Pierre Verbaeten was professor of the Computer Science department at the University of Leuven until October 2010. For more than ten years he was chairman of this department, the largest in Belgium with more than 30 professors and 180 researchers. He led the DistriNet research group, which conducts basic and applied research in computer networks, security, middleware, multi-agent systems and embedded systems; the group numbers more than 70 researchers. Since December 2012 he has been a member of the board of trustees of the University. In 1989 Mr Verbaeten became the first manager of the .be registry, which was transferred to the not-for-profit organisation DNS Belgium on 1 January 2000.

Marko Bonac received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics (1981) and a masters in computer science (1988) from the University of Ljubljana. Between 1981 and 1992 he worked as a researcher and project leader in the field of computer networks. Since 1992 he has been the Director of Arnes, the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, which is also the registry for the Slovenian top-level domain, .si.

Mr Maršálek is an independent IT consultant and member of the CZ.NIC collegium, a body associated with CZ.NIC, the registry for the .cz top-level domain. Previously he was a chairman of CZ.NIC and the Managing Director of the Czech Neutral Internet eXchange node (NIX.CZ). After graduating from the Czech Technical University in Prague with a masters degree in radio electronic science, he began his professional career at AT&T. Mr Marsalek is a cofounder of GTS, the biggest alternative telecommunications operator in the Czech Republic. He also helped establish the IP network in Central and Eastern Europe on behalf of British Telecom.

Dr. Domenico Laforenza is the head of nic.it, the registry for Italy’s .it top-level domain. He is also the Director of the Institute for Informatics and Telematics of the Italian National Research Council in Pisa. Between 2003 and 2007 Dr. Laforenza was a member of the Next Generation Grid Expert Group, which was selected by the European Commission to define the priorities of future research in the Grid technologies sector. He has also been a consultant to various EU Member research agencies in Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands. He holds a doctoral degree in Computer Science from the University of Pisa.

Sandra Hoferichter is the Secretary General of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG), the European IGF. As a board member of Medienstadt Leipzig e.V., a German non-profit organisation, she became involved in Internet Governance matters in 2006 by coordinating inter alia, the European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG), ICANN Studienkreis, and experts meetings on the Internet of Things. Sandra holds a degree in Architecture from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) and was working as a self-employed Architect from 1997‐2011.

Since October 2009 at BusinessEurope, Pedro Oliveira is Director for Legal Affairs. Beyond leading the department, he deals with consumer affairs, access to justice, company law and corporate governance. Currently Pedro is also leading ad interim BusinessEurope’s Internal Market Department which amongst others, works on issues ranging from Digital Economy to Transport and Better Regulation. He has been a member of different European Commission expert/stakeholder groups on online dispute resolution, European contract law and comparison tools. Before joining BusinessEurope, he worked at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) as a legal researcher. Pedro is a fully qualified lawyer who worked at a law firm for three years in Lisbon. He holds a degree in law from Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He also holds two masters: bank law from Universidade de Lisboa; Master in European law from ULB Brussels. Pedro’s mother tongue is Portuguese and he speaks fluent English, Dutch, Spanish and French.

Austeja Trinkunaite is Secretary General of CEPIS, the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies, a non-profit organisation representing national associations of IT professionals across 31 countries. Austeja coordinates and supports CEPIS working groups, such as Women in ICT, Computing in Schools, and Legal and Security Issues. On behalf of CEPIS, Austeja is leading the IT Professionalism Europe network (ITPE), a network of organisations that are committed to furthering IT professionalism in Europe.

Austeja‘s previous roles include European Policy and Communication Manager at ECDL Foundation and Researcher at the Public Policy and Management Institute. She also worked on the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs at the European Commission’s DG CNECT. Austeja holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Central European University and Bachelor’s degree from Vilnius University.