Digital Europe: Can it bridge Europe’s IT gap?

A Science|Business Network dinner-debate, 9 January 2019

Stanhope Hotel, Rue du Commerce 9, Brussels
 Agenda

18:00 Welcome drink and registration

Balmoral Lounge

18:30 Opening presentation and discussion

Balmoral III

• Khalil Rouhana, Deputy Director-General, DG Communications

Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
• Paul Rübig, Member, European Parliament
• Carlos Zorrinho, Member, European Parliament

19:30 Roundtable dinner-debate

Balmoral III

21:00 End

Note to our members and guests: As with all Science|Business events, a report of this
conference will be published in order to spread word of the important information conveyed
during the meeting. As a result, the opening session in the first hour – with Messrs. Rouhana,
Rübig and Zorrinho – will be on the record. After, when we sit down to dinner with them, our
informal discussion will be under the conventional Chatham House rule.
 Featured Guests

Khalil Rouhana
Deputy Director-General, DG Communications Networks, Content and
Technology, European Commission

Khalil Rouhana is the deputy director-general in DG Communications

Networks, Content and Technology since 2016. His responsibilities include
policies for digital economy and society and notably for research, innovation
and industrial strategies, digital solution for societal challenges and
governments as well as cybersecurity. Before that he was director for digital
industry supporting the competitiveness of core digital sectors in Europe
and the digitisation of all industrial sectors of the economy. He has a master’s
degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Supelec, France.

Paul Rübig
Member, European Parliament

Paul Rübig became a Member of the European Parliament in January 1996,

and was re-elected five times. He is a Member of the Austrian People’s Party
and part of the European People’s Party. Rübig is permanent member of the
ITRE and DEVE committees, member of the BUDG Committee, and substitute
member of the INTA Committee. He is chairman of the STOA unit and also of
the Paneuropean Working Group in the European Parliament.

Carlos Zorrinho
Member, European Parliament

Carlos Zorrinho became a Member of the European Parliament in 1995 for

the Socialists and Democrats group. He is a full professor with a PhD in IT
management. Zorrinho previously served in the government as a Secretary
of State for energy and innovation. In the European Parliament he is a
member of the ITRE and EMIS Committees and a substitute member in ENVI.
 Guests

• Maria Alajõe, Head of Office, Estonian Liaison Office for EU RTD

• Trond Helge Bårdsen, Counsellor, ICT Policies and Government Administration,
Mission of Norway to the EU
• Luciano Baresi, Full Professor, Department of Electronics, Information and
Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano
• Massimo Busuoli, Head, Brussels office, NTNU
• Elizabeth Crossick, Head, EU Government Affairs, RELX Group
• Oliver Cusworth, Policy Advisor, European Investment Bank
• Monica Dietl, Senior Adviser, Science|Business
• James Elles, Chairman, Transatlantic Policy Network
• Maryline Fiaschi, Managing Director, Science|Business
• Fabrizio Gagliardi, Senior Strategy Advisor, Barcelona Supercomputing Center
• Pablo Garcia Tello, Section Leader, Development of EU Projects and Initiatives,
CERN
• Jan Gulliksen, Vice-President, Digitalisation; Professor, Human Computer
Interaction, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
• Matti Hiltunen, Counsellor, Research and Innovation, Business Finland
• Richard L. Hudson, Editor-in-chief and Vice Chair of the Board, Science|Business
• Jorge Liz, Project Monitoring Coordinator, EUREKA Association
• Sivasegaram Manimaaran, Head, Brussels office, Innovate UK
• Geleyn Meijer, Rector, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
• Valentina Novak, Junior Policy Officer, The Guild
• Georgeta Oprea, Executive Assistant, Toyota Motor Europe
• Rosie Pearce, Junior Policy Officer, The Guild
• Simon Pickard, Network Director, Science|Business
• Mathias Rauch, Head, Brussels office, Fraunhofer
• Johannes Ring, Assistant to MEP Rübig, European Parliament
• Khalil Rouhana, Deputy Director-General, DG Communications Networks,
Content and Technology, European Commission
• Paul Rübig, Member, European Parliament
• Julia Schmalenberg, Senior Policy Officer, Technology Transfer and Digitizing
Industry, Fraunhofer
• Benedicte Sognefest, Senior Adviser, Horizon 2020, Innovation Norway
• Laure Sonnier, EU Liaison Officer, Frontiers
• Hideki Takamatsu, Technical General Manager, Toyota Motor Europe
• Maarten van Steen, Professor, Large-scale Distributed Systems; Scientific
Director, Digital Society Institute, University of Twente; Chair, ICT Research
Platform Netherlands
• Bart Veys, Policy Officer, The COST Association
• Carlos Zorrinho, Member, European Parliament