Catch up

Simon Coveney TD is the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, appointed in December 2022. He is also the Deputy Leader of Fine Gael. 

He has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2017-2022) and Minister for Defence (2020-2022). Between November 2017 and June 2020 he also held the office of Tánaiste. 

He has previously served as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (2016-2017), Minister for Defence (2014-2016) and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2011-2016). 

First elected to the Dáil in 1998, he was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 where he was a member of the EPP-ED group. He was a member of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and a substitute member on the Fisheries Committee. Mr Coveney was the author of the European Parliament's Annual Report on Human Rights in the World for the year 2004 and again for 2006. He was a member of Cork County Council and the Southern Health Board from 1999 to 2003. 

Mr Coveney holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture and Land Management from The Royal Agriculture College, Gloucestershire. He was also educated at Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare, University College Cork and Gurteen Agricultural College, County Tipperary. In 1997-1998 he led the Sail Chernobyl Project which involved sailing 30,000 miles around the world for charity. 

He is married to Ruth and they live in Cork with their three daughters.

• Media and Digital entrepreneur on the global stage. Established and successfully sold two media companies in 11 years.
• Host of the podcast The History of the Future
• National broadcaster RTE’s first Washington Correspondent, then Foreign Correspondent
• Award-winning journalist (TV Journalist of the Year) and author of three books

The search for truth is the lifeblood of Mark Little’s multifaceted career, which has seen him progress from being an award-winning young journalist to a successful digital media entrepreneur and a powerful speaker on leadership, disinformation and innovation.

Mark believes that we should draw on lessons from the past as they are a rich reservoir of guidance for the future. Currently, in collaboration with Trinity College, he is hosting a podcast on this exact topic called The History of the Future.

Journalist and broadcaster
A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, for years Mark worked for the Sunday Business Post before becoming RTÉ’s (Ireland’s national broadcaster) first Washington Correspondent in 1995. Six years later he returned to Ireland as their Foreign Correspondent, and in the same year won TV Journalist of the Year in the ESB National Media Awards. From there he went on to co-present Ireland’s flagship current affairs programme, Prime Time, for eight years.

Digital Media Entrepreneur
In 2009 Mark took a year’s leave of absence from RTÉ to pursue a project. In 2010 that project was launched as the social news agency Storyful, which in 2013 he sold to News International. Two years later he joined Twitter, first as vice president of media and partnerships in Europe and then as managing director of Twitter in Ireland. He resigned in 2016 to set up the media company Kinzen with entrepreneur, journalist & speaker, Áine Kerr.

Further evidence of his entrepreneurial flair came in September 2022 when they sold Kinzen to Spotify for an undisclosed fee. Today, drawing on his experience at Kinzen helping to identify misinformation and hate speech, Mark leads Spotify’s Product Safety Strategy as the streaming platform looks to improve safety.

Mark’s varied expertise is remarkable – everything from interviewing world leaders like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to reporting from war zones in Iraq. He has also written three books.

• Turn Left at Greenland: In Search of the Real America
• Zulu Time
• The New America – based on his experience and observations while working on the Obama Campaign

As a speaker, Mark invites his audience to think about the future, and shares his experiences with energy and currency. His incisive thinking and broad worldview make him an agile chairman and a versatile keynote speaker who can command a room with ease. 

John is focused on transformational sustainability solutions and uses emerging technologies to enable the acceleration of reducing carbon emissions. John works in the Sustainability group within Office of the CTO.

John works within a diverse team drawn from multiple backgrounds and skill sets to ensure synergies of various perspectives working together comes to the fore. John also supports a number of STEM projects that are aimed at enhancing participation overall but particularly from a wider range of backgrounds.  John is also very proud of being an ambassador for British Dyslexia Association.

John began his technology career nearly 32 years ago, working on early AI and even distributed ledger technologies that were deployed to great impact in private and public sector environments. His expertise across many roles within Oracle and now Google in sustainability and data technologies have led to him being a renowned industry speaker, author and commentator on technical and business innovation issues.

Professor Richard Susskind OBE KC (Hon) is the President of the Society for Computers and Law, the founder of Remote Courts Worldwide and, since 1998, has been Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He has written ten books, including Tomorrow’s Lawyers (2013, 2017, 2023), The Future of the Professions (2015, 2022, with D Susskind), and Online Courts and the Future of Justice (2019, 2021). He is the world’s most cited author on the future of legal services. His work has been translated into 18 languages and he has been invited to speak in over 60 countries. In the 1980s, Richard wrote his doctoral thesis on AI and the law at Balliol College, Oxford and went on to co-develop the world’s first commercial AI system for lawyers.

Victoria is a serial entrepreneur, global speaker, and CEO of Springbok AI. Springbok AI is an award-winning Generative AI Management strategy and product development boutique specialised in enabling law firms to leverage their unique expertise, increase AFA volume and profitability, attract new clients, and defend their position in the market. Recent public successes include launching fleetAI with Dentons, launching the UK’s first AI-powered legal charity document generator for Access Social Care, and enabling Hogan Lovells with conversational AI tools for training and HR.

Paul Allen has over 20 years of international legal experience. He oversees a market-leading group of over 800 lawyers globally who are committed to supporting clients with their most important intellectual property, technology, data protection and commercial matters.

Paul focuses on providing clients with innovative legal solutions for complex, strategic and business-critical IT, outsourcing and digital transformation programs.

He has advised clients across a broad range of sectors, including aviation, telecoms, media, technology, financial services and government. He typically engages with clients at the outset of major procurement programs, helping clients to shape their overall legal strategy and achieve organizational objectives.

Passionate about digital evolution, Paul is also a leading member of DLA Piper’s Change Council, which is responsible for fostering radical change and innovation at the firm, building on recognition by the FT as one of the world’s top 10 law firms for innovation.

To further his commitment to providing clients with pragmatic and commercial legal advice, Paul completed his INSEAD Executive MBA (on the Dean’s List with Distinction). During his studies, he focused on the design and implementation of strategies and business models that use new and emerging technologies to provide a superior and sustainable competitive advantage.

Paul has most recently advised clients in relation to:

• a digital transformation program, including negotiation of the associated master agreement for the design, build and operation of a next generation operations platform on an outsourced basis
• a group-wide cloud transformation program including negotiation with the selected hyperscaler of a suite of agreements for the provision of cloud transformation and cloud provisioning services on a prime vendor basis and
• a competitive procurement for the design, build and operation of a payments platform, including supporting the procurement strategy, bidder evaluation and selection, senior-level stakeholder engagement, contract negotiation, and conclusion and ongoing contract management support.

Daphne Bens, head of the Dutch Corporate group, has over 20 years’ experience in advising (multi)national corporations as well as listed companies in complex cross- border M&A transactions. Daphne's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures and general corporate law.

Daphne has a specific focus on the Technology sector and the Hospitality and Leisure sector and is member of the DLA Piper core teams in these sectors. She has also been a member of the jury of the Philips Innovation Awards in recent years.

In 2002 Daphne was seconded at DLA Piper Hong Kong and Singapore.

Lord Clement-Jones is a Consultant on AI Policy and Regulation with global law firm, DLA Piper where former positions held include London Managing Partner (2011-16), Head of UK Government Affairs, Chair of its China and Middle East Desks, International Business Relations Partner and Co-Chair of Global Government Relations. 

Tim is the Liberal Democrat House of Lords spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology. Former Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence which reported in 2018 with "AI in the UK Ready Willing and Able?" and its follow-up report in 2020 "AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency". In 2016, co-founded the All-Party Group on Artificial Intelligence.

From 2023, a member of the Industry and Regulators Committee and the initiator of and subsequent member of the Special Inquiry Select Committee into AI in Weapons Systems. 

Former member of the House of Lords Select Committees on Communications (2011-15), Risk Assessment and Planning (2020-21) and the Joint Select Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill (2021-22). Vice Chair for a number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups - including Data Poverty; Data Analytics; Digital Skills; Digital Regulation and Responsibility; and the Future of Work.

A founding member of the OECD Parliamentary Group on AI and a former Consultant to the Council of Europe’s Ad-hoc Committee on AI (CAHAI).

Tim is Chair of the Board of Trust Alliance Group (formerly Ombudsman Services), the not for profit, independent ombudsman service that provides dispute resolution for the communications, energy, and parking industries. He is Chair of Council of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and President of Ambitious about Autism (formerly Treehouse) an autism education charity and school for children with autism and other communication disorders and its former Chair.

Mark Cockerill serves as ServiceNow’s Vice-President for Corporate, Securities, M&A and International Development, having more recently served for a number of years as their Vice-President for EMEA/APJ and Head of Global Privacy. Mark also leads ServiceNow’s increasing expansion and growth in Ireland. Prior to ServiceNow, Mark served as Director of Legal for eir and held several legal leadership roles in other international telecommunications organizations. Mark further lectured in Company and Contract law for nearly fifteen years, holds an LL.B from Nottingham University and LL.M from Trinity College Dublin, and is also currently Vice-President of the European Company Lawyers Association.

Anya is the Head of Financial Advisory Ireland. Anya has almost 20 years’ of experience advising corporates on buy-side transactions, sell-side transactions and capital raisings. She joined the Deloitte Corporate Finance team in 2004 and spent 7 years advising on mid-market buy side, sell side and equity capital raising transactions. In 2011 Anya joined Cavendish Corporate Finance, a London based advisory boutique, where she spent five years advising entrepreneurs and corporates on the sale of minority and majority stakes and growth capital raisings. Anya was appointed Partner in Cavendish in 2013. Anya re-joined Deloitte as a Partner to lead the M&A team based in Dublin in 2015.

Anya specialises in M&A, incorporating mergers, acquisitions, disposals and equity capital raising. Anya has a significant focus on private equity transactions; in particularly in the technology and technology enabled services sector. Some of her recent relevant deals have included advising Bowmark Capital on their investment in Xperience Group, advising Horizon Capital on the exit of software business TotalMobile, advisor to AquaQ Analytics on their investment from Sovereign Capital, advisor to Livingbridge on its investment in Chill Insurance, advisor to creative agency Rothco on the sale to Accenture, advisor to technology services provider Voxpro on the sale to Telus International and advisor to foreign exchange technology provider World First on its investment from US fund FTV Capital.

Anya today leads the Financial Advisory business in Deloitte in Ireland and serves on the Executive Committee of the firm.

Adam leads NVIDIA’s Developer Relations for generative AI and LLMs in EMEA. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the technology sector, with prior leadership at IBM and expertise in AI and big data.

Christina Demetriades is General Counsel, EMEA and
Global Legal Transformation and Strategy Lead at
Accenture. As General Counsel, Christina leads our
Legal team supporting our EMEA businesses. EMEA is
Accenture's second largest market and represents over
35% of Accenture's Revenue.

In addition, in her global role leading Global Legal
Transformation and Strategy, Christina leads the
reinvention of Accenture's own legal function from a
people, process, technology and data perspective.
Accenture Legal comprises approximately 3300 legal
professionals in 48 Countries.

Previously, Christina led Sales & Delivery, Accenture’s
legal support for our client-facing business.
Christina is a member of Accenture’s Global Leadership
Council, EMEA Management Committee and Ops
Council.

Prior to joining Accenture in 2013, Christina spent 13
years as a partner at the law firm of Baker & McKenzie
LLP (London), where she led their IT/Comm practice.
Christina has worked in Australia and the UK and holds
a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) from Bond University,
Australia, was a Chevening Scholar and holds an LLM
from the University of London.

Christina lives in Northamptonshire, UK, with her
husband and two teenage children.

Kristof De Vulder has over 20 years’ experience of helping global clients with technology and telecommunications contracts, cyber security, outsourcing, license contracts, cloud contracts, hybrid cloud/on premise environments legal challenges, systems integration and complex technology transactions. He advises both users and suppliers.

Kristof leads the Brussels technology team and assists clients with business-critical strategic projects and incidents all over the world. He advises on EU technology regulations, all aspects of the sourcing process, the legal issues arising with the implementation of new technologies and responding to cyber incidents.

He also assists clients during all stages of major technology disputes, including pre-litigation strategies, mediation, arbitration and government courts.

He has worked with global technology suppliers, major IT-buyers, software companies, governments and public sector bodies on a broad range of technology and sourcing transactions, ranging from global application management outsourcing and multi-jurisdictional business process outsourcing to the creation of standard suites of agreements.

Kristof regularly speaks at conferences and seminars about IT law, particularly on the topics of outsourcing, technology contracts and tech disputes.

He has been a lawyer with DLA Piper since 2003 and a partner since 2005. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for an international law firm which became the Brussels office of DLA Piper in 2003.

Laura Dillon is Partner at Waterland in Dublin, Ireland and is leading the Waterland Irish Team. Prior to joining Waterland, Laura was a Principal at Riverside Europe Partners in London, UK. Prior to this, Laura co-founded and was CEO at DSI Distribution Solutions Ireland Ltd, a leading healthcare distribution company in the Irish market.

Laura started her career as a Strategy Consultant with McKinsey & Company and she has also worked for Intelligent Finance (internet bank of HBOS Plc) as their Strategy Manager, for WorldRemit as their Chief of Staff and a Senior Associate at Apax Partners. Laura holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, USA and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland.

Yvonne Fern is Talon's first in-house General Counsel which means that not only does she support all business units across the globe and provides general legal and strategic advice to Talon's board and management, she has also built up the legal function from scratch and is championing ESG within the business. Prior to Talon Yvonne held several legal leadership roles within international media and tech companies such the BBC and Deutsche Telekom International.

Caroline Gorski is a technology leader of more than 25 years experience, with a background in strategy consulting, market development and commercial decision-making at FTSE 100 board-level. From September 1, 2023, Caroline has taken up the position of CEO of Capital Enterprise - the UK's leading start-up support network - with the mission to make the UK the best place to start and scale a business.

She is a Co-Founder of Cerestrial LLP, a philanthropic partnership focussed on equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth, supporting individuals, communities and corporations with ideas and innovations that have the potential to bring positive social change.

In April 2020 she co-founded the Emergent Alliance (www.emergentalliance.org), a not-for-profit Global Data Collaboration initiative focussing on Economic Recovery analytics in response to COVID-19.

In September 2021 she launched the R² Factory, an industrial machine learning and AI spin-out born from the experiences gained as Group Director of R² Data Labs, the data innovation and artificial intelligence catalyst inside Rolls-Royce which she led for five years, following technology leadership positions at the Digital Catapult, and Telefonica UK. Caroline has an MA from Oxford University, and lives in rural Yorkshire with her two children and two very noisy small dogs. 

Sandra is CEO and founder of inclusio. Sandra's career spanned 20 years in the global telecoms industry and five years at Dublin City University where she established the DCU Centre of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion. Sandra is an Organisational Psychologist and NLP Master Practitioner. Over 17 years she has championed and driven diversity and inclusion practice across industry and is considered a leading expert. In 2014, she was involved in establishing the EU Diversity Charter Ireland. In 2020 Sandra was a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Ireland’s Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality and is on the Leadership Council for An Garda Síochána (Ireland's Police Force).

In 2020, inclusio spun-out of Dublin City University. The inclusio platform delivers a solution to address some of the most pressing challenges facing global employers today. Combining technology, psychology and artificial intelligence (AI), inclusio delivers a scientific, independent ‘Nudge’ platform that empowers leaders to measure, track and action DEI in an authentic way; through the voice of their people. The platform empowers leaders with the data they need to chart their progress on DEI efforts, measure ROI and benchmark in their sector, locally and globally.

In 2022, inclusio won the Altice International Innovation Awards, and most recently, the D&I Business & Finance ESG Awards (2023). inclusio is listed on the BOI Think Business, Top100 Startups to watch in 2023.

Phil Hogan is a former Member of European Commission. He served in the portfolios of Agriculture & Trade from 2014 to 2020 respectively.

During that time he was involved in managing the Common Agriculture Policy and its Budget(410 Billion Euro), opening new market opportunities for food exporters arising from the Russian Embargo, assisting in the negotiations of several trade deals with various countries including China, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Mexico, Mercusor. Phil forged a new relationship with the United States of America in respect of trade and technology.

For 27 years, Phil Hogan was a Member of the National Parliament of Ireland and Minister for Environment & Local Government from 2011 to 2014.

He was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and is a graduate of University College, Cork (BA, Econs). Presently he is Managing Director of a business consultancy firm.

Ewa Kurowska-Tober focuses her practice on advising on matters related to IT, telecommunications and advanced technologies law. She also advises companies from the telecoms and media sectors on M&A and private equity transactions.

Ewa advises clients from highly regulated industries, combining her experience in commercial contracts with an in-depth knowledge of regulatory matters.

She advises leading media and technology companies on IT and internet law, cloud computing, e-commerce, broadcasting and distribution contracts, as well as on licensing agreements and agreements for the implementation and maintenance of IT systems.

Ewa has considerable experience in data protection law, advising on large-scale global privacy compliance programs, cross-border data transfers, data security polices and whistle-blowing. She also focuses on IP law, with a focus on copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition and advertising law.

Ewa is a legal expert of the Polish Bank Association with respect to data protection and GDPR, and a lecturer at New Technologies Law Studies at the Institute of Law Studies at Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN).

John is a highly experienced data protection lawyer, leading the firm’s data protection, privacy and cybersecurity practice in Ireland.

One of Ireland’s best known and respected privacy lawyers, John has a varied client base of both Irish and international organisations and he is recognised by clients for his strategic advice on global data governance and compliance, data transfers, information security and breach response matters.

John also advises on contentious data protection and privacy matters, including information access requests and regulatory investigations.

Having represented BSA – The Software Alliance in the Schrems II case while at his previous firm, John was part of the global DLA Piper team that created a pioneering data transfer assessment methodology implemented through a legal tech tool, known as Transfer, which was launched to the market in July 2020, following the landmark judgment in that case.

John writes and speaks regularly on data protection and cyber security matters and has lectured and created course modules for the Law Society of Ireland, the Kings Inns and Trinity College Dublin as well as speaking at international conferences such as the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Jason has held a number of senior leadership roles, including Divisional Finance Director at Bank of Ireland and Head of Change at Certus. He has over 25 years experience in digital transformation, finance, change management and commercial negotiation across a number of sectors including Banking, Professional Service and Outsourcing.

Cergenx
Cergenx was founded to leverage recent advances in AI to help identify newborns at risk of brain injury. The company is focused on leveraging newborn brain research to develop and commercialise solutions in this area. Cergenx is currently developing a newborn brain system, using an automated AI assessment, to test for brain injury in infants at birth. Cergenx is a spinout from the Infant Centre at University College Cork.

Carl is an Associate on the Elkstone Ventures team where he works on the sourcing and due diligence of investment opportunities and portfolio management. Prior to working in Venture, Carl worked as a M&A lawyer and worked in a number of early-stage start-ups in the US and Ireland.

Chris Newlands is one of the UK’s most connected entrepreneurs in the Financial Services, Events, Technology and Space sectors. In December 2021, he was named in 4th position, in the world’s top 10 space entrepreneurs list, beaten only by Branson, Musk and Bezos.

After serving in the Royal Navy, he carved out a successful career in Financial Services as a Chartered Financial Planner and NED. Over the last decade, Chris has become a true entrepreneur, creating several Space 2 Consumer (S2C) applications . From commercial opportunities to societal benefits, S2C strategies have the potential to touch every sector which could help save time, money, lives and potentially our planet. The patent captures the merging of GPS or location data, images, video, audio, biometrics and data from wearables with real-time satellite imagery. S2C offers the ability to engage with customers, employees and monitor livestock and assets visually from space.

An acclaimed inventor, Chris won the prestigious Innovator of the Year in 2019 at the Scottish Ex-Forces in Business Awards. The Scottish Government recently awarded him the title of Global Scot and he became a Professor of Practice in 2021. He is an Affiliate Member of the Scotland International Space Advisory Committee and was recently appointed as the Co-Chair of the Open Geospatial Consortium in UK&I.

Nicola O’Connor is AIB’s Chief Information Security and IT Risk Officer, a role in which she is responsible for ensuring the integrity of both information and systems, while also defining the strategy to future proof the organisation. Nicola is an experienced executive, previously holding a number of senior management positions in AIB including Head of Support & Control. Prior to this she commenced her career in Intel, where she held a number of technical roles. She holds a BSc in Computer Engineering from UCC.

Mark O'Conor is experienced in all aspects of IT law, majoring on cloud and digital transformation, public procurement and outsourcing.

Mark has been ranked as an “expert” since 2002 and recent Chambers and Legal 500 entries include "maintains excellent client relationships", “first class legal acumen”, “excellent IT knowledge” and the Who's Who of international IT lawyers describes Mark as “outstanding”.

Mark has previously been the UK Managing Partner of DLA Piper and is currently the Chair of the Society for Computers and Law and of DLA Piper's London Client Group.

Mark advises companies and governments on digital transformation, agile development, open source, AI and cloud computing legal challenges and has been involved in drafting and negotiating cloud computing contracts both on the provider and the customer side.

Mark provided legal and procurement advice to the Cabinet Office and OGC in its work to establish the “G-Cloud” as part of the public sector ICT strategy to meet the objectives of the Digital Britain report.

Specifically, Mark has sought to aid the UK public sector, and subsequently cloud vendors and large corporate customers find consensus and complete larger deals. He established an independent cloud forum, bringing together like minded experts from vendor organisations such as Colt, Dell, Salesforce, Agilisys, Skyscape Cloud, Memset and Microsoft. Customers involved have included the Cabinet Office and various regulators.

Mark is DLA Piper's client partner for its relationships with British Airways, Vodafone, LEGO and KPMG. Mark is also legal advisor to clients including National Grid, Close Brothers and the MOD.

Edel O'Kelly has extensive experience in the Foreign Direct Investment sector advising international companies on setting up in Ireland and on the broad spectrum of operational and legal issues that follow.

Edel also advises on transactional M&A, fundraising (both from a company and investor perspective), shareholder arrangements and general corporate matters.

Tom O'Connor has a long heritage in Version 1, joining the business in 2001 and spending over 21 years in various roles such as the Head of Consulting, Sales Director, and COO where he was responsible for sales, operations, and organic growth.

On the 1st of April 2017, it was announced that Tom had been appointed CEO of Version 1, taking the reins on one of the fastest growing IT Consulting and Managed Services firms in Western Europe, which now employs 3,200 people across the world, with offices across Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, India, Spain and Slovenia

Since taking over as CEO, Tom has led Version 1’s growth, tripling both revenue and profits over the last 6 years, through organic growth in UK and Ireland and through 9 acquisitions, including expansion into India, United States, Australia, and Spain. This 20% annual growth rate positioned Version 1 as one of the fastest growing digital transformation companies in Western Europe.

Catherine has 17 years Consulting experience, working across industries to solve complex business problems and deliver large change programmes. With expertise in Organisational Change Management, Digital Transformation, Agile Mobilisation, Culture Change, Operating Model Design, Catherine has a deep understanding of what it takes to mobilise teams and organisations to achieve benefits and strategic goals. Catherine works collaboratively with her clients, harnessing the strengths of their culture, values and people, to create an environment which can quickly respond to constant change. Through deeply understanding change, Catherine creates the structures that enable success.

Imogen is a legal counsel at Google with a focus on AI/ML, and most recently product counselled the highly anticipated launch of Google Cloud's first generative AI text-to-image generation model (named Imagen). Imogen supports Google Cloud's EMEA's Sales team on AI/ML deals more generally as well as Google Cloud's go-to-market strategy for the legal sector. She co-founded Google Cloud's Legal Community, which recently launched with an inaugural event on Generative AI & the Legal Sector. Outside of her day-to-day work, Imogen mentors aspiring law students and helps with recruitment efforts for Google Legal.

Mark Rasdale advises clients across various sectors on strategic sourcing and commercial contracts, technology and IP matters and data protection compliance.

He has particular experience in technology procurement, outsourcing and transformation projects, including strategic legal due diligence and transitional services arrangements in relation to corporate acquisitions, disposals and restructurings.

Pat has been a member of An Garda Síochána for over 29 years and is the Detective Superintendent responsible for overseeing operations at the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB).   The Bureau is responsible for the investigation of all cyber dependent crime in this jurisdiction.  The Bureau also provides for top tier forensics for all digital media seized as part of national investigations and is the national contact point for Europol, Interpol and International Law Enforcement on all cybercrime matters.

GNCCB also has additional functions with regard to cybercrime awareness/prevention and cyber Intelligence.  In this regard, GNCCB works closely with partners such as the Department of Justice and other Government Departments, the National Cyber Security Centre, Academia and Industry on cybercrime affairs.

Prior to his current appointment at GNCCB, Pat was attached to the Garda ICT Division for 22 years.  As Superintendent responsible for IT Operations & Security, Pat was responsible for the strategic and tactical planning, operation and deployment of all IT systems within An Garda Síochána. 

Throughout his career, Pat has represented An Garda Síochána at various EU meetings, including at Europol, Interpol, ENLETS, eu-LISA and was responsible for the delivery of Garda National and European Police IT systems. 

Pat currently holds the position of chair of the European Union Cybercrime Task Force (EUCTF) representing An Garda Síochána and is also a member of the Interpol Global Cybercrime Experts Group.  Pat holds a Master’s Degree in Forensic Computing and Cybercrime Investigations from University College Dublin.

Vinny Sanchez is the Global Co-chair of DLA Piper's Technology Transactions and Strategic Sourcing practice and is highly recognized as a leading technology and outsourcing lawyer by The Legal 500 US and Chambers.

Vinny advises clients in complex technology, strategic sourcing/outsourcing and commercial transactions, including post-contract matters that arise during the normal course of these relationships such as implementation/transition challenges, governance, audits and disputes. A significant part of his practice also includes representing clients in digital transformation programs and supply chain management, including Nth party risk, business continuity and data and cyber risks. He also advises clients in technology acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures; strategic alliances and collaborations; and the commercialization of technology and data assets. 

Vinny’s strategic sourcing/outsourcing experience involves the outsourcing of key business and technology operations, such as those related to information technology (networks/telecommunications, data center/co-location, application development/management, infrastructure, etc.), human resources, facilities management, finance, accounting, supply chain management, clinical trial, payment processing, research and development, and other key operational functions. He also advises clients on the development of strategic sourcing programs, including matters covering the entire contract lifecycle management process such as contract policies and templates, training/education programs, risk assessments, contract deviation reports, and governance/vendor management. He also has worked with clients on contract strategies for adopting, and accelerating the procurement of, new technologies. 

Vinny’s digital transformation experience involves advising clients in navigating the legal and operational risks associated with the digital transformation of the enterprise and the evolution of business models that leverage both technology and data as strategic assets to be optimized and potentially monetized. He advises clients on critical implementation and transformation projects, including the migration of key business processes to cloud-based services and the shift from traditional lift-and-shift outsourcing models to “as-a-service” models. He also works with clients through their digital journey, including navigating the phases of ideation/incubation, innovation and commercialization or operational integration. As a trusted digital advisor, he guides clients through (1) the risks associated with establishing new digitally focused business models and platforms, (2) the adoption of new digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, edge computing, cloud enablement and blockchain, and (3) managing technology and data as core strategic assets.

Vinny’s supply chain experience involves working with clients on navigating the risks associated with complex supply chains and ecosystems, especially those dependent upon digital technologies and data assets. He represents clients in supply chain and manufacturing agreements and regularly advises clients regarding Nth party risk, business continuity and data and cyber risks. (e.g., business continuity and concentration risk).

Gareth Stokes focuses on information technology, outsourcing and intellectual property-driven contracts.

Gareth's experience spans numerous complex major procurement and sourcing projects within heavily regulated industries. Most such engagements involve elements of service delivery on-shore, with other elements delivered further afield, whether near shore within the newer EU Member States or offshore in India, China and emerging economies. These projects tend to involve innovative contractual structures, including joint venture arrangements, multi-level framework and call off structures, trust arrangements and other multi-contract arrangements.

Anne-Marie has 21 years’ experience in the global investment environment with IDA Ireland, working across a number of key roles in Ireland and abroad.  

Anne-Marie took up her current position as Department Manager, Enterprise Technology in October 2021. Prior to this role, she held positions as Department Manager, Regional Development, Director of Europe, based in Paris and Project Manager in the Technology Division. Prior to IDA Ireland, Anne-Marie worked for the Consultancy business of PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.  

Anne-Marie is a Law graduate and holds an MSc in International Marketing, as well as being an Associate Practitioner of the European Chartered Institute of Marketing. Anne-Marie is a Board member of CeADAR, Ireland’s National Centre for Applied AI and a Board Member of Cyber Ireland.

Mike is Head of Digital Innovation for DCC plc. DCC provide solutions across energy, healthcare and technology. DCC acquires, improves and grows diverse businesses. DCC has over 16,000 employees across 22 countries. Mikes role is to help drive digital transformation and change across the group. Mike is a passionate proponent in the power of AI to transform an organisations business and digital strategy. Mike has founded a number of companies in supply chain, fintech, travel tech and AI as well as holding executive positions with Fexco and Modus Media.