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The second version of Europe’s Digital Transformation conference took place in Brussels and online on June 28, 2022. This year’s event built on the success of the 2021 edition, by bringing together different European industrial sectors, and representatives from small, medium, and large European businesses, for a 360° discussion on digital transformation and economic recovery. Thematic topics to be addressed include industrial data sharing, access and collaboration, and the twin ambitions of a green and digital transition of Europe’s economies.
As Europe pushes forward with its digital transformation agenda, boosted by the Recovery and Resilience Facility and numerous recent legislative initiatives, this year’s Digital Transformation conference looked at how European industries large and small are accelerating shifts to digital technologies and services, the challenges and learnings from this process, and where the evolution of legislation at EU and member state level can continue to facilitate innovation, economic development and increased digital competitiveness, underpinned by strong European values.
Policymakers, industry representatives, and crucially, European start-ups and scaleups joined for a conversation around what's next for Europe's digital transformation journey.
Time (CEST) | Description |
---|---|
10:10 - 10:15 | Introductory RemarksCasper Klynge, Vice President for European Government Affairs, Microsoft |
10:15 – 10:25 | Keynote AddressPetr Očko, Deputy Minister for new technologies at Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic |
10:25 – 10:35 | Keynote AddressDaniel Mes, Cabinet Member, Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commission |
10:35 - 10:45 | Q&A |
10:45 – 11:45 | Digital Transformation in the context of Economic RecoveryMarco Bianchini, Economist, OECD Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament, President of the European Movement International Antti Riivari, Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Government of Finland Felicia Stanescu, Head of Unit, Recovery and Resilience Task Force, European Commission Moderated by: Lena Lundgreen, Regional Business Leader Government, Microsoft |
11:45 – 12:00 | Break |
12:00 – 13:15 | Data Sharing & Access for Digital Transformation – Facilitating greater data collaboration and re-use in EuropeMalte Beyer-Katzenberger, Policy Officer, DG Connect, European Commission Pilar del Castillo Vera, Member of the European Parliament Mara Gómez, Manager for Corporate Regulation, Telefónica Anissa Kemiche, EU Affairs Manager, numeum Walter Pasquarelli, Manager Tech and Society, Economist Impact Moderated by: Jeremy Rollison, Senior Director, European Government Affairs, Microsoft In collaboration with: ![]() |
13:15 – 14:15 | Lunch |
14:15 – 15:30 | Digital & sustainable solutions supporting the Twin TransitionBen Brake, Director General of the Directorate "Digital and Data policy", German Ministry for Digital and Transport Deirdre Clune, Member of the European Parliament Phillip Cornell, Principal for Energy and Sustainability, Economist Impact Bernard Lebelle, CEO & Co-Founder, The Green Link Erik Skjetne, Digitalization Manager, Northern Lights Moderated by: Petra Cicek, CEE Sustainability Lead, Microsoft In collaboration with: ![]() |
15:30 – 15:45 | Break |
15:45 – 16:55 | Digital Transformation in the Public Sector & ServicesAnna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, Member of the European Parliament Leonidas Christopoulos, Secretary General of Digital Governance and Process Simplification, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece Gabriel Bellenger, Managing Director – Consulting, Public Service, Revenue Lead, Accenture Christiane Kirketerp de Viron, Cabinet Member, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, European Commission Andrea Pescino, Partner and Founder, StratejAI Moderated by: Thomas Spörri, Commercial Legal Lead for Public Sector and Health, Microsoft |
16:55 – 17:00 | Closing RemarksJeremy Rollison, Senior Director, European Government Affairs, Microsoft |
Meet the speakers who joined this event and shared insights.
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger has studied law and political science at the universities of Trier, Aix-en-Provence and at the College of Europe (Bruges).
After qualifying for the German bar in 2007, he worked at the Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany.
In 2011 he joined the European Commission and has been specialising on policies supporting data-driven innovation.
Most recently, he was involved in the formulation of the 2020 EU data strategy and the formulation and negotiation of the Data Governance Act. He currently is involved in the negotiation of the Data Act.
Director General of the Directorate "Digital and Data policy", German Ministry for Digital and Transport
Secretary General of Digital Governance and Process Simplification, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
BiographyMember of the European Parliament
Manager for Corporate Regulation, Telefónica
Cabinet Member, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, European Commission
BiographyCasper Klynge is the Vice President of European Government Affairs at Microsoft. Previously, Casper Klynge has been serving as Denmark’s Tech Ambassador in Silicon Valley, he was Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea & ASEAN and to the Republic of Cyprus.
Prior to that, Klynge worked in several positions within the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Senior Civilian Representative / Deputy Head of NATO’s multinational Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan and as Head of the European Union’s civilian crisis management mission in Kosovo). Earlier in his diplomatic career he lived and worked in Brussels, working with the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of the EU.
Klynge holds a master’s degree in political science from Copenhagen University, and is a 2009 Marshall Memorial Fellow.
Member of the European Parliament, President of the European Movement International
BiographyDeputy Minister for new technologies at Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
BiographyAndrea Pescino is a mathematician and an AI & digital technology expert. He has been working on digital transformation projects for last 30 years and focusing on cognitive computing, Internet of things, Smart Working, Big Data Analytics and Cloud Transformation. He has founded several consulting companies operating in this field and has worked in tight connections with leading technology companies. In 2010 Mr. Pescino joined the EMEA board of IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners) and is a Member of the Partner Advisory Council (PAC) of Microsoft Corporation in Redmond as an expert on Cloud Computing, Data & Digital Transformation. His vision of technology and his expertise in the field of Data & Machine Learning led him to founding Digital Tree, an initiative developed with the municipality of Genoa, Liguria Regional government, Microsoft and the University of Genoa, to foster the development of competencies in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
He has worked in several projects for the European Commission and other multi-lateral organizations, including some lighthouse projects on the use of data and artificial intelligence. Regarding data in the Healthcare space he has worked on the analysis of pandemic data in Italy, Kenya and Pakistan, he has defined an AI model to obtain early diagnosis of Chronical Kidney Disease (CKD), has worked on modern approaches like data collaboratives for cardiovascular (AI4BetterHearts) and Gastric Cancer (Carecol), he also contribute to create model for patient reported outcomes to structure value-driven healthcare models for Chron’s and colitis. Recently he became a member of the healthcare committee of Gaia-X.
Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Government of Finland
BiographyFelicia Stanescu has over 10 years of experience in the European Commission, leading work on financial services policy and on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility in Member States. In her role as Head of Unit for the Commission’s SG-RECOVER Task Force, she is responsible for Greece, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and for the digital and single market aspects of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Prior to this, she was Head of Policy Definition and Coordination at DG FISMA (Financial Services). She has worked on policy at DG FISMA and DG MARKT since 2010.
Prior to the European Commission, she had over 10 years of experience in the private sector, managing and advising on Mergers & Acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings in different countries and sectors (transport, energy, consumer services, biotech). She held several managerial positions at BNP Paribas Fortis, ABN AMRO Rothschild and KMPG, in London and Bucharest.
Ms. Stanescu holds a degree in Business Administration from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and a first class degree in Economics from the University of Kent.
Our sessions from the last years are available for on-demand viewing.