Despina Spanou is the Head of the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission overseeing the European Union’s policies on security, migration and asylum, health, skills, education, culture and sports.

She coordinates the Vice-President’s EU Security Union work, ranging from counter-terrorism, organised crime and cybersecurity to hybrid threats. 

Previously, she was Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity at the Directorate-General for Communications Network, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission. In this capacity, Ms Spanou was responsible for the European Union’s cybersecurity policy and law, served as a member of the management board of ENISA, and of the Steering Board of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU Institutions (CERT-EU). She is a founding member of the Women4Cyber initiative and advocate for the need for more cybersecurity experts in Europe.

In her 20 years in the European Commission, Ms Spanou has held a number of senior management positions in the areas of Health and Consumer Policy and served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioners Kyprianou and Vassiliou. Before joining the European Commission, she practised EU competition and trade law with a US law firm.

Despina Spanou is a member of the Athens Bar Association and holds a Ph.D. in European law from the University of Cambridge. 

Roberto Viola is Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission since 2015 and was the Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT from 2012 to 2015.

Roberto Viola served as Chairman of the European Radio Spectrum Policy group (RSPG) from 2012 to 2013, as Deputy Chairman in 2011 and Chairman in 2010. He was a member of the BEREC Board (Body of European Telecom Regulators), and Chairman of the European Regulatory Group (ERG).

He held the position of Secretary General in charge of managing AGCOM, from 2005 to 2012. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Regulation Department and Technical Director in AGCOM from 1999 to 2004.

From 1985-1999 he served in various positions including Head of Telecommunication and Broadcasting Satellite Services at the European Space Agency (ESA).

Roberto Viola has a degree in Electronic Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

Lorena Boix Alonso is Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity in the Directorate General for Communications Networks Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), at the European Commission. She is a member of the Executive and Management Board of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) as well as the Commission representative in the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC) and a member of the Management Board of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU Institutions (CERT EU).

In the context of the Horizon Europe Programme, she co-chairs the Cluster 1 “Health” and Cluster 3 ‘’Civil security for society’’ and is also a member of the board Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) Joint Undertaking.

She was formally Acting Director for Policy Strategy and Outreach and Head of Unit for Policy Implementation and Planning, in DG CONNECT at the European Commission.

Previously, she was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice President Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda. During Ms Kroes’ mandate as Commissioner for Competition, in October 2004, she started as a member of her cabinet and became Deputy Head of Cabinet in May 2008.

She joined the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition in 2003. Prior to that, she worked for Judge Rafael García Valdecasas, at the European Court of Justice, as well as Deputy Director and Legal Coordinator of the IPR-Helpdesk Project and in a private practice in Brussels. She holds a Master of Law from Harvard Law School. She graduated in Law from the University of Valencia and then obtained a Licence Spéciale en Droit Européen from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Katarzyna is Head of the Digital Affairs Unit, cyberattaché at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the EU in Brussels, responsible for negotiations of the NIS2 Directive, CRA, CYSOL and eIDASv2 Regulation and all matters related to cybersecurity, personal data protection, eID, e-government and cloud computing. She is a former Director of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Digital Affairs and is currently Vice Chair of the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC).

Having joined the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) in 2020, Martin works within the Executive Director’s team from ENISA’s Brussels Office, and is part of the Agency’s international cooperation team. He has also worked as the Agency’s Spokesperson. He first came into contact with cybersecurity and certification requirements during his ten-year experience as Director-General of the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) in the early 2000s. Martin then joined the Commission’s DG CNECT, with responsibilities in the area of ICT trade and international cooperation, and as Assistant to the Director-General. In 2017, he joined the European Commission’s cybersecurity team to prepare the EU’s Cybersecurity Act, finishing his Commission experience as part of the team in charge of the EU Toolbox for 5G Security. Martin holds degrees in political sciences and international relations from the universities of Konstanz and Oxford and has lived, worked and studied in four different EU countries.

Florian Pennings works for Microsoft on EU Cybersecurity Policy. He believes collaboration and multi-stakeholder management is essential to ensure strong cybersecurity. This requires constant engagement and open discussions among peers. Before joining Microsoft, he worked in national and European government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. He coordinated strategic and tactical cooperation with industry and public stakeholders. At Microsoft, he contributes to public discussions concerning EU cybersecurity policies, like the Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and Cybersecurity Certification, leveraging his operational and strategic national and European experience. He strongly believes that cooperation is built on trust and common interests, not on differences.

Ilias Chantzos is Broadcom’s Global Privacy Officer and the Head of Government Affairs programmes for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). Chantzos leads the global privacy programme of Broadcom across the company’s multiple business units and regions. He also represents Broadcom before government bodies, national authorities and international organisations in EMEA advising on public policy issues.

Before joining Broadcom, Chantzos spent almost 16 years in various government affairs and legal roles in Symantec. During his last post with Symantec, he was in charge of the Government Affairs for the EMEA and the Asia Pacific Japan regions and the Global Advisor for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Privacy.

Before joining Symantec in 2004, Chantzos worked as legal and policy officer in the Directorate General Information Society of the European Commission focusing on information security policy. He covered the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention and the Framework Decision on Attacks against Information Systems. In addition, he worked on a number of EU legislative initiatives relevant to information society and security, including directives on Privacy of Electronic Communications, the Data Retention Directive and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). He also represented the European Commission in various international debates and conferences.

Chantzos holds a law degree from Aristotle University, a Master degree in Computers and Communication Law from Queen Mary College, University of London and a Master in Business Administration from Solvay Business School. He has also completed executive education at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and at the JFK School of Government in Harvard. Chantzos is a member of the Athens Bar Association. He served as Chairman of the Executive Board of TechAmerica Europe. He also served for four terms as Chairman of the European Policy Council of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). He has represented Symantec at the NATO Industry Cooperation Platform and he has been a member of the Advisory Board of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) from 2006 until 2020. He is also a member of Europol’s European Cybercrime Center (EC3) Advisory Board. Chantzos is a member of the Young Global Leaders 2014 class of the World Economic Forum. He speaks English, Greek, Dutch and German.

Visiola follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the UK. She leads the benchmarking analysis reports under the cybersecurity practice, and actively reports on topics such as 5G security, high risk vendors in the cybersecurity supply chain, the EU cybersecurity act and the EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS Directive).

Visiola joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg, Germany in EU Law and Affairs.

Christiane Kirketerp de Viron has been the Head of Unit for Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy policies in the European Commission’s DG CONNECT since July 2022. Prior to this she was Member of Cabinet for the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, where parts of her responsibilities concerned the digital transformation of the European Commission as well as the cybersecurity of EU Institutions, Bodies and Agencies. During the Juncker Commission, Christiane served as Member of Cabinet for the European Commissioner for Research Innovation and Science, Carlos Moedas.

Nelly Ghaoui is team leader for cybersecurity policy at the directorate Digital Economy Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. She has over a decade of experience in national security, crisis management, critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity also at the ministry of Justice and Security. She is currently responsible for cybersecurity policy to improve the security of digital products and services, stimulating cybersecurity research and innovation and improving the resilience of consumers and businesses. 

Paul Watrobski is an IT Security Specialist in the Applied Cybersecurity Division (ACD) of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at NIST. Paul is a member of the Cybersecurity of Internet of Things (IoT) program where he helped develop the Recommended Criteria for Cybersecurity Labeling for IoT Products as part of the Executive Order (EO) 14028 on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.

Paul has also been involved with NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) on several projects. He is currently a principal investigator (PI) for the Trusted IoT Device Network-Layer Onboarding and Lifecycle Management project and the upcoming Software Supply Chain and DevOps Security Practices project. He previously participated in the Securing Small Business and Home IoT Devices project where he developed an open-source tool, MUD-PD, to assist in the generation of Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) files integral to device-intent enforcement.

Outside of NIST, Paul is pursuing a PhD in reliability engineering focused on the cybersecurity of IoT at the University of Maryland (UMD) under the advice of Dr. Michel Cukier and Dr. John Baras. Paul previously earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at Binghamton University (BU) and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at both BU and UMD.

Rigo Van den Broeck leads the Cyber Security Product Innovation team and has responsibilities in building out the cyber security servicing offering for Mastercard globally. This includes oversight over RiskRecon, an outside-in cyber vulnerability assessment solution. With his team, he develops new solutions & programmes that are helping customers gain insights to fight the cyber risks they are exposed to. He is also a board member of the Finsec Innovation Lab in Israel, a startup incubator in Fintech & Cybersecurity. 

Rigo Van den Broeck has a long background in fraud & security in Europe. He had responsibility in safety & security product strategy as well as developing the go-to-market approaches. Alongside that he also looked after strategic product innovations in areas like delivering fraud decisioning, complaint management, authentication (f.e. PSD2 compliance & EMV 3DS), network & connectivity solution.  

Rigo Van den Broeck has over 25 years of card & payment industry experience. Over this period, his experience has ranged from product and market development over different types of ‘change’ projects driving international integration, opening new business lines and product innovation. He joined Mastercard in 2006 in a newly created ‘switching’ business development role in Europe, where he built the team to drive revenue growth. With his team, he developed a go-to-market strategy for value-add solutions driving 30+% yearly revenue growth for the region.

Before joining Mastercard, he worked for over 9 years in KBC bank within the cards & payment division with responsibilities across Europe and represented KBC in product development projects at market level. He has also participated in many merger and acquisition (buying & selling) projects within MC & in retail banking.

Mr. Van den Broeck holds a Master in Applied Economics (with a major in marketing) as well as degrees in Psychology & Education, all from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Stephen is responsible for Workday’s Global Trust Office, which works with prospective and existing customers in the areas of security, privacy and compliance. Prior to joining Workday, Stephen was Head of IT Security for ICON Plc, a clinical research organisation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, where he was responsible for growing the Cybersecurity function. Stephen has also held roles as an independent security consultant, working with a range of client organisations in Ireland and as Information Systems Security Officer for Bermuda-based Centre Reinsurance, a division of Zurich Financial Services Group. Stephen has over 30 years’ experience in the security field and during that time has held positions in the financial services, healthcare and technology sectors.

Dr. Joanna Świątkowska is the COO at the European Cyber Security Organisation. In years 2020 to 2022 she held the role of Director in the Supply Chain Cyber and Information Security team at UBS. She was the initiator and Programme Director of the European Cybersecurity Forum – CYBERSEC from 2014 to 2019. In addition, she worked as Assistant Professor at AGH University of Science and Technology from 2018 to 2020 and cooperated with the Kosciuszko Institute as the Senior Cybersecurity Expert from 2009 to 2019.  

The author of numerous articles, reports, and analyses concerning cybersecurity, Ms. Świątkowska is a recognised speaker in many national and international conferences and seminars and brings her contributions to a wide range of cybersecurity topics. She was listed among the 100 Eastern Europe’s emerging technology stars by the Financial Times & New Europe 100 for 2017, as well as inserted among the Top 20 Women in Cybersecurity by the Women in Tech summit for 2019. 

Dr. Ioannis G. Askoxylakis is Senior Cybersecurity Officer at the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of European Commission. He has been in this position since 2018. Before joining the European Commission, he has been Senior Researcher & Head of FORTHcert in the Computer Emergency Response Team of FORTH (2002-2018), member of the Plenary of the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (2016-2018) and Professor of Cybersecurity and Internet of Things at Bournemouth University (2015-2018). In the past he has served as national representative in the Future Internet Forum of EU member and Associated States of DG CONNECT (2009-2013), as member of the Permanent Stakeholders Group of the European Network and Information Security Agency- ENISA (2009-2012) and as member the technical advisory committee of the Hellenic Ministry of Administrative Reform and e-governance (2011-2014). He is the editor of 8 books and the author of more than 50 publications in international journals and conference proceedings in the domain of cybersecurity. He has organised and chaired several prestigious international cybersecurity conferences and workshops and he has coordinated and participated in more than 20 European funded R&D projects. He holds a Diploma in Physics from the University of Crete, a Master of Science in Communication Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and a PhD in Secure and Resilient Communications for Emergency Response from the University of Bristol.

Daiva Tamulioniene works at the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) under the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania. As a Head of Division within the Cyber Defence department, she is responsible for implementation and development of cyber security monitoring and cyber attack detection and prevention measures in the national defence system, state information resources and critical information infrastructures. The Division also develops and administers the cyber security information network platform.

Before joining the National Cyber Security Centre, Daiva worked in the domain name industry for over 30 years and was a ccTLD .lt manager since its creation. She also participated as a .lt registry manager in many ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers), CENTR (Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries), IGF (Internet Governance Forum) meetings, forums, workgroups and workshops since 1999 and has experience in DNS security, critical infrastructure protection and crisis management.

Christopher Porter is the Head of International Security Cooperation at Google Cloud, a leading provider of cloud solutions for enterprise customers, where he runs a variety of Public Partnership programs with governments around the world.

From 2019 to 2022 he was the National Intelligence Officer for Cyber, leading the US Intelligence Community’s analysis of foreign cyber threats and threats to US elections. As a member of the National Intelligence Council, Christopher oversaw production of National Intelligence Estimates and was the primary cyber intelligence advisor to the Director of National Intelligence.

At FireEye, Christopher was the Chief Technology Officer for Global Cybersecurity Policy and the company’s Chief Intelligence Strategist. Christopher served as editor-in-chief of FireEye’s strategic intelligence products reaching over 4000 customers in 67 countries.

Christopher has testified before the U.S. Congress and Canadian Parliament. He has offered commentary on cybersecurity and threat intelligence in the New York Times, USA Today, NBC News, the Council on Foreign Relations, BBC, Lawfare, Foreign Policy, Defense One, Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg News, Cipher Brief, War on the Rocks, Politico, Axios, Cyberscoop, Dark Reading, Roll Call and many other TV, radio, and print outlets worldwide.

Aldo today holds the role of SVP Cyber Security Center of Excellence at Leonardo Spa, which
provides advisory, design and definition of cyber solutions. It also services provisioning for
managed application, managed security and managed detection and response. Aldo helps
Leonardo’s customers in government, critical national infrastructures and large enterprise
sectors in protecting their organisations from cyber threats and cyberattacks by designing and
implementing incremental countermeasure plans, proportional to the available budget and the
type of cyber threats related to the organisations itself.
Aldo has been a member of ECSO’s (European Cyber Security Organisation) Board of Directors since
2020.
He graduated in telecommunication engineering from the University of L’Aquila and is a recognised
expert in cybersecurity and intelligence. His skills range from management to cybersecurity
knowledge, including the management of cyber attacks and the analysis, evaluation, and
response to cyber threats (crisis management and incident handling). Over a 20 year-long career
within Leonardo, he has held various roles in a broad array of fields related to cybersecurity, including
networking and military-grade data protection’s product engineering, encrypted navigation
services engineering (specifically for the European GNSS GALILEO), the management of primary
intelligence and homeland security programs, as well as the cyber protection of complex critical
infrastructures operating in national and international contexts.

Iva Tasheva is the co-founder and cybersecurity lead at CYEN, a micro consultancy established in Brussels in 2018. She helps organisations manage cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance (GRC). CYEN specialises in the banking, medical devices, manufacturing, public and digital sectors. 

In addition to her work for CYEN, she is an appointed Member of the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) Ad-Hoc Working Groups on Enterprise Security and on Cloud Security (Certification), adviser to Obelis (representation of non-EU based manufacturers in a successful EU Market entry), a Board Member of the DPO Circle (community of GDPR and data security professionals), and a volunteer at the Belgian Chapter of Women4Cyber. 

She is a published author and a regular speaker, and holds an MBA from KULeuven and a Master in Cybersecurity degree from the New Bulgarian University. She is certified ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27799 Lead Manager.

Follow Iva Tasheva (or CYEN) on LinkedIn for updates on cybersecurity policy and implementation. Follow ‘CYEN – Cybersecurity’ on YouTube for monthly cybersecurity top experts’ interviews.

Stefania Ducci is Head of the National Strategy and Policy Division at the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency (Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale-ACN). She is in charge of drafting and updating the National Cybersecurity Strategy and for its implementation monitoring, as well as contributing to the elaboration of national cybersecurity policies, in line with international and EU’s policies and regulations. Moreover, she is responsible for contributing to drafting, from a policy perspective, national cybersecurity exercises scenarios, as well as planning international cyber exercises. As ENISA’s National Liaison Officer (NLO), she participates in related activities, also within thematical subgroups. She is a former Deputy Director of the Strategy Division, always within the ACN, also responsible for negotiations of EU policy documents and legislative acts (NIS2 Directive, CRA, CYSOL and CSA+).

Colonel Oleksandr Tkachuk was born in the Khmelnitsky region, Ukraine in 1980. 

He is a career officer who joined the SSU in 1997. 

In 2002 Oleksandr Tkachuk graduated from the National Academy of the Security Services of Ukraine earning a Bachelor’s degree in Law. 

After graduation, he started as an active duty officer and served in various positions both in a regional SSU office and the SSU Headquarters.

Between 2002-2004, he served in the SSU Khmelnitsky Regional Office. After the transfer to Kyiv in April 2004, Col Tkachuk held different offices in the Central Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine. 

In 2009-2010 Oleksandr Tkachuk earned a Master of Science degree (with distinction) in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, U.S.A. 

From March 2014 to June 2015, he served in the Counterintelligence Department of the Security Service of Ukraine. 

Col. Tkachuk was appointed Chief of the International Cooperation Center of the Security Service of Ukraine in June 2015. 

Afterwards, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine from November 2015 to May 2017.

From May 2017 to June 2019 Colonel Oleksandr Tkachuk served as the Chief of the SSU Regional Office in Lviv, Ukraine. 

Since September 2020 until present, he has served as a counsellor of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO, coordinating, among other things, Ukrainian cooperation in the cyber domain.

Oleksandr Tkachuk is married and has a son.

Manon LE BLANC is the Coordinator for Cyber Issues and Deputy Head of Hybrid Threats and Cyber Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS). Over recent years, Manon has shaped the EU’s international cyber policies, notably through the development of the EU’s 2017 and 2020 Cybersecurity Strategies, as well as the EU’s framework for a joint diplomatic response (“cyber diplomacy toolbox”). Prior to her posting at the EEAS, Manon served the 2016 Netherlands’ Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and was a senior advisor to the Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice and Security in The Hague. She holds an MsC in Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam.

Liesje Klomp started her career at the ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2009 working on internal European affairs. From 2011-2013 she served at the embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, heading the political, press and cultural affairs section. She returned to The Hague to work for the Political Director dealing with political affairs. From 2016-2020 she worked at the political department of the embassy in Washington DC where she covered counterterrorism and the Western Hemisphere including the Organization of American States. In 2020 she started as counsellor at the Political and Security Department at the permanent representation of the Netherlands to the EU and at the permanent representation to NATO. She has a master degree in political science at Leiden University, in European Studies and in French language and culture at the University of Amsterdam and Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.

John Fokker is a Principal Engineer at Trellix. John leads the Threat Intelligence Group (TIG) that empowers Trellix customers, industry partners, and global law enforcement efforts with 24/7 mission-critical insights on the ever-evolving threat landscape. Prior to joining Trellix, he worked at the Dutch National High-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), the Dutch National Police unit dedicated to investigating advanced forms of cybercrime. During his career he has supervised numerous large-scale cybercrime investigations and takedowns. Fokker is also one of the co-founders of the NoMoreRansom Project.

Barbara joins FIPRA with over 20 years of experience in shaping opportunities and mitigating risks posed by public policy and geopolitical developments for businesses at a national, EU, European, and international levels.

Barbara’s professional journey reflects a rich tapestry of experiences, starting as an Environment Policy Executive with the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) in Dublin. Her trajectory expanded as she transitioned to IBEC’s EU representation office in Brussels and later onto leadership roles within Accenture. During her tenure at Accenture, Barbara’s contributions in governmental relations spanned EU, European, and global spheres, fostering her deep-rooted expertise in digital policies covering AI, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, data privacy, and the broader impact of digital technologies on economies and societies.

She has extensive experience in delivering effective government relations and stakeholder engagement strategies as well as thought leadership-based advocacy campaigns. Her expertise includes advising senior leaders on the impact of politics and policy on business strategy, alongside political and reputational risk management. 

Barbara holds an MA in European Studies from UCD, a Diploma in Applied European Law from the Law Society of Ireland and an MBA from Solvay Business School. She most recently completed a course on Business Sustainability Management with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).