PromethEUs Public Conference “DRIVING DIGITALIZATION IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. The role of National Recovery and Resilience Plans and the current EU Policy Agenda”

Brando Benifei, European Federalist, is from La Spezia, Italy, and is the Head of Delegation of the Italian S&D MEPs. His main areas of work are Internal Market and Consumers Protection, Employment and Social Affairs, and Constitutional Affairs. He is active in youth policies, digitalisation and the rights of persons with disabilities. In the previous term, he was responsible for the European Solidarity Corps, for the Post-Arab Spring in the MENA region and for key reports on the social inclusion and integration of refugees into the EU labour market, as well as youth employment policies such as the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative. He was also co-chair of the Youth Intergroup and vice-chair of the Disability Intergroup. In 2018, he received the MEP Award for his work on Employment and Social Affairs issues, for his work on youth unemployment. In 2016, Forbes included him in its annual 30 under-30 most influential in EU Politics list.

As Director of EU Policy at Allied for Startups, Benedikt engages with policy files ranging from AI to online platform regulation. He is particularly interested in shaping a fact-based discussion on the possibilities of innovation and technology, after having worked on the Digital Single Market in the last years. Prior to joining AFS he worked for a Small Business Alliance and Deutsche Welle and completed a traineeship at the Council of Europe. Benedikt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and History from Jacobs University Bremen and a Master of Arts in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Passionate about strategic thinking and innovation strategies, especially in multi-cultural contexts (UE, Middle-East, China), Federico gained his experience at the top of complex organizations both in the Public sector (Italian Parliament) and in the Private one. He also collaborates with various business training programs in the fields of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Today, he is Head of Marketing and Communication of VINCI Energies Italy, in charge of its brands development.

Stefano is the president and principal policy analyst at I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank based in Rome and Brussels which he founded in 2005. He currently teaches political economy and economic policy at the Roma Tre University, in Rome. Stefano is a graduate of the Coripe Consortium for Research and Continuing Education in Economics (Piemonte, Italy), where he received a master’s degree in economics and George Mason University (Virginia, USA) where he obtained his MA (Economics). Stefano has served in key advisory or expert positions on a number of task forces or scientific boards, including: Vice President of the Health City Institute; Scientific Director of the La Scossa Association; Board member of the European Foundation EYPROM; Expert Member of the Eurelectric Task Force on Investment; Expert Member of the Technical Secretariat for the Protection of Nature in the Italian Ministry of the Environment; Director at the Observatory on Energy Policy of the Einaudi Foundation. He has authored numerous publications on economic themes, particularly with regard to policy and regulation of the energy market and infrastructural services and the governance of the institutions, and his opinions and analysis has featured in major Italian newspapers.

Paulo Ferreira is the Head of the Internal Market and Industrial Policy Unit at Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union.He is a former Member of the Portuguese Government and an experienced Senior Economist, with a demonstrated history of working with Public Administration, and of Economic Policy design and evaluation. The Council of the European Union is the institution that represents the member states’ governments. Informally known as the Council, it is where the ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies. Until 30 June 2021, Portugal will be presiding over the Council of the European Union for the fourth time.

Steffen Hoernig è professore ordinario presso Nova SBE. Ha conseguito una laurea in Management presso l'Universität Bielefeld in Germania; un Master in Scienze Matematiche Applicate presso l'Università della Georgia, Atene, USA; e un dottorato di ricerca in Economia presso l'Istituto Universitario Europeo di Firenze, Italia. La sua area di ricerca e pubblicazione è Organizzazione industriale e teoria dei giochi, con particolare attenzione all'economia delle telecomunicazioni. Ha pubblicato sul RAND Journal of Economics, Economic Theory, Journal of Industrial Economics e International Journal of Industrial Organization. È co-editore del Portuguese Economic Journal e redattore associato di Information Economics & Policy e Review of Economics. È consulente regolare per le autorità di regolamentazione, le società internazionali e la Commissione europea su questioni quali il quadro dell'UE per le telecomunicazioni e le questioni relative alla concorrenza e alla regolamentazione delle reti.

Raquel Jorge-Ricart è Policy Analyst on Technology, Digital and Cyber Policy presso il think tank Elcano Royal Institute. È stata Fulbright Fellow a Washington, DC (Elliott School of International Affairs, GWU), dove si è specializzata in tecnologia e politica digitale e le sue implicazioni sulla gestione strategica del rischio, nonché sulla sicurezza e sulla politica estera. Raquel ha lavorato a progetti di policymaking presso il Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society dell'Università di Harvard e presso l'Institute for Science and Technology Policy della GWU, su questioni di sicurezza informatica e 5G relative al commercio e all'industria, alle città, alla difesa e alla sicurezza e ai diritti fondamentali. Raquel è membro dell'Osservatorio spagnolo sull'impatto sociale ed etico dell'intelligenza artificiale e collabora con il think tank Elcano Royal Institute. Raquel ha conseguito un master in Relazioni Internazionali e Studi Africani presso l'Università di Madrid e una doppia laurea in Scienze Politiche e Sociologia presso l'Università di Valencia (Spagna) e l'Université Paris-X (Francia).

Maria Manuel Leitão Marques è stata membro del Parlamento portoghese, come Ministro della Presidenza e della Modernizzazione Amministrativa nel 2015-2019. In precedenza, ha ricoperto la carica di Segretario di Stato per la modernizzazione amministrativa. Nel 2002 Maria Manuel è stata l'esperta della Commissione europea, incaricata di redigere l'istruzione superiore in Angola e Mozambico nell'ambito del programma di cooperazione ACP-UE nell'istruzione superiore. Tra il 2013 e il 2014, Maria Manuel è stata consulente per il progetto "Valutazione dei servizi dello sportello unico (BAÚ)" in Mozambico, che ha portato alla successiva elaborazione di proposte di modernizzazione sostenute dalla Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Durante questo periodo, è stata anche membro del gruppo ad alto livello sugli oneri amministrativi (Commissione europea). Nel 2013 è stata consulente per il "Brazil-EU Exchange on Participatory Democracy" (CESO PT/Ministry of Planning BR). Maria Manuel Leitão Marques ha un dottorato in Economia (Università di Coimbra) ed è dal 2003 professore e ricercatore permanente presso la Facoltà di Economia, Università di Coimbra.

Carlos Romero Duplá is, since November 2013, Digital Transformation Attaché of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union, based in Brussels. Previously he was, from 2012 to 2013, Deputy Director General of Information Society Contents of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. State Attorney since 2001, he has held positions in the State Attorney’s Offices in Vizcaya, before the National Court and in the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. Between 2006 and 2012 he was General Secretary and Secretary of the Board of the Public Business Entity Red.es.

Felicia Stanescu has over 15 years of international experience in the financial sector, combining public experience of developing European Union financial legislation with private experience of managing complex Mergers & Acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings. She has been since 2014 Policy Assistant to the Director General in the Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union of the European Commission, advising the Director-General on financial services policies. She has been with the European Commission since 2010 working previously on long-term financing policy aspects, coordinating the Commission’s input to G20, the Financial Stability Board and other international fora on financial regulation, and developing legislation for the post-trading sector (clearing and settlement). Prior to the European Commission, she worked in the private sector, mainly in banking, managing and advising on Mergers & Acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings. Positions included: Head of Strategy, ALM Management and Manager, Group M&A at BNP Paribas Fortis (Brussels, 2008-2010); Director, Equity Capital Markets at ABN AMRO Rothschild (London, 2003-2008); Assistant Director, Corporate Finance at ABN AMRO (London/Bucharest, 1999-2002). She started her career at KMPG Romania. Felicia holds a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK (1994) and a degree in Business Administration from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest (1996).

Aggelos Tsakanikas, Director at the Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics, and Associate Professor of Systems of Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, National Technical University of Athens. His research and published works are in technology strategy, business strategy, innovation economics, entrepreneurship, public policies, innovation studies, socioeconomics research and information society.