Navigating the UK's Digital Regulation Landscape: Where are we headed?

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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Francine Bennett

Interim Director, Ada Lovelace Institute

Francine Bennett is Interim Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute, covering Director Carly Kind’s maternity leave in 2023, and she has been a founder member of the Institute’s Board since 2019.

Prior to joining Ada, Francine was VP of Data at Healx, a biotech company which uses AI to find treatments for rare diseases; cofounder of Mastodon C, a data science consultancy that supports local and central government to realise the social and business potential of their data; and was a founding trustee of DataKind UK, which provides data science support to UK charities.

She is also currently a member of the Gambling Commission’s Digital Advisory Board and the Advisory Council of the British Library.

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Yoon Chang

Director, Strategy and Policy, Ofcom

Yoon Chang is Director of Strategy and Policy at Ofcom. Her remit broadly focuses on Horizon Scanning and strategic projects; which look to better understand the biggest themes and trends that will impact the communications sectors and consumers in the future to inform policy development. Prior to joining Ofcom, Yoon was Director of Strategy at the GSMA and a management consultant at EY and Corporate Value Associates.

 

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Joanna Conway

Partner, Deloitte, Legal

Joey is a partner in Deloitte’s UK legal team. She has over 15 years experience advising clients in the tech sector. She is an expert in digital risks and internet law and regulation. She advises on cutting-edge issues (harmful and illegal content, rights to free speech, mis/dis-information, AI, deepfakes) and on digital content strategies and risks in light of new regulatory and legal developments. She assists clients to identify and mitigate digital risks, designing and advising on legally compliant content controls and process.

She advises on the legal position with respect to content issues, on platform community standards and related content terms, notice and take-down process, moderation and on how to manage the related legal risks. She works with digital content companies, media, platforms, ISPs blending legal expertise in IP (brand, digital copyright and digital rights management and enforcement) with reputation risk (defamation), privacy, media & advertising, social media law and platform liability and regulation, all in the digital context.

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Sue Daley

Director, Technology and Innovation, techUK

Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.

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.

Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.

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Laura Foster

Head of Programme - Technology and Innovation, techUK

Laura is techUK’s Head of Programme for Technology and Innovation.

She supports the application and expansion of emerging technologies across business, including Geospatial Data, Quantum Computing, AR/VR/XR and Edge technologies.

Before joining techUK, Laura worked internationally in London, Singapore and across the United States as a conference researcher and producer covering enterprise adoption of emerging technologies. This included being part of the strategic team at London Tech Week.

Laura has a degree in History (BA Hons) from Durham University, focussing on regional social history. Outside of work she loves reading, travelling and supporting rugby team St. Helens, where she is from.

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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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Will Hayter

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

Will Hayter is the Executive Director of the Digital Markets Unit at the Competition and Markets Authority. Previously, he led a joint No10 / Cabinet Office team supporting the UK’s exit from the European Union. Before that he was at the CMA for five years, in a mixture of project and policy roles. He was the first Director of the UK Regulators Network and a project director at Ofcom, having started his career in strategy consulting.

: will-hayter-649576

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Christopher Hodges

Chair, Regulatory Horizons Council

Christopher Hodges OBE is Emeritus Professor of Justice Systems at the University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He has extensive experience of regulatory systems, initially as a City of London lawyer and for the past 20 years as a leading academic researching many different sectors and advising numerous governments, regulators and businesses on regulatory issues. He is also the co-founder of the International Network for Delivery of Regulation.

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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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Nikhil Rathi

CEO, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Chair of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF)

No bio provided

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Neil Ross

Associate Director, Policy, techUK

As Associate Director for Policy Neil leads on techUK's public policy work in the UK. In this role he regularly engages with UK and Devolved Government Ministers, senior civil servants and members of the UK’s Parliaments aiming to make the UK the best place to start, scale and develop a tech business.

Neil joined techUK in 2019 to lead on techUK’s input into the UK-EU Brexit trade deal negotiations and economic policy. Alongside his role leading techUK's public policy work Neil also acts as a spokesperson for techUK often appearing in the media and providing evidence to a range of Parliamentary committees.

In 2023 Neil was listed by the Politico newspaper as one of the '20 people who matter in UK tech' and has regularly been cited as a key industry figure shaping UK tech policy.

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Laurie Smith

Head of Foresight Research, Discovery Hub, Nesta

Laurie oversees much of Nesta’s research into emerging trends, novel technologies and promising interventions. He works primarily at Nesta's Discovery Hub, which embeds strategic foresight at the heart of the organisation and helps test high-potential ideas before applying them in our programmes. Previously he worked at the Academy of Medical Sciences on policy around medical science, public health and international health. During that time he undertook secondments at the Department for International Development and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

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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, and 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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Evangelia Tzifa

Head of Network Presales UK & Ireland, Ericsson

Evangelia (Lia) Tzifa has more than 20 years’ experience in the telecommunication market, mainly in Networks area, driving technology evolution and matching technology capabilities with customer needs. Areas of interest are Network Performance, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability.

Lia has been working in Ericsson since July 2000 and currently she is Networks and Managed Services Presales Head for United Kingdom and Ireland. She holds a Diploma and a Ph.D. degree on Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

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Antony Walker

Deputy CEO, techUK

No bio provided

: @techUKdepceo

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