Conference speakers

Aaron Wright

Aaron Wright is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School and is the Director of Cardozo’s Blockchain Project. Professor Wright’s research focuses on blockchain technology, and in particular smart contracts, decentralized organizations, and the regulation of autonomous code-based systems. He is co-author of the book Blockchain & the Law: The Rule of Code (Harvard University Press). Professor Wright has assisted a number of blockchain-related projects including the Ethereum Foundation, ConsenSys, Filament, and BlockApps and is the co-founder of the smart contracts-based project OpenLaw. He is the chair of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Legal Industry Working Group, serves an academic fellow at Coincenter, and is an editor of Ledger.

Primavera De Filippi

Primavera De Filippi is a Researcher at the National Center of Scientific Research in Paris, and Faculty Associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard. She is member of the Global Future Council on Blockchain Technologies at the World Economic Forum, and founder of the Internet Governance Forum’s dynamic coalitions on Blockchain Technology (COALA). Her book, “Blockchain and the Law” was published in 2018 by Harvard University Press (co-authored with Aaron Wright).

Liav Orgad

Liav Orgad is the Director of the "Global Citizenship" Research Group at the European University Institute, Head of the "International Citizenship Law" Project at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Professor at the Lauder School of Government at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, and a Member of the Global Young Academy, where he heads the Working Group “Global Migration and Human Rights,” and the Young Academy of Europe. His research interests include constitutional identity, citizenship theory, global immigration, and law and technology. In recent years, Orgad was a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Ethics at Harvard University, a Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School, and a Fulbright Scholar at NYU Law School. He is the author of “The Cultural Defense of Nations: A Liberal Theory of Majority Rights” (Oxford University Press, 2016) and the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant.

Marcella Atzori

Marcella Atzori is an academic researcher specialized in technopolitics and global affairs. She is affiliated to the University College of London and she is among the international top experts in blockchain governance and GovTech applications. Marcella is a blockchain Advisor for various international organizations, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the British Blockchain Association. She is also the International Coordinator of TrustedChain, the first permissioned blockchain of the European Trust Service Providers, designed for highly sensitive services (PA and e-government, banking, e-health and industry). In 2018, she joined the roundtable on blockchain and global governance at the World Economic Forum.

Balázs Bodó

Balázs Bodó is the initiator of the project Blockchain & Society Policy Research Group. He is a research scientist at the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam. In the past, he was a Fulbright Scholar on two occasions (2006-7, Stanford University; 2012 Harvard University), and a former Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow (2013-15). Balázs has a strong interdisciplinary background, having a degree in Economics (MSc, Corvinus University, 1999), and a PhD in Media Studies (ELTE, 2011).

Sandra van Heukelom-Verhage

Sandra is a prominent lawyer and partner at Pels Rijcken, one of the most distinguished law firms in the Netherlands. Sandra heads the Digital Transformation team and she is driven by the ambition to improve the Dutch innovation climate. She is a frequent speaker at both national and international events on the blockchain and she was awarded the Computable Award for a previous blockchain project. She is currently advising APG and PGGM with their blockchain project.

Jeroen Naves

Jeroen is an experienced and prominent IT and innovation lawyer at Pels Rijcken. He advises clients about various legal aspects of blockchain.

Michele Finck

Michèle is a Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition and a Lecturer in EU Law at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the intersection of regulation, technology and innovation. Michèle is involved in numerous blockchain research projects and is the author of 'Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe' (Cambridge University Press 2018).