Francesca Bria

Francesca Bria is an innovation economist specializing in the intersections of technology, geopolitics, economy, and society. She is an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) at UCL in London and a Fellow at Stiftung Mercator. Francesca serves on the High-Level Round Table for the New European Bauhaus, established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to accelerate the EU Green Deal. Previously, she was President of the Italian National Innovation Fund and a member of the Executive Board of the Italian public media company RAI.

From 2015 to 2019, Francesca served as Chief Digital Technology and Innovation Officer for the City of Barcelona, where she led the city’s Smart City Agenda and co-founded the United Nations Cities Coalition for Digital Rights. She initiated DECODE, the EU's flagship project on data sovereignty, and serves as a Senior Adviser for the European Commission's STARTS programme, which fosters innovation at the intersection of science, technology, and the arts.

Francesca has lectured at universities in the UK and Italy and advised governments, as well as public and private organizations, on technology and innovation policy, focusing on socio-economic, geopolitical, and environmental impacts. She has been recognized as a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and was listed among the Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes Magazine. Additionally, she was named Culture Person of the Year 2020 by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and recognized as one of the world's top 20 most influential figures in digital government by Apolitical, as well as one of the 28 power players behind Europe's tech revolution.