Nicolas Bessot is the Head of Unit for Innovation and Security Research in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs, since March 2022.
In his current functions, Nicolas is responsible for the management of the Security Research part of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, by setting the research agenda, in cooperation with the Member States, in the areas of Fighting Crime and Terrorism, Border Security, Disaster Resilient Societies and Infrastructure Protection.
Nicolas Bessot has been working in the European Commission since 2006. He joined the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs early 2015 to prepare the Commission's policy response to the terrorist attacks of 2015. He was then in charge of coordinating the implementation of the security strategy within the Commission services and became policy assistant to the Director General in 2018, being in charge of security files.
Before joining DG HOME, Nicolas worked in DG Competition for 8 years and, prior to that, as a private practice lawyer in international law firms in Paris.

Mr de Eusebio took up the position of Deputy Executive Director of Europol as Head of the Capabilities Directorate in August 2015, where he directly manages staff from ICT, HR and finance.

Thierry is a chief superintendent who graduated from the University of Strasbourg in political sciences. For more than 30 years, he has worked in the French National police serving within the criminal police unit and various public safety police departments.
Since 2015, he is more specifically in charge, within the Directorate for International Cooperation of coordination and support missions for the involvement of the Ministry of the Interior in research and innovation projects! Currently he is also the coordinator of the H2020 ILEAnet practitioner network project.

Michael O’Flaherty is Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights since 2015. He is a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Nottingham and the National University of Ireland, Galway. From 2004 to 2012 he was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, latterly as Vice-Chair. O’Flaherty has held a variety of other positions at the United Nations, both at headquarters and in the field, in which connection he witnessed, reported on, and sought to mitigate human rights abuses in such places as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone. He has also served as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, as Chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and as Vice-Chair of the Universal Rights Group. A solicitor of the Irish Courts, O’Flaherty received the Higher Doctorate of Laws from the National University of Ireland and also holds degrees in international relations, philosophy, and theology.

Ernesto is the head of Homeland Security Research Unit Industry and Security Technologies.

Emilie is currently the project manager for UNCOVER (at the Royal Military Academy), working closely with the scientific coordinator and PI of the project.
Her previous experience includes:

• Master in Biochemistry and Executive master in Research Management
• Research cooperation (French Ambasy in Morrocco 2008 - 2009)
• Research funding (French National Research Agency 2011 - 2013)
• Liaison officer (representing École Polytechnique (France) in Brussels)
• Project management (Université Paris Diderot 2014 - 2018; Royal Military Academy (2021 - Now)

Ruth Linden works as a policy advisor for the Europol Innovation Lab. Under the umbrella of the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security, she contributes to the "Accountability Principles for AI" (AP4AI) project, run in partnership with five EU JHA Agencies and their academic partner CENTRIC, aiming at developing accountability principles for the use of AI in the field of internal security. Ruth holds a master’s degree in political science and an LLM in internet law and policy.

Teresa Quintel is an Assistant Professor at the European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity (ECPC) at Maastricht University, which she joined in July 2021. At the ECPC, Teresa is co-coordinating an Advanced Master program in Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Management. In addition, she is involved in various projects at the ECPC. Prior to her appointment, Teresa worked at the University of Luxembourg and Uppsala University as PhD candidate, focusing on data protection rules applicable in the law enforcement context. Apart from her research and teaching activities, Teresa worked in different projects on EU and Council of Europe level.

Paul Griffiths has worked in the drugs field for over 25 years. Prior to 1999, he worked as a researcher based at the National Addiction Centre in London. From 2000, his activities have focused on the international monitoring of drug use, working first for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in Vienna, (UNODC), and subsequently, for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Paul joined the EMCDDA in 2003, as head of the epidemiology unit and was appointed Scientific Director in 2010. He holds an honorary position as a Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

Teodora Groshkova is a principal scientific analyst at the EMCDDA, focusing on drug markets and crime. She joined the EMCDDA in 2010, having previously worked at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, where she undertook research on a wide range of drug policy-related research topics. A Bulgarian national, she holds a degree in Clinical and Public Health Aspects of Addiction and a PhD in the Psychology of Addiction.

Antonio Bosisio is Senior Researcher at Transcrime – Università Cattolica. His research focuses on organised crime, corruption, money laundering and financial crime. In the last years, he has specialised in the analysis of anomalies in companies’ ownership that could flag potential involvement in illicit activities. In this domain, he has participated to numerous research projects at national and international level, including PROMENADE, and he is currently coordinating the EU-funded project DATACROS II. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Social Sciences at Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.

Mirela Rosgova (MSc) (female) is a Rural and Surveying Engineer of NTUA with an MSc degree in Geoinformatics, with research interests in the field of Development of educational scenarios for enhancing geospatial thinking using modern methods and technologies, especially IT. Over the last years, she is heavily involved in procurement, supply and several project implementations, management, coordination and execution, regarding telecom, construction and natural gas distribution system areas. She participates in EU funded research projects related to Security and Border Surveillance, Migration and Innovation Procurement, as an associate researcher at the Center for Security Studies (KEMEA), of the Hellenic Ministry of Citizen Protection.

Theodore Christakis (@TC_IntLaw) is Professor of International and European Law at University Grenoble Alpes (France), Director of Research for Europe with the Cross-Border Data Forum, Senior Fellow with the Future of Privacy Forum and a former Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the New York University Cybersecurity Centre. He is Chair on the Legal and Regulatory Implications of Artificial Intelligence with the Multidisciplinary Institute on AI (AI-Regulation.com). He has been a member of the French National Digital Council, and he is currently serving as a member of the French National Committee on Digital Ethics as well as a member of the International Data Transfers Experts Council of the UK Government. As an international expert he has advised governments, international organisations, and private companies on issues concerning international and European law, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data protection law. He also has experience working as external Data Protection Officer (GDPR compliance).

Mailis Pukonen has worked on International Relations and European Integration within the public sector at national and international levels for more than 20 years. During her career, she focussed on EU integration, making a vital contribution to the EU integration process in Estonia, guiding domestic policy and aiding implementation of EU – related reforms. She actively participated in the negotiation process towards entry to the EU. She has two Masters degrees - in Contemporary European Studies, giving her an outstanding knowledge in economic and political integration of the EU, External Relations of the EU and world politics and global governance. She is multilingual, speaking Estonian, Russian and Finish as native languages and English as a working language.
Since 2018, she has been the head of Operations in CEPOL being responsible for the overall planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the operational activities of the Agency. She also provides strategic advice and deputises the Executive Director.
From 2012 to 2018, she was the Head of the General Coordination Unit in eu-LISA, providing executive support to the Executive Director in development of corporate governance and strategic planning. The Unit's responsibilities involved, among other things provision of legal advice, statutory reporting, monitoring of technologies and events in the ICT field, including Smart Borders. The Unit was also managing relations with the European Commission, European Parliament and Council and provided continuous support and formed the secretariat to the Management Board and Advisory Groups of the Agency. It dealt with the Agency's external and internal communication and technical training to the EU Member States.
In 2010, she was appointed by the Estonian government to work in the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU in Brussels.
From 1997 to 2010, she occupied different high-level positions within the Government Office of Estonia, serving as Deputy Director of EU Affairs, Deputy Head of EU Secretariat, Head of External co-operation Division and Adviser on EU Affairs. During 2008-2009, she acted as the Team Leader of an EU funded project managed by the European Commission Liaison Office named "Support for the Agency of EU integration under the Prime Minister's Office in Kosovo".
In 2006, she was a seconded high-level advisor of the Prime Minister's Office of Finland to support the Presidency of the EU.
From 1991-1997 she worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia as Consular Officer in the Embassy of Estonia in Finland, providing consular services and consular assistance and performing other functions in the consular district of the Estonian Embassy in Finland.

Juan currently works as Business Manager of the European Anti-Cybercrime Technology Development Association (EACTDA). Prior to that, Juan worked as Programme Manager at Vicomtech, a research technology organisation, and previously as Project Management Office's manager at Thomson Reuters Aranzadi, a company providing valuable and actionable information to legal professionals. At the beginning of his career, Juan also worked as an IT consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Juan holds a PhD in Project Management from the Public University of Navarre (Spain), and a MSc in Software Engineering and a BS in Computer Science, both from Deusto University (Spain).

Anna has been working for Estonian Police and Border Guard Board since 2002, but in the digital forensics field since 2015. She has constantly developed skills and knowledge by studying, taking part in international projects and teaching. Experience goes not only from learning things but from teaching others and sharing experience. Her direct work tasks are computer and mobile forensics examinations, supporting investigators during the investigation process, taking part in home/office searches etc.
She has experience with developing and delivering learning materials for ECTEG from the year 2017.

Dafni Stampouli (PhD) leads the Innovation Projects Office of the Europol Innovation Lab, which focuses on delivering concrete solutions to enhance the technical capabilities of Europol and EU LEAs. She joined Europol in 2014, and was responsible for the implementation of operational systems, such as the Europol Analysis System, EPE, ECR and other Europol initiatives. Before joining Europol, Dafni worked for Airbus Group, initially for the advance research department in the UK and later for Airbus Defence and Space, in France. Dafni holds a PhD in Digital Image Processing and started her career in academia, where we worked as a lecturer in UCLAN, in the UK.

Laurent BESLAY is a European Commission Official at Joint Research Centre, within the Directorate on Space, Security and Migration. Working as Scientific Portfolio Leader on Law enforcement technologies, he manages research activities on cybercrime and cyber-dependent organised crime, biometric systems and privacy safeguards. His team designed, developed and implemented the Europol decryption Platform hosted in the JRC. From 2004 to 2011, he was the scientific advisor of the European Data Protection Supervisor coordinating the activities on security and technology. He previously worked, for six years, for the JRC - Institute for Prospective Technological Studies as a PhD candidate (Electronic surveillance: benefits and risks for the EU) and as a project officer in the field of cyber-security.

Michele Socco is policy officer at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, working in the unit "Security in the Digital Age" and dealing with cybercrime and digital investigations. He is responsible for online fraud and for capacity building for law enforcement authorities in the area of digital investigations; he is part of the team negotiating a new cybercrime treaty in the framework of the United Nations. Prior to his current appointment, he worked for six years as communication officer in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security and was policy assistant in the personal office of Ms Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. Before joining the European Commission, he was political assistant to Professor Gianni Vattimo, Member of the LIBE Committee of European Parliament. He studied political sciences in Italy and European policies at the Institut d'Études Européennes of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Luca has more than 20 years of experience working with European Institutions and International Organisations. From 2011 until taking up the Deputy Executive Director post at eu-LISA, in 2020, he led the Technical Centre of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG), a global association of Central Banks that supports and deploys technologies that deter the use of digital equipment to counterfeit currencies. Prior to that, Luca worked as a Senior Expert at the European Central Bank (ECB), focusing on setting the common quality and technical standards for banknote production and protecting the integrity of banknotes against counterfeiting.
He holds an Engineering Degree from the Polytechnic of Milan, a Master´s Degree from the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan (MIP) and an MBA from Oxford Brookes University. Luca has also completed the Advanced Leadership and Management Programme (OALMP) at Saïd Business School, Oxford University and the Program of Negotiation (PON) at Harvard University.

Dr. Nizar Touleimat is in charge of European Affairs for the application of Smart Digital Systems to Security and Defence within the LIST Institute of the French Commission for Alternative and Atomic Energies (CEA). During his career as a Research Scientist in CEA he developed strong skills in the application of Machine Learning and Symbolic AI methods to Biomedical and Security domains in the context of multidisciplinary and international cooperation. He is currently the coordinator of the STARLIGHT project.

Jana Gajdošová is Head of Justice and Security Sector in the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Her areas of expertise with respect to the FRA’s work include: institutional aspects of access to justice and rule of law; e-justice; criminal procedural rights and national human rights structure. She previously worked as a lawyer in the Office of the Government Agent of the Slovak Republic before the European Court of Human Rights, as a research fellow in the School of Law, University of East Anglia and as an intern at the European Commission’s DG Legal Service. She has a PhD in human rights law with the ECHR as the main subject, and has published a number of book chapters and articles in the fields of human rights law – including a chapter on legal redress mechanisms for individuals against intelligence action in Jan-Hendrik Dietrich and Satish Sule (eds.), Intelligence Law and Policies in Europe: a handbook (C.H.BECK, 2020) or co-authoring two chapters in Colombi Ciacchi, Comandé and Brüggemeier (eds.), Fundamental Rights and Private Law in the EU (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Francesco Contini is a research director at the Institute on Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems at the National Research Council of Italy. His research focuses on the ongoing transformations of judicial systems focusing on the intersections between the rule of law, technology and the democratic legitimacy of the institutions. He collaborates with international organisations to promote judicial reforms in Europe, Africa, and Asia and is regularly called to lecture in judicial academies, universities, and conferences.

Matthias Leese is Assistant Professor for Technology and Governance at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zurich. His research is interested in the effects of digital technologies on social order. It pays specific attention to security organizations and their uses of data-driven and algorithmically mediated tools.

FRONTEX Director Capacity Building (act.)

Paul Griffiths has worked in the drugs field for over 25 years. Prior to 1999, he worked as a researcher based at the National Addiction Centre in London. From 2000, his activities have focused on the international monitoring of drug use, working first for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in Vienna, (UNODC), and subsequently, for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Paul joined the EMCDDA in 2003, as head of the epidemiology unit and was appointed Scientific Director in 2010. He holds an honorary position as a Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

Greg Mounier (PhD) is the Head of the Europol Innovation Lab, which leads research and development projects for innovative investigative tool with national LEAs. The Lab also hosts the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security.
Greg worked as policy advisor in the office of the Director of Europol and led Europol’s External and Strategic Affairs team. Greg was also Head of Outreach at the European Cybercrime Center (EC3) where he was responsible for the cooperation with the private sector. He led Europol's engagement on Global Internet Governance (encryption, DNS, IP space) and represented Europol at ICANN, RIPE and IETF.

Project ALIGNER.