Frédérick Bordry

Director of Technology,

CERN

Since 2014 Frédérick Bordry acts as the Director for Accelerators and Technology, where he is responsible for the operation and exploitation of the whole CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)  accelerator complex, with particular emphasis on the LHC and for the development of new projects and technologies.

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His strategic focus is to make sure that the CERN accelerator’s technologies will stay ahead of the technological curve beyond 2040.

Jeffrey Franks

Director,

International Monetary Fund

Europe

Jeffrey Franks is Director of the IMF Europe Office and Senior Resident Representative to the European Union, based in Brussels.

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A 25-year veteran of the Fund, he has held numerous other assignments, including heading the resident offices, and leading teams in several countries.

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He received his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard, and has Master’s degrees from Princeton and Oxford universities.

Tomas Petricek

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Czech Republic

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GABRIEL EICHLER

Founder & Member of Advisory Board,

Benson Oak Capital

Mr Gabriel Eichler is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at MONETA Money Bank, a.s.

He serves as Member of Advisory Board at Benson Oak Capital which he founded in 1991. Former positions of Mr Eichler include Chief International Economist of Bank of America, and regional General Manager for Bank of America in Paris, Vienna, and Frankfurt.

ESTHER NAKAJJIGO

Global Young Leader for Women & Migration

Founder, Reality TV show “Saving Innocence Challenge”

At 17, Esther Nakajjigo was named Uganda's Ambassador for Women and Girls.

She donated her university tuition and started a community health facility with a Teenage Centre supporting child mothers. She owns a popular reality television show on teenage pregnancy called “Saving Innocence Challenge” applauded by EU in Uganda as one of the best self-sustaining girl-lead models in the world, championed as well as financed by local girls for local girls

THOMAS ROCA

Data Strategist and Economist,

Microsoft & LinkedIn

Thomas Roca is Data Strategist and Economist at Microsoft & LinkedIn within the Government Affairs team.

Thomas conducts economic research about the future of work, the impact of Artificial Intelligence and automation on the labor market.

His favorite field of research is at the cross roads between data-science and socio-economic analysis.

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Thomas gives data-training for the United Nation System Staff College in collaboration with Data-Pop Alliance (ODI, MIT media Lab, Harvard HHI) 

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ViKtoria Li

Swedish Ambassador

to the Czech Republic

ROBERT-JAN SMITS

Senior Adviser for

Open Access and Innovation

Robert-Jan Smits was Director-General of DG Research and Innovation (RTD) at the European Commission from July 2010 to February 2018.

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In this capacity he was responsible for defining and implementing the EU policy and programmes in the field of research and innovation.

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Mr Smits was one of the main architects and negotiators of Horizon 2020, the 80 billion EU programme for science and innovation (2014-2020).

SHMUEL BAR

Founder, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, IntuView Ltd

Dr. Shmuel Bar founded IntuView Ltd in 2005 and serves as its Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. Bar served for thirty years in the Israeli government, first in the IDF Intelligence and then in the Israeli Office of the Prime Minister. Since the mid 1980's he specialized in the ideology and operational codes of Islamic fundamentalist movements and particularly of the Jihadi movement that later evolved into al-Qaeda.

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Gabriela Svarovska is the Deputy Director of the Prague Civil Society Centre and head of the Grants Programme.

She has worked in politics, civil society and journalism in the Czech Republic and EU for more than 20 years, including as human rights director for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Office of President Václav Havel.

GABRIELA SVAROVSKA

Deputy Director,

Prague Civil Society Centre

Tony Curzon Price

Economic Advisor to the Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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Robert Kvile

Ambassador of Noway

to the Czech Republic

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Barbora Buhnova

Associate Professor

Masaryk University

Barbora Buhnova is an Associate Professor at Masaryk University (MU) in Brno, leading multiple research teams at both the Faculty of Informatics of MU (software architecture, critical infrastructures, smart cities) and the Institute of Computer Science of MU (big data analytics). Serving in the Academic Senate, she organizes leading conferences around the globe.

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She is the Technology and Course Development director of the Czechitas.A non-profit organization , which aims to inspire and empower new talents for stronger diversity in tech.

Carlos Alvarez Pereira

Founder & President,

Innaxis Foundation & Research Institute

An entrepreneur in IT consulting and former researcher in systems dynamics, Carlos Alvarez Pereira created Innaxis to address complexity as a paradigm shift in civilization to jointly serve humanity and the biosphere.

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In addition to his role as the founder of the Innaxis Foundation and Research Institute, Carlos is also a Member of the Board of the Club of Rome, an organization that strives to promote understanding of global challenges and proposes solutions through scientific analysis, communication, and advocacy.

IaIN Begg

​Professor, London School of Economics, leading European expert on economic governance

DAVID WELCH

Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo

David A. Welch is CIGI Chair of Global Security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.

Mr Welch is also Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, where he has recently been working on Asia-Pacific

Mr. Karel Janecek, MBA, Ph.D. serves as Chief Executive Officer of RSJ:  From 1998 to 2000, he worked for a hedge fund Market Research, Ltd. as a mathematical analyst. He teaches graduate courses in Financial Mathematics for the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University  Mr. Janecek is a Ph.D. graduate in the field of Mathematical Finance at Carnegie Mellon University.

He graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in the field of Probability and Mathematical Statistics. He also holds an MBA in finance from Bradley University.

Karel Janecek

Founder,

Institute for Democracy 21 &

Neuron Fund

bohumil kartous

Head of Communications & Analyst,

EDUin

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Dominik stroukal

Economist &

Expert on Cryptocurrency

Dominik Stroukal is and is a Chief Economist at Roklen, Czech financial group. He is a former director of Liberální institut, the first Czech (and Slovak) classically liberal think-tank, and a former president of the Czech and Slovak Ludwig von Mises Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Economic Theories and MA in Economic Analysis at the University of Economics, and MA in Media Studies at Charles University, both in Prague, Czech Republic. He is a lecturer at the CEVRO Institute University. He taught at University of Finance and Administration, University of Economics in Prague and at two high schools.

Jinelle piereder

Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation

Jinelle Piereder is a PhD candidate in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA), specializing in conflict and security.

Supervised by Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon, Jinelle works within the Ideological Conflict Project based at the School. Using approaches and tools from complexity science, her research focuses on the role(s) of ideological conflict in global governance around arms trade/control and climate change.

Ronen Palan, Professor of International Political Economy, City University London is the author of several books and articles on topics ranging from offshore to evolutionary theory.  

Books include The Offshore World: Sovereign Markets, Virtual Places and Nomad Millionaires (Cornell 2003), Tax Havens: How Globalization Really Works (with Richard Murphy and Christian Chavagneux (Cornell 2010).

Ronen Palan

Professor of International

Political Economy,

City University London

Andrew Thompson

Global Governance Program Officer,

Basillie School of International Affairs,

University of Waterloo, Canada

Andrew S. Thompson is adjunct assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and the program officer for the global governance programs at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Waterloo, and is a specialist in the fields of international human rights, civil society movements and fragile states.

ANNA SHAVIT

Anna Shavit is head of the Department of Marketing communication and public relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague. Her specialization includes areas such as political and electoral marketing in the Czech Republic and worldwide.

She also deals with the development of the electoral campaign, the government’s communications and public affairs. In 2007 she worked as a volunteer in the campaign of Hillary Clinton, in 2011 she participated in the campaign of candidate for mayor of San Francisco, Tony Hall.

Head of Marketing, Communication & Public Relations,

Charles University in Prague

Jiri Schneider

Deputy Director,

Prague Civil Society Centre

Jiri Schneider is the Executive Director of Aspen Institute Central Europe.

Between 1990 and 1992, Mr Schneider served as a Member of Czechoslovak Parliament. In 1995, he became

Czech Ambassador to Israel until 1998.

Between 2010 and 2014, Mr Schneider served as First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic.

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He graduated at The Czech Technical University (ČVUT) and obtained a Diploma in Religious Studies from University of Cambridge. 

Oldrich Bures

Founding Director,

Center for Security Studies

Oldrich Bures is the founding director of the Center for Security Studies and Professor of International Political Relations at Metropolitan University Prague.

He was previously a senior lecturer at Palacky University, a Fulbright Fellow at the Joan. B. Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame, and an External Research Fellow at the Centre for European Security, School of English, Sociology, Politics & Contemporary History, University of Salford.

Johann Cas

Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

Johann Čas is an economist with a technical background.

His current research focus is on artificial intelligence, data protection and privacy in the information society, security and surveillance, and assistive technologies with a particular focus on societal impacts and compliance with fundamental rights and values. He is also acting as ethics reviewer and advisor of research proposals and projects.

Josef urban

Principal Researcher,

Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC)

Joseh Urban is a Principal Researcher at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) of the Czech Technical University in Prague where he is heading the ERC-funded project AI4REASON. His interests include Automated Reasoning, Formal Verification and Machine Learning.

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In particular, he is interested in development of combined  inductive/learning and deductive/reasoning "strong AI" methods and systems over large formal (fully semantically specified) knowledge bases.

Joerg Forbig

Director,

Fund for Belarus Democracy

Dr. Joerg Forbrig is a senior transatlantic fellow for Central and Eastern Europe, and director of the Fund for Belarus Democracy. Based in GMF's office in Berlin, he leads the organization's efforts to assist civil society in Belarus, while his analytical and policy work focuses on Europe's East broadly, including the new member countries of the European Union and the EU's Eastern neighborhood.

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​Prior to joining GMF in 2002, Forbrig worked as a Robert Bosch Foundation fellow at the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, Poland.

Wojciech Przybylski

Editor-in-Chief, Visegrad Insight

Chairman, Res Publica Foundation in Vienna

Wojciech Przybylski is the editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight and chairman of Res Publica Foundation in Warsaw. Previously he was the editor-in-chief of Eurozine - a magazine representing a network of European cultural journals, and - a Polish journal Res Publica Nowa.

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In 2014 he has launched and leads the 'New Europe 100' project that is networking and bringing forward a community of successful innovators from CEE across the fields of business, research media, NGO and public administration run jointly by Res Publica, Financial Times and Google. He is a member of the advisory board of the European Forum of New Ideas and the European Digital Forum. 

Madeleine Boem

Research Associate,

Department of International Relations, University of Erfurt

Madeleine Boehm is a PhD candidate at the department of International Relations at the University of Erfurt. After having completed a Master’s degree in Freiburg, Cape Town and Delhi, she is now working on understanding how International Political Economy deals with technologies and how technologies change labour on a global level.

Her research interests include International Political Economy, International Relations Theory, Labour Economics and Labour Sociology and Technologies

Marek Havrda

Strategic Advisor,

GoodAI

Jukka Pesola

Finnish Ambassador

to Czech Republic

Tomas Sedlacek

Author of Economics of Good and Evil  

philosopher of economics  

Tomáš Sedláček is a Czech economist and university lecturer.

He is the Chief Macroeconomic Strategist at ČSOB, a former member of the National Economic Council of the Czech Republic and an economic advisor to former President Václav Havel.

Frantisek Sulc

Army and Defence Expert

Seth Adler is the Editor of the AI Network and host of the AI Network Podcast, part of IQPC's flagship podcast series, B2BiQ. Seth aims to provide a pithy, sharp and entertaining peek into this fast-growing sector through the personal experiences of senior execs that are driving extraordinary change within their organizations

Seth Adler

Editor,

Artificial Intelligence Network

Maksym Kyiak is a Doctor of Philosophy, a Deputy Director in the Central European Institute and a Co-Founder of the “Global Ukrainians”, a worldwide network of public diplomats.

He worked at various academic and governmental institutions in Ukraine and abroad. He has represented Ukraine at the CAHROM Committee in the Council of Europe and one of the co-authors of the research of the NATO StratCom COE on a role of humor in strategic communications `StratCom laughs: in search of an analytical framework`. Maksym is also working on his postdoctoral research on information society and its influence on religious processes.

Maksym Kyiak

Deputy Director, Co-founder,

Central European Institute, Global Ukranians

teresa raiter

Security Consultant,

NEOS

Teresa Reiter is a policy advisor for the Austrian liberal party, NEOS. She covers foreign policy, European affairs, defence and development. Previously, she worked as a journalist focussing on the Western Balkans region. Teresa graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and Kingston University in London and holds degrees in German language and literature, international affairs and journalism.

rory field

CEO,

ViennEast

Rory Field lives in Vienna and is C.E.O. of ViennEast Ltd, a business
intelligence, due diligence and risk advisory consultancy, focused on the
Central and Eastern European region but with global reach.

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Rory was Director of Public Prosecutions (D.P.P.) of Bermuda (2007-2016),
Legal Advisor on Organized Crime for the O.S.C.E. in Serbia (2003-2007)
and D.P.P. of Belize (1999-2001). He is a barrister specialized in criminal
law who was called to the Bar in 1980 and is a door tenant of 15 New Bridge
Street Chambers, London. Rory is also a certified civil and commercial
mediator.

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Marcus How is the head of research and analysis. He studied at the University of Nottingham and Kings College London, ultimately obtaining a Masters in International Political Economy. He has seven years of experience in the political risk sector, which included working at a leading information consultancy in London. He is specialised in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) generally but with particular expertise in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.

Marcus how

Head of Research & Analysis,

ViennEast

Brady Hills currently manages operations and ICT related components at the International Republican Institutes Beacon Project, which examines the nexus of disinformation & other forms of hostile influence, democratic governance in Europe. He currently holds a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and a Masters in Philosophy from the Trinity College in Dublin.

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brady hills

Programme Officer,

​International Republican Institute

alena vranova

ex-CEO,

Satoshi Lab

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jonas Syrovatka

Security Analyst,

Prague Security Studies Institute

Jonáš Syrovátka is a Program Manager at PSSI, working primarily on projects concerning Russian influence activities in the Czech Republic. He holds a Master's degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Masaryk University in Brno.

During his undergraduate studies he focused on the development of Russian political system and its history.

Lukáš Kovanda, Ph.D., is a Czech economist and author focusing on economic literature, and is Chief Economist at CZECH FUND. His work there includes analyzing and commenting on macroeconomic issues, investments, and emerging phenomena such as sharing economy, cryptocurrencies and fintechs.He is a Department of Economics lecturer at the University of Economics in Prague and is a member of the Scientific Board of the Czech Banking Association. He has published two collections of interviews with Nobel laureates and other prominent economists. 

lukas kovanda

Chief Economist,

Czech Fund

Jan Capek

CEO,

Braiins

As the CEO of Braiins, Jan Capek runs the company which has been operating the very first Bitcoin mining pool - Slush Pool - since 2013, and is also behind Braiiins OS, the very first open-source software for cryptocurrency mining devices.

tomas sedlacek

Chief Economist Strategist,

CSOB

Author of Economics of Good and Evil, philosopher of economics Tomas Sedlacek gained international fame for his award-winning, bestselling book "Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street". He was listed among the top 100 most influential global thinkers (Top 100 Thought Leaders, GDI). Born in 1977 in Prague, Sedlacek became, at the age of 24, an economic advisor of Czech president Václav Havel. He currently works as a chief macroeconomic strategist at Czech commercial bank CSOB.

Jan Koukal

Jiri skuhrovec

President,

EconLab

Expert on both big and small data on public investments. Jiri Skuhrovec team extracts information on public procurement of all EU, bringing novel insights and approaches into this largely rigid field. In award-winning zindex.cz he benchmarks procurement performance of cities and government offices to motivate their improvement. Their current work should soon shed light on major portion of EU tenders awarded to tax-haven based companies.

jan lukacevic

Research Assistant,

Academy of Science

vladimir marik

Founder,

CIIRC & Neuron

Tomáš Strážay, PhD works as a Senior Fellow and Head of the Central and Southeastern Europe Research Program at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), Bratislava, Slovakia. He is a leading expert in the projects focusing on regional cooperation in Central Europe and EU enlargement. Since 2007 he has cooperated with the European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions and European Parliament as an expert advisor to the rapporteurs/author of briefing notes.

tomas strazay

Senior Researcher,

SFPA

Roland Galharague

French Ambassador

to Czech Republic

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Graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, a graduate of advanced studies in history of the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, Roland Galharague was first secretary at the Embassy of France in Washington (1996-1999), head of the press service and spokesperson of the French Embassy in London, second in command of the French Embassy in South Africa, and Ambassador of France in Budapest. In Paris, he was notably Deputy Director of the Center for Analysis and Forecasting, Director of Continental Europe, Deputy Director General of Political Affairs and Security at the Quai d'Orsay.