cyberlaw and AI law; he has a research focus on the EU AVMSD / Digital Single Market regulatory framework (www.medialaw.lu). He studied law and political science and holds a doctorate from the Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (2003) as well as both German State Examinations in Law (1998/2004). He gained practical experience in media law at the DG Competition of the European Commission, a law office specialising in Intellectual Property Law and the legal department of a television broadcaster. Before joining the University of Luxembourg he had positions at the Chair in Public Law, Public International and European Law, Media Law in Mainz, the Mainz
Media Institute, the TU Braunschweig; he continues to teach in an LL.M. programme in Media Law in Mainz.

Mark D. Cole is co-editor/-author of the publications “Medienstaatsvertrag/Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrag – Heidelberger Kommentar”, “Europäisches und Internationales Medienrecht” and annually of one edition of the IRIS Special of the European Audiovisual Observatory; he is co-founder and associate editor of EdpL (European Data Protection Law Review), UFITA (Archiv für Medienrecht und Medienwissenschaft) and AIRe (Journal of AI Law and Regulation), co-editor of Revue du Droit des Technologies de l’Information (R.D.T.I.) and International Journal of Law and Information Technology (IJLIT) as well as a number of book series.
Prof. Cole has published and guest lectured in many European countries and the U.S. and is a regular speaker at international  conferences, on subjects of Media, ICT and Data Protection Law as well as Public International Law and European Law and regularly contributes as expert to the work of public institutions on EU and national level.

Before joining the European Commission in 2010, Martin Harris Hess worked as a legal consultant to a major, internationally active telecommunications operator in London and as a senior legal adviser for the UK’s telecoms, media and broadcasting regulator, Ofcom.

During his time in the Commission, Mr Harris Hess has been advising on many matters linked with the Digital Single Market, both from a regulatory as well as a policy development side, including on telecommunications regulation, the digital transformation of Europe’s industry, the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Commission’s Digital and Data Strategies. Most recently, Mr Harris Hess joined the Commission’s Directorate in charge of implementing and enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA) where he leads the team on the protection of minors, one of the key enforcement priorities under the DSA.

Educated as a lawyer in Germany, Mr Harris Hess gained a Master Degree in EU law and European business regulation from the University of Oxford before starting his career in the media, digital and telecoms sectors.

Michel Van Bellinghen, Master of Laws (UCL), started off at the university in 1990 as a researcher, then became an assistant under the supervision of Professor Françoise Tulkens, at the UCL Laws Centre for Criminal Law.

Mr Van Bellinghen became an assistant advisor at the Ministry of Justice in 1992 under the supervision of Professor Marc Bossuyt and joined the BIPT in 1997. From 1999 to 2003 he held the position of expert at the private office of Rik Daems, who was the Federal Telecommunications Minister at the time, and afterwards took up the function of Assistant Head of the Private Office. From 2003 until 2009 he was nominated Member of the BIPT Council for the first time. Following this mandate he remained closely affiliated to the Council and supervised the legal department of the regulator during a number of years. He has written scientific publications.

In 2013 Mr Van Bellinghen held a position on the Council as a Member. In January 2017 he was assigned Chairman of the BIPT Council.

Mr Van Bellinghen served as Chair of BEREC in 2021.

Pablo Diez is Head of Regulation and Government Relations at COLT Technology, the largest B2B digital infrastructure company in Europe. Since 2019, Pablo leads the business strategy and regulatory analysis across Europe trying to transform insights and challenges into solutions and extraordinary outcomes.

With more than two decades of executive experience in the telecom and digital sectors, including previous senior roles at Vodafone and Orange, Pablo advises boards and policymakers on regulatory and business strategy, with special focus on security governance, resilience and connectivity.

Colt’s employee of the year in 2019 and 2022.

Pablo Diez holds a Law degree and a Master in Telecommunication Business from the University of Comillas (Spain) and an GLL-MBA by Cambridge University.

Peggy Valcke is executive board member at the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT – IBPT), where she leads the Legal Service, HR and NetSec departments. She is also part-time full professor of law & technology at KU Leuven, co-director of CiTiP, principal investigator at imec (previously iMinds), and member of Leuven.AI. Her main areas of expertise cover media and communications, data protection and data governance, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. Peggy is head of the Belgian delegation in CAI, the Council of Europe’s Committee on AI which prepared and negotiated the Framework Convention on AI, and previously served as Vice-Chair of CAI’s predecessor, CAHAI. She has taken up positions as visiting and part-time professor at Tilburg University; Bocconi University Milan, the European University Institute in Florence, and Central European University. .

Peter is Head of Unit in DG CONNECT, where he is overseeing the EU telecoms policy and legal framework.

Before taking up the current position in 2023, he has been Deputy Director for Future Networks and Interim Executive Director setting up and running the 6G Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking.

Previously he was Head of Sector Spectrum Policy, penholder of the 2012 Roaming Regulation and the EU R&D programme manager for 4G mobile communications standards.

Before joining the European Commission in 2004 he has occupied several engineering and management positions in industry, academia and start-ups. He holds engineering and doctoral degrees from RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

Petra Arts is Director Public Policy, Europe at Cloudflare. Cloudflare is a leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. Cloudflare protects websites, applications, and internal networks from malicious cyberattacks and helps the Internet operate more efficiently. Petra leads the company’s policy advocacy efforts in Brussels and engagement with EU-level stakeholders. She joined Cloudflare in July 2020 after working for a number of years in a similar position for telecommunications & media company Liberty Global. Previously she was an associate director at Kreab, an international consultancy firm, advising corporate clients on EU policy in the areas of financial services, privacy, cybersecurity and digital policy. She started her career in the European Parliament working for a Dutch MEP.

Robert is a Director in Deloitte’s EMEA Centre for Regulatory Strategy, where he leads the Centre’s work on regulation in Digital Markets. Prior to joining Deloitte, Robert spent eleven years at Vodafone Group, setting Group policy positions across a wide variety of regulatory initiatives relevant to the promotion of competition and protection of consumers in digital markets. Robert has over a decade’s experience working at regulatory bodies relevant to the sector, spending eight years at Ofcom (and its predecessor Oftel) and four years at the UK’s competition and consumer protection authority. This included a secondment to the US Federal Trade Commission working on technology topics in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Bio coming soon…

Rosa Barcelo has nearly 20 years of experience in European data protection and privacy, including expertise in compliance and policy. Her experience covers diverse sectors and is drawn from working in private practice, as well as in public service with the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and the European Commission.

Rosa Barcelo advises clients on data protection and privacy, including compliance with the GDPR and the e-Privacy Directive. She has a particular focus on cutting-edge ICT issues, including AI, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, programmatic advertising and online tracking technologies.

Prior to McDermott Will & Emery, Ms Barcelo was Partner and Deputy Co-Chair, Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice Group, Squire Patton Boggs.

Ms Barcelo was also Deputy Head of Unit of the Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Unit of DG CONNECT in the European Commission, where she led legislative deliberations over the proposed e-Privacy Regulation.  During her tenure with the European Commission, Ms Barcelo also worked in the Data Protection Unit where she was responsible for international data transfer issues (BCRs and adequacy decisions). Ms Barcelo’s work with the office of the EDPS focused on a wide range of ICT-related issues. In these roles, Ms Barcelo worked closely with national supervisory authorities participating in the former Article 29 Working Party (now the European Data Protection Board).

Ms Barcelo has also worked in academia and as a private lawyer in the Brussels offices of various international law firms, where she advised on EU privacy and data protection issues, as well electronic commerce and technology laws.

Ms Barcelo is a frequent lecturer on data protection, privacy and cybersecurity.

Rose McNamee is Head of International Online Safety at Ofcom.  Having joined Ofcom in 2019, Rose’s work has spanned Ofcom’s regulatory remit and included leading aspects of Ofcom’s UK domestic public policy work.  Prior to Ofcom, Rose worked for an education charity, and began her career as a civil servant in UK government.

Stacey Featherstone is a Public Policy Manager for Consumer Policy at Meta, based in Brussels. Since joining Meta in 2019, Stacey has been part of the EU Affairs Team, where she focuses on consumer policy issues and regulatory engagement with European institutions. Her work involves monitoring legislative developments, supporting Meta’s advocacy efforts, and contributing to the company’s public policy strategy in the EU.

Thomas Volmer is the head of global content delivery policy at Netflix, the world’s leading streaming entertainment service. Thomas is an expert on the development of hyper scalable internet infrastructure, at the intersection of technology investments, engineering and public policy. He works to promote policies that enable the development of a global, unconstrained, open internet.

Prior to joining Netflix, Thomas worked for over fifteen years in the internet industry; most recently at Google on content delivery network and data center footprint expansion and at Orange in various business and regulatory affairs management positions.

Thomas holds a MSc (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) degree in Telecom Engineering from Telecom Paristech in Paris.

Tim Ringsdore has over 15 years extensive experience as a Managing Director within the telecoms industry, working at Board level across the Channel Islands, London and the Caribbean.

Mr Ringsdore was Managing Director of Jersey Telecom and was pivotal in setting up Wave Telecom in Guernsey. He had responsibility for consumers and corporate clients across both Islands. Mr Ringsdore was also instrumental in developing JT’s global business with the acquisition of Worldstone in 2012.

Mr Ringsdore moved back to the Channel Islands to join the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) after leading Cable & Wireless as Managing Director based in the British Virgin Islands. He had jurisdictional and overall financial responsibility for the Cable & Wireless business in the BVI and was responsible for developing relationships with government, the industry regulator and corporate clients. During this time, he successfully restructured and rebranded the business to help improve credibility and the customer experience.

As CEO for the JCRA, Mr Ringsdore is focussing on delivering strong results which will support the economic strategic objectives for the Island and its citizens. He will help ensure that Jersey receives the best value, choice and access to high quality services in addition to promoting competition and consumers’ interests.

Mr Ringsdore is also Former Chair of the International Institute of Communications Small Nations Regulators Forum 2023-2024.

Tim Stok is Tencent’s Director of Public Affairs for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region. Tencent is a leading global technology and entertainment company focused on connecting people and developing innovative products and services that improve the quality of life of people around the world. Prior to Tencent, Tim held public affairs roles in Europe, at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and data analytics firm RELX, focusing on Intellectual Property, technology, healthcare, research and digital files. Tim started his career as a civil servant for the Dutch government in The Hague and Brussels. He is currently chairman of the Video Games Federation Netherlands.

Urs Buscke is Senior Legal Officer at BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation.

BEUC is the largest organisation promoting the general interests of Europe’s consumers. Founded in 1962, it proudly represents more than 40 independent national consumer organisations from over 30 European countries.

Urs Buscke leads BEUC’s work on digital fairness. Before joining BEUC in 2022, he worked as Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU. Urs Buscke holds a doctorate in EU law from the University of Freiburg, Germany, where he also worked as research assistant at the EU law department after graduation.

Valda Beizitere is a legal and policy officer in data protection unit of the European Commission’s DG Justice and Consumers. She is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the GDPR in the Member States. As part of her tasks she also works closely with other European Commission services. That include work on legislative and non-legislative initiatives under the European strategy for data, in the area of financial services, and mobility. She is part of the Digital Omnibus negotiation team.

Valeriu Ștefan Zgonea has taken the position of President of ANCOM starting 11 May 2023 for a 6 year-term.

Mr Zgonea has activated within the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) during 2018-2023 and has held four mandates of deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament between 2000-2016. In the 2000-2004 parliamentary term, he was a member of the Committee for Information Technologies and Communications, while from 2006 to 2016 he held the posts of quaestor and secretary of the Chamber of Deputies. Furthermore, Mr Zgonea has been Vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies between 2010 and 2012, then President of the Chamber of Deputies in the 2012 – 2016 parliamentary term.

Valeriu Ștefan Zgonea graduated from the National Institute of Constructions and has various specializations in cyber diplomacy and infrastructures in the context of digitalization at education institutions such as European Security and Defence College, King’s College and George Marshall European Center for Security Studies and N.E.S.A.

Yulia Kossykh works in the telecommunications practice at Frontier Economics. She over 10 years of experience advising clients on a range of competition, regulatory and policy issues related to connectivity in the high capacity networks. She has advised private and public sector clients in a number of European Member States, the Middle East, South Africa and South East Asia.

Previously, Ms Kossykh worked for the mobile operator (Three) in the UK, where she led Three’s work on its 4G auction bid strategy among other regulatory issues.