Annual Europe Digital Communications and Media Forum 2025

Renate Nikolay is Deputy Director-General in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT). In that role, she oversees the enforcement of the digital rulebook for platforms (Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act), the policies on digital connectivity, data, media and audiovisual as well as international and interinstitutional relations.

Between 2014 and 2022, she was Head of Cabinet of Vĕra Jourová in her roles as Commissioner for Justice and Consumers and as Vice-President for Values and Transparency.

Prior to that Renate Nikolay was Head of Unit in DG JUST and served as member in the Cabinets of Cathy Ashton and Peter Mandelson.

Renate Nikolay started her career in the European Commission in 2003 in DG Trade after having worked as a diplomat at the German Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels and at the Federal Economics Ministry in Berlin.

Renate Nikolay has a law degree from the Free University of Berlin (Erstes und Zweites Staatsexamen) and a Master of Laws as Fulbright Scholar from Washington, DC. She also participated in an Erasmus exchange with Grenoble/France.

Afke Schaart is the Senior Vice President of International and Institutional Affairs at Eutelsat Group, based in Paris. In this role, she leads the company’s policy and international affairs, shaping strategic engagement on key global and European space and telecommunications issues.

Before joining Eutelsat, Afke was SVP Corporate Communications and Chief Global impact at Huawei HQ, based in Shenzhen, China, where she drove global public affairs and policy initiatives. Prior to that, she served as the Regional Lead for Europe, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the GSMA, overseeing public policy advocacy, strategic engagement, and key industry programs such as Digital Identity, IoT, 5G, Spectrum, and Regulatory Modernization.Afke also served as Vice-Chair of the Alliance of European Telecoms and Automotive (EATA), promoting the deployment of Connected and Automated Driving in Europe.

Earlier in her career, she led Microsoft’s EU Institutional Relations Team in Brussels, managing the company’s engagement with the EU Institutions, the Council of Europe, the OECD, and the World Economic Forum (WEF). She was also responsible for Microsoft’s Citizenship Programs, including BizSpark and YouthSpark.

Before moving into the tech and telecommunications industry, Afke was a Member of Parliament in the Netherlands for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), where she focused on Economic Affairs, Innovation, Technology, and ICT.

She began her career at Royal KPN, leading the company’s policy and government relations.

Bio coming soon …..

Dr Allyson Leacock, Chairman of the Barbados Broadcasting Authority and Director of National Transformation Initiative, Government of Barbados, is also an independent media and human development consultant. She led a coalition of 112 Media Houses in 24 Caribbean countries for 12 years and trained over 2000 Caribbean broadcasters. She served on the Executive Board of the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) and was elected for 2 terms as Chairman of the Global Steering Committee for the World AIDS Campaign. She was also Cultural Affairs Specialist at the US Embassy covering the Caribbean and Officer-In-Charge and Student Coordinator at the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC), now the Open Campus.

Dr Allyson Leacock was conferred with the Order of the Republic (OR) in Barbados National Honours on 30 November 2023. The award was given by the President of Barbados – In ‘recognition of sterling contribution to broadcasting, media relations, corporate communications, training, human resource development and educational technology, as well as distinguished service to Barbados as Head of National Transformation Initiative’.

Dr Leacock has a wide-ranging professional background including in executive management in corporate communications, media, needs assessment, training, human resource development and leadership, as well broadcast media including production and presentation as TV News Anchor, and as General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.

She holds Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Educational Technology, Concordia University, Canada and BA (Double First Class Honours) in English and Education and the Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed with distinction) from Stirling University, UK. Her training also includes Diplomas in Human Resource Management, Facility Management, Arts Management and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

A former national athlete, gymnast, dancer and actress, Dr Leacock is trained in sign language, is a volunteer with Special Olympics and Barbados Council for the Disabled.

Amal Taleb is Director of EU Government Affairs in Brussels for the European Cloud provider SAP. Prior to that she was Director of government affairs in France. Lawyer by trade, Amal has previously served as an in-house legal and policy officer for the French consumers’ organization UFC-Que Choisir, where she handled both litigation cases and policy files with regards to competition, platform regulation and data protection. In 2016 and 2017, Amal served as Vice-President of the French Digital Council, an advisory body to the French government on digital issues. During her mandate, her works focused on SMEs digitization policies and data protection in public sector.

Bio coming soon ….

Anna Buchta is Head of Unit “Policy & Consultation” at the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), coordinating the work of the EDPS on providing advice to the EU legislators on legislative and policy proposals relevant to data protection. She has extensive experience in data protection and privacy regulations and litigation before the Court of Justice. She was one of the institutional rapporteurs on EU data protection for the FIDE2021 Congress (reports available here: https://fide2020.eu/fide-2020/topics/). In recent years, she has focused on the interplay between the GDPR and the EU digital rulebook and spearheaded the EDPS work on cross-regulatory cooperation. Previously, Anna worked at the European Commission, among others on data privacy in electronic communications. Before that, she was a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT (ICRI, currently CITIP) at KU Leuven (Belgium) and worked as a lawyer in private practice. Anna has a master’s degree in Law from the University of Warsaw (Poland) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from KU Leuven.

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.

Anna Theodoulides is a Research Assistant in Digital Media at the University of Leeds, working on the Building Evidence Base for Public Service Media and Audiovisual Policymaking project under Professor Catherine Johnson and Dr Christopher Birchall. Anna focuses on developing computational methods to analyse the availability, prominence and discoverability of ‘critically endangered genres’ on the video-on-demand services of British Public Broadcasters.

Within the research team, Anna focuses on quantitative approaches to research and evaluate the editorial and algorithmic choices on these platforms. She holds an MSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she studied how the technological infrastructure and functionality of digital platforms shape the work strategies of content creators

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).

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

Mr Andersson has more than 20 years of experience in infrastructure industries. Before joining Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) at Director for International Affairs, Mr Andersson was Senior Economist at TRA Bahrain.  He was previously also the Chief Economist of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) for 15 years. In this role he has been active in numerous regulatory matters in the telecom sector, covering areas from market competition to spectrum allocation. This work includes involvement both from a national as well as an international perspective.

Bo Andersson has a Ph.D. in economics from Stockholm School of Economics and has a background as a researcher. He has written several papers and journal articles on price formation and competition in deregulated markets.

Brando Benifei is an Italian MEP serving his third term in the European parliament. During the previous mandate he was co-Rapporteur for the Artificial Intelligence Act and thanks to this work in March 2024 he won the prize for the Best MEP of the Mandate assigned by The Parliament Magazine.

Now he is Coordinator in the Committee on International Trade for the Socialists and Democrats Group and Chair of the European Parliament’s D-US delegation. He is member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and he works also as substitute member on the EU internal market and consumer protection and on legal affairs, always following closely digital issues

Carlos Aguilar Paredes is a board member at the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia.

Professor Aguilar Paredes was previously 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. He 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).

Bio coming soon ….

Cindy Bauwens is the Director of ALIA, Luxembourg’s independent audiovisual authority. She oversees ALIA’s mandate to ensure compliance with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) for television, on-demand services and video-sharing platforms, while also supervising radio services that fall under ALIA’s broader regulatory scope. Her work also includes overseeing public media coverage of election campaigns, monitoring film classification in cinemas and promoting media literacy.

Prior to joining ALIA, Cindy held senior legal positions at the Ministry of the Economy, where she specialised in EU internal market regulation, legislative drafting and compliance. She also managed SOLVIT Luxembourg, which resolves cross-border disputes between businesses or citizens and public authorities regarding the application of EU internal market rules. Cindy previously worked in EU trade and internal market policy in Sweden.

She holds a Master’s degree in European Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, a Swedish law degree (Juristexamen) from Stockholm University and was originally trained in French law at the Université de Poitiers.

Bio coming soon …..

Elisa Giomi is an Associate Professor at Roma Tre University, Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts, where she teaches Sociology of Media and Communication, Television Narrative, and Advertising. Prof. Giomi also teaches at the MA course in Cultural Leadership Research, a double postgraduate degree programme (University of Groningen and Roma Tre University) and coordinates the Media and Communication module of the MA in Gender and Political Studies.

Prof. Giomi is the author of more than 60 publications for major italian and international publishers and peer-reviewed journals.  Her latest publication is “Male and Female Violence in Popular Media” (Bloomsbury 2022) and “The Media today. Technologies, markets, socio-cultural issues and regulatory responses” (forthcoming).

Prof. Giomi has coordinated national and international scientific projects aimed at studying the media and identifying good practices in the sector, on behalf of various bodies and institutions including: European Parliament, EJC-European Journalism Center, EIGE-European Institute for Gender Equality. She has coordinated television content analysis projects on behalf of italian broadcasters, including monitoring the representation of women in public programming.

Prof. Giomi has collaborated with the “Commission of enquiry on feminicide, as well as on all forms of gender-based violence” of Italian Parliament; she is a member of the board of the “Gender Studies” section of the AIS-Italian Association of Sociology and of the magazine “AG.About Gender-International Journal of Gender Studies”.

By decree of the President of the Republic, Prof. Giomi was appointed on 15 September 2020 as a member of the Board of AGCOM- Authority for Communications Guarantees.

Federico Boccardi is Head of Connectivity Policy for Europe at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Before AWS, he held senior regulatory and technical positions in Ofcom (the UK communications regulator), Vodafone and Bell Labs (now part of Nokia) in the US, UK, Germany and Italy.

He has an extensive experience of technology, strategic, policy and regulatory projects across Europe, North America and LATAM. He has more than 100 between highly-cited publications, standard contributions and patents that are critical for the operations of 4G and 5G systems. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Bristol Smart Internet Lab and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He is as a Member of the Advisory Board at the UK Telecoms Innovation Network, an initiative funded by the UK Government to strengthening the UK capabilities in telecoms. He received a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Padova, Italy, and a Diploma in Strategy and Innovation from the Oxford Saïd Business School.

Francesco Sciacchitano is an Italian senior lawyer with a specialization in communications law and administrative law and a passion for international relations and cultural diversity.
After finishing his studies in Italy he obtained a MBA degree cum laude in the United States, and worked at the Bear Stearns Finance Department of New York. In 2000 he joined AGCOM, the Italian communications regulatory authority, where he has worked in both the audio-visual and the telecommunications sector.

Since 2005 he has been in charge of all the international projects carried out by AGCOM in the Balkans and in the MENA area, managing a budget amounting to more than 10 mln euro, has been assigned peer-reviews of the communications sector in various Countries and has led working groups in the main international platforms of regulators – BEREC, ERGA, EMERG. He is currently dealing with the implementation of the recent legislative initiatives aimed at regulating the digital platforms and the dissemination of content online (Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, Regulation on Political Advertising, European media Freedom Act).

He published many articles and reports on the legal frameworks of the audio-visual and telecommunications sectors in Italy and in the Countries where he worked, and he is now writing a book on the challenges of new media, of digital services and social media for the communications sector in Europe.

He has taught at the St. John’s University of New York and at the LUISS and Tor Vergata Universities in Rome.

Dr George Houpis is a Director at Frontier Economics.  His main areas of expertise are the theory and application of regulation and competition policy, market research and forecasting in the telecoms, postal and other sectors.

Examples of his recent project work include advising regulatory authorities and operators on the application of the EU telecommunications regulatory framework, fixed and mobile interconnection, regulation and costing of NGNs, margin squeeze cases in the broadband internet services market, and advice on auctioning of spectrum.  Mr Houpis has also advised on postal sector reform, including advice on access pricing and costing, competition issues in the postal sector, and costing and funding of universal service.

Dr Houpis has also extensive quantitative experience, including the production and review of forecasts for fixed and mobile revenues, penetration and usage and has provided support to a number of bids for telecommunications, TV and radio licences.’

George Xenokratis oversees EU institutional engagement for Bolt, one of Europe’s fastest-growing mobility platforms, focused on making cities more livable by rethinking urban transport. In his role, he works with policymakers, stakeholders, and civil society to help shape regulatory frameworks that support digital transformation, unlock opportunities, and enhance Europe’s tech competitiveness.

Before joining Bolt, he worked in consulting firms and multinational companies, advising businesses on EU policymaking. He began his career in Washington, D.C., supporting policy engagement with the U.S. Congress on behalf of a civil society organization.

Mr Xenokratis studied International Politics at Johns Hopkins SAIS as a Fulbright Scholar and is passionate about policies that drive digital innovation to address global challenges.

Gordon Moir was appointed a Partner with Wiggin LLP in November 2020.

Mr Moir is well known in the telecommunications space and is a global leader in the delivery of complex projects involving aligned legal, regulatory, public affairs and media strategies and the leading of multi-disciplinary teams. Mr Moir was Chair of the well-respected International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Task Force on Telecoms and ICT, driving their work on international market access, internet policies and dispute settlement and resolution models globally as well as internet policy.

Mr Moir was previously General Counsel and on the executive of BT Retail (1999-2009), as well as having responsibility for BT’s global antitrust and regulatory activity. During his ten years at BT, he secured access to markets and wholesale facilities across the world as well as dealing with a vast array of commercial, legal and regulatory matters. He was recognised by the Lawyer magazine as one of the UK’s top 100 lawyers for his work on telecommunications regulation and regulatory policy.

Post BT, Mr Moir was head of the London office of Webb Henderson (2011-2014), a boutique regulatory firm, before taking his team across to Shepherd and Wedderburn to continue that work in 2014 until 2020 after successfully building the practice.

Mr Moir has had a Placement with Judge Edward, European Court of Justice. He is also an Author of works on the Maastricht Treaty, and previously editor of Encyclopaedia of European Union Law, both Sweet and Maxwell

Mr Moir has an LLM from College of Europe, Belgium, cum laude, a Dip LP from University of Aberdeen and andLLB (Hons) from University of Aberdeen.

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.

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.

Currently Head of Telecoms and Space for Amazon’s EU Public Policy team, Jordi Casanova has over a decade of experience in competition and regulatory economics across a wide range of fields. Before joining Amazon in 2023, he was a senior economist at the EFTA Surveillance Authority, following on from roles focusing on telecoms and competition at the European Commission, Ofcom and the Spanish Market and Competition Authority. Jordi holds degrees in economics from the University of Valencia and Université Libre de Bruxelles, as well as an LLM from the College of Europe in Bruges. In addition to his interest in all things competition, regulation and policy, Jordi enjoys identifying promising startups to invest in and took his interest in viticulture to the next level as a co-owner of a start-up winery in his native Valencia.

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.

Lisa Gius is an associate in the Privacy and Tech & Comms teams in Belgium. Her work covers topics ranging from data protection and the EU’s new digital legislation to cybersecurity, regulatory advice on telecommunications and the review of IT contracts.

Working in data and technology-related legal matters provides an exciting combination: defending interests at the heart of our clients’ businesses and being afforded the opportunity to work in a fast-evolving field.

At Bird & Bird, Ms Gius practices both in an advisory and contentious capacity, mainly for clients from the technology, communications, hospitality, retail, biomedical and sports sectors.

Amongst others, she regularly advise clients in the context of investigations by the Belgian Data Protection Authority and assist them in building their global data protection strategy. Ms Gius also has significant experience in understanding the impact of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on clients’ online services and supporting their compliance efforts with commercially oriented solutions.

In light of the upcoming NIS2 cybersecurity regime, Ms Gius frequently helps multinational clients adopt a consistent approach across jurisdictions despite the fragmented implementation by Member States. For clients interested in implementing AI solutions or the exploitation of IoT data in their business model, she also delivers dynamic contract review and early compliance advice regarding the Data Act and AI Act.

Mr Gius has a Master of Intellectual Property and ICT law from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), and a Master’s degree – with a concentration in commercial and IP law – from the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain).

Lucas Bertrand, Founder and CEO of Looper Insights has 25+ years of experience in building retail, tech and media companies. He was also the Founder and CEO of MoMedia (UK), a digital media business that delivered TV & Film content to broadcast and digital platforms from 220+ TV & Film producers, distributors & TV Channels.

Luís Viegas Cardoso is a member of the EU’s Competitiveness Task Force created by President Von der Leyen, shaping the bloc’s economic strategy for the next five years. As part of the team behind the Competitiveness Compass, he helped define its core policy vision.

Previously, he worked at President’s Von der Leyen Advisory Service (I.D.E.A.), advising on digital, technology, and innovation. Before that, he was a digital specialist at the European Commission’s think tank (EPSC), reporting to President Juncker. From 2011-2017, he advised the European Parliament on digital and innovation policies. Earlier in his career, he was a strategic consultant and served on the management board and senate of the University of Coimbra.

Mr. Viegas Cardoso is a Visiting Policy Fellow at the University of Oxford, researching emerging technologies, AI, and the data economy. He holds an International MSc in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership from ESCP Business School, a degree in Economics from the University of Coimbra, and an executive diploma in Foresight, Strategy, and Innovation from ISEG. He delivers academic lectures and seminars at the Oxford Internet Institute, ESCP Business School, and The College of Europe.

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’.

As the International Affairs Director at Coimisiún na Meán, the media and online safety regulator in Ireland, Maria leads its programme of international engagement, overseeing relationships with European and global institutions. She represents an Coimisiún on the full range of online platform and media regulatory and policy questions. Prior to her current role, she worked for six years as the Head of International Content Policy at the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom where, among other things, she was responsible for Ofcom’s input into the negotiations on the 2018 AVMS Directive and its response to the original consultations on the Digital Services Act. She served as a member of the Board of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) from 2018-2024 and has worked extensively as an expert member of Council of Europe working groups, developing recommendations on media policy, including chairing the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform.

Previously, Maria worked in advertising regulation and as a radio producer for the BBC World Service. She has a Bachelors Degree in Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a Masters Degree in Literary Translation.

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.

Matteo Quattrocchi is the Head of EU AI Policy for Cisco’s EU Office, in addition to focusing on other key policy areas such as IP, Competition, and Platforms. He joined Cisco’s Brussels Government Affairs Team in May 2024. He was previously Director, Policy – EMEA at BSA – The Software Alliance, leading its work on AI. Matteo has been based in Brussels since 2013, having worked in consultancy and at the U.S. Mission to the EU. Matteo holds a Master’s Degree in EU Law from LUISS University, and an LLM in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University.

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.

Bio coming soon …..

Bio coming soon ……

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.

Philip Marnick is the General Director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). He was appointed early January 2022 by the Members of the Board, to assume the position, paving the way for a more effective regulatory framework by continuing the evolution of the telecom sector liberalization.

Mr Marnick leads the TRA, including the development of consumer protection initiatives and resolving disputes. The TRA develops regulatory rules that promote competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities, as well as developing a more comprehensive and competitive framework that aligns with international best practices. Ensuring that Bahrain remains a center of innovation and that its telecommunications sector serves everyone while supporting Bahrain’s strategic objectives.

Before assuming his role at the TRA, Mr Marnick managed and directed at Ofcom in the UK, where he was the Group Director of Spectrum responsible for all aspects of UK national and international spectrum management – from strategy to delivery including awards, clearance and enforcement. Mr Marnick has worked in the telecommunications sector for over 30 years. He has served as a senior executive in technology, operations, and strategy. Mr Marnick has worked in both start-ups (from inception to sale) and major corporations, in firms such as UK Broadband, O2, Orange, BT, J-Phone in Japan (now Softbank Mobile), Extreme Mobile, and SpinVox (now Nuance).

From analogue to 5G, he has engaged across every mobile generation. Throughout his carrier he has been at the forefront of industry developments – in both fixed and mobile. He has collaborated on the first deployments of mobile networks utilizing new technologies and standards, this has also included innovative products such as the first camera phone and photo messaging service, as well as mobile internet and hosted voice services.

Dr Renate Dörr is responsible for European Regulatory Affairs (Legal department and European Affairs Office) within ZDF one of the German public service broadcasters. Since 2020 she is chair of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) Content Regulation Group.

Before joining ZDF she was a German civil servant and worked for the Federal Government (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media) as well as for a Regional Government (State Chancellery of Hamburg). She was equally a Seconded National Expert in DG Information Society and Media of the European Commission.

Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in 1993 she joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and since 2003 she has worked for the EFJ.

Her responsibilities include advocacy at the EU and Council of Europe levels, representing the EFJ at international meetings, delivering lectures, participating in fact-finding missions on media freedom, and serving on juries for journalistic prizes. She also oversees project work and provides guidance to several EFJ expert groups, including those focused on freelancers, media literacy, and AI. Additionally, she has been leading the Federation’s debate on the European Media Freedom Act.

Renate studied International Relations and Political Science at Boston University (Bachelor’s Degree in 1988) and in Berlin at the Free University (Master in 1992). She worked at the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Brussels before she joined the EFJ. She is of German nationality and speaks English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

Robert Mourik  is Chairperson, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

Mr Mourik has almost thirty years’ experience in the telecoms sector, as an industry executive and as Government official.

Prior to joining ComReg, he worked for Cubic Telecom, a new entrant in the automotive IoT space, where he was responsible for all wholesale activities. Robert spent almost 10 years in Telefonica as the European Regulatory Strategy Director at their corporate HQ in Madrid and as Strategy Director in Ireland.

He also worked for Vodafone Group, as its head of the Brussels Office and in the regulatory department in Newbury, UK.

In 1991, Mr Mourik began his career in the Dutch Department for Transport and Telecommunication and from 1994 until 1999 he served, as Telecom Attache at the Netherlands’ Permanent Representation in Brussels. He was a Member and Chair of the Council Telecoms Working Group in 1998 when the first telecom regulatory package was adopted.

Mr Mourik studied Economics and Public Policy at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and the University of Hull (UK).

Rowena works for the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the Head of International Content Policy, covering media, content and broadcasting issues. She leads on Ofcom’s engagement with other international media regulators and other global bodies and represents Ofcom on the full range of media and content policy questions.

Before moving to Ofcom’s International team, Rowena spent six years in Ofcom’s Broadcasting and Media Group where she had a particular focus on the audiovisual sector, media ownership and European regulatory frameworks. She directed programmes of work that set the foundation for much of the UK’s broadcasting regulation, alongside leading on forward-looking policy work. Prior to that, Rowena worked at the Financial Ombudsman Service for eight years, rising to the role of Ombudsman.

Sheryl Willson is a Strategy Principal within Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, whose remit includes implementing the UK’s Online Safety regime. She has supported implementation of the new regime since its inception – both in roles at Ofcom and within Government. Sheryl currently leads on setting Ofcom’s strategic vision for the Online Safety regime and working with supervisory/enforcement – and broader – teams to help make sure Ofcom achieves its goals. Prior to this, Sheryl worked in enforcement roles within Ofcom and also in financial services regulation in various roles.

Thomas Gils is a research associate at CiTiP involved in the Knowledge Centre Data & Society. He is responsible for the Knowledge Centre’s policy monitor and policy prototyping initiaves. As part of his tasks at the Knowledge Centre, he informs Belgian and Flemish stakeholders (incl. policy makers, companies, public institutions and civil society) about the legal aspects of data-driven and AI applications. His latest research focuses on the transparency requirements under the EU AI Act.

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.

Victoria de Posson is currently the Secretary General of the European Tech Alliance (EUTA), a role she took on in September 2022. The EUTA is an organisation that represents leading European-born tech companies. In her role, Victoria works on digital policies, including on digital services, artificial intelligence, and competition. She also manages the day-to-day operations of the alliance.

Before joining EUTA, Victoria held a senior position in public policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and at FTI Consulting. She started her career at Samsung Electronics and the European Parliament. Victoria studied European Affairs at the College of Europe and International Relations at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve.

In addition to her work in tech policy, she is also involved in promoting gender equality in the digital sector.