Read this quarter’s Intermedia here
Kindly hosted by The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT)
Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 March 2025
The IIC will return to Brussels for its annual Europe Forum and are delighted to be hosted once again by the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT).
More information will be available soon.
Registration is now open – please click on the link on the right to complete your registration.
Registration Fees for delegates
Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 March 2024
Telecommunications and Media Forum
IIC Members – Free
Non-Members – £250 GBP (excluding VAT *)
*VAT will be applicable for UK registrations only
If you feel the delegate fee may be a barrier to attending this event, please contact us at enquiries@iicom.org
Visas
The IIC will be pleased to provide a letter of invitation on request, but visas will be the responsibility of the event attendee.
The IIC Telecommunications and Media Forum will be held at the:
Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT)
Eclipse Building
Bâtiment C
Boulevard du Roi Albert II 35
1020 Brussels
Belgium
Click here for map and directions
The following hotels are located close to BIPT with special room rates:
The President Brussels Hotel
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 44,
1000 Brussels
Tel: +32-2-2032020
Please click here to get a 10% discount at the President Brussels Hotel. This hotel is situated 270m from the offices of BIPT.
Progress Hotel
Rue Progress 9
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
1210 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 205 1700
More information
Please use the booking code LOYALTY to get a 12% discount on the daily rates. The hotel is situated 900m from the offices of BIPT.
Hotel Siru
2 Rue des Croisades
Saint-Joose-ten-Noode
1210 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 203 3580
More information
Please use the booking code LOYALTY to get a 12% discount on the daily rates. The hotel is situated 900m from the offices of BIPT.
Double Tree by Hilton Brussels City
Rue Gineste 3
Brussels 1210
Belgium
More information
Please click here to get a 15% discount at the Doubletree by Hilton Brussels City Hotel. The hotel is situated 1km from the offices of BIPT.
Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre
Avenue du Boulevard 17
Brussels, 1210
Belgium
More information
Thon Hotels Brussels are offering a discount of 13%. The Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre is situated 1km from the offices of BIPT.
Please click here to get the discount. If you don’t use the booking link you can make a reservation by email (reservations@thonhotels.be) or by phone (+32 2 700 78 78). Please mention our client code: TH7991
Nhow Brussels Bloom Hotel
Rue Royal
Koningsstraat 250
Brussels 1210
Belgium
More information
NH Hotels are offering a discount of 10-20%. The Nhow Brussels Bloom Hotel is situated 1,4km from the offices of BIPT.
Please click here to get the discount.
NH Collection Brussels Centre Hotel
Boulevard Adolphe Max
Adolphe Maxlaan 7
Brussels 1000
More information
NH Hotels are offering a discount of 10-20%. The NH Brussels City Centre Hotel is situated 1,2km from the offices of BIPT.
Please click here to get the discount.
Additional hotels close to BIPT can be found here: Hotels – Google Maps
The IIC accepts no responsibility for bookings made at any of the listed hotels and recommends that you check out the hotels on the internet before booking.
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Dr. Aleksandra Kuczerawy is a senior fellow at the Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) at KU Leuven University, where she leads the Media Law research group. Her research focus is on fundamental rights online with particular attention to freedom of expression, platform regulation, content moderation of illegal and harmful content and AI in the context of new media technologies. She has worked on multiple European projects addressing the regulation of digital technologies in the areas of privacy and data protection, new media regulation, AI, and smart cities. Since 2020, she is a lecturer in media law at KU Leuven postgraduate programme. Aleksandra is an author of the book Intermediary Liability and Freedom of Expression in the EU: from concepts to safeguards.
Andrea Tognoni is Head of EU Affairs at 5Rights, focusing on advancing children’s rights in EU digital policies and the online environment. Formerly leading a government affairs team at a global public affairs consultancy in Brussels, he has worked for the EU Delegation to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva and with international NGOs on human rights issues.
Mr Tognoni is a qualified lawyer and holds an LL.M in Public International Law from Leiden University, where he researched the impact of civil society and social movements on global law and governance.
Anna Herold is currently Head of the Audiovisual and Media Policy Unit at the European Commission. She was previously Member of Cabinet of Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy and Society. Prior to that, she was Assistant to Deputy Director-General of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, Roberto Viola. She has worked for the European Commission since 2003, dealing with media, audiovisual and telecoms policy as well as competition law. Anna holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute in Florence and has written on media law and policy, international trade and competition law.
Aude Schoentgen is a Director at Plum, and she heads up Plum’s office in Paris.
Specialising in the telecommunications, media, and technology sectors, she has worked as an economist on international projects in the private sector, in the academic sphere and in the development funding sector.
Dr Schoentgen focuses on the practical application of economic theory to real-world issues. She develops analytical frameworks for operators, regulators, and governments, to inform their economic and regulatory decisions. Combining her skills in economics with her industry knowledge, Dr Schoentgen supports organisations in improving their policies and performance. She also supports governments and regulators in their understanding of their industries and the impacts of their regulation. Aude explores the future evolution of technologies, their impacts on economies and industries, and analyses the effects of technology on economies, society and environment. She is particularly interested in the economics of new digital technologies, as well as how companies and policy makers can contribute to improve digital inclusion and sustainability.
Her recent work focused on the economics behind today’s internet infrastructure, as well as the potential impact of telecoms policies on climate change. Aude worked on identifying technical, economic, and social opportunities potentially offered by 5G millimetre wave bands and studied the digital ecosystems of several developing countries. She worked on numerous studies including data protection harms, 5G licences and spectrum use, digital inclusion and online advertising issues.
Dr Schoentgen holds a PhD in Economics (Telecom ParisTech), a MPhil. in International Economic Relations (Sciences Po Paris) and a MSc. in Business Administration (Skema Business School).
Benoît Loutrel is an economist engineer, specializing in industrial economics, economic development, digital transformation and regulatory economics.
After working at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) as a research officer in environmental economics in 1993, Mr Loutrel was appointed in 1996 technical advisor to the administrator representing the France at the World Bank in Washington and then, in 1999, chargé d’affaires and head of the European office (in Paris) of the infrastructure department of the International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank Group until 2003.
In 2004, he joined the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts. (Arcep) where he was Director of Fixed and Mobile Market Regulation, then Deputy Director General. From 2010 to 2013, he was Director of the “Development of the Digital Economy” program of the “Investments for the future” to the Commissioner General for Investment. From 2013 to 2016, Mr Loutrel was Director General of Arcep. In 2017, Mr Loutrel became Director of Institutional Relations and Public Policy at Google France. From 2018 to 2020, he carried out various missions within the INSEE General Inspectorate, and in particular, he was General Rapporteur of the interministerial mission “regulation of social networks”.
Mr Loutrel joined the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel in February 2021. He chairs Arcom’s “Supervision of Online Platforms” working group. He is also Vice-President of the working group “Televisions, SMAD, distribution and digital uses”.
Mr Loutrel studied industrial economics and regulation at Ecole Polytechnique, ENSAE, and Toulouse 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
Carlos Aguilar Paredes is a member of the board of the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia.
Until Professor Aguilar Paredes appointment, he was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media UB, Professor of Applied Media Economics and Professor of Audiovisual System Structure.
Professor Aguilar Paredes is a six-year AQU 2019 active researcher, member of the DHiGeCS consolidated research group and participant in a dozen competitively funded research projects. She is also a member of the In-COMAV teaching innovation group. He has also presented papers at more than 50 conferences.Professor Aguilar Paredes is the author of numerous scientific publications. To name a few: The ecosystem for accessing TV series and films in Spain: An outline of the situation following the Intellectual property act 2015. Profesional de la Información (2016); Political Participation, Media and Social Networks in Catalan Adolescents. Revista Internacional de Sociología de la Educación (2017); Discourse and information quality as a threat to internal pluralism in public broadcasting television services. Revista Latina de comunicacion social (2018); Digital Technologies and Selective Exposure: How Choice and Filter Bubbles Shape News Media Exposure. International Journal of Press-Politics (2019); Echo-chambers in online news consumption: Evidence from survey and navigation data in Spain. European Journal of Communication (2019).
Professor Aguilar Paredes holds a Master in Political Analysis from the Open University of Catalunya (2018) and a PhD in Audiovisual Communication, University of Barcelona (2012).
Chris Gow is Senior Director, EU Public Policy for Cisco’s Government Affairs team, responsible for engagements with the EU institutions in Brussels. He is the global lead on privacy policy and within Europe on security. Mr Gow joined Cisco in early 2008 and beyond privacy and security, plays an active role on spectrum, cloud and IoT policy.
Mr Gow is a Member of the Executive Board of DIGITAL EUROPE and the Chair of DIGITAL EUROPE’s Privacy and Security Group. DIGITAL EUROPE is the main European industry association for tech manufacturers in Brussels.
Prior to Cisco, Mr Gow was responsible for campaign strategies and digital economy policy work at EICTA (now DIGITAL EUROPE). 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.
Mr Gow studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
Clive Kenny is a Manager in the Telecoms, Media and Digital practice at Frontier Economics. Mr Kenny has 15 years’ experience advising clients on a range of competition, regulatory and policy issues related to connectivity, digital and media markets. He has advised private and public sector clients on media and digital policy, mergers, spectrum in countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
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.
Bio coming soon …..
Ekaterine Imedadze has been a commissioner of the Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom) since March 2021. Prior to taking up her position, she headed the Telecommunications Market Regulation Department at ComCom.
Ms Imedadze has 15 years of professional experience in the telecommunications field, including international experience. Ms. Imedadze occupied several leading positions at international telecommunications group company VEON Ltd., where she headed global project management and was the head of internal control and risk management. Further, Ms Imedadze was Head of Finance for several leading private companies.
Ms Imedadze holds an MBA from the University of Bradford School of Management and completed the Innovation Leadership program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She earned a master’s degree in physics as well as a postgraduate diploma in artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic from Tbilisi State University, and she is currently pursuing an LL.M. in competition law and economics at the Brussels School of Competition (BSC).
Emma Drake is a Legal Director at Bird & Bird who specialises in privacy and online safety. She works extensively with media, tech and sports clients, and advises on the handling of children’s data. She has had particular focus on compliance with the ICO’s Children’s Code, and the shift to wider safety duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act and EU’s Digital Services Act.
In the lead up to GDPR, Ms Drake led advice for a group of clients who successfully sought a specific lawful ground to process special category and criminal offence data for safeguarding purposes in UK law. This work will now underpin and ensure the lawfulness of many of the OSA’s child safety duties.
Bird & Bird has Europe-leading expertise on privacy and online safety, and has over 130 lawyers focussed on providing pragmatic data and digital advice across its offices in Europe and Asia. A number of its lawyers are former regulators, and provide vital insight on meeting the ever-increasing challenges of digital regulation.
Erard Gilles heads ACT’s media and data taskforce. He has several years of experience working in digital and media policy in Brussels. He joined ACT from the European broadcaster RTL Group. Over the past year, Erard notably led the work of the ACT on the European Media Freedom Act.
Mr Gilles has a masters degree from Sciences Po, France, and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, USA.
Fabrice Clément is the Group CISO of Proximus, the national telecommunications operator in Belgium. He is co-founder and Board member of the Belgian Cyber Security Coalition. He is also treasurer and Board member of the European Telecommunications Association ETIS and a Board member of Proximus Ada, the Center of Excellence in AI and cybersecurity.
Fabrice Clément oversees all cybersecurity and business continuity matters for the Proximus Group. The mission of his organization is to ensure business continuity and to protect the company’s business, operations, and reputation against internal and external threats, as well as to collaborate with the governmental and judicial authorities in the fight against crime.
He entered the Proximus Group in 1993, holding successively various management positions in the development of the telecommunications network and in the field of information technology.
He is Civil Engineer in Electricity and Telecommunications from the University of Mons.
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.
Inês Nolasco currently serves as the Deputy Head & EU Senior Advisor at the Vodafone Brussels Office. With a strong foundation in the telecommunications industry, she recently transitioned from her role as a Senior Advisor on Networks Policy at the Vodafone Group in London, where she dedicated two years to addressing fixed regulation and EU connectivity matters.
Ms Nolasco boasts an extensive professional journey in Brussels, beginning in 2008 and extending until 2016. During this period, she held pivotal positions, including Case Handler at the European Commission, Senior Analyst at Cullen International, and Head of Regulatory Affairs at ECTA.
Notably, she also contributed her expertise as an ITU expert in Arab Regional Fora from 2014 to 2018.
Her hands-on experience in her native Portugal spans from 2016 to 2022, where she was Head of Spectrum, Market Analysis and Numbering at the legal department of national regulator ANACOM, as well as a Senior Manager at Vodafone Portugal. In 2018, Ms Nolasco played a key role representing Vodafone as Board member of Portuguese national associations APRITEL and APDC.
A lawyer by background, Ms Nolasco kickstarted her career at the prestigious law firm Vieira de Almeida e Associados. Her academic accomplishments include a Master’s in EU Law from the College of Europe. With her wealth of experience and diverse skill set, Ms Nolasco continues to make significant contributions to the telecommunications landscape at both the national and European levels.
Isabelle Vereecken is the head of the Secretariat of the European Data Protection Board. She has been instrumental in establishing the Secretariat, building it from the ground up. The EDPB Secretariat deals with a range of tasks, from drafting EDPB documents, providing IT solutions to ensure transparent communications between all the European national data protection authorities, handling EDPB media relations as well as organising all EDPB meetings.
Prior working for the EDPB, she was a legal advisor at the Belgian Data Protection Authority for 10 years. In this position, she was in charge of international data transfers matters and she regularly contributed to the work of the Article 29 Working Party. In addition, she followed closely the negotiation of the General data protection regulation (GDPR), being detached at the European Commission working on the proposal and after by acting as an expert to support the Belgian government during the negotiation.
She started her career as a researcher and worked at the CRID (Computer and Law Research Centre – University of Namur) on data protection, intellectual property rights and e-commerce issues.
She has a master degree in law from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) and a postgraduate degree in ICT law from the University of Namur.
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.
Johan Keetelaar joined Oxera in 2022, and is a member of its senior digital leadership team. He has spent most of his career working in the digital, telecoms and transport sectors, including more than 15 years as a strategic leader in competition and sector-specific regulation. More recently, he worked as a digital practitioner at Meta Inc.
Mr Keetelaar spent more than 15 years at the Authority for Consumers & Markets (the Dutch competition and regulatory authority), as well as one of its predecessors (OPTA) where he was Director Markets, Director of Transport, Telecoms and Post, and Director Competition. He was also a member of BEREC, the group of EU telecom and digital regulators.
Prior to joining Oxera, Mr Keetelaar was the Director of Economic Policy and Head of Connectivity and Access Policy in the EMEA region at Meta Inc. for four years.
Mr Keetelaar holds an MSc. in Econometrics from the University of Amsterdam.
Julie Guichard is EU Government Affairs Manager at Microsoft where she spearheads initiatives to scale Microsoft’s digital safety programs across the EU. Representing Microsoft at EU institutions, she works closely with safety teams to enhance regulatory compliance and user wellbeing.
Throughout her career, Ms Guichard’s mission is to empower communities to safely harness technology for societal good. Previously, Ms Guichard led Amazon Web Services’ EU engagement on content moderation where she advocated for custom safety obligations for different types of service providers. Before joining the tech industry, Ms Guichard worked at the UN Environment Programme where she created, amplified, and scaled campaigns promoting sustainable lifestyles across 20+ geographies.
She holds a Master’s of Science in European Public Policy from the London School of Economics.
Professor Konstantinos Masselos has been appointed as the President of the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT) in February 2018 and his mandate has been renewed in February 2022.
Professor Masselos has been elected as Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for 2023 and also Vice-Chair for 2022 and 2024. Moreover, he served as Vice-Chair of BEREC in 2019.
He is a Professor in the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the University of Peloponnese where is also served as Rector during the period 2012-2017. From 2005 to 2008 he was a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. Also during the period 2010-2016 he was an Honorary Lecturer in the same Department. From 2001-2004 he worked in the telecommunications industry.
Since 2005 he has been collaborating as an expert with various units of the European Commission. Also, he was member of the Scientific Committee of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) from 2015 to 2017.
Lidia Dutkiewicz is a Doctoral Researcher at the KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law – imec. In her Ph.D. research, she analyses the phenomenon of platformization of news and the impact of algorithmic content moderation on media freedom, media pluralism, and editorial independence. In the EU-funded AI4Media project she studies the impact of AI media applications, including generative AI, on fundamental rights and develops policy recommendations for the use of trustworthy AI in the media sector. Ms Dutkiewicz also works as an ethics advisor in the vera.ai (VERification Assisted by Artificial Intelligence) project. In the interdisciplinary research project ALGEPI, she investigates the role of algorithmic gatekeepers and the power imbalance between platforms and media. She is a co-author of the EC report on the Pilot Project – Digital European Platform of Quality Content Providers (Media Data Space) and of the conformity assessment of the AVMSD implementation for DG CNECT.
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 experienced Trustee / Non-Executive Director as Vice Chair at Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, a unique heritage site in the heart of Bristol (UK), Lynn is also a Trustee / Non-Executive Director at The Bristol and Bath (UK), Parks Foundation.
Reflecting on becoming Director General at the IIC at the outbreak of a pandemic, Lynn said, ‘these last two years have been like no other we have known, with many challenges coming our way. In 2020 we successfully pivoted the organisation through a digital transformation programme to maintain a full schedule of events and by increasing the outputs delivered. Transforming the programme enabled us to continue to deliver the professional service and increase our engagement with IIC members and stakeholder community to remain connected to them through such a difficult time.
As we move through 2022, I am delighted to return to a combined in-person and online programme and to continue to evolve the IIC in to the next phase, with the vision and strategic focus to deliver our objectives and to build on our growth, engagement and retention’.
Madeleine de Cock Buning is the Vice President for Public Policy EMEA at Netflix. As Vice-President for Public Policy Europe, Middle-East and Africa, Prof de Cock Buning is working with her team to ensure Netflix continues to play an active role in supporting EU institutions and national governments across the region in their efforts to promote and champion the creative industries as a catalyst for innovation and creativity.
Prof de Cock Buning is also a professor of Copyright and Media Law at the University of Utrecht Faculty of Law (UU) and chaired professor of Digital Politics, Economy and Societies at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Previously, Prof de Cock Buning was Chair of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on fake news and disinformation (2018), chair of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) (2016 & 2017) and was President of the Board of Commissioners at the Dutch Media Authority (2009-2019). She was Honorary Judge of the Court of Appeal in The Hague (2010-2020) and was a panelist of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) (2001-2018).
In May 2019 Prof de Cock Buning received a Royal Distinction; she was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Marc Vancoppenolle is leading the Government Affairs International function at Nokia. His responsibilities include Policy and Regulatory advocacy, geopolitical insight and international relations. He and his team are working with institutions and stakeholders to create a favorable political and regulatory environment fostering broadband investments and cross sectoral digitalization at large.
Prior to this, Mr Vancoppenolle led the Alcatel-Lucent Public and Regulatory Affairs function for EMEA – including the representation office in Brussels – and APAC. Before joining Public Affairs, he led EMEA Strategic Customer Marketing at Alcatel-Lucent.
Mr Vancoppenolle has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He joined Alcatel in 1991 where he took various international and worldwide technical, commercial, marketing and communication leadership roles based in Belgium and in France. He has been driving marketing and awareness strategies supporting the growth of the company in the areas of broadband, IP, telecom services and software applications. As Chief Marketing Officer for Alcatel Northern Europe, he led the development of Alcatel’s market positioning in the Industry & Public Sector.
Mr Vancoppenolle is advisor to FITCE Belgium (forum for ICT & Media professionals). He has been Vice-Chair of the BUSINESSEUROPE Digital Economy Taskforce and a member of the board of DIGITALEUROPE (representing the Digital Technology Industry in Europe) as well as of the board of IICB (Innovation & Incubation Center Brussels).
He holds a Master of Science, with a specialization in Telecommunication from the University of Leuven complemented with marketing studies from the University of Antwerp.
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.
Matt Allison is Senior Public Policy Manager at Vodafone Group, covering Data, Platforms and Artificial Intelligence. Mr Allison has worked at the cutting edge of tech public policy for a decade in a variety of roles spanning industry, consultancy and NGOs. During this time, he has grappled with some of the key public policy challenges facing the technology sector and helped shape the policy landscape as governments and regulators look to confront and harness the rapid growth of digital services. At Vodafone Mr Allison is responsible for developing policy and regulatory strategies for data, AI and digital platforms, influencing new regulation and creating alignment between Vodafone’s local market activities.
Prior to joining Vodafone Mr Allison was a Manager in the International Public Policy team at Access Partnership, a leading government affairs consultancy in the technology sector, as well as working in the NGO sector focused on the development of Internet safety policy.
Mr Allison holds a Masters degree in Politics, Security and Integration from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), part of University College London. His studies focused on Russian and Eastern European politics, European integration and national identity. Prior to this he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in History at the University of East Anglia where he specialised in Soviet history and the economic and social history of early modern England.
Michael Pickton is Senior Manager, Public Affairs at Channel 4 Television, leading on the Channel’s engagement with Government, the UK Parliament and other political institutions. His focus is on advocating for the best policy conditions for Channel 4 to deliver on its remit, especially during the passage of the Government’s proposed Media Bill in the UK Parliament.
He joined Channel 4 in 2022 from a consultancy, working in the media and technology team advising global tech platforms and media organisations on their engagement and public policy priorities in the UK and Europe. Prior to that he worked at the Advertising Association, the UK’s leading trade association for the advertising industry, advising on government and parliamentary relations. He started his career in the UK Parliament at the Policy Research Unit, advising MPs on home affairs, education, and culture, media and sport policy.
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.
Noémie Krack is a researcher at the Centre for IT and IP law (CiTiP) of KU Leuven – imec. Her research focuses on media law, artificial intelligence and the challenges that technology raises for fundamental rights. She works and has worked on several European Union interdisciplinary projects on technology and media including AI4Media and MediaFutures. She provides guest lectures in the Media law class of the KU Leuven programme Master of Intellectual Property and ICT Law (LL.M.). She is also an Editorial Board Member of the European AI Media Observatory.
Owen Bennett is International Online Safety lead at Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator. Previously we was a senior public policy manager at Mozilla, the public benefit technology company and maker of the Firefox web browser. He is based in London, and prior to that he spent eight years in Brussels’ EU quarter.
His substantive expertise is policy issues related to the regulation of illegal and harmful content online, but he has worked across the full range of contemporary digital policy issues, including cybersecurity; competition; and privacy.
He holds a first class LL.M degree in Information Technology law from the University of Edinburgh. He also holds a first class honours undergraduate major degree in Philosophy and a second class honours undergraduate minor degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.
Bio coming soon …..
Rory Graham has 30 years’ experience as a company and commercial solicitor in the technology and related sectors, with a strong emphasis on telecommunications. He has been a partner in a number of UK and global law firms, including Bird & Bird and Baker McKenzie, as well as setting up his own tech and corporate boutique law firm. His public sector experience includes the privatisation of the telecoms division of British Rail and acting for a bidder for the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) rolling stock provision and maintenance contract, as well as defence and health related outsourcing and procurement deals.
Mr Graham has worked on around £50bn worth of technology deals in the UK, US, Switzerland, South Africa, Algeria and on a multi-country basis, as well as supporting technology start-ups from creation to trade sale, including to IBM and other US corporates. His practical, problem-solving, approach to providing legal advice has led to him being described as a “nuts and bolts lawyer”, and he looks to bring the same commercial and pragmatic style to his role at the JCRA. He is delighted to be playing a part in making the JCRA a model of effective regulation, for the benefit of the people of Jersey, its businesses and those seeking to invest in the island’s economy.
Mr Graham studied law at Cambridge and trained in the City and Hong Kong. He is Honorary Solicitor to the annual Story of Christmas charity appeal and a trustee of the London Firebird Orchestra, which promotes the careers of recent graduates from the London Conservatoires.
Rosa Barcelo was appointed Partner, McDermott Will & Emery in April 2022.
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.
Tom Walker is a Content Policy Principal at the UK media regulator Ofcom, where he has led high-profile policy and research projects focused on public service media, competition and media plurality for the past 10 years. He was responsible for designing Ofcom’s regulation of the BBC, and has directed several of Ofcom’s recent major projects on public service media including responsibility for leading the development of new legislation in the UK Government’s ‘Media Bill’.
Bio coming soon ….
Tonko Obuljen has been Chairman of the Council of HAKOM since 2018 and is the BEREC Chair 2024.
Mr Obulijn has been active in the field of electronic communications, which includes engineering and managing experience in the microwave, satellite and fiber-optic systems as well as the broadcasting. He has previously been appointed as the Director of HAKOM (2006-2008) and the Member of HAKOM’s Council (2009-2013). During negotiations on the accession of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union he was a member of working group for Chapter 10 – Information Society.
Mr Obuljen graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb in 1993.
Dr Vassiliki Gogou is a Senior Telecommunications Expert with approximately 20-year experience in European Public Policy and Regulatory Framework. Referenced for Regulatory Strategic Planning, Telecommunications Competition and European Electronic Communications harmonization issues and cross-country implementations.
Since January 2021, Dr Gogou is a Cybersecurity expert in the ENISA Market, Standardization and Certification Unit and heavily involved in the ENISA work for 5G Cybersecurity Certification. She is also a member of ENISA’s horizontal Knowledge and Information team (Emerging Technologies and Foresight in Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Index, etc.)
Dr Gogou was a BEREC Contact Network member (2013-2020), active drafter in numerous BEREC working Group and from April 2019 to December 2020, Co-Chair of the BEREC ad hoc 5G Cybersecurity WG.
Visiola Pula follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the Austria and Germany. At EU level, she focuses on initiatives such as the NIS2 Directive, 5G security, the Cyber Resilience Act and certification efforts under the EU Cybersecurity Act.
Ms Pula joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg in EU Law and Affairs.
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