Digital Ethics Summit 2024

Professor Hatim Abdulhussein BSc MBBS MSc PGDip MRCGP FHEA FBCS

Chief Executive Officer, Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex

Hatim is the Chief Executive Officer for Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, part of the NHS Health Innovation Network and a GP in North West London.

Currently an Honorary Professor of Innovation and AI in the School of Medicine at the University of Surrey, Hatim sits on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Technology Appraisals Committee, the Responsible AI UK Health and Care Group and the Responsible AI Institute Sustainable AI Consortium. Hatim holds Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and Fellowship of Advance Higher Education and the British Computer Society.

As an international speaker, he has contributed to the publication of academic papers and white papers spanning workforce, education reform, innovation, primary care, digital health, and AI. Hatim is an advocate for safe, ethical, and responsible digital and AI transformation and ensuring workforce preparedness for new innovations and technologies in health and care.

 

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Leanne Allen

Partner, UK Head of AI, KPMG

Leanne is a Partner and leads KPMG’s Data, Data Science and AI capability within Technology Advisory. Leanne brings over 20 years of consulting experience and specialises in Data and AI Strategy, Data Architecture, responsiblr Data and AI management and governance. She combines her strong leadership skills with the ability to solve complex technical problems acting as an effective translator between Business and IT stakeholders with a solid track record of delivery in often highly complex business and technology areas across Financial Services Clients. Leanne is the head of Ethical AI for KPMG UK and sit’s on the KPMG Global governance board for AI                                .
 

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Stephen Almond

Executive Director, Regulatory Risk, Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

Stephen Almond, Executive Director for Regulatory Risk, leads the ICO’s teams charged with engineering information rights into the fabric of new ideas, technologies and business models as part of our dynamic digital economy, including through the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum.

Prior to joining the ICO, Stephen led a World Economic Forum initiative to promote the adoption of a more agile, innovation-enabling approach to regulation with governments and tech firms worldwide. He previously worked in leadership roles across the UK Government, including creation of the White Paper on Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and roll-out of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, which invested in regulatory sandboxes and similar initiatives to unlock technological innovation.

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Maria Axente

Head of AI Public Policy and Ethics, PwC

Maria is an acknowledged AI ethics and policy expert. As PwC's Head of AI Public Policy and Ethics, she is responsible for integrating ethical and policy considerations into the company's AI strategies, promoting partnerships with key stakeholders, and leading PwC's engagement in public policy debates and initiatives. Previously she was PwC Responsible AI lead, pioneering the adoption of ethical AI practices for the UK firm and its clients. Additionally, Maria champions AI for children and human centric AI.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaaxente/
: @maria_axente

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Kathy Baxter

Principal Architect in the Responsible AI & Tech , Salesforce

As a Principal Architect of Responsible AI & Tech at Salesforce, Kathy develops research-informed best practices to educate Salesforce employees, customers, and the industry on the development of responsible AI. Kathy collaborates and partners with external AI and ethics experts to continuously evolve Salesforce policies, practices, and products. Kathy is a member of Singapore’s Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data and AI Verify Foundation and on the board of the non-profit EqualAI. Previously, Kathy has proudly served as a Visiting AI Fellow at NIST and a Council Member on the World Economic Forum's Global Futures Council for Data Equity. Prior to Salesforce, Kathy worked at Google, eBay, and Oracle in User Experience Research. Kathy is the co-author of two editions of "Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Research Methodologies." Kathy received her MS in Engineering Psychology/Human Factors Engineering and BS in Applied Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. You can read about the Ethical AI Practice Team's current research at salesforceairesearch.com/trusted-ai.
 

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Dr Ann Borda

Ethics Fellow in the Public Policy Programme, The Alan Turing Institute

Dr Ann Borda is an Ethics Fellow in the Public Policy Programme at The Alan Turing Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, Ann held senior positions in government-funded data-intensive initiatives in Australia and the UK. In the UK, she managed a significant digital collections programme across the Science Museum London and other national museums promoting public understanding of science, society, and medical discovery.  She subsequently worked on a major Research Council co-funded eScience programme at JISC supporting big data tools and national digital services for higher education, such as the former Open Source Software Advisory Service at Oxford and the AHRC-funded Arts and Humanities eScience Centre at Kings College London.

In Australia, Ann was director of a consortium of universities overseeing seed funding for data innovation projects partnered with national research platforms and the Australian Synchrotron. She was subsequently CEO of an advanced computing enterprise supporting universities in high performance computing (HPC), software and compute applications. One of a handful of women in a leadership position in the HPC community at the time.

Concurrently, Ann is a transdisciplinary academic and a digital health informatician. She has contributed to evidence-informed policy, sustainable AI in healthcare, and the co-development of a national framework for climate change, health and well-being in Australia. She is an Honorary Principal Fellow in the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and an Honorary Senior Research Associate in the Department of Information Studies at University College London.

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Suzanne Brink

Head of AI Ethics & Governance, Kainos Group plc

Suzanne Brink is the Head of AI Ethics & Governance at Kainos. She is the creator and custodian of Kainos’ AI and data ethics approach, ensuring Kainos stays abreast of the latest standards and techniques and advising clients on the same. She has worked extensively with stakeholders in both the public and private sector to bring ethical considerations to AI deployment. Prior to joining Kainos, Suzanne worked in strategic human resource management with roles in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and as a consultant for a company providing AI-based solutions in recruitment. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Cambridge.

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Felicity Burch

Executive Director, Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA)

Felicity is the Executive Director of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA). RTA leads the government’s work to enable trustworthy innovation using data and AI as part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Felicity's role is to lead the RTA's multidisciplinary team of specialists, and its overall strategy to deliver, test and refine trustworthy approaches to data and AI governance, working in partnership with public sector and industry bodies. Before RTA, she was the CBI Director of Innovation and Digital, leading the organisation’s policy work to create the conditions that enable businesses to come up with new ideas, invest in research and development (R&D) and adopt new technologies. At CBI, Felicity also worked on technology adoption, public spending on R&D and labour markets. Felicity's background is in economic policy, with a focus on business growth.

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Areeq Chowdhury

Head of Policy, Data & Digital Technologies, The Royal Society

Areeq Chowdhury is Head of Policy (Data and Digital Technologies) at The Royal Society. The team he leads at the Society focuses on how artificial intelligence and other data-driven technologies can, and should, be used to benefit humanity.

Areeq is also a Labour Party Councillor for Canning Town, in East London, and founded the influential technology policy think tank, WebRoots Democracy, which ran between 2014 and 2020. He has authored various reports on digital democracy, social media, and artificial intelligence. Most notably, Areeq led a high profile project on disinformation during the 2019 UK General Election, producing viral deepfakes of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn endorsing each other for Prime Minister.

Areeq holds a BSc in Economics and Political Science from the University of Birmingham. His career history includes working at the Foreign Office; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; the UK Parliament; London City Hall; and KPMG.

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Feryal Clark

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Government, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Feryal Clark was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on Wednesday 9 July 2024 holding the responsibility for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Government. She was elected Labour MP for Enfield North in July 2024. She studied Bioinformatics at the University of Exeter.

She was first elected to Parliament in the 2019 General Election, having previously been a councillor in the London Borough of Hackney and the Deputy Mayor of Hackney. She has previously held roles as Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety, Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction. 

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Heather Cover-Kus

Head of Central Government Programme, techUK

Heather is Head of Central Government Programme at techUK, working to represent the supplier community of tech products and services to Central Government.

Prior to joining techUK in April 2022, Heather worked in the Economic Policy and Small States Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat.  She led the organisation’s FinTech programme and worked to create an enabling environment for developing countries to take advantage of the socio-economic benefits of FinTech.

Before moving to the UK, Heather worked at the Office of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Heather holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from LSE, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Macalester College.

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Sue Daley

Director, Technology and Innovation, techUK

Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work at techUK.

This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy. She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame. A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK Sue is co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.

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Rory Daniels

Senior Programme Manager for Emerging Technologies, techUK

Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.

During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.

Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.

Today, he is techUK's Senior Programme Manager for Emerging Technologies. His portfolio spans everything from robotics, metaverse and web3 to gaming and space technologies.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/

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Mona Dash

Head of AI and Automation practice, Infosys Topaz

Mona heads the AI and Automation practice – Infosys Topaz, for Europe. Mona is a business leader with over twenty years of experience in the European region, driving complex solution adoption, such as OSS, BSS, and more significantly in AI and Automation for the last 8 years in Infosys. She works across the partners ecosystem and industry verticals with a view to articulate and enable Infosys service lines and customers with AI led and enabled programs. She is a Telecoms Engineer, holds an MBA and also holds a Masters in Creative Writing. She has gained a Business Program degree from Stanford University, and a certification for AI Applications for Growth from Northwestern University Kellog’s School of Management. She is an award-winning author of five published books, has been featured in more than thirty-five anthologies, and is also a public speaker. She is currently volunteering with Chapter One’s reading program to teach primary school children who might be disadvantaged. Working in an intersection of Technology and Creativity, she is both excited and cautious about the possibilities and challenges Generative AI offers and is an advocate of Responsible AI.

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Asha Easton

Immersive Tech Network Lead, Innovate UK

Asha leads on Innovate UK’s Immersive Tech Network, helping guide organisations in the XR sector looking for funding for developing innovative products related to XR. She shares insight into the market and use my network to help organisations create powerful connections. 

She supports organisations involved in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Film/TV, Production & post-production, VFX & Animation, Gaming, 5G, Hardware and Wearables.

Asha is passionate about helping to promote diversity & inclusion in the XR space and is a co-founder of the XR Diversity Initiative, involved in working groups for XRAccess, and a member of Women in Immersive Tech.

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Gabe Fender

Principal Consultant: Product & Design, Thoughtworks

I believe design is a key capability of digital businesses which is why I am passionate about helping organisations shift to be user-centred and value-driven with product and design thinking. I’ve seen that the most successful teams have a user-centred culture and strong collaboration between product, design and engineering.

At Thoughtworks, I have helped clients de-risk launching new products to market, transform operations platforms and coach teams and individuals in agile product development.

I've moved to Newcastle to start up a new Thoughtworks office in the North East. I love getting out for walks with my dogs on the beaches and hills of Northumberland and continuously exploring my taste for Mexican food and pizza.

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Professor Luciano Floridi

Founding Director of the Digital Ethics Center and Professor in the Cognitive Science Program, Yale University

Founding Director of the Digital Ethics Center and Professor in the Cognitive Science Program, Yale University; Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at Bologna University. He is one of the most authoritative voices of contemporary philosophy, the founder of the philosophy of information, and one of the major interpreters of the digital revolution. His more than 300 works about the philosophy of information, digital ethics, the ethics of AI, and the philosophy of technology have been translated into many languages. His most recent books are The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence – Principles, Challenges, and Opportunities (OUP, 2023) and The Green and The Blue – Naive Ideas to Improve Politics in the Digital Age (Wiley, 2023). Among his many awards, in 2022 he was made Knight of the Grand Cross OMRI for his foundational work in philosophy.

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Allison Gardner MP

MP for Stoke-on-Trent South,

Allison Gardner MP has been the MP for Stoke-on-Trent South since 04 July 2024. Prior to entering Parliament, she worked in the NHS as a Senior Scientific Adviser for Artificial Intelligence. She is also the Co-Founder and Director of 'Women Leading in AI' and worked internationally with Governments and organisations to advocate for the ethical use of AI. Previously she spent over 25 years as a Science and PSHE teacher in secondary schools and was formerly a councillor for 6 years in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Allison was appointed as a member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee in October 2024. 

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Lizzie Greenhalgh

Deputy Director for AI Regulation, DSIT

Lizzie is the Deputy Director for AI Regulation at DSIT. She’s been working on tech regulation for nearly five years, including leading work on HMG’s overall regulatory strategy, designing the Digital Markets Unit and focusing on AI for the last couple of years. Prior to that, she worked in Cabinet Office and in a variety of roles across civil society and the private sector.
 

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Linda Griffin

VP of Global Policy, Mozilla

Linda’s most recent role was as Vice President for Public Policy and Communications at Kry – Europe’s largest health tech start-up. In that role she consolidated Kry’s public policy functions across markets. Previously she established and led public policy at the leading mobile games developer King. After King’s acquisition by the Activision Blizzard Group Linda became Vice President for Public Policy across the entire group.
Linda is Co-founder of the European Tech Alliance (EUTA) and was its Chair and later Advisory Board member. She was Vice President of the Board of DOT Europe, and a Board Member of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the UK. Earlier in her career, Linda led Facebook’s EMEA policy communications and early work in government transparency reporting, security, and privacy. She began her career in public policy consulting as an advisor to Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel, governments including UAE and Singapore, and other clients.
At Mozilla, Linda is responsible for developing and rolling out our work on public policy across all of our organizations, spanning topics from platform accountability to artificial intelligence.
 

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Will Hayter

Executive Director for Digital Markets, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

Will Hayter was appointed Executive Director for Digital Markets at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on 1 February 2024. 

As a member of the CMA Board, Will leads on the CMA’s digital markets work as it takes on new responsibilities under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.

Previous career highlights include:

• Senior Director for the Digital Markets Unit (CMA)
• Director, Transition Hub (Cabinet Office / 10 Downing Street)
• Senior Director for Policy and International (CMA)
• various other roles at the CMA and at Ofcom
   

: will-hayter-649576

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Melissa Heikkilä

Senior Reporter, MIT Technology Review

Melissa Heikkilä is a senior reporter at MIT Technology Review, where she covers artificial intelligence. Her stories focus on the cutting edge of AI research, how it is changing our society. Prior to that, she was a technology reporter at POLITICO in London and Brussels, where she covered AI policy. She was named as one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2024, and Forbes listed her as one of their 30 under 30 in media in 2020.

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Smera Jayadeva

Researcher in Data Justice and Global Ethical Futures , The Alan Turing Institute

Smera Jayadeva is a Researcher in Data Justice and Global Ethical Futures under the public policy programme.  

Prior to joining The Alan Turing Institute, Smera has worked in a collaborative placement with the Austrian Institute for International Affairs wherein the European and Indian approaches to medical AI were comparatively evaluated. She has experience in conducting research in the Synergia Foundation on themes ranging from geopolitics and policymaking to disruptive technology. Additionally, Smera has worked as an independent researcher in policy evaluation and governance in public and non-profit organisations.  
 
Smera holds an International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies with distinction jointly awarded by the University of Glasgow, Dublin City University, and Karlova University. Her graduate dissertation titled “Systems in the subcontinent: Data, power, and the ethics of medical machine learning in India” evaluated the scope, challenges, and mediatory role of AI in Indian healthcare systems. She also holds a BA with a triple major in History, Economic, and Political Science from Christ University (Bengaluru).

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Kate Jones

CEO, Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF)

Kate Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Regulatory Cooperation Forum (www.drcf.org.uk).  Kate leads this innovative team, working to increase and deepen coordination between regulators of online services and technology for the benefit of both businesses and their customers.
 
Before joining the DRCF, Kate was an expert consultant and researcher on the governance of emerging technologies, with particular regard to human rights law, public international law and diplomacy. She was an Associate Fellow with the International Law Programme at Chatham House, Senior Associate with Oxford Information Labs, and member of the advisory board of an AI ethics company. She has published and spoken widely on aspects of national and international tech governance, with specialisms in artificial intelligence, disinformation and foreign interference, and the role of technical standards. 
 
In her work, Kate brings to bear her many years of experience as a legal adviser and diplomat with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including as Legal Adviser to the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. She also draws on her experience of leadership, skills and technical expertise as Director of Oxford University’s Diplomatic Studies Programme and as Course Director and Advisory Board member of the Centre for Political and Diplomatic Studies. Kate took her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law at the University of Oxford and qualified as a UK solicitor at Norton Rose.

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Ella Keating

Corporate Lawyer, Global Tech Group, Clifford Chance

Ella is a corporate lawyer in our Global Tech Group, advising on advisory and transactional matters in the TMT sector, particularly on issues concerning emerging technologies, data protection and privacy, cyber security, artificial intelligence, and M&A. 

Ella has in-house experience from a secondment at a ‘big five’ global technology company as a privacy counsel. Ella is particularly interested in AI ethics and governance. 

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Jonathan Kewley

Co-Chair, Clifford Chance Tech Group, Clifford Chance

Jonathan Kewley is the Co-Chair of the Clifford Chance Tech Group, a team of over 600 Tech lawyers globally. He has a particular focus on the cutting-edge areas of artificial intelligence, tech ethics and cyber security regulation.

Jonathan is the lead AI advisor to some of the world's largest technology companies, from the West Coast of the US to China. His work includes AI governance frameworks, solving AI bias challenges in complex technologies, establishing global AI ethics principles, and responding to AI-prompted cyber incidents.

He is the founder of an AI Ethics Scholarship Programme at Oxford University to encourage more women and people from diverse backgrounds to study Computer Science.  Additionally, he sponsors the university’s ‘Code Club’ an initiative which invites children in the local comprehensive schools to learn to code through challenges and games.

He was named one of Global Data Review’s “40 Under 40” Tech lawyers around the world.

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Alex Krasodomski

Programme Director, Digital Society Programme, Chatham House

Alex directs the Digital Society Programme at Chatham House leading work on digital public infrastructure, open source sustainability and articulating, measuring and advocating for an internet compatible with democracy. He co-leads the Public AI Network and is a fellow at Demos and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
 
He was until June 2022 research director at Demos, and director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, during which time he authored more than a dozen major reports on digital election integrity, content moderation practices, digital regulation and the intersection between tech and politics.
 

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Dr John Lazar CBE FREng

President, Royal Academy of Enginerring

John Lazar is co-founder and general partner at Enza Capital, and Chair of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. In 2019, with two partners he co-launched Enza Capital which backs founders and teams using technology to solve large and meaningful problems across Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Enza has invested in more than 30 African tech companies to date. John sits on the board of four of Enza’s portfolio companies.

John has also been an active angel investor and technology start-up mentor in the UK and Africa, with more than 40 individual pre-seed/seed investments.

As well as being a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he is also a Fellow of BCS, the UK’s chartered institute for IT. He has chaired the Academy’s Enterprise Committee which oversees the activities of its Enterprise Hub, supporting start-ups and scale-ups across the UK.

For the past eight years, he has also been a judge and mentor on the Academy’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, which backs 15-20 early-stage African engineering companies annually. He has also spent many years working on tech-related non-profit initiatives in Africa, especially building “digital blacksmiths” and maker labs. 

In 2016, he stepped down as Chairman and CEO of Metaswitch Networks. He joined the company in 1987 as a software engineer and became Chief Executive Officer, and then Chairman, as the company established its leadership in cloud communications software. Metaswitch was acquired by Microsoft in 2020. 

John graduated from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar with an M.Sc in Computation and a D.Phil in History. He was awarded a CBE for services to engineering in 2016. He was elected as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering at the AGM on 17 September 2024.
 

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Professor David Leslie

Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research, The Alan Turing Institute

David Leslie is the Director of Ethics and Responsible Innovation Research at The Alan Turing Institute and Professor of Ethics, Technology and Society at Queen Mary University of London. He previously taught at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values, where he also participated in the UCHV’s 2017-2018 research collaboration with Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy on “Technology Ethics, Political Philosophy and Human Values: Ethical Dilemmas in AI Governance.” Prior to teaching at Princeton, David held academic appointments at Yale’s programme in Ethics, Politics and Economics and at Harvard’s Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, where he received over a dozen teaching awards including the 2014 Stanley Hoffman Prize for Teaching Excellence. He was also a 2017-2018 Mellon-Sawyer Fellow in Technology and the Humanities at Boston University and a 2018-2019 Fellow at MIT’s Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values.

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Claire Levens

Head of Media Literacy Policy, Ofcom

Claire Levens is Head of Media Literacy Policy at Ofcom, where she is responsible for our policy development and media literacy strategy. Claire has extensive policy expertise in media literacy and online safety and is experienced at bringing underheard voices into policy and practice. With over 25 years of experience of global bands, not for profits, charities and consultancies, Claire is skilled at creating compelling campaigns across multiple audiences to drive change and has developed flagship community investment and sustainability programmes for Coca-Cola Enterprises, Starbucks and Hewlett Packard. Claire has excellent knowledge of political players, stakeholders and corporate communications.

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Chloe MacEwen

Senior Director, UK Government Affairs, Microsoft UK

Chloe MacEwen is Senior Director, UK Government Affairs at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Chloe was Head of Competition Policy EU at Amazon, VP EMEA for Western Union and Senior Vice-President, Global Public and Regulatory Affairs, at Argus Media, based in London. She has campaigned for legislative change on company critical issues with policy makers, legislators and regulators around the world. Prior to this Chloe worked as Head of International Policy and Competition at Lloyds Banking Group overseeing the bank’s engagement strategy with policy makers on a broad range of financial services and competition issues. Chloe qualified as a solicitor at Simmons & Simmons and then worked as a competition lawyer at Herbert Smith before spending ten years working as a regulator at the Competition Commission, Office of Fair Trading and DG Competition, European Commission. Chloe was educated at King’s College London where she gained a LLB and LLM.

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Myrna MacGregor

Principal Data Strategist and Lead for Responsible AI & Robotics, Ocado Technologies

Principal Data Strategist and Lead for Responsible AI & Robotics at Ocado Technology Myrna explores how data and AI can keep Ocado at the cutting edge of eCommerce, logistics, and robotics. As the Lead for Responsible AI & Robotics, she is dedicated to ensuring these technologies are developed in a fair, transparent, and trustworthy manner. Myrna is also an Expert Advisor to the Responsible AI Institute and an Ethical AI mentor with All Tech is Human. Previously Myrna led responsible ML at the BBC, where she designed the first comprehensive standard for responsible ML in media, the BBC’s Machine Learning Engine Principles. Myrna is a former British diplomat and has worked on international economic and climate negotiations and served in Belgium, Kosovo, Germany and Israel.

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Antonella Maia Perini

Research Associate in Data Justice and Global Ethical Futures, The Alan Turing Institute

Prior to joining The Alan Turing Institute, Antonella worked as Project Manager at the Latin-American think tank Asuntos del Sur, where she coordinated training programmes on democratic innovation and digital rights, and later led a research consortium of seven universities and organisations studying the governance models in the responses to COVID-19. She also conducted digital security workshops and research on open government and digitalisation. Furthermore, Antonella assisted research on disinformation and hate speech at the Oxford Internet Institute and contributed to research led by the Centre of Technology and Society (CETyS) and Centro Latam Digital that aimed to understand the levels of awareness and implementation of AI ethical principles in start-ups developing AI systems in Latin America. She co-founded Youth IGF Argentina and between 2018 and 2019 was the Latin America and Caribbean Representative at the Executive Committee of the Non-Commercial Users Constituency of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
 
Antonella holds a BA in International Relations from Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina), an MA in International Relations by the University of Bologna, and an MSc in Social Science of the Internet by the Oxford Internet Institute from the University of Oxford. Her MSc dissertation sought to understand the way Latin American civil society organisations engage with discussions about ethics and governance of AI in Internet Governance arrangements, and how they interact with each other and the broader ecosystem.

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Gaia Marcus

Director, Ada Lovelace Institute 

Gaia Marcus is Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute. Prior to joining Ada, Gaia was Deputy Director (Advanced Analytics and Local Capabilities) at the Spatial Data Unit within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). In this role, she led on ensuring that data and data-driven analysis were used to support policymaking and service delivery.

Gaia has extensive experience of leadership roles across the civil service and the non-profit sector. In government she has held roles as Deputy Director (Strategy for the Integrated Data Service) at the Office for National Statistics, Head of Engagement for Civil Service Reform at the Cabinet Office, and Head of National Data Strategy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
In the non-profit sector, Gaia specialised in data strategy and participatory approaches to research, innovation and policy. This included roles at Parkinson’s UK, Centrepoint and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. She also serves on the Samaritans’ Board of Trustees.

Gaia holds an MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and a BA in History from University College London.
 

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Dr Keegan McBride

Lecturer in AI, Government, and Policy, Oxford Internet Institute

Dr. Keegan McBride is a Lecturer in AI, Government, and Policy, and the Course Director of the Social Science of the Internet MSc program at the Oxford Internet Institute, and a Technology and National Security Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. His research explores how new and emerging disruptive technologies are transforming our understanding of the state, government, and power. He has a particular interest in digitalization of the public sector, global digital infrastructure, digital innovation, and U.S. – China digital competition.

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Hugh Milward

Vice President, External Affairs, Microsoft UK

Hugh Milward leads Corporate, External and Legal (CELA) for Microsoft in the UK, sitting on the UK management board. His focus includes work to help organisations overcome legal and regulatory hurdles to their technology adoption and transformation, managing some of the complex geo-political issues relating to tech, and working to ensure no one is left behind from the onward march of technology. He advocates for Microsoft on a range of issues including privacy, cybersecurity, online safety, digital skills, and sustainability among others. Hugh’s background is in politics, corporate affairs, and reputation management, working for some of the world’s highest-profile brands. Hugh is a Board Director of the New West End Company, Chairing its Public Affairs committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of BritishAmerican Business. Hugh also chairs the CBI Tech Council and sits on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Coding.

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Susannah Odell

UK Government Affairs Manager, Microsoft

Susannah Odell is UK Government Affairs Manager at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Susannah was Deputy Director for Technology Policy at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), representing businesses of all sizes and sectors on policy matters, leading strategic projects on AI, cybersecurity, online safety, tech sector growth and Covid business support, and facilitating business engagement with the UK’s digital regulators. She also founded the CBI's Women in Technology Network. Susannah began her career at The Royal Society, where she focused on AI and data policy and facilitated international scientific and policy collaborations with the US and Japan. She holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

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Jeni Ogilvy

Marketing Manager - Public Sector, Energy and Utilities, Thoughtworks

As a demand marketer for our Field Marketing Europe team, I am responsible for implementing and leading effective lead generation campaigns for Thoughtworks' Public Sector, Energy and Utilities vertical. I joined Thoughtworks because I was so impressed with their mission to use technology for positive change.

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Stuart Okin

Director of Cyber and AI Regulation, Ofgem

Stuart is a Cyber and Digital leader who joined Ofgem in 2019. He has been responsible for setting up the Cyber Regulatory function at Ofgem, leading to the implementation of Downstream, Gas & Electricity Network & Information Systems (NIS) compliance frameworks, as well as technical guidance for RIIO Price Control investment.  In his career, he has led global digital teams; designing, building and delivering on new innovative technology platforms and was previously the Microsoft Chief Information Security Advisor and Accenture Partner.

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Dr Natasha Oughton

Quantum Computing Policy and Ethics Lead, National Quantum Computing Centre

Dr Natasha Oughton is the Quantum Computing Policy and Ethics Lead at the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, where she leads on responsible and ethical quantum computing (REQC). Her work spans carrying out research into societal, ethical and policy implications, developing internal practices and guidance, and enabling stakeholders on REQC across the UK and global quantum computing landscape, including industry, policymakers, and researchers. She has an interdisciplinary background in both philosophy and physics, and wrote her PhD thesis on the philosophy of quantum information theory.

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Andrew Pakes MP

Labour (Co-op) MP for Peterborough, House of Commons

Andrew Pakes is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Peterborough, serving since the 2024 General Election. He is the Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships. Before entering Parliament, Andrew was the Deputy General Secretary of Prospect union representing a diverse membership across science, technology and engineering jobs. He is a former member of the OECD’s Expert Panel on AI and interested in digital technology, skills and the future of work.

: andrew-pakes-8478b1101
: @andrewpakes_

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Enrico Panai

AI Ethicist and President, The Association of AI Ethicists

Enrico Panai is an AI ethicist with a background in philosophy and extensive consulting experience in Italy. He spent seven years as an adjunct professor of Digital Humanities at the University of Sassari. Since moving to France in 2007, he has continued his work as a consultant. 

In 2017, he studied Strategies for Cyber Security Awareness at the Institut National de Hautes Études de la Sécurité et de la Justice in Paris. Holding a PhD in Cybergeography and AI Ethics, he is the founder of the consultancy BeEthical.be. He serves as a professor of Responsible AI at EMlyon Business School, ISEP in Paris, and La Cattolica in Milan. 
Additionally, he is the president of the Association of AI Ethicists. Currently, his main role is as an officer of the French Standardization Committee for AI and convenor of the working group on fundamental and societal aspects of AI at the European CEN-CENELEC JTC21—the European standardization body focused on producing deliverables that address European market and societal needs. Among the core standards managed are Trustworthiness of AI, Competences of professional AI ethicists and Suistainable AI. 

His latest book, published in Italian and French, is entitled ”The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Explained to My Son.”
 

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Alice Schoenauer Sebag

Senior Member of Technical Staff, Safety,

Alice Schoenauer Sebag is a founding member of Cohere's AI Safety team. She has been applying AI to solve impactful problems for over 12 years. She has a PhD in Bioinformatics from Mines Paris PSL and completed a postdoc at UCSF. In 2019, she launched the data science practice of the Inspection générale des finances, the French government's consulting service. She then joined Twitter's Trust & Safety team in 2021, where she realized the importance of NLP to create and maintain healthy conversations.

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Hetan Shah

Chief Executive, The British Academy

Hetan Shah is chief executive at the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences. He is Chair of Our World in Data, which brings together research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Hetan was appointed in 2024 by the UK Parliament to the board of the National Audit Office, the UK’s independent spending watchdog. He is Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, Kings College London and a Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Hetan serves on a number of advisory boards including the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, the UCL Policy Lab and the Resolution Foundation.

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Matt Simons

EU Public Sector Director, Thoughtworks

Matt Simons is the EU Public Sector Director at Thoughtworks. He supports clients and teams in building a responsible tech culture to deliver solutions that work for users and stakeholders. Previously he was Thoughtworks Director of Social and Economic Justice, working to design and implement an integrated business and social impact model globally. 

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Rt Hon Chloe Smith

Former Secretary of State, DSIT

Rt Hon Chloe Smith advises businesses and charities from her experience in the UK Parliament and Government.  She’s been a senior legislator with over a decade of complex ministerial experience including running both the newest and the biggest departments in the UK government with a budget of hundreds of billions.  She worked at the heart of Westminster for fifteen years, winning election five times in her constituency of Norwich North.

As a Cabinet minister, she built and led the new government department for Science, Innovation and Technology.  She now focuses on tech, innovation, and science, including the global and domestic cutting edge of AI.  Blending in her time heading up electoral policy in the UK, she speaks on AI and elections in this global bumper election year.  She was jointly named the most influential person in technology in the UK in 2023.

She provides insight into the global economy, labour market, pensions and the future of work from her service as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work.  

She is passionate about disability, diversity and talent in business – and she brings a unique viewpoint as a custodian of the Equality Act and from her track record of helping people into jobs.

She is an experienced speaker and panellist, in print and broadcast media including the BBC, the Times, Sky, and in corporate, academic and think tank settings as well as an Honorary Fellow with the University of East Anglia.

In the top list of 2022 Women in Westminster, the year she overcame breast cancer, Chloe is an advocate for women in leadership.  She speaks publicly to encourage others to check for signs of cancer and seek support.  She was one of the first in her party to take maternity leave from Parliament, and has played an historic role in providing the first ever maternity cover for a department at the Cabinet table.
Chloe also shares her expertise as Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, from the coalition government to coronavirus via Brexit.  She’s an energetic speaker who explains the challenges of public service in a demanding, dynamic era.  
First the youngest MP in the Commons at 27, then one of the youngest ministers since Pitt at 28, Chloe joined the Cabinet at 40 before stepping down from Parliament in 2024.

She’s known as a compassionate, thoughtful, effective and determined leader who listens, and forges consensus – like when she broke ground by recognising British Sign Language in law.  Her style is described as inclusive, inquisitive, inspirational and decisive.

Chloe is a trustee of deafness charity RNID and cancer charity Big C, and helps to govern a multi-academy schools trust.

As an MP, Chloe has represented Britain internationally through the Inter-Parliamentary Union, training overseas sister parties in Africa and Eastern Europe through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, and, via the UN, assisting new MPs in Burma in developing their Parliament.  As a senior minister, she led the UK delegation at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Before entering Parliament, Chloe worked for international consultancy firm Deloitte, advising private businesses, government departments and public bodies. 
A mother of two, she loves cycling and kayaking.
 

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Ed Smith

Head of Competition, Markets Analysis & Policy , FCA

Ed Smith is Head of Department in Competition at the FCA where he heads the Department responsible for Competition Policy. He is also FCA Director for the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF).
 
He joined the FCA in November 2014 as the Head of Department for Banking, Lending and Distribution in Policy before heading the Department responsible for supervising Barclays, HSBC, Co-op, TSB and other Retail Banks
 
Prior to FCA, Ed was an Inquiry Director at the Competition and Markets Authority where he led a number of market studies and market investigations including Workplace pensions and retail banking. Ed previously worked as a Government Economist in OFT, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the UK Representation to the EU and on secondment at the European Commission. Even further back he did a Phd in Economics and was an economics lecturer and consultant.
 

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Phillip Souta

Global Director of Tech Policy, Clifford Chance

Phillip Souta is Global Director of Tech Policy within Clifford Chance's Tech Group, a cross disciplinary team of 600+ lawyers globally advising on Tech risk and opportunity.

He focusses on public policy and political risk in tech law and regulation, including AI, cybersecurity, privacy, online child safety, biometrics and IP, and provides strategic advice to clients across a range of sectors. His clients include businesses in the retail, automotive, financial services, private equity and internet sectors, as well as industry bodies and advocacy groups.

He works closely with the Clifford Chance Accelerate programme which brings men and women together in developing female leaders of tomorrow. He was named Risk Advisory Individual of the year in London.

Phillip is a member of the Clifford Chance Political Change team and sits on the firm's Thought Leadership Board. He practices as a barrister qualified in England and Wales.

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Simon Staffell

Director Government Affairs, Microsoft

Simon Staffell is Director of Government Affairs at Microsoft where he champions a range of public policy issues related to technology and innovation. He is also a visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London and the RUSI think tank. Simon previously served in the UK government, holding senior appointments in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office and Cabinet Office, and postings in Cairo and Washington DC. He was awarded his PhD in politics from Sheffield University in 2010 and was previously an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Prior to joining government, he was a teacher and founded a college programme in Sheffield.
 

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Professor Bernd Stahl FBCS

BCS’ Ethics Specialist Group and Uni of Nottingham

Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology at the School of Computer Science of the University of Nottingham where he leads the Responsible Digital Futures group (https://www.responsible-digital-futures.org/). His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes ethical questions of current and emerging ICTs, critical approaches to information systems and issues related to responsible research and innovation.

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Yih-Choung Teh

Group Director, Strategy and Research, Ofcom

Yih-Choung Teh is Group Director, Strategy and Research at Ofcom. The Strategy and Research Group’s role is to ensure that Ofcom has a deep understanding of consumers’ use of communications services through research and analysis of industry trends, and to develop insight which informs Ofcom’s overarching strategy. He has previously led Ofcom's Technology Group, been a Director in Ofcom’s Competition Group, working on Ofcom’s strategy to encourage investment in telecoms infrastructure, and overseeing Ofcom’s broadcasting and media competition programme. Before joining Ofcom, Yih-Choung worked for a strategy consultancy in the telecoms sector, providing policy and strategy advice to public and private sector clients globally. Prior to that he held an academic research post in the University of Oxford.

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Jeni Tennison

Founder, Connected By Data

Jeni is the founder of Connected by Data, a campaign that aims to put community at the centre of data narratives, practices and policies. She is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, adjunct Professor at Southampton’s Web Science Institute, and a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow. Jeni was CEO at the Open Data Institute, where she held leadership roles for nine years and worked with companies and governments to build an open, trustworthy data ecosystem; a co-chair of GPAI’s Data Governance Working Group; and an Associate Researcher at Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy. She sits on the Boards of Creative Commons and the Information Law and Policy Centre. She has a PhD in AI and an OBE for services to technology and open data. She loves Lego and board games and is the proud co-creator of the open data board game, Datopolis.

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Emma Thwaites

Director of Global Policy and Corporate Affairs, Open Data Institute

No bio provided

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Martin Tisné

Chief Executive Officer and Thematic Envoy to the AI Action Summit, AI Collaborative

Martin Tisné is Thematic Envoy to the AI Action Summit, in charge of all deliverables related to Public Interest AI. He also leads the AI Collaborative, an initiative of The Omidyar Group created to help regulate artificial intelligence based on democratic values and principles and ensure the public has a voice in that regulation. 

Martin brings over 15 years of investment and leadership experience to his role, including advising several heads of state on AI policy, serving as a board member of the Partnership on AI, and helping establish two multi-stakeholder initiatives and three NGOs. 

He founded the Open Government Partnership (OGP) alongside the Obama White House and helped OGP grow to a 70+ country initiative. He also initiated the International Open Data Charter, the G7 Open Data Charter, and the G20’s commitment to open data principles. Additionally, Martin founded and led the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, a donor collaborative bringing together the world’s largest open government funders, co-founded Publish What You Fund, a global campaign for foreign aid transparency, and co-founded Integrity Watch Afghanistan, the country’s leading anti-corruption NGO.

As a philanthropic entrepreneur, Martin helped set up AINow, the Ethics & Governance of AI Fund, the AWO agency, Digital Action, and Reset amongst other initiatives. 

Before his appointment as CEO of the AI Collaborative in September 2023, Martin was vice president of the global philanthropic organisation Luminate, leading efforts to address global digital threats to democracy through policy change, campaigns, partnerships, and litigation.

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Dr Kelly Trindel

Chief Responsible AI Officer, Workday

Dr Kelly Trindel serves as chief responsible AI officer at Workday.
Kelly directs Workday’s AI governance program, which is committed to crafting innovative and trustworthy AI solutions to solve real business problems. 
As a pioneer in the responsible AI movement, Kelly has significantly contributed to the field, including testifying before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and later leading an EEOC task force on ethical AI—one of the government’s first. Her transition to the private sector in 2018 marked a continued focus in this area, including leading the establishment of ethical and workable guidelines and guardrails for applied AI development at both Workday and previous organizations. With more than 15 years of experience in quantitative science, civil rights, public policy, and AI ethics, Kelly’s influence and commitment to responsible AI are instrumental in driving the industry forward and fostering AI solutions that have a positive societal impact. 
Kelly is a social scientist by training, having earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington.

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Antony Walker

Deputy CEO, techUK

Antony Walker is deputy CEO of techUK,  which he played a lead role in launching in November 2013.

Antony is a member of the senior leadership team and has overall responsibility for techUK’s policy work. Prior to his appointment in July 2012 Antony was chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the UK’s independent advisory group on broadband policy. Antony was closely involved in the development of broadband policy development in the UK since the BSG was established in 2001 and authored several major reports to government. He also led the development of the UK’s world leading Open Internet Code of Practice that addresses the issue of net neutrality in the UK. Prior to setting up the BSG, Antony spent six years working in Brussels for the American Chamber of Commerce following and writing about telecoms issues and as a consultant working on EU social affairs and environmental issues. Antony is a graduate of Aberdeen University and KU Leuven and is also a Policy Fellow Alumni of the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge University.

: @techUKdepceo

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