Europe’s Digital Transformation:

Delivering the Digital Decade

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.

Agenda

Tuesday, June 28th, 2022
Time (CEST)	Description
10:10 - 10:15	Introductory Remarks Casper Klynge, Vice President for European Government Affairs, Microsoft
10:15 – 10:25	Keynote Address Petr Očko, Deputy Minister for new technologies at Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
10:25 – 10:35	Keynote Address Daniel 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 Recovery Marco 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 Europe Malte 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 Transition Ben 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 & Services Anna-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 Remarks Jeremy Rollison, Senior Director, European Government Affairs, Microsoft

Featured speakers

Meet the speakers who joined this event and shared insights.

Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou
Member of the European Parliament
Biography
Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou
Member of the European Parliament
Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou is a Greek Member of the European Parliament affiliated to the European People’s Party (EPP), an economist and an attorney-at-law. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and is a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).
Gabriel Bellenger
Managing Director – Consulting, Public Service, Revenue Lead, Accenture
Biography
Gabriel Bellenger
Managing Director – Consulting, Public Service, Revenue Lead, Accenture
Gabriel Bellenger is the global consulting lead for the Revenue Industry and the management consulting lead for Europe. In his role, he supports government agencies’ transformation and provides sustainable change to government clients globally. Gabriel is responsible for helping business leaders to exploit the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, robotics process automation, machine learning, micro-segmentation and big data, and manage their impact on service design, the liquid workforce, agile delivery and digital operating models. Gabriel brings more than 20 years of industry experience in advising senior political stakeholders around the world, such as the UK Cabinet Office and other equivalent member states, the EU commission, the World Bank, OECD and the Asian Development Bank. Undertaking more than 400 consulting assignments, Gabriel has significant experience in delivering large-scale programs in public sector organizations. In particular, Gabriel has helped revenue collection agencies to save billions of dollars and more efficiently collect additional revenues. Gabriel acted as the Accenture program director in the design and delivery of the European Centre for Government Transformation in 2009/2010. He has also developed numerous innovations, including patents for process automation, and is a regular conference speaker. As the president of the International Committee at the London Mayfair Rotary club, Gabriel is working with fellow Rotarians to eradicate Polio through education and international programs. Gabriel holds an Executive Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Business Administration from Paris Dauphine University in Paris and Shanghai, a Master of Business Administration from Bristol Business School in the United Kingdom and a master’s degree in Mathematical Decision Modelling from Grande Ecole d’ingénieur EISTI, France. He is currently based in the United Kingdom.
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger
Policy Officer, DG Connect, European Commission
Biography
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger
Policy Officer, DG Connect, European Commission
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.
Marco Bianchini
Economist, OECD
Biography
Marco Bianchini
Economist, OECD
Marco Bianchini is an Economist of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities of the OECD and the Coordinator of the “Digital for SMEs” Global Initiative. Mr Bianchini has worked on finance, regulation and innovation policies with a focus on Small and Medium Enterprises. He has published research papers and reports on firms’ uptake of digital technologies (including emerging technologies as blockchain and artificial intelligence) and has directly supported governments across the globe (i.e. Western and Eastern Europe, Middle-East, South East Asia, Central Asia, and South America).
He coordinates the OECD “Digital for SMEs” (D4SME) Global Initiative since its conception in 2019 - a multi-stakeholder dialogue among OECD governments, large and small enterprises, business associations, academia and NGOs that aims to promote knowledge sharing and learning on how to enable all SMEs to make the most of the digital shift.The initiative places a specific emphasis on the diverse opportunities and needs for the large “missing middle” of “traditional” SMEs and entrepreneurs that are not yet digitalised and on their role for an effective, inclusive and sustainable digital transition of the whole economy.
Mr Bianchini holds a bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Florence and a Master of Science in Economics from Bocconi University (Italy), both obtained “summa cum laude”. Before joining the OECD, Mr Bianchini worked in McKinsey, specialising in corporate finance and macroeconomics.
Ben Brake
Director General of the Directorate "Digital and Data policy", German Ministry for Digital and Transport
Pilar del Castillo Vera
Member of the European Parliament
Biography
Pilar del Castillo Vera
Member of the European Parliament
Pilar del Castillo Vera is an MEP for Spain’s Partido Popular party in the European People’s Party group. She has been an MEP since 2004 and is currently a member of the committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE). Castillo drafted the report on the European single market for electronic communications. She also drafted a report on cloud computing in Europe. Before entering the European Parliament, she was the minister of education, culture and sport in the second government of José Maria Aznar in 2000-04. In 1986, Castillo became assistant professor in constitutional law at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, and professor in political science and administration in 1994. She graduated in law in 1974 from Complutense University of Madrid (1983) and she holds a PhD from the same University.
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary General of Digital Governance and Process Simplification, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
Biography
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary General of Digital Governance and Process Simplification, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
Mr. Leonidas Christopoulos is the Secretary General of Digital Governance and Simplification of Procedures at the Ministry of Digital Governance. Mr. Christopoulos has worked as an advisor to several Ministers as well as to the President of the governing party on the field of public administration reform.
He has coordinated significant public administration reform projects in Greece such as the reorganization of the Greek Central Administration (2014), the reduction of administrative burdens in several policy areas (2014), the public financial management agenda (2012-2014) and the new law on the Executive State (2019).
Mr. Christopoulos is a civil servant at the Ministry of Finance and a graduate of the National School of Public Administration.
He holds a degree on Political Science and International Relations from Panteion University and an MA in International Political Economy from Warwick University. He speaks English & German.
Deirdre Clune
Member of the European Parliament
Phillip Cornell
Principal for Energy and Sustainability, Economist Impact
Biography
Phillip Cornell
Principal for Energy and Sustainability, Economist Impact
Phillip Cornell is a Principal at Economist Impact, where he has led the Policy & Insights team in the Americas and provides global leadership on energy and sustainability issues. He directs research programs for companies, multilateral finance institutions, foundations, and governments seeking evidence-based analysis and policy advice, and is a regular contributor at international fora on energy transition. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, specializing in energy economics, foreign policy, and global energy markets, and chairs the Clean Energy Ministerial initiative on energy interconnection.
Prior to joining the Economist Group, Mr. Cornell held senior advisory and management positions at the World Bank, Saudi Aramco, the International Energy Agency, and NATO. He held research positions at the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey), the Royal United Services Institute (London), and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (Stanford), and is the author of various published works on international energy security, economics, and governance. He holds Masters degrees with distinction in International Economics (energy) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and received his BA cum laude in International Relations from Stanford University.
Mara Gómez
Manager for Corporate Regulation, Telefónica
Anissa Kemiche
EU Affairs Manager, numeum
Biography
Anissa Kemiche
EU Affairs Manager, numeum
Anissa is Manager for EU Affairs at Numeum, the largest digital trade association in France (born from the merger of Syntec Numérique and TECH IN France). She is representing Numeum in Brussels. Prior to this, she also worked as a EU Policy Officer for the confederation of French companies (MEDEF) and for a French association in the transport sector. She holds a Master’s degree from Sciences Po Grenoble in EU governance.
Christiane Kirketerp de Viron
Cabinet Member, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, European Commission
Biography
Christiane Kirketerp de Viron
Cabinet Member, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, European Commission
Christiane Kirketerp de Viron joined the European Commission in 2006 and is now Member of Cabinet for the Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn. Her responsibilities include the digital transformation of the Commission and cybersecurity. Prior to this, she was Member of Cabinet for the Commissioner for Research and Innovation. Christiane is a political scientist and trained as a journalist.
Casper Klynge
Vice President for European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Biography
Casper Klynge
Vice President for European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Casper 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.
Bernard Lebelle
CEO & Co-Founder, The Green Link
Biography
Bernard Lebelle
CEO & Co-Founder, The Green Link
Bernard is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Green Link, winner of <MTL> Connect 2020 Revelation Award, member of the 2021Cohort of the University of Columbia (Quebec) D3 Accelerator & a member of Microsoft Startup Founders Hub. The Green Link is providing a disruptive AI-enhanced “ Sustainability as a service” offering to help companies across the world move from strategic intent to tangible positive impact and deliver on their Sustainability goals & pledges. One of the greatest challenges for companies is to avoid the white-page syndrome & embark every employee on a holistic environmental transformation journey. The Green Link help companies improve their environmental footprint by leveraging proprietary databases of over 1,260 operational best-practices and 5,000+ clean technologies. The Green Link supports leading organizations across the world such as WWF, L'Oreal, BEL Group, Novo Nordisk and Prince William's Earthshot Prize Foundation. Client’s teams appreciate “The Green Link’s robust approach that help focus on ecological priorities and implement real changes that have a strong impact on the environment.” Bernard is a senior Innovation Leader (more than 25 years of international experience in major consulting firms), recognized for his creative ability to solve complex problems, Bernard helps business leaders exploit strategic synergies with emerging technologies. He is also an expert for the World Economic Forum and was previously the National Innovation Director for Deloitte Canada / member of Deloitte Global Innovation Executive Committee. Bernard hosts conferences for academic institutions (Ivey Business School, Sciences-Po Paris, University of Ottawa, Ryerson University, HEC-Montreal) and corporate events (Genium-360, <MTL> Connect 2020 & 2022, Quartier de l’Innovation, …). A serial entrepreneur, he previously founded Bleu Cobalt (an innovatio focused consulting boutique) and Evidency (a compensation management Fintech).
Eva Maydell
Member of the European Parliament, President of the European Movement International
Biography
Eva Maydell
Member of the European Parliament, President of the European Movement International
Eva Maydell (Paunova) is a second-term Member of the European Parliament within the European People’s Party (EPP) Group, representing the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB). She is a Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee. She is also a Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with Japan and substitute member in the Delegation for relations with the US. Until her election, she was Executive Coordinator of the GERB-EPP Delegation and Senior Policy Advisor in the European Parliament. MEP Maydell’s key interests include innovation & digitalisation, investments, SMEs & entrepreneurship and education.
Daniel Mes
Cabinet Member, Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commission
Biography
Daniel Mes
Cabinet Member, Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commission
A lawyer by training, Daniel started his career at the European Commission in its competition department. There he worked on transport and digital technology files. During the last Commission term, he managed relations with the European Parliament and the Council, including on digital policy files, and was a speechwriter to Margrethe Vestager. Since 1 December 2019, he works in the Cabinet of Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans on digital aspects of the European Green Deal.
Petr Očko
Deputy Minister for new technologies at Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
Biography
Petr Očko
Deputy Minister for new technologies at Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
Mr. Petr Očko (born 1976) graduated from Information Management and European Integration at the University of Economics in Prague and from Ph.D. studies of Information Economics at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. He started in 1998 in a small company that would now be labelled as a successful technology start up – the Globe Internet. As an expert in the European economic integration, he has been working at the Ministry of Finance since 2001 on the EU Structural Funds, since 2004 he worked as an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance for the financial market, and in 2006 he was appointed by the Government as a National Coordinator for the introduction of the euro. Since August 2007, he worked in the private sphere as an EU project coordinator for Telefónica O2. In 2009, he returned to the state administration as Chief Executive Officer for EU Budget and EU Funds at the Ministry of Transport, and since August 2010 he served as Section Director for EU Funds, Research and Development at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where he was in charge for key programs to support industrial research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship.
In 2012-2013 he was also in charge of the stabilization and development of the CzechInvest business and investment support agency as its entrusted CEO. Since 2015, he headed the Department of Financial Instruments and Project Management at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and prepared mainly the National Innovation Fund project or the transformation of the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank. In March 2016, he was appointed by the Government as chairman of the Czech Republic’s Technology Agency and successfully helped to develop support for applied research in key areas of the Czech Republic, including industry 4.0 and other major trends. In July 2018 he was appointed Deputy Minister at the Ministry of the Industry and Trade responsible for new division of Digitalization and Innovation and believes that Czech Republic can belong to innovation leaders in many areas.
Walter Pasquarelli
Manager Tech and Society, Economist Impact
Biography
Walter Pasquarelli
Manager Tech and Society, Economist Impact
Walter Pasquarelli is a Manager within the Tech & Society team at Economist Impact, where he delivers research and engagement programs that use evidence and data to drive change on critical tech policy issues. Prior to this Walter was the AI Policy Lead at an international consultancy where he advised governments and leading tech companies on AI benchmarking and strategy. As part of this he also worked as a consultant with the Open Data Institute on enabling data sharing across different sectors. Walter is an AI Policy Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge and regularly guest lectures on tech policy and ethics at universities.
Andrea Pescino
Partner and Founder, StratejAI
Biography
Andrea Pescino
Partner and Founder, StratejAI
Andrea 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.
Antti Riivari
Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Government of Finland
Biography
Antti Riivari
Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Government of Finland
Antti Riivari is the Director General of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) since 2017. The PRH covers a wide range of functions from being the Industrial Property Office of Finland to administering the Finnish Trade Register as well as having the responsibility for the Oversight of Statutory Auditors. Mr. Riivari has extensive work experience as civil servant from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment since 1992. From 1998 to 2001, he worked in the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU. Mr. Riivari is the President of the European Business Registry Association (EBRA) since 2019. He is a member of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) since 2017 and the Chairman of the Committee on Patent Law at EPO since 2018. Moreover, he is a member of the Management Board of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) since 2017. During his career, Mr. Riivari has gained wide knowledge of public policy development including EU policy, public administration and various fields of Business law (IPR, Competition, Company law). Antti Riivari graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki in 1992 with a Master’s Degree in Law.
Jeremy Rollison
Senior Director, European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Biography
Jeremy Rollison
Senior Director, European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Jeremy Rollison is Senior Director of EU Government Affairs within Microsoft’s Corporate, External & Legal Affairs (CELA) group. Based in Brussels, he manages the “Twin Transition” team and its portfolio of issues including Data policy, Trade, Sustainability, Consumer, Tax, Skills, and Accessibility. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked in the Government Relations team at Nokia in the company’s EU representative office and was previously Director of the European Digital Media Association (EDiMA) in Brussels. He has over a decade of experience in Brussels at the company, association, and consultancy levels, focusing and engaging with EU stakeholders on issues related to the development and delivery of online services in the Internal Market and corresponding EU regulatory policy.
Erik Skjetne
Digitalization Manager, Northern Lights
Biography
Erik Skjetne
Digitalization Manager, Northern Lights
Erik Skjetne is the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) in Northern Lights that is the world’s first CO2 transport and storage company for hard-to-abate industries. He has worked in Equinor since 1998, where he has held various leadership positions since 2001, including Deputy CEO of a JV oil company. He was Postdoc in petroleum engineering at Stanford University in 1996 - 1997. He was Dr.Ing. (~PhD) in petroleum engineering in 1995 and Siv.Ing. (~MSc) in physics in 1990; both at NTH, now NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). He has worked in Norway, Russia, France, and USA. Skjetne has done public service, including as a member of the Board of Directors at the NTH university and serving in national-level technology strategy working groups in Norway (OG21) and abroad.
Felicia Stanescu
Head of Unit, Recovery and Resilience Task Force, European Commission
Biography
Felicia Stanescu
Head of Unit, Recovery and Resilience Task Force, European Commission
Felicia 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.