This panel explored the tremendous enabling effect that blockchain provides while taking into consideration the privacy and legality of this emerging technology. In the end, it all comes down to data. Blockchain will undeniably give companies and consumers alike the opportunity to empower themselves and decide which data they want to share and under which conditions.
It was unanimous that more initiatives are needed for the EU to safeguard its data and technological sovereignty. However in order to be able to compete with counterparts from the US and Asia, the EU needs to match deep data pools by using federated machine learning and advanced technologies.
About the Panelists and Moderator
Clemens Pompeÿ, Moderator, is the founder of the company builder The Impact Farm (www.theimpact.farm) with a strong focus on data science and data analytics in the manufacturing industry. As a former venture developer of the Innogy Innovation Hub with a focus on digital payment in the machinery industry, he founded Rubix Blockchain Services Ltd. in Palo Alto, CA, which provided crypto-credits to SMEs. He has a background in political science, geography and law (Magister Atrium) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Previous positions have included research assistant in the German Bundestag’s Committee on Internal Affairs, the Raw Materials Alliance of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the management consultancy Bluberries with a strong focus on digitization in the energy and mobility sector.
Irene Adamski, Panelist, is a specialized blockchain expert who currently holds a number of positions. In addition to serving as a Member of the Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board (BEPAB) at the OECD, Irene is also involved in partnership development and regulatory affairs at Jolocom. She is the Secretary General at Bundesblock and co-Chair of the Energy Working Group for INATBA. In 2018, Irene received her LLM (Master of Laws) in Comparative European, German and Chinese Law.
Florian Glatz, Panelist, is a lawyer, software developer and entrepreneur with many years of experience in the area of blockchain. He is the founding president of the German Blockchain Association and was involved in the founding of the European blockchain association INATBA. Florian is a co-founder of the Legal Tech Center, co-publisher of the magazine “Rethinking Law” and has co-authored the book “Rechtshandbuch Legal Tech”.
Andreas Hartl, Panelist, is Head of Division AI 1 (Strategy Artificial Intelligence, Data Economy, Blockchain) in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). His focus is mainly on the economic and digital policy aspects of artificial intelligence, block chain technology, the policy of open data, and other issues of data economics. His division is responsible for the Artificial Intelligence strategy and the Blockchain strategy of the Federal Government. It is also the national coordinator for the EU’s free-flow of data regulation and is responsible for implementing the Open Data and Public Sector Information Directive in national law.
Marcus Olszok, Panelist, is the Head at CarTRUST. He has been responsible for the production and marketing of internationally used software products for more than 10 years. He follows the approach of Lean Management and uses methods such as Scrum or Lean Startup. As one of the early adopters, Marcus has been following the development of blockchain technology since the beginning of 2011 and is still a critical supporter today.
Lukas Repa, Panelist, is a Senior Policy Officer at the European Commission. Dr. Repa is a lawyer by training and is a graduate of the University of Vienna, Austria (Mag.iur and Dr.iur) and the College of Europe in Bruges (LL.M). He joined the civil service of the European Commission in 2003 where he has been working for the last 16 years in different responsibilities. Since December 2018, Lukas holds a position as senior policy officer for innovation in DG CNECT Unit F3 where he helped create the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA).
Vincent Schlatt, Panelist, is a Research Associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT. He has been actively involved in the blockchain space and Fraunhofer’s BlockchainLab since early 2016 and published several research papers on the matter. His research revolves around technical and managerial topics related to blockchain technology and strategic IT-management in general. In his role as a researcher, he works on publicly as well as industry-funded projects regarding DLT in connection with mobility as well as public administration.