From 2002 to 2004, Kersti Kaljulaid was the CFO and CEO of the Iru Power Plant of state-owned energy company Eesti Energia.
From 2004 to 2016 she was a Member of the European Court of Auditors. From 2004 to 2006 Kersti Kaljulaid organised the financial audit of the research and development funds of the budget of the European Union and from 2007 to 2010 she was responsible for the audit of the Structural Policies. From 2004 to 2007, she was the auditor of the Galileo project of the European Union. From 2010 to 2016 she coordinated the preparation of the Annual Report and State of Assurance of the European Court of Auditors. From 2005 to 2007, she was a member of the Europol Audit Committee and chaired the committee in 2007. From 2006 to 2008, she was the chair of the Administrative Affairs Committee of the Court of Auditors. From 2010 to 2014, she was responsible for the methodology and preparation of the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors. In 2016, she worked in the field of the agriculture audit.
In addition, Kersti Kaljulaid was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Genome Center from its foundation until 2002. She was also a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Tartu from 2009 to 2011 and the Council Chair of the University of Tartu since 2012. Kersti Kaljulaid has been a co-author of the social-political radio talk show Keskpäevatund (Midday Hour) in radio station Kuku from 2002 to 2004 and the editor of the Eurominutid (Euro-minutes) radio show from 2007 to 2016 in the same station.
Career and public service
As of 2016, the President of the Republic of Estonia
2004-2016 Member of the European Court of Auditors
2002-2004 CFO and CEO of the Iru Power Plant of Eesti Energia
1992-2002 Economic Advisor of Prime Minister Mart Laar
1994-1999 worked in various Estonian companies
Decorations
2016 The Collar of The Order of the National Coat of Arms (Estonia)
2017 Order of the White Rose of Finland, Grand Cross with Collar
From 2012 to 2014, at the invitation of the European Commission, he was Chairman of the European Cloud Partnership Steering Board. From 2014 to 2015 president Ilves was the co-chair of the advisory panel of World Bank’s World Development Report 2016 “Digital Dividends” and from June 2014-to May 2016, the chair of World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Cyber Security.
In the 1990s, he was one of the initiators of the Tiger Leap initiative to computerise and connect all Estonian schools online.
During recent years, president Ilves has spoken and written extensively at integration, trans-atlantic relations, e-government, cyber security and other related topics.
Ilves worked as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2006. He served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2002. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s. Previously, he worked as a diplomat and journalist.
In 2016 he received the Digital Freedom Award in recognition for fostering the digital freedom and raising awareness of opportunities and challenges the digital revolution can bring.
In 2017 Ilves was awarded Reinhard Mohn Prize for his pioneering work in promoting digitalization in government, education and public services.
He acquired his education in the United States – he graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1976 and received his Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978.
Trond Arne Undheim is a futurist, podcaster, investor, author, speaker, entrepreneur and former director of MIT Startup Exchange, based outside of Boston. He has helped launch over 50 startups.
Trond is currently a venture partner at Antler, the global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. He also serves as the industry ecosystem evangelist at Tulip, the industrial operations growth startup. He is the CEO and co-founder of Yegii, a search engine for industry professionals, providing collective intelligence. Lastly, he is a nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council with a portfolio in artificial intelligence, future of work, data ethics, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship.
Trond hosts the podcasts Futurized, thought leadership on our emerging future, and Augmented, the industry 4.0 podcast.
Trained as a social scientist with a career in technology and innovation, he is a former MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Lecturer, WPP and Oracle Executive and EU National Expert, he writes for Fortune and Cognoscenti, and has been featured in print media and television.
Trond Arne Undheim is the author of Pandemic Aftermath (2020), Disruption Games (2020), and Leadership From Below (2008). His next book, Future Tech (2021) comes out on March 3 in the UK and March 30 in the USA and rest of the world.
Trond Arne Undheim holds a PhD on the future of work and artificial intelligence and cognition from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and was a visiting research associate at UC Berkeley.
Ms. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel is a Chairwoman at Communications and Information Technology Authority, the Government agency of Mongolia, responsible for ICT policy development and implementation. As a chairperson of the ICT-related organization, she aims to bring better changes to the both public and government through the digital governance program, named E-Mongolia, enabling all public services accessible, transparent and prompt.
She obtained a Master’s degree with focus on Public Policy from the University of Oxford, the United Kingdom in 2017. After graduation, she implemented a project, “Nomads in the Digital Age”, with Pathways for Prosperity Commission, which is funded by the Gates Foundation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates, aimed to accelerate inclusive development through technological development and digital readiness. She started her career journey from international organizations such as ADB, The World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, European Bank for Reconstruction Development from 2011-2019.
Previously, he worked as Digital Policy Adviser in the Government Office of Estonia – coordinating the digital policy planning and execution across the government. He also served in this role as adviser to three consecutive Prime Ministers on digital matters. Siim’s prior experience includes work in Estonian Development Fund, a public venture capital fund and foresight think-tank, and Estonian Ministry of Finance, in areas of national strategic planning and public financial management.
Siim Sikkut graduated in 2005 from Princeton University, USA with B.A. degree in public and international affairs. He also holds an M.Sc. degree in International Management from the University of London
Nicolas Ruiz is currently a Senior Economist and the Head of the Estonia/Poland Desk at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to this, he held several positions at the OECD, where he managed OECD flagship publications and contributions to the G20 and G7, and conducted analytical works on structural policies, inequality and poverty. Prior to joining the OECD, he worked as an Economic Advisor at the French Ministry of Finance and the French Prime Minister Strategic Council.
Nicolas Ruiz holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cergy-Pontoise (France, 2006) and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Mathematics of Security from the University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona (Spain, 2018). Beyond Economics, his research interests are in cryptography and data privacy, fields in which he has authored several publications in computer science journals. Since 2020, he is also an Associate Researcher at the University of Tarragona, in the Criptografia i Secret Estadístic (CRISES) Research Group.
Mr. Riho Kurg joined Cybernetica in 2016. As Head of Data Exchange Technologies, he manages the eGovernment solutions portfolio, including Unified eXchange Platform (UXP), a secure interoperability platform based and improved upon the Estonian X-Road. Most recent projects where UXP is implemented as the foundation of digital public services include Benin Republic, Bahamas and Aruba.
Mr. Kurg has over two decades of experience in the design and implementation of data interoperability layers connecting multiple government agencies and activities. He started his career building Estonia’s first national data network, which enabled data sharing between different government institutions.
Hannes is Deputy Director for Strategy and Development at the e-Governance Academy. As a senior expert, he provides training and consultancy for governments in Central Asia, Caucasus, South-East Europe, Middle East, Africa and other transition regions. During the last years, he has been working closely with the governments of Ukraine, Namibia, Moldova, Palestine, Georgia, and Mauritius, among others.
Hannes served as Member of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) in 2007-2011, where he mainly dealt with the development of information society and issues related to regulation of intellectual property and electronic communication. Prior to that, in 1997-2005 Hannes worked for the City of Tartu as Deputy Mayor. Today Tartu is one of the world’s leading cities in e-governance, providing its citizens and businesses with a wide variety of Internet and mobile services.
In 2012-13, Hannes was Adviser to the President of Estonia on Information Society development.
He started his political career in Tartu, working for the decade for the City of Tartu as Deputy Mayor. Today Tartu is one of the world’s leading cities in e-governance, providing for citizens and businesses wide variety of Internet and mobile phone based services.
Hannes holds a journalism and public relations degree from Tartu University.
Hannes speaks Estonian, English, Russian and Finnish.
Prior to joining the academy, Arvo served as the Head of Department of State Information Systems (head of the e-government office) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for more than 12 years. He was responsible for the Estonian information society and e-government strategy planning and implementation.
For the last several years Arvo has taken part in many international projects and programmes on e-governance – information society policy and e-participation advice, e-government interoperability aspects, and more.
Arvo has been awarded the Estonian Order of Merit of the White Star IV Class (2014).
Arvo speaks Estonian, English, Finnish, and Russian.
When traversing the European tech scene of the last 20 years, you’ll likely run into Linnar. He’s a former executive at Skype and Fortumo, advisor at the Nordic Investment Bank, and Board Member of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology. Linnar lectures innovation management in Estonian IT College and Tartu University and has been advising Estonian and many other governments on ICT and innovation policy. Linnar is co-founder and member of the board of Pocopay – all European everyday banking app and Mobi Solutions – active investment and holding partnership in European startup scenery. Not surprisingly at all – Linnar is one of the founders and early phase leaders of Estonian e-Governance Academy as well.
Merle Maigre works as the Senior Cyber Security Expert at e-Governance Academy. Previously, she worked at CybExer Technologies, an Estonian enterprise providing cyber training.
In 2017 to 2018, Merle served as the Director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, which is a multinational hub of cyber defense expertise for NATO.
Between 2012 and 2017, Merle Maigre worked as the Security Policy Adviser to Estonian Presidents Kersti Kaljulaid and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, being the President’s chief advisor on domestic and international security issues, including cyber defence.
From 2010-2012 Merle Maigre was at NATO HQ in the Policy Planning Unit of the Private Office of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Merle has also worked as a researcher at the International Centre for Defense and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn (2007-2010). She has also served as the Deputy Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Kyiv (2005-2007) and at the NATO Department in Estonia’s Ministry of Defense, in support of the country’s NATO accession (2000-2005).
Merle received an MA degree in war studies from King’s College London, a BA in international relations from Middlebury College (US) and a BA in history from Tartu University. She has also studied at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center and at Sciences-Po Paris.
Merle has been decorated with the Estonian Defence Forces distinguished service medal (2018) and the Order of Merit of the Estonian Ministry of Defence (2018), the Dutch Commander of the Order of Oragne-Nassau (2018), the Order of Merit of Poland (2014), and the Commander of the Order of Lion of Finland (2014).
Merle speaks Estonian, English, Russian, French, some Italian and some Ukrainian.
Kristina Reinsalu is the Programme Director of e-Democracy at the e-Governance Academy. She has been involved in several local, national and international research and implementation projects related to open governance and the use of ICT in implementing its principles, particularly focusing on e-participation and its implementation at local level. She was also a researcher and lecturer on social communication at the Institute of Media and Communication at the University of Tartu.
Kristina’s latest projects include promoting open governance and e-tools for democracy in EaP countries such as Georgia, Moldova, etc; consulting municipalities in Estonia, Latvia and elsewhere on open governance and Participatory Budgeting. She is an internationally acknowledged public speaker on e-democracy and has been involved as an expert in various EU Interreg, H2020, Urbact etc projects.
In addition, she has contributed to several publications, e.g. the “Situation Review on e-Democracy and Cyber Security in Eastern Partnership Countries”.
Kristina holds an MA in Public Relations and a PhD in Media and Communications. Her articles have been published in various international scientific journals and newspapers.
Kristina speaks Estonian, English, Spanish, German and Russian.