Professor Eeva Leinonen

Professor Eeva Leinonen joined Maynooth University as President in October 2021, after five years of service as Vice Chancellor and President at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.

Professor Leinonen was born and raised in Finland, where she completed her schooling. She and her two brothers were the first in their family to attend university. Her own experience has cemented her belief in the role of education as a social equaliser, with the power to transform for the better the lives of individuals, families and whole communities.

As part of her education in Finland Professor Leinonen spent a year as an exchange student in Michigan, USA, prior to entering university in England, where she studied linguistics and psychology. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Linguistics and Psychology (First Class) from Aston University, UK; MPhil in Text Linguistics from Exeter University, UK: PhD in Clinical Linguistics from De Montfort University, UK; Docent (Higher Doctorate) from her hometown university, University of Oulu, Finland; and DSc (Honoris Causa) from Aston University, UK.

Professor Leinonen’s academic research focuses on pragmatic language processing deficits in children and young adults with autistic spectrum disorders. She collaborates with colleagues in Finland and Italy, including recent work on cross-cultural comparison of pragmatic development in typically developing children in these two cultural contexts. She also speaks and writes about higher education topics, including institutional leadership, curriculum and technology enhanced learning.

Professor Leinonen has extensive experience in higher education in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and internationally. Prior to joining Maynooth University, she spent over eight years in Australia, where she first held the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) at the University of Wollongong and then Vice Chancellor of Murdoch University.

Professor Markus Helfert

Markus Helfert is the Director of IVI and Director of Empower – the SFI funded Programme on Data Governance. He is also Professor of Digital Service Innovation and Director of the Business Informatics Group at Maynooth University. He is a Principle Investigator at Lero – The Irish Software Research Centre and at the Adapt Research Centre. His research is centred on Digital Service Innovation, Smart Cities and IoT based Smart Environments and includes research areas such as Service Innovation, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Smart Services, Building Information Management, FinTech, Data Value, Enterprise Architecture, Technology Adoption, Analytics, Business Process Managem ent. Prof. Helfert is an expert in Data Governance Standards and is involved in European Standardisation initiatives. Markus Helfert has authored more than 200+ academic articles, journal and book contributions and has presented his work at international conferences. Helfert has received national and international grants from agencies such as European Union (FP7; H2020), Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, was project coordinator on EU projects, and is the Project coordinator of the H2020 Projects: PERFORM on Digital Retail.

Dr Tiago Carneiro Peixoto

Further details to be confirmed soon

Martin McCormack

Martin McCormack is Chief Executive Officer of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland and Chair of the National Learning Analytics Expert Advisory Group. He operates at the intersection of health system reform, digital strategy and corporate governance. Martin serves as a non-executive director on the HSE Board Strategy and Reform Committee and on the Audit and Risk Committee of the Royal Irish Academy, and has advised the Department of Health, the HSE, the Medical Council of Ireland, and the Irish Platform for Patient Organisations, Science and Industry.

A former Chief Information Officer at Beaumont Hospital, he brings deep operational experience in implementing digital systems within complex clinical environments. His work now focuses on the execution of data and digital strategy at system level, particularly the governance, legitimacy and stakeholder alignment required to scale innovation in healthcare.

Martin collaborates internationally with government, academic, and healthcare partners to advance patient safety, workforce planning, and data-informed decision-making.

He is a Chartered Director, a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland and the Irish Computer Society, and an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin. His doctoral research examines strategic renewal and execution in multistakeholder health systems.

Louise McKeever

Louise McKeever is Government Chief Information Officer at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. With extensive experience in helping implement large-scale transformational change and having cultivated over 25 years of experience working across ICT, Louise has an in-dept understanding of business leadership and change management. As Government CIO, Louise provides strategic leadership and stewardship of the Governments digital agenda with a specific focus on the digital transformation of public services. Louise is the strategic advisor to Government on the digital government agenda and plays a leadership role in digital service delivery and innovation initiatives working in collaboration with and providing advice to Departments and agencies across the Irish Civil and Public Service.

In addition to leading on the development and implementation of a number of key strategies such as the national digital and AI strategy, Connecting Government 2030, the Public Service data strategy and the Digital Public Services Plan 2025-2030, as well as Better Public Services as Government CIO, Louise also provides input and support in relation to the digital agenda to Ministers as well as other areas of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and other Departments.

Louise has a degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Business Administration, Information Technology, from University College Dublin (UCD). In 2023, Louise completed a Professional Diploma in Executive Coaching in the Irish Management Institute, awarded, and accredited by University College Cork (UCC).

Dr Mihai Bilauca

Dr. Bilauca is the most senior adviser to the Minister on ICT and Digital Transformation. Mihai is responsible for driving the government’s digitization agenda for DHLGH with in collaboration with local authorities and agencies under the DHLGH’s remit.

Mihai worked in various roles in ICT Management for UPC Romania and for Limerick City & County Council in various roles, heading the Digital Strategy, ICT, Change Management, Customer Services, Urban Innovation and EU Programmes departments.

In his spare time Mihai continues his academic research in smart cities, mathematical programming, optimization modelling methods and publishes in ACM and other leading computing science journals and conferences. Mihai received a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from University of Limerick, Ireland and a software engineering degree from “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania.

Christopher Bastin

Joep de Reuver

Joep de Reuver is a process mining consultant with a strong background in process improvement within the health care sector. He has worked extensively with hospitals and health insurance companies to identify operational bottlenecks, optimize patient pathways, and train professionals in applying LEAN methodologies to drive sustainable performance improvements. At Rabobank, Joep plays a key role in translating complex business challenges into actionable insights using process mining, enabling teams across the organization to uncover inefficiencies and enhance their processes. He works within the Process Intelligence Centre of Enablement, which supports all process mining initiatives throughout the bank—from early ideation to full-scale implementation—ensuring data-driven transformation and long-term impact.

Oksana Kostiuk

Guilherme Luz

Guilherme Luz is a Process Mining Expert at SAP, where he works within the Corporate BPM team to leverage Signavio for optimizing SAP’s own internal processes. His path to process mining began during his previous role as a Procurement Specialist, where he discovered the transformative power of the technology, which he recognized as a game-changer for daily operations. This experience inspired him to transition into the field, leading him to contribute to the Celonis rollout at Nestlé before bringing his expertise to SAP.

Bronwyn Murrell

Dr Daniel Murrell

Dr. Azra Aryania

Dr. Gültekin Cakir

Dr Gültekin Cakir is a lecturer and academic programme coordinator at the Faculty of Business, Technological University Dublin, and a member of the Strategy & Leadership Group in the School of Management, People and Organisations. He holds a PhD in Business and Management from Maynooth University and a Master’s degree in General Management from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund, Germany. He teaches modules on undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels in Strategy and Digital Innovation & Emerging Technologies. Before joining TU Dublin, Gültekin was a Research Fellow at the Innovation Value Institute, Maynooth, where he worked with companies, start-ups, other institutes and collaborators on diverse research projects centred around digital innovation and organisational digital maturity. Gültekin is a member of the Digital Retail Research Cluster at IVI and was a recipient of the EU Horizon Europe Marie Curie Skłodowska scholarship award within “PERFORM”, a European training project focusing on the digital transformation of the retailing industry, where he was also chair of the ESR Committee.

Prof. Monica Dragoicea

Professor Monica Dragoicea is a Full Professor in Systems Engineering at Politehnica University of Bucharest, leading research in digital service design, mobile robotics, and computational intelligence. She founded the Smart Cities and Robotics iLab and coordinates programs in Business Intelligence and Advanced Analytics. With over 25 years of experience, her research focuses on AI, data-driven service design, and responsible AI.

Greg Heaslip

Greg Heaslip is the founder of Westmar Consulting, an Irish AI training and transformation consultancy focused on helping organisations move from AI experimentation to measurable business impact. He specialises in practical AI capability building for non-technical teams, leadership groups, and operational functions.

An Adjunct Teaching Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, Greg delivers AI education focused on real-world organisational adoption, workflow redesign, governance, and responsible implementation. His approach combines strategic leadership training with practical workforce capability development, helping organisations bridge what he describes as the “AI Readiness Chasm” — the gap between AI tool adoption and genuine operational value. With more than 30 years of experience across business transformation, SaaS, manufacturing, and operational improvement, Greg brings a systems-thinking approach to AI adoption. His work focuses on leadership fluency, workflow redesign, internal AI champions programs, and building sustainable AI capability across organisations.

Greg is known for delivering clear, practical, and evidence-based AI training that helps organisations improve productivity, reduce friction, and adopt AI responsibly without the hype.

Dr Caroline Kiarie

Dr. Caroline Kiarie is an Assistant Professor at Aga Khan University’s Graduate School for Media and Communication with over two decades of experience in academia and industry. Her work spans corporate communication, public relations, human communication, and strategic use of AI in communication practice and research. Her research interests include AI in public relations, employee motivation, online collaborative learning, and digital conversations on platforms such as X.

Daragh O Brien

Daragh is the Founder and Managing Director of Castlebridge. He has been a pioneer in the field of information management for over two decades, and has worked with a number of professional bodies in the sector, including IAIDQ/IQ International and DAMA International.

In 2008 Daragh was recognised as a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society for his contributions in the fields of Data Quality and Data Governance. In 2019 he was recognised by the All-Ireland Business Foundation as a Thought Leader in Governance, Strategy, and Ethics for Information. In 2022, the Innovation Value Institute in NUI Maynooth recognised him for his contributions to Innovation in Data Governance over almost a quarter of a century. He is also a contributing member to the Leaders’ Data Group, an independent think-tank of industry professionals working to develop better practices in data management and data literacy from a practical, pragmatic, and technology independent perspective.

Prior to founding Castlebridge, Daragh worked for over a decade for a leading Irish telecommunications company in roles as diverse as Call Centre operations, Single View of Customer Programme management, and Regulatory Compliance and Governance. He a regular presenter and trainer at conferences worldwide and is much sought-after by Irish media for his expertise in data law, regulatory affairs and information ethics.

Apart from his consulting and education work, Daragh is a faculty member at the Law Society of Ireland, lecturer in the Sutherland School of Law in UCD, a guest lecturer in the Smurfit Graduate School of Business in UCD, and a contributing research partner to the Adapt Centre in Trinity College Dublin. He is an active contributor to the Innovation Value Institute’s IT-CMF framework, and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Council to the School of Business in NUI Maynooth.

Sana Kiran

Sana Kiran is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Innovation Value Institute, Maynooth University, Ireland. Her academic trajectory commenced with the acquisition of a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Pakistan, followed by a master’s in software engineering from China. Sana’s areas of research encompass data quality, open data, smart mobility, smart cities, and data governance.

Her current research project, generously funded by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, represents a significant contribution to the field. Lero, globally recognised, holds the distinguished second position among software research centres worldwide for citations. Through her work, she aspires to contribute to the ongoing evolution of software excellence and play a pivotal role in shaping smarter, more connected cities.

Nollag Conneely

Nollag is a strategic leader with experience in the private and public sectors in multiple industries and international organisations. Nollag has developed, delivered, and implemented Governance, Risk and Compliance programs with Healthcare, Insurance, Fintech, and Education organisations in the US, Europe and the Middle East. He is a retired Lt Col who has also lead Military risk and security programs in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Nollag is a Lecturer and Course Coordinator for the Data Governance Syllabus at the European Security and Defence College, and a speaker at the United Nations General Assembly Health Symposium. He is a contributor to NATO’s PfP Cybersecurity and Hybrid Curricula. He holds a MSc in Cybersecurity Management, a MA in Ledership and Management and a MSc in HR, and is also Prince2 Project. Management qualified.

Mary Mangru

The founding president of the first instance of the Data Management Association (DAMA) Ireland, Mary has over 25 years of experience in IT from programmer to analyst to Data Management.  Now a self-confessed ‘Data Nerd’, Mary has worked with all levels in organisations to help them understand the opportunity and value of their data. This extensive experience is gained across Ireland, the UK, and the US in both public and private sector.

Michael O’Dwyer

Details to follow soon

Sam Santosh

Sam (Samarth) Santosh is a technical business analyst specializing in Data Governance and Data-Driven digital transformation. He is a co-author on the Data Governance Roadmap for Ireland as well as a member of the Data Governance Roadmap taskforce at EMPOWER. Currently he is working on a number of industry projects with the Innovation Value Institute focusing on process mining as well as helping build the policy and infrastructure in the TEHDAS 2 project that focuses on the creation of a European Health Data Space.

Dr Michael Hanley

Michael Hanley leads educational innovation initiatives, curriculum development, and strategic academic programmes at IVI. He is recognised for integrating research-based frameworks and data-informed processes into institutional practice. He is a specialist in digital and AI transformation in complex public and private sector organisations, with a track record of aligning organisational strategy with national and regional policy.

As well as his experience in higher education, he has worked previously as as Director of Online Learning at Cúram Software (an IBM Company), and Digital Media Manager at the Educational Multimedia Group. He is Course Director for the “Leading Digital Transformation in Organisations” micro-credential at Maynooth University and co-creator and lecturer on the MSc in Healthcare Transformation at the University of Limerick. He has directed multiple large-scale academic and industry collaborative projects, such as Grad2Work, the Tech Industry Alliance Sustainable Software Development Toolkit, and the DIGIFABS EU project.

Michael is a member of the Maynooth University Social Science Institute (MUSSI), serves on the Steering Board of the Irish Local Government Cybersecurity CORE programme (LG-CORE), and a Irish Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition Steering Group member. He is also a Fellow of the Learning & Development Institute. He has contributed to national and international academic and professional conferences, including addresses at the Maynooth University DEARS Symposium and workshop facilitation at the IVI Summit, and has been published in the International Journal for Digital Society and other journals.

Michael holds a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Maynooth University, and an MSc (Hons) in Education Technology from the National College of Ireland.

Research Interests:

• · Digital transformation in higher education
• · Academic–industry partnership and innovation
• · Organisational capability and change management
• · Post-digital education futures
• · Data-informed leadership, strategy, and governance in complex organisations
• · Sustainable digital & AI skills in professional education
• · Human capital policy development
• · Flexible pathways to education for adults

Dr Tadhg E. MacIntyre

Tadhg E. Maclntyre PhD is an Associate Professor in Environmental Psychology at the Innovation Value Institute, Maynooth University where he has a leading role in three EU funded Horizon projects. Tadhg is also a funded investigator with Research Ireland Insight Centre for Data Analytics and has been a Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Munich (2019-2020) and Inland University of Applied Sciences (Norway) from 2022-2025. Tadhg graduated from UCD with a  PhD in psychology in 2007 focused on cognitive aspects of human movement. More recently his research has been focused on nature-based solutions and interventions for urban health. Tadhg currently coordinates the Horizon Europe GoGreen Next project (2024-2028)focused on urban health and climate change (€6 million). He recently led the Horizon 2020 project GoGreen Routes (2020-2024) which received €10.5 million  (2020-2024) directly from the EU. Since June 2025, he is a work package lead of Horizon Europe project Green Talent (2025-2029) where his work is concerned with developing a learning ecosystem for innovators in climate change and sustainability. He also is a reviewer for EU funding calls (e.g. ERC, EU Horizon proposals, and MSCA), in addition to national funding in the US, Norway, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Canada and the UK (e.g. Leverhulme Awards).

Dr Carla Mateus

Carla Mateus PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Geography Department at Maynooth  University. Her research interests mainly focus on climate science, namely climate change, extreme weather events and impacts, historical climatology and environmental history. A member of the ICARUS institute she is also interested in climate action, climate adaptation and climate mitigation topics. Passionate about teaching, outreach, public engagement and science communication Carla has contributed to RTÉ Brainstorm features and disseminated research to the public at science communication events (e.g. Pint of Science Ireland; Soapbox Science Dublin). Awarded a Public Engagement Grant from the European Geosciences Union to carry out the project ‘Prison talks: bringing climate change conversations into the Irish prisons’, Carla has also been awarded a Teaching and Learning Fellowship from the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Maynooth University. A native of Portugal she is  am interested in Portuguese current affairs and strengthening collaborations between Portugal and Ireland.

Prof. Rossano Schifanella

Prof. Rossano Schifanella is a researcher in computer science at the University of Turin and a researcher at ISI Foundation, where he is a member of the Data Science for Social Impact and Sustainability group. His research is highly impactful with a h-index of 34 and  embraces the creative energy of a range of disciplines across machine learning, urban science, computational social science, complex systems, and data visualization. He leverages data-driven approaches to model the behavior of (groups of) individuals and their interactions in space and time, aiming at understanding the interplay between online and offline social behavior. He is passionate about understanding the dynamics of complex phenomena in modern cities and building interactive web interfaces to explore urban spaces and access human knowledge through geography. Rossano is also a work-package lead in the GoGreen Routes Horison 2020 project and is an advisor on the IVI-led GoGreen Next Horizon Europe project, both of which focus on urban health.

Dr. Ruth Buckley

Ruth Buckley is CIO of Cork city council and Chair of the LGI-ISAC (local government Ireland Information Sharing Analysis Group). She has a BSc in Computer Science from UCC, an MBA from Henley Management College and is currently progressing her PDEng with UL in the area of cyber situational awareness for ISACs.

Ruth has over 30 years working in the ICT sector in both the private and public service sectors and has program managed major digital transformation projects including the Cork city boundary extension, major ERP projects and the migration to on-line public services which is on-going. In 2015, she co-founded the iWish Stem company which actively encourages the uptake of STEM subjects to young transition year girls through collaborations with industry practitioners and third level institutions. Ruth has received several industry and academic awards including the 2017 Alumni award from UCC, the IT leaders award 2020 from it@cork and the 2023 award from Maynooth IVI (Innovation and Value Institute) for Digital Transformation for her work on ISACs in Ireland.

Prof. Paul Ellwood

Paul Ellwood is the Director of the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Maynooth University. His research interests encompass both management education and technology innovation management. His early education was in the natural sciences, with the first 20 years of his career spent in industry. This included director-level positions in operations and business development. 

Sanjay Singh

Sanjay Singh is a Corporate Data Analyst with Dublin City Council, where he also serves as the Council’s Open Data Liaison Officer within the Data & Analytics Unit. His work supports Dublin City Council’s wider Digital Transformation agenda, particularly the goal of getting better with data by improving how information is governed, shared, and used across the organisation.

In his role, Sanjay works closely with service teams to publish high‑quality open datasets and to strengthen data standards, transparency, and reuse. He supports colleagues in making better use of data for evidence‑based decision‑making, while ensuring alignment with national and EU open data legislation and good data governance practices. His work contributes to making city data more accessible, reliable, and meaningful for both internal users and the wider public.

Sanjay collaborates regularly with researchers, universities, and civic‑tech partners, including ongoing engagement with Maynooth University, to explore practical applications of open data in areas such as public services, urban research, and local policy development. Through this work, he supports Dublin City Council’s ambition to build a stronger data culture and to use data as a strategic asset in delivering better outcomes for the city and its communities.

Dr. Azra Aryania

Lee-Anne Kallam

Lee-Anne Kallam joins the team bringing with her extensive experience in financial, project and operations management. In her role as Research Programme Manager for Empower, Lee-Anne will coordinate and manage the newly established multi-million Euro Data Governance Research Programme. Working closely with the four SFI-funded research centres, Lero, Insight, Adapt and FutureNeuro and being member of the Steering Committee, she will oversee, coordinate, consolidate, report, and manage relationships between the operations teams. By bringing her information systems background and executive business management skills to Empower, she is confident that she will make a significant contribution to its success in establishing its external presence.

Dr Wael Rashwan

Owen Derby

Owen is a Principal UX Designer at Workday, leading the design of standardised and scalable Human-AI interaction frameworks for the AI Experiences team. Specialising in AI Agent design and agent orchestration, his work focuses on establishing enterprise-level UX guidelines and early-stage product concepts. Owen is dedicated to responsible AI design that aligns with human cognition and builds user trust. By developing practical tools and platform frameworks, he empowers product teams to deliver meaningful Human-AI interaction across Workday’s full software suite.

Anirudh Hothur Ramamohan

Anirudh Hothur is a Senior Product Designer at Dynatrace, where he leads design initiatives across Notebooks and platform applications within complex enterprise ecosystems. His work focuses on transforming platform complexity into coherent, scalable, and human-centered experiences through systems thinking, shared UX governance, telemetry-informed design, and cross-functional collaboration.

Over the past 15+ years, Anirudh has worked across observability, cloud operations, enterprise SaaS, healthcare systems, and multi-cloud platforms, contributing to products used by global teams across Europe, Africa, and India. He is particularly interested in the evolving relationship between humans, AI, and operational systems – and how emerging technologies are reshaping workflows, decision-making, and collaboration across disciplines.

Murali Krishna

Krishna is a Product & Design Leader with 17 years of experience across banking, fintech, crypto, web3, developer tools and enterprise AI. He has led product and design at scale across consumer trading platforms serving over 20 million users; B2B payments infrastructure processing hundreds of millions in transactions; and AI-native financial workflows for CFOs and enterprise decision-makers. Currently based in Dublin, Krishna works at the intersection of human trust and AI capability, solving for complex and boring workflows, building products for users in high-stakes environments where getting it wrong is not an option. Beyond product, Krishna is a speaker, angel investor, and mentor to early-stage founders. He has built creative communities, conducted over 50 workshops, and actively teaches at the intersection of design, art, and Vedanta (Consciousness and Non-duality).

Indu Havaldar

At IVI, Indudhara (Indu) works on the Innovation Vouchers programme through ReThink/ReDesign, where he uses Rapid Prototyping to assist SMEs in realising their ideas. Indu assists organisations with them with service design, commercial viability, UX design, and prototyping.

He has a Masters degree in Design Innovation from Maynooth University. Before moving to Ireland, Indu worked as an Application Development Analyst at Accenture and as a Senior UX Designer at HashedIn by Deloitte, working on several projects. 

Indu is also a calligraphy artist of 15 years’ experience, and part of the International Calligraphy Masters group.

Dr Linzi Ryan

Senadin Alisic

Senadin is a senior strategy advisor, enterprise architect, and industrial PhD candidate specialising in digital transformation, data-driven operating models, and cybersecurity. He has extensive experience supporting executive leadership teams in designing and implementing digital transformation initiatives.

He has led the development of data strategies and data mesh–based architectures, enabling decentralised ownership and scalable data products across business units and has played a key role in driving large-scale transformation programs for leading organisations such as Assa Abloy, Ericsson, SKF, Volvo, Saab, and IKEA. His experience spans smart city development, industrial digitalisation, and ecosystem-driven innovation, including initiatives such as transforming the Port of Gothenburg into an autonomous and sustainable smart port and leading cross-industry collaborations in mining, manufacturing, and urban development.

In addition to his consulting and leadership experience, Senadin has held senior management roles with full P&L responsibility, built high-performing teams, and successfully driven international expansion initiatives. He is also an active keynote speaker and collaborates across industry, academia, and the public sector to advance digital ecosystems and data-driven innovation.

Natasha Browne

Natasha is a Climate Sustainability Technologist at Teagasc, working on AgNav, a digital sustainability platform for Irish farmers. She collaborates closely with the other AgNav partners the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Bord Bia, as well as Teagasc researchers and advisors, to support the platform’s development and impact. Natasha also represents AgNav in the CEADS (Common European Agricultural Data Space) project and is part of the AgNav Data Governance Group, contributing to best practice in data governance and data management. Previously, she managed several EU Horizon 2020 projects for Teagasc and completed a PhD on lameness and pain management in dairy cows.

Dr Rafiqul Haque

Dr. Rafiqul Haque is a research fellow at the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at the University of Galway. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and Information Systems from the University of Limerick. He brings over 12 years of experience spanning academia and the IT industry, with expertise in data spaces, artificial intelligence, data management, and data governance. He currently co-leads the Data Space Centre Support Centre (DSSC), a European Union-funded project focused on the development and scaling of data spaces. His research explores data interoperability and value creation, with particular emphasis on how data spaces can be used to train and fine-tune generative AI models for developing high quality applications. His career includes four years in IT industry as a technical lead, designing AI-driven solutions for government, banks and telecommunication companies. He has held research roles at several European institutions including SAP Research, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Telecom St-Étienne, Tilburg University, and University College Cork. Dr. Haque has published in conferences and journals, contributing to the advancement of AI, data spaces , and digital innovation.

Helmut Vossman

Helmut Vossman is an IT specialist, partner and Managing Director of agmadata GmbH, responsible for in-house development and distribution of an ERP solution for industrial food production. He is the International Data Spaces Association Ambassador for the Farm & Food community. He also has a Masters degree in animal husbandry.

Fjolla Berisha

Fjolla Berisha holds an MSc in Computer Engineering and is currently a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Maynooth University as part of the ENTRUST Doctoral Network. Her work centres on data sovereignty in agriculture: she designs and tests usage-control mechanisms that let farmers set and technically enforce policies regarding who can use their data, for what purpose, and for how long. By turning these policy-enforcement ideas into practical, easy-to-deploy software, she helps farming communities to be sovereigns of their information while still benefiting from digital technologies.

Leidiane da Silva

Leidiane received her BSc degree in business administration from the Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Brazil, and her MSc degree in business analytics from Maynooth University in 2023. She is currently pursuing a PhD degree in business with IVI.

She is a part of the EnTrust PhD program and works in the education and research office at Airfield Estate. Her work and interests include data quality and trustworthiness assessment, machine learning techniques, agri-data and business analytics.

Erica Tegolo

Erica Tegolo has a Bachelor in Administration and Organisation Science and Labor Consultancy from the University of Palermo. She has received an MBA degree from IAE, University of Bordeaux. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the School of Business, Maynooth University.

The PhD is part of the EnTrust Doctoral Network, Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, which aim is to train a cohort of 11 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) to establish a new generation of Data Executives. She is representing DC09 and the objective is represented by the development of a Fair data exploitation principles and framework. The host organisation is Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Authority in Ireland. Erica is currently based at the department of Rural Economy and Development Program (REDP).

Rory Hopkins

Rory Hopkins is the Head of Information Systems at Kildare County Council, where he leads the strategic delivery of ICT services with a strong focus on digital innovation and transformation. Based in Áras Chill Dara, he is responsible for technology governance, cybersecurity, and the adoption of modern digital tools that support efficient internal operations and high‑quality public services. He works closely with senior management and external partners to drive innovation, resilience, and continuous improvement across the organisation.

Kamil Mahajan

Kamil Mahajan is the CEO of Advice Bytes and founder of Sector8 AI, with over 15 years of global experience in cybersecurity, risk, and IT leadership roles at Meta, Quantcast, and Maynooth University. He advises organisations on AI security, compliance, and responsible innovation, drawing from both hands-on delivery and ongoing PhD research in AI security for SMEs at ATU Galway. A regular speaker at ISACA, Cyber Ireland, and public sector events, Kamil also delivers AI security masterclasses across Ireland’s innovation network. He holds an MSc in Digital Investigation & Forensic Computing, is CISM certified, and an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and Implementer.

Joe McCann

Details to follow soon

Ken Sheehan

Ken Sheehan served as a Communications and Information Services (CIS) officer for 21 years in the Defence Forces, and deployed on five peace support operations in Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East with different UN, EU and NATO missions. He held a number of different senior appointments, including Officer Commanding of 1 Brigade CIS during the operation to support the HSE following the May 2021 cyber attack. Since retiring from the Army in 2023, he has worked in the cyber security and resilience sector. 

Dr. Ruth Buckley

Ruth Buckley is CIO of Cork city council and Chair of the LGI-ISAC (local government Ireland Information Sharing Analysis Group). She has a BSc in Computer Science from UCC, an MBA from Henley Management College and is currently progressing her PDEng with UL in the area of cyber situational awareness for ISACs.

Ruth has over 30 years working in the ICT sector in both the private and public service sectors and has program managed major digital transformation projects including the Cork city boundary extension, major ERP projects and the migration to on-line public services which is on-going. In 2015, she co-founded the iWish Stem company which actively encourages the uptake of STEM subjects to young transition year girls through collaborations with industry practitioners and third level institutions. Ruth has received several industry and academic awards including the 2017 Alumni award from UCC, the IT leaders award 2020 from it@cork and the 2023 award from Maynooth IVI (Innovation and Value Institute) for Digital Transformation for her work on ISACs in Ireland.

Dr Donal Fitzpatrick

Dr. Donal Fitzpatrick is the Senior Advisor for the European Accessibility Act (EAA with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) at the National Disability Authority (NDA). Dr. Fitzpatrick leads on  the NDA’s activities in respect of the European Accessibility Act, including work on the revision of standard EN 301549, as well  as NDA’s contribution to other key initiatives at a national and European level. Dr. Fitzpatrick also engages in activities across the broader field of Universal Design for ICT products and services. He has a particular focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the lives of persons with disabilities.

Prior to joining the NDA, Dr. Fitzpatrick was a member of the Faculty at the School of Computing at Dublin City University. Here, he conducted research in the domain of multimodal usability and accessibility, with a particular focus on designing solutions to make complex data accessible for blind people. He is the recipient of multiple national and international research grants, including a Fulbright Fellowship where he investigated the accessibility of cartographic data for blind people. He has widely published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and was an Invited Expert on various accessibility-related working groups at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Dr Bruno Giesteira

He is Director of the Design Department and Director of the Doctoral Programme in Design at the University of Porto, where he coordinates advanced research and doctoral training in design. He also contributes to postgraduate programmes in Interaction Design, Games, and Design Technologies for Health.

His work explores how design knowledge can support the development of meaningful interactions with emerging technologies through Embodied Design approaches. He has extensive experience coordinating research teams in human–computer interaction and is a partner at 4humanz company – Human-Centred Design in Global Health – Digital Health; Wellbeing & Sustainability.

He is a researcher at ID+, within the Health + Design group. He participates in several international academic and professional networks, including the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Europe Chapter) and the European University Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH).

Annie O’Shea

Biography to follow

Dr Emer Coveney

Dr Emer Coveney is the National Programme Manager for Age Friendly Ireland, a local government shared service that works across all 31 local authorities to prepare society for population ageing under the World Health Organisation framework for developing Age Friendly Cities and Communities. Emer manages a network of 35 local programme managers who are working to develop inclusive services and accessible buildings and public spaces that support the inclusion and participation of older people. Emer manages AFI’s Research Unit which is operated in partnership with Maynooth University. Its aim is to generate new research relevant to demographic ageing and provide an evidence base to inform service planning and delivery.  She manages the consultation function for the shared service, engaging in co-design processes with Older People’s Councils to ensure that older people’s voices feed into national policy. Emer holds a PhD and Masters degree from Trinity College Dublin, and a Certificate in Healthy Ageing from the World Health Organisation, among other qualifications.  Her previous experience includes diverse roles in community development, social inclusion, research and public service administration.

Dr Claudia Roessing

Claudia Roessing completed her PhD at Maynooth University, where she investigated the variations of data lifecycles based on data requirements in the Smart City scenario. She has years of experience in the software development industry with a background in Business Analysis and Consulting and Computer Science. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the VISION project, which is financed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and focuses on reducing the use of virgin materials in the Irish building sector.