Speaker Biographies

Confirmed speakers

Laure Chapuis

Member of Cabinet of Vice-President Ansip, European Commission

Laure Chapuis joined the European Commission, Directorate General for Energy and Transport, in 2003 where she started in the maritime safety unit looking at the environmental impact of shipping. She focused on issues related to ship recycling, ships' waste, air pollution from ships and more recently CO2 emission of the maritime sector. She then moved on to the Climate Action Directorate General where she has been dealing with legal questions on the international carbon market as well as reinforcing the team on climate action for the maritime sector. In April 2011, she joined the team of Vice President Siim Kallas where she focuses on the decarbonisation of transport, alternative and innovative fuels for the transport sectors, research and innovation. Since November 2014, Laure is working in the team of Vice President Ansip focusing on the setting up of the Digital Single Market in the European Union. Prior to join the Commission, she worked in a law firm. As educational background, Laure studied law in France and the United-Kingdom; she concluded her studies by a master in international law and international environmental law in the University of Edinburgh.

Pierre Chastanet

Deputy Head of Unit - Trust and Security, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Pierre Chastanet is Deputy Head of Unit Trust & Security in the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, where he is in charge of cybersecurity industrial policy.
He was previously assistant to the Director in charge of Sustainable and Secure Society, where he played a Sherpa role in the preparation of Horizon 2020, the European framework programme of research and innovation. He was beforehand policy officer in charge of Green ICT policy development under the Digital Agenda for Europe. Pierre joined the European Commission in 2006 as Research Programme Officer in charge of Telecommunication technologies and the Internet of the Future.
Prior to that, Pierre acquired over 10 years of ICT experience. In particular, he held various IT management positions for 7 years at Procter & Gamble, in Belgium, the UK and the US, including Head of Global ICT Innovation. He started his career in Washington DC in a start-up company working on surgical simulation.

Pierre Chastanet holds a M.S. in Telecommunication Engineering from Paris Graduate School of Telecommunication Engineering (Telecom ParisTech) and a M.A. in International Politics from the Free University of Brussels (ULB).

Neena Gill

Member, European Parliament

Ms Neena Gill is current Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands, UK. She is full member of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and substitute for the Committee of Foreign Affairs. Ms Gill is also First Vice-President to the Delegation for Relations with India, and a member of the Delegation to the US.

This is her third term as MEP for the area, having previously served from 1999-2009. During the previous terms Ms Gill was President of EP Delegation for Relations with India, President (2004–2007) of EP Delegation for Relations with South Asia and SAARC countries, Vice President (2002–2004) of EP Delegation for Relations with South Asia, ASEAN and SAARC countries. She was also Member for The Legal Affairs Committee, and a member of the Budgets Committee, Ex-Officio member of the SAARC Delegation, 2007, and the ITRE Committee - Industry, Research and Energy. Furthermore in this time she was also part of the Delegation ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the EU Election Observation Mission to first ever democratic elections in Nepal. In her years out of office Ms Gill worked as the Vice-President for Corporate Affairs in the SAS software company.

Prior to becoming an MEP, she was a CEO of two housing organisations. She also graduated in Social Sciences, has a post-graduate professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Housing, and is an alumnus of the London Business School.

Reinhard Posch

CIO, Federal Government Austria

Reinhard Posch studied at Technischen Hochschule (now Graz University of Technology) mathematics, worked at Graz Research Center (now Joanneum Research) on the topics operating systems, terminal concepts, networking, and automates road construction and planning. He got his PHD in 1976, served as assistant professor and worked with Sperry Univac (Roseville, MN, USA) researching in the field of physical network layers. In 1984 he was appointed full professor at Graz University of technology.

Since 1986 Reinhard Posch is servicing as head of “Applied Information Processing and Communications Technology“ (IAIK). Since 1999 he also serves as Director of the „Austrian Secure Information Technology Center“ (A-SIT) 1999. Since 2001 as federal CIO (Chief Information Officer) for the Austrian government. 2007 to 2011 Reinhard Posch chaired the management board of ENISA.

Besides many publications, Reinhard Posch conducted many national and international research projects concentrating on networking, computer security, smart cards and innovative advances of eGovernment.

Among other awards Reinhard Posch got the “IFIPOutstanding Service Award”, the „IFIP SilverCore Award“, the ID Peoples Award 2006 and the Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria.

Ken Ducatel

Chief Information Security Officer, European Commission

Ken Ducatel, British, aged 58, holds a PhD in economic geography from Bristol University and an MSc in transport policy from Cranfield University in the UK. He has worked on information society policy for twenty years. He was a member of the Faculty of University of Manchester for 14 years.

From 1997 to 2003, he worked at the European Commission's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies in Seville, where he led the Institute's flagship "Futures Project".

From 2004 to 2008 he was a member of Commissioner Reding's Cabinet responsible for Lisbon Strategy & Policies for the Information Society.

In January 2009 he became Head of Unit for the "Digital Agenda: Policy Coordination" in DG Information Society. In July 2012 he took the lead in the unit "Software and Service, Cloud Computing Unit" in the newly formed DG CONNECT.

In September 2014, he became the Chief Information Security Officer in DG DIGIT with the responsibility for assuring the security of the Commission's corporate IT assets. He has also been appointed member of the ENISA Management Board in November 2014.

Ambassador Sorin Ducaru

Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO

Ambassador Sorin Ducaru took over the post of Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges in September 2013. He is responsible for providing support to the North-Atlantic Council and for advising the Secretary General on the evolution of emerging security challenges and their potential impact on NATO’s security.

Sorin Ducaru, Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges
Prior to his appointment as ASG, Ambassador Ducaru served as Romania’s Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council, from September 2006 to September 2013. From November 2011, Ambassador Ducaru was the Dean of the North Atlantic Council.

Ambassador Ducaru was born on 22 June 1964, in Baia-Mare, Romania. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest in 1988 and the Romanian National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in 1992. He holds a MPhil Degree in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam (1993) and a PhD degree in International Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest (2005).

He joined the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993, assuming various posts such as member of the Policy Planning team, counsellor to the Minister, spokesman of the MFA and Director for NATO and Strategic Issues. From 2001 to 2006, he served as Romania’s Ambassador to the United States of America. In 2000–2001, Ambassador Ducaru served as Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations, in New York.

In the year 2000 Ambassador Ducaru was awarded by the President of Romania the National Order of “Faithful Service” in rank of Commander, followed by, in 2006 the Order for “Diplomatic Merit” and in 2008 the rank of Knight of the National Order “The Star of Romania”. He received the title of “Ambassador of the Year” in 2003 and 2012, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania.

He is married to Carmen Ducaru (a graduate of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies and of the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration) and has two children: Maria-Teodora and Matei-Nicolae. Ambassador Ducaru speaks German, English and French, and enjoys playing the guitar, skiing, tennis, photography and cinema.

Asaf Ashkenazi

Director of product management, Qualcomm Technologies

Asaf Ashkenazi serves as Director of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI). In this role he is responsible for the oversight of all security products related to QTI business, including mobile, computing and IoT. Ashkenazi also serves as a board member of the FIDO Alliance.
Prior to his product management role, Ashkenazi served as a lead security architect, defining QTI security solutions.

Ashkenazi has more than 15 years of security experience, spanning across business management, strategic marketing, and engineering. He began his career at Motorola Semiconductor, working on innovative security hardware for mobile and embedded devices. He also served as Chief Security Architect at Freescale Semiconductor.

Ashkenazi holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He has been granted 10 U.S. patents for security architectures and solutions.

Paul Nicholas

Senior Director, Global Security Strategy and Diplomacy, Microsoft

Paul Nicholas leads Microsoft’s Global Security Strategy and Diplomacy Team, which focuses on driving strategic change, both within Microsoft and externally, to advance infrastructure security and resiliency. His team addresses global challenges related to risk management, incident response, emergency communications, and information sharing. Paul recently served as subject matter expert for the East West Institute’s 2011 publications, including the first U.S. Russia taxonomy for cyber collaboration and a review of the applicability of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on cyberspace. In 2007, he helped to establish the Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code (SAFECode), a multi-company effort to advance industry best practices for software security and integrity.

Prior to joining the Microsoft, Paul spent over eight years in the U.S. Government, focusing on emerging threats to economic and national security. From 2002-2004, he served as White House Director of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection. In that role, he coordinated the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace and Homeland Security Presidential Decision Directive 7. Paul also served in the legislative branch, working as a senior policy advisor for U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett and as a staff member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information. He has also served as an Assistant Director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and as an analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Paul earned a B.A. from Indiana University, an M.A. from Georgetown University, and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

Ulrich Seldeslachts

Managing Director, LSEC (Leaders in Security)

Ulrich Seldeslachts joined LSEC - Leaders In Security, a European not for profit association representing the ICT Security Industry late 2006, to support the organization in its future growth strategy. With over 135 industry members, more than 7000 enterprise and government it security professionals connected, Ulrich runs a team of 8 security and innovation professionals in the Netherlands, UK and Belgium to further develop the collaboration between ICT security industry, research and public authorities.

LSEC is active in FP7 and Competitiveness and Innovation Programs in Europe and on a number of other research projects, where it brings industrial expertise to the research table, connecting to user communities and end users.

LSEC is a partner in FP7 projects:

- IPACSO, on the development of an innovation framework for cyber security and privacy;
- FIRE, bringing together cyber security research and industry;
- IWT project Nebucom, together with Agoria ICT (business federation of ICT companies) and Sirris (industrial developments) on the development of secure cloud solutions for industry. ACDC, the European anti-botnet pilot action in charge over the pilot developments.

Ulrich will also be stressing the importance of International cooperation for Cyber Security from the Building International Cooperation for Trustworthy ICT project perspective.

Prior to LSEC, Ulrich has started the European branch of SprintClearwire the North-American Wireless Broadband operator, founded by Craig Mc Caw. Ulrich was responsible for the development of 7 broadband wireless operations throughout Europe. Ulrich has an experience in business and corporate development, and company innovation. He led the Venture Capital company of the Belgian incumbent telecoms operator Belgacom between 1998 and 2003. He aims to use his experiences to solidify the further growth of Information Security business throughout Europe with worldwide recognition of the it security expertise of Europe.

Jason Hart

Ethical Hacker, Cyber Security Expert and VP Cloud, SafeNet

As a former ethical hacker with 20 years’ experience in the Information Security industry, Jason has used his knowledge and expertise to create technologies that ensure organisations stay one step ahead of the risks presented by ongoing advances Cyber threats and risks. Jason continues to raise the profile of Information Security risks and solutions, and was instrumental in the introduction of the role CSO (Chief Security Officer) within business and the creation of the world’s leading Cloud Based Authentication Platform. In addition Jason has devoted his time to reducing and researching the risk of password theft and password hacking and is globally known for exposing a large number of major password vulnerabilities.

Jason continues to published articles and white papers and continually appears on BBC, ITV, CNN, and CNBC as well as Radio 5, Sky News and BBC World News as an expert advisor on Cyber Security matters and issues. His expertise has been cited in Time, SC Magazine, InfoSec, Computing and Computer Weekly magazines and in the FT, Guardian, Times and Evening Standard and is recognized as a lead figure within the global information security industry.

Jason has held senior positions within a number of organizations, including Ernst & Young's Information Security Assurance and Advisory Services practice, CEO of WhiteHat and Cryptocard. Clients have included NHS, Governments, as well as a large number of FTSE 100 organizations, for whom Jason has created and developed entire security frameworks as well as Information Security Assessment Methodologies. In addition Jason regularly provides advice and guidance to Governments, Law Enforcement and Military agencies on Information Security matters globally and is Vice Chairman for E-Crime Wales and holds the role of Vice Present of Cloud at Safenet.

Thomas Owen

Security Manager, Memset

Thomas Owen has been Head of Security at Memset Hosting since 2014. Memset is a leader in the provision of high security, cost-effective utility Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud products to UK private and public sector. As an approved SME supplier to the UK government via the G-Cloud framework, Thomas has been instrumental in helping Memset reach commercial success through the adoption of strong security practices and the creation of high-security utility Cloud hosting as a brand.

Thomas balances his experience in risk management and governance, cybersecurity and security operations with a strong commitment to citizen rights and privacy. He takes an active interest in global data protection processes, in particular how data should be secured, stored, accessed and managed and is knowledgeable on UK data protection law and EU directives. He is a keen proponent of gender balance within STEM and would like to see cyber security become a leading light in the industry.
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Thomas holds a MSc in Computing from Cardiff University and a BA in English Literature from the University of Exeter. Before joining Memset, Thomas held senior security positions at Accenture and Rackspace in consulting, security operations and security architecture.

Stephane Duguin

Team Leader of the European Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU), Europol

Officer of the French National Police, Mr. Duguin held positions in several departments: Judicial Police, Public Safety, and International Cooperation Office. Starting in 2009, Mr. Duguin was employed as a senior specialist at Europol. He led key operational projects, such as the setup of the Europol Operational Centre and the creation of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3). Since 2015, he is in charge of the creation, implementation and leadership of the European Internet Referral Unit.

Silvana Muscella

CEO and Founder, Trust-IT Services,

Silvana Muscella is CEO & founder of Trust-IT Services tackling high-level strategy building, business acquisition, coordination and strategic marketing and communication developments in ICT, namely in cloud computing tools & services & Eu efforts on cybersecurity. Played an instrumental role in connecting stakeholders around standardisation efforts in distributed computing (namely, IEEE, ETSI, OGF, SNIA, DMTF, OASIS, ITU-T) and relations with NIST.

Currently Coordinator of CloudWATCH, the pan-European Cloud Observatory & SLA-READY –making SLAs readily usable in the EU Private sector.  Served as the coordinator of OGF-Europe, SIENA initiative & co-author of the SIENA Roadmap. Contributed to the EC’s Cloud Expert Group Roadmap on future research priorities & the ETSI Cloud Standards Coordination & and the C-SIG on Service Level Agreements.

Member of the Green Grid, IEEE InterCloud Computing Initiative & ACM Professional Member. Served as an at-large director for the OGF. External Expert Evaluator for the European Commission since 2009. Founder of the Cloudscape workshop series.

Robert Duncan

Chief Information Security Officer, Euronext

Robert Duncan has been Chief Information Security Officer for Euronext since August 2014. Euronext operates regulated markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK, all of which are connected via a single trading platform with a harmonized regulatory framework, with combined traded market capitalization of €3.3 trillion and over €6 billion of equity securities traded daily.

Robert is responsible for overall Information Security Strategy along with the oversight of various core teams: Threat and Vulnerability Management, Security Architecture, Application Security, Security Operations, and Security Awareness, as well as managing the relationship with the five core European regulators in respect to the firm's security posture.

Robert has extensive international experience, having been based in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Australia. Prior to Euronext, he worked for ANZ Bank in Melbourne, Australia, where he was responsible for Technology Risk and Security for their International Global Markets division. He was also Head of Global Risk and Governance for Prudential plc PGDS division for many years, supporting the division globally with extensive travel of Asia and the USA. He holds an LLB in Law (London), MBA (Cranfield), and a post graduate qualification in Executive IT Management from Columbia University in New York.

Thomas Boue

Director, Government Affairs, EMEA, BSA | The Software Alliance

Thomas Boué oversees the BSA | The Software Alliance’s public policy activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He advises BSA members on public policy and legal developments and advocates the views of the ICT sector with both European and national policy makers. He leads on security and privacy issues as well as broader efforts to improve levels of intellectual property protection and to promote open markets, fair competition, and technology innovation in new areas such as cloud computing.

Prior to joining BSA, Boué served as a consultant in Weber Shandwick where he advised clients on a wide range of technology and ICT-related policy issues and represented them before the EU institutions and industry coalitions. In this role, he also served as policy and regulatory adviser for both EU and US telecom operators. Prior to that Boué worked for the EU office of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for the lobbying activities towards the EU Institutions in the areas of trade, education, and labor, as well as for the organization and running of seminars on EU affairs for SMEs and business professionals.

Boué holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Europa-Insitut (Saarbrücken, Germany), a Certificate of Integrated Legal Studies (trilateral and trilingual Master’s degree in French, English, German and European Law, from the Universities of Warwick (UK), Saarland (Germany) and Lille II (France) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Lille II, France. He is based in BSA’s Brussels office.

Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar

Head of Cyber Policy Coordination Conflict Prevention and Security Policy, European External Action Service

Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar coordinates EU external cyber relations at the European External Action Service. Prior to this position, she was seconded as a Cyber Security Policy Advisor to NATO where she helped to develop the new NATO Cyber Defence Policy and its Action Plan. She has been working on cyber security issues since 2007 when she led an interdepartmental working group to develop the national Cyber Security Strategy after Estonian cyber attacks. In 2008-2010 she coordinated the implementation of Estonia’s Cyber Security Strategy and managed the National Cyber Security Council. She oversaw the development of Estonia’s Critical Information Infrastructure Protection system and facilitated public-private partnerships at national level. She also worked closely with European Union institutions for the launch of the EU Critical Information Infrastructure Protection policy, as well as with other international organisations.

She has served at various managerial positions at the Estonian Ministry of Defence between 1995 and 2005, including the Head of Security Policy Analysis Division, Head of NATO Division and the Head of International Organisations Department.

In 2005-2007, she established the Department of International Studies at the Tallinn University where she introduced the International Relations and Security Studies programmes at graduate level. She has contributed to several academic journals and books.

Jan Neutze

Director of Cybersecurity Policy, EMEA, Microsoft

Jan Neutze is Director of Cybersecurity Policy at Microsoft responsible for cybersecurity policy matters in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Before taking on Microsoft's EMEA security portfolio, Jan worked in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing (TwC) group at Microsoft Corp. leading TwC's engagements with governments and industry partners. Jan came to Microsoft from the United Nations Headquarters where he served for three years in the policy planning staff of the UN Secretary-General and the Department of Political Affairs, leading a range of cybersecurity and counterterrorism projects. Prior to his work at the UN, Jan led a range of transatlantic security policy projects at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Atlantic Council of the United States. Jan holds a J.D. from the University of Muenster, Germany and an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Ranit Fink

Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer, Cellrox

Prior to joining Cellrox, Ranit was the founder and CEO of Issue Ltd, a company specializing in offshore software outsource solutions for Hi-Tech companies. Ranit focused on the identification of strategic vendors abroad and on building partnerships with Israeli based Hi-Tech companies, work that generated annual revenue of $15M. Ranit has 7 years’ experience in software development and project management in technology companies.
She was an early joiner of Chromatis Networks which was acquired by Lucent for $4.7 Billion in 2001.
Ranit holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science from Columbia University and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Bar-Ilan University.

Sebastian Brose

Deputy Head of Companies and experts, VdS

Sebastian Brose, born 1984, has a degree in Business Laws. After finishing his studies at Rheinische Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Cologne/Germany in 2009 he started his work at VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH in the business unit Security as Business Development Manager. Beside his current position as deputy head of companies & experts certification department and deputy head of certification body the national and international standardisation and business strategy development are main focus of his work. In addition he acts as author and speaker. Furthermore he is member of the advidory board "Master Compliance and Corporate Security" at Rheinische Fachhochschule Cologne.

About VdS
VdS is one of the world's most renowned and prestigious institutions for corporate security and safety, specializing in fire protection, security and natural disaster prevention. The services include risk assessments, on-site inspections, certifications of products, companies and professionals, and a comprehensive training and publication program.
The VdS seal of approval enjoys an excellent reputation in professional circles and among decision makers. VdS clients include industrial and commercial businesses in all industries, leading international manufacturers, system houses and professional specialists, as well as risk-conscious banks and insurers. For further information please see: www.vds.de/en
VdS – Inspected. Approved. Safe.

VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH is a company of the German Insurance Association (GDV) located in Berlin/Germany.

Paul Cornish

Research group director for Defence, Security & Infrastructure, RAND Europe

Paul Cornish is Research Group Director for Defence, Security and Infrastructure at RAND Europe in Cambridge. His appointments have included Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of Exeter, Professor of International Security at the University of Bath and (inaugural) Carrington Professor of International Security at Chatham House (where he established a highly successful cyber security research programme). He was educated at the University of St Andrews and the London School of Economics. He then served in the British Army and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before completing his PhD at the University of Cambridge. He directed the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s College London and taught at the UK Defence Academy and the universities of Cambridge, Bath and Exeter. His work covers national strategy, cyber security, the ethics of armed conflict, civil-military relations and other aspects of contemporary international security. He is a member of the UK Chief of the Defence Staff’s Strategic Advisory Panel, a Fellow of Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Capacity-Building Centre, a participant in UK-Chine Track 1.5 discussions on cyber security, and a Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Colin Blackman

Director, Digital Forum, The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Colin Blackman is Director of the Digital Forum at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Director of Camford Associates, and Visiting Senior Fellow at The London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Media and Communications.

Colin is a consultant, editor and writer specializing in foresight and information age issues. He has more than 25 years’ experience as a consultant and project manager specializing in foresight and policy impacts of new technologies. He is the founding editor of info (the journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information and media), and co-editor of the Telecommunications Regulation Handbook.

His recent clients include the OECD (supporting their work on the Internet of Things), The European Commission (DG Connect, DG Enterprise, Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies), The World Bank, the European Parliament, Thailand’s National Telecommunications Commission, and the International Telecommunication Union

Dan Cimpean

Partner, Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services

Mr Cimpean's biography will appear here shortly

Andrea Dufkova

Expert in Computer Security and Incident Handling Policy, ENISA

Ms Dufkova's biography will appear here shortly