Welcome & Opening Remarks

José Luis De Vicente is a curator, cultural researcher, and artistic director based in Barcelona and working internationally. His work explores the space between social innovation, new ecological practices, and the aesthetics and politics of computation. He is the cofounder of FAST, a brand new transdisciplinary creative unit addressing current and future challenges through the convergence of culture, technology, architecture, and design.

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Francesca Bria is an innovation economist working at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and society. She is Honorary Professor at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, advisor to the European Commission and the Spanish Government, and a Senior Fellow at Stiftung Mercator in Berlin, where she leads the EuroStack Initiative on Europe’s digital sovereignty (euro-stack.info). 

Gerfried Stocker is a media artist and engineer for communication technology, and has been Artistic Director and co-CEO of Ars Electronica since 1995. In 1995/96, he developed the exhibition strategies for the Ars Electronica Center with a small team of artists and technicians and was responsible for establishing Ars Electronica’s own artistic R&D laboratory and atelier, the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Since 2004, he has overseen the development of programs for international Ars Electronica exhibitions, and from 2005, he has led the planning and revamping of the Ars Electronica Center’s content, with the Center expanded in 2009. He guided the expansion of the Ars Electronica Festival from 2015 onwards, and in 2019, directed a comprehensive overhaul of the Center’s content and interior design. Stocker also serves as a consultant to numerous companies and institutions in creativity and innovation management, and is active as a guest lecturer at international conferences and universities. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Aalto University, Finland.