Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Forum Europe are launching an event series looking at how the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) programme is used by Member States, especially with regard to the minimum of 20% of National Recovery & Resilience Plans (NRRPs) investments directed to the digital transition.
Questions the event series will address include the following:
The first episode of this series will look specifically at the digitisation of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, many do not grasp the benefits of digitisation. The EU’s Digital Compass includes the ambitious target to reach over 90% of European SMEs with at least a basic level of digital intensity by 2030, up from 60% in 2020. This is, therefore, not surprising that multiple Member States have prioritised SMEs digitisation in their respective NRRP.
While many Member States have already launched calls and have received pre-financing disbursements, the event will provide a platform for European SMEs to learn and exchange views with EU and national policymakers on the opportunity provided by RRF funds. It will also be an occasion to identify potential investment gaps related to the digitisation of SMEs in the EU and discuss how the RRF can help bridge those gaps.
We hope you can join us for this first session on 2 June!
10:00 – 10:05
Welcome Remarks
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Irena Bednarich
Vice President, International Government Relations, EMEA and APJ, HPE
10:05 – 10:35
Keynote Speeches
Bio coming soon.
Gilles Thiebaut
SVP and Managing Director, Northern Western Europe, HPE
10:35 – 11:30
Panel Discussion
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Moderated by: Irena Bednarich
Vice President, International Government Relations, EMEA and APJ, HPE
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.
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary General of Digital Governance and Simplification of Procedures, Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance
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.
Antti Riivari
Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)
11:30 – 12:00
Audience Q&A
Dr. Florika Fink-Hooijer is the Director-General of the Environment Department of the European Commission.
Having occupied various senior management positions in the European Commission, Florika is recognized for her strong management and leadership skills and her in-depth experience in EU policy making & shaping.
A lawyer by training, Florika brings a proven record of accomplishment in foreign external and security policy as well as in humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction. She has extensive experience in leading complex inter-institutional and intergovernmental negotiations.
In her current role, she is responsible for implementing the European Green Deal objectives in particular the areas of Circular Economy, Biodiversity and Zero Pollution
Director General, DG Environment
European Commission
Biography to follow shortly.
VP and Chief Sustainability Officer
HPE
Officer
Sustainable Economy and Procurement
ICLEI
Associate Professor, David Peck, researches and teaches in the field of circular design and critical materials, based in the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. He is a founding member of the Circular Built Environment Hub. David works cross disciplinary on circular challenges, in particular on digital, ICT, mobility and renewables fields.
David is also Honorary Associate Professor with University College London – The Bartlett and an adjunct Professor at MIP Politecnico di Milano, Graduate School of Business. David works with ad hoc committees in the EU, Brussels, and is an H2020 & Horizon Europe reviewer. He is the TU Delft lead scientist for EU Horizons 2020 projects Pop Machina, ProSUM, ERN and FP7 CRM_Innonet. David is TU Delft representative for the EU KIC EIT Raw Materials and represents the university in the programme. He leads a number of projects in this important programme that has a focus on critical materials and circular economy, in particular Remanufacturing.
Associate Professor, Climate Design & Sustainability, Circular Built Environment and Critical Materials
Delft University of Technology
With over two decades experience in Environmental, Social and Governance in the electronics industry, Gareth brings a wealth of experience to his role as Senior Technologist in HPE’s Sustainable Transformation team. Previously he worked as Energy & Sustainability Engineer, where he leads HPE’s practice for customer collaboration on circular economy, sustainability and IT efficiency in the UK and the Nordics. Day to day he partners with HPE’s largest customers, stakeholders, and governments to develop net positive solutions to business challenges, share best practices, and drive new business opportunities.
Senior Technologist, Sustainable Transformation
HPE
Sonja van Renssen is the managing editor of a new digital publication, Energy Monitor (energymonitor.ai), launched by the New Statesman Group in September 2020. Our goal is to tell data-driven stories about the global energy transition. Based in Brussels, Sonja is an experienced journalist and conference moderator who has previously written for leading energy and climate titles including S&P Global Platts and Nature Climate Change. She won a BBC-sponsored “Young Broadcaster of the Year Award” in 2005. Sonja has an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London and a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford. She grew up in the Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan, and speaks fluent English and Dutch, with a good command of German and French.
Energy Monitor
New Statesman Group
SVP and Managing Director
North-Western Europe
HPE
DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission, Head of Unit of the newly created High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology unit
Dr. Gustav Kalbe is German, born in Belgium. From 1986 to 1990 he studied Applied Physics at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. In 1991 he studied Applied Optics at the Imperial College of Science in London. In 1995 he completed his studies and earned a PhD in Physics, Molecular Spectroscopy, at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
He started his professional career as a project manager in photonic networks at the incumbent telecom operator in Belgium. He was R&D manager when he left the company.
In 1998 he joined the Directorate General Information Society & Media of the European Commission where he started working as Project Officer managing research projects of the European Framework Programs for Research. Over the years he had several assignments in quantum technologies, photonics, and cybersecurity.
In 2014 Gustav Kalbe became Head of Unit for Administration & Finance in the European Commission, in Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
In 2016 he was appointed Head of Unit of the newly created High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology unit in Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
In 2018 he became responsible for the establishment and operation of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. He occupied the post of Interim Executive Director of the Joint Undertaking until its autonomy by the end of 2020.
He’s also Deputy to the Director of DG Connect C “Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure” since 1st January 2021.
Deputy Director of Directorate C & Head of Unit, High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology
DG CNECT, European Commission
Utz-Uwe Haus, Head of the HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab (ERL), studied mathematics and computer science at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin). After obtaining a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Magdeburg (Germany) he worked on nonstandard applications of mathematical optimization in chemical engineering, material science, and systems biology. He led a junior research group at the Magdeburg Center for Systems Biology. After five years as senior researcher at the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zürich, he co-founded CERL, the CRAY EMEA Research Lab in 2015. His research interests focus on parallel programming and data aware scheduling problems, data analytics in the context of semantic databases, and novel compute architectures, and their relation to Mathematical Optimization and Operations Research. He is strongly involved in the European research collaborations and strategy through Horizon 2020 and EuroHPC projects, as well as ETP4HPC.
Head of HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab
HPE
Koski has previously worked in managerial positions at Nokia and in managerial and specialist roles at CSC. He has also worked at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.
Key concurrent positions of trust: Coordinator in the EuroHPC LUMI -consortium and Deputy member of the Board in Technology Industries of Finland.
Managing Director
CSC - The Finnish IT Center for Science
Director of the HLRS
HPC Centre Stuttgart
Director, Corporate Affairs, EMEA
HPE
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This event will take place using Forum Europe’s virtual solution. For more details on our virtual solution, please visit forum-europe.com.
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