Kerstin Jorna

Director-General, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)

Kerstin Jorna is a German national and a civil servant at the European Commission where she has held various positions, amongst others as Head of Cabinet of several Commissioners and different Director posts. Mrs. Jorna is the Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Before, Mrs. Jorna was Deputy Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Mrs. Jorna also held positions on the Board of the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund as well as the European Innovation Council Fund. 

Dr. Peter Dröll (Tbc)

Director for Prosperity, Directorate-General Research and Innovation (DG RTD)

Peter has been working in the European Commission for more than 20 years with positions in environment, enlargement negotiations, industry policy, innovation and research. He was a Cabinet member of Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugenand Head of Cabinet of the Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik. Since 2010 he is at Directorate-General Research and Innovation where he was first responsible for Innovation then for Industrial Technologies. Following the re-orientation of DG Research and Innovation towards sustainability, his competences have been enlarged to include industrial R&I agendas and business intelligence as well as knowledge valorisation policies. Before joining the European Commission in 1991, Peter worked as a lawyer in a German law firm. Peter is a lawyer by training with a doctorate degree in German constitutional law and European law.

Dr. Amaryllis Verhoeven 

Head of Unit for Digital Transformation of Industry, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)

Dr. Amaryllis Verhoeven is Head of Unit for Digital Transformation of Industry in the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) at the European Commission. Before her current position, Dr. Verhoeven held different functions in the EU Commission related to Intellectual Property, Single Market and Energy files. She has also worked as an attorney with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Dr. Verhoeven holds a Ph.D. in law and political philosophy from the University of Leuven, where she is also lecturing on a regular basis.

Paola Fantini

Director of Education, EIT Manufacturing 

Paola Fantini is the Director of Education at EIT Manufacturing Asbl, she considers people and skills, as the main drivers for the industrial competitiveness, resilience and sustainability. She is expert in developing education and training programs for advanced manufacturing, innovation, entrepreneurship and deep techs.

Thomas Hahn

Chief Expert Software, Siemens AG

Thomas Hahn is since 2011 Chief Expert Software at Siemens AG. After studying computer science at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen he joined the company in 1986. Thomas Hahn had several responsibilities in the area of manufacturing such as Head of Software Development for Industrial Automation Systems.Beyond his activities at Siemens, Thomas Hahn is a member or board member of various bodies, including Openlab CERN and steering committee Plattform Industrie 4.0. He is vice-president OPC Foundation, Vice-Chairperson GAIA-X AISBL, chairman of Labs Network Industrie 4.0, Boardmember of the Bavarian “KI-Rat” and president Big Data Value Association.

Felix Rohn

Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL)

Felix Rohn’s professional start made him explore the markets of Central and Eastern Europe as they emerged in the early 1990ies. Equipped with this experience, he then worked in a project team for the monitoring and assessment of the EU Phare Programme, which paved the way to the EU enlargement of 2004. In 1998 he became a civil servant in the European Commission where he worked in the policy fields enterprise, higher education, vocational education & training before he changed to skills and qualifications where he is working today.  Today in charge of the Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills and working in the Pact for Skills team, he is the interface between his skills and qualifications unit in DG Employment and sectoral units in other DGs in the Commission.

Björn Juretzki

Head of Unit for “Data Policy and Innovation”, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT)

Björn Juretzki is Head of Unit for “Data Policy and Innovation” in the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT). The Unit supports the European data economy through policy initiatives such as the Data Act and the Data Governance Act. The Unit is also responsible for coordinating data spaces and steering the strategic research and innovation agenda in the sector. Mr. Juretzki has previously worked as a policy officer in artificial intelligence and robotics in DG CONNECT. Prior to becoming Head of Unit for “Data Policy and Innovation”, he was the Assistant to the Director-General in DG CONNECT. He is also a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe.

Ivan Štefanec

Member of the European Parliament, EPP Group

Ivan Štefanec is a Slovak politician and manager and former member of the Slovak parliament. He was the first Slovak person to be awarded a Dale Carnegie Leadership Award, regarded as the most significant management award. He entered politics in 2006. Coming from a business environment, he became aware of the obstacles and problems politicians caused to businesspersons. Thus, he understood that if he wanted things in Slovakia to evolve for the better, he must do so through a mandate coming from the citizens. Since 2014, when he was elected to the European Parliament where, to this day, he is an active member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He is the Head of the Slovak delegation in the EPP Group, and he serves as the president of SME Europe and the Brewers of Europe. Ivan Štefanec was a Rapporteur on Machinery regulation between 2021-2023 and Shadow Rapporteur on Committee of Human Rights on Due Diligence Directive, where he voted against a final proposal.