Programme

Speakers / Participants

• Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister, Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, Germany (See video)
• Roland Lescure, Minister of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (See video)
• Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, European Commission (See video)
   

Europe’s Digital Acquis lays the groundwork for a safer, fairer, and more competitive online economy. While it still has to be fully implemented to reduce legal uncertainty, it becomes increasingly clear that overregulation, complex rules and bureaucratic hurdles risk stifling innovation and growth. If Europe wants to enhance its competitiveness, it needs to improve its conditions for SMEs and startups. The Digital Omnibus offers an opportunity to cut red tape, simplify regulation, and reignite growth. But what does the tech sector need from the Omnibus to put Europe back on a fast track to more competitiveness?

Speakers / Participants

• Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister, Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, Germany
• Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, France
• Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, European Commission
• Oliver Grün, President of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance and President of the Federal Association of IT-SMEs of Germany (BITMi)
   

Startup policy, European sovereignty, and cooperation between startups and industry are crucial for building a resilient Europe. By fostering innovation and funding (as well as by strengthening ties between emerging startups and established industries), Europe can enhance its global competitiveness while securing its independence and future growth. Public procurement appears as a powerful tool for this purpose as it sits at the heart of these priorities: it is a powerful scale-up lever for startups, propels innovation, and incentivizes European cross-border consortia—thereby strengthening Europe’s competitiveness.

Speakers / Participants

• Thomas Steffen, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWK), Germany
• Chloé Poisbeau, COO, Alice&Bob
• Marc Wietfeld, CEO, ARX Robotics
• Romy Schnelle, Managing Director, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF)
• Thomas Courbe, Director General, Directorate General for Enterprises (DGE), Ministry of Economy and Finance, France

Cloud and data sovereignty are key to ensuring Europe’s digital independence. Representatives of leading European cloud providers and technology experts will discuss trusted cloud infrastructures that combine technical and legal controls, as well as risk-based security standards – including safeguards against unauthorised access to sensitive European data by non-EU jurisdictions. The discussion will also address innovation and open collaboration as vital means to protect Europe’s most valuable resource: data.

Speakers / Participants

• Aude Durand, Chair, Scaleway
• Timotheus Höttges, CEO, Deutsche Telekom AG
• Rolf Schumann, Co-CEO, Schwarz Digits
• Octave Klaba, CEO, OVHcloud
• Cristina Caffarra, Expert in Digital Markets / Euro Stack Initiative

AI Sovereignty is readily discussed, but what does it mean? This high-level panel explores the AI ecosystem in Europe and how partnerships of excellence can contribute to European AI Sovereignty. Our panellists will share their vision for the next strategic steps to turn our best startups into global champions while driving deep industrial transformations.

Speakers / Participants

• Vanessa Cann, AI Leader, Entrepreneur, Business Angel
• Christian Klein, CEO, SAP
• Arthur Mensch, Founder and CEO, Mistral
• Robin Rombach, CEO and Co-Founder, Black Forest Labs
• Christel Heydemann, CEO, Orange Group

Speaker

• Caroline Stage Olsen, Minister for Digital Affairs, Denmark (See video)

“The Power of Digital Commons” shows how the new European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) transforms cross-border cooperation into a lasting European framework. With concrete tools like openDesk and La Suite, this session demonstrates how open, sovereign digital commons can scale across Europe — empowering administrations and citizens alike.

Speakers / Participants

• David Amiel, Minister Delegate for the Civil Service and State reform, France
• Thomas Jarzombek, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, Germany
• Art de Blaauw, CIO Dutch Central Government, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Netherlands
• Alexander Pröll, State Secretary for Digitalisation, Federal Chancellery, Austria
• Stéphanie Schaer, Director, French Interministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM), France
• Adriana Groh, Managing Director, Sovereign Tech Agency
• Corinne Cath, Digital Policy and Infrastructure Governance Expert

Digital sovereignty can only thrive under the prerequisite of fair and efficient digital markets. The development of a European supply in digital markets such as cloud and AI is critical for a sovereign digital transition. Even with significant investments and policies of European public bodies supporting research, innovation and emerging digital industries, European firms can only scale up if they can operate and deploy their offerings in fair, open and efficient markets.
Regulatory tools, such as the DMA, represent a powerful leverage to ensure fair and contestable markets.

Speakers / Participants

• Emmanuel Sardet, President of Cigref and Vice-CIO, Crédit Agricole
• Verena Pausder, Chair, German Startup Association
• Alexandre de Streel, Professor of EU Law, CERRE and Université de Namur
• Filomena Chirico, Head of Unit Digital Markets, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission

Speaker

• Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (See video)

Speaker

• Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic (See video)