ECC "Digitalization – Secure & Sovereign"

Barbara Novak

Since June 2025, Barbara Novak has served as Vienna's City Councillor for Finance, Economic Affairs, Labor, International Relations, and Digitalization. Prior to this, she led the Vienna SPÖ (Social Democratic Party) for seven years as its State Secretary, successfully guiding the party through the 2020 and 2025 state and municipal elections. She was politically active in the trade union movement during her school years, and in 2001 she was first elected to the Vienna State Parliament and City Council. As a City Councillor, this digitalization expert aims to strengthen trust in the city and its finances, continue targeted investments, expand Vienna's economic strength, and ensure long-term social stability.

Predrag Puharić

Predrag Puharić has been Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo since July 2025. He is an expert in cybersecurity and digital transformation with over twenty years of experience in research, education, and the implementation of modern security solutions. He graduated from the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology, and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo and pursued further education at Cranfield University (UK) and Purdue University (USA). He currently heads the Center for Excellence in Cyber Security (CSEC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Eva Czernohorszky

Eva Czernohorszky is a political scientist who has worked in research and innovation policy for many years. As head of the Technology Services department at the Vienna Business Agency, she and her team support companies in Vienna in developing innovative products and business models. Their focus is on digital solutions that improve our living and working conditions, innovations for climate-neutral cities, and new approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Eva Czernohorszky is convinced that diverse teams and interdisciplinary collaboration across sectors are essential for fostering innovation, and she is therefore involved in numerous initiatives to network innovation stakeholders in Vienna.

Klaus Fischer

Klaus Fischer is the CIO of the Wien Holding Group and Managing Director of its IT subsidiary, WH Digital Services. For 17 years, he has been shaping the group-wide IT organization, building the IT Shared Service Center, and overseeing key digitalization and infrastructure projects within the group and for other companies in the City of Vienna. Modern organizations are highly dependent on stable, secure, and sovereignly operated IT systems. Information security, data protection, and technological flexibility are essential requirements for operational resilience. Fischer consistently implements this principle: he establishes IT compliance as a strategic guiding function, laying the foundation for consistent, group-wide compliance with security and data protection standards. At the core of his work is the expansion of digital sovereignty – from control over operations and data management to reducing technological dependencies. In doing so, he combines technological innovation with organizational responsibility, strengthening the sustainability of Wien Holding’s network of 75 companies.

Klemens Himpele

Klemens Himpele has been the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the City of Vienna since 2020. Before that, he headed the Department for Economic Affairs, Labour and Statistics (MA 23) for eight years. Born in Baden-Württemberg, he studied economics at the University of Cologne and initially worked as a research associate at the Institute for Educational and Socio-Economic Research in Berlin. From 2007 to 2010, Klemens Himpele was a project manager at Statistics Austria in Vienna. Most recently, he served as an advisor for higher education and research at the head office of the Education and Science Workers’ Union in Frankfurt am Main.

Stephanie Jakoubi

Stephanie Jakoubi has been working at SBA Research, a COMET research center for information security, for over 14 years. She is part of the management team and heads the Strategic Partnerships, Communication & Events team. Her tasks include supporting research projects, creating awareness for cyber security and knowledge transfer projects. She studied software engineering and is completing her Master's degree in Information Security Management. Stephanie Jakoubi is co-founder of several initiatives, such as sec4dev - a security conference for software developers, shecurity - a community and female hacker training - monthly training courses on security for women and girls, shedigital - a platform of over 70 IT women's networks and board member of the KSÖ Competence Center Secure Austria. Since October 2024, she has been Chairwoman of the CSP Cyber Security Platform, an Austrian public-private partnership based at the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Santiago Garces

Santiago "Santi" Garces, driven by early experiences in his native Bogotá, Colombia, has dedicated his career to make government work better for people through technology, process, and design. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Boston. Santi served CIO in South Bend and Pittsburgh. Santi was named a Rising Star by Route Fifty, Executive of the Year by LocalSmart, top AI 50 in Government, and a Doer, Dreamer and Driver by GovTech Magazine and has received several awards for his work. A former Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum Fellow, he is a Data-Smart Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and a Senior Fellow with the Burnes Center at Northeastern and the GovLab, working with Beth Noveck to enable AI applications for social impact. He also serves as a US representative to UN-Habitat as an expert on People-Centered Smart Cities. Santi co-founded the innovation and talent incubator nonprofit, enFocus, in South Bend. He served as a co-founding board member of the MetroLab Network.

Marcin Kotlowski

Marcin Kotlowski is Managing Director of WH Media GmbH, where his professional focus lies in the strategic direction of the Digital & Media Cluster of Wien Holding. As technology manager, he holds degrees in communications engineering (TGM) and business administration (WU) and has worked in strategic and digital communications since 1998. He completed supplementary executive education programs at Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2024) and the Tow-Knight Center of the City University of New York (2016). Marcin Kotlowski is a member of the Supervisory Board of Magenta Telekom, a board member of "Digitaloffensive Österreich" (DOÖ), the Local TV Board of the Association of Austrian Private Broadcasters, and the European Movement Austria. Since 2018, he has also served on the advisory board of the Austrian Business Forum of Executives (WdF). In 2005, he received a jury award for the Austrian State Prize for Multimedia with his company echonet communication. From 2007 to January 2011, he worked in the government offices of the Ministry of Technology and the Federal Chancellery, responsible for information technology and communication. During this time, the Austrian Competence Center for the Internet Society was established. For developing the nationwide production and broadcast of the program "ÖsterreichBlick," Kotlowski received the Romy Award in 2015.

Isabella Mader

Isabella Mader is the Director of the Research Institute Excellence Research. She has also worked as a university lecturer for IT strategy, collaboration, knowledge and information management and business psychology for 17 years. Since 2017, she has served as Executive Advisor to the Global Peter Drucker Forum, where she has also been active as a speaker and Session Chair since 2013.
In 2013, she became "Top CIO of the Year" in Austria (EY & Confare). Prior to her current position, she was a board member of a software company and worked in methodology development at the CTBTO (United Nations).

Wolfgang Müller

Wolfgang Müller, born in 1965, studied law while serving as an officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. In 1991, he joined the City of Vienna's civil service. From 1996 to 1998, he worked for the City of Vienna in Brussels, where he established and managed the Vienna House. In 1999, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Mayor. Since 2006, he has been Director of the Department of Organization and Security within the City Administration, and since 2010, Deputy Director of the City Administration. During the 2008 European Football Championship, the 2015 refugee crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as crisis manager and operations manager for the City of Vienna. He held the same position in 2022/23 during the Ukraine refugee crisis, in the area of energy security, and most recently during the 2024 floods. In his role as Director of the Department, he is also responsible for IT.

Beth Simone Noveck

Beth Simone Noveck is a professor at Northeastern University, where she directs the Burnes Center for Social Change and The Governance Lab (The GovLab). She also serves as New Jersey’s first Chief AI Strategist. A pioneer in using technology to strengthen democracy and improve governance, professor Noveck has advised President Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and 10 Downing Street on modernizing government with artificial intelligence, data, and public engagement. The author of "Solving Public Problems" and the forthcoming "Reboot: The Race to Save Democracy with AI", professor Noveck’s career bridges research, design, and practice. She created Unchat, one of the first platforms for online democratic deliberation, built the first expert system in government to connect scientists to patent offices, and has designed digital tools to simplify regulations in Texas and crowdsource ideas in Mexico. Through her research, writing, and service, she explores how we can forge a stronger democracy in the age of artificial intelligence. She runs InnovateUS, which trains public professionals in new ways of working and founded "AI for Impact", where students work with government partners to build democratic AI.

Joe Pichlmayr

As Managing Director and co-owner of Ikarus Security Software GmbH, an Austrian antivirus vendor founded in 1986, Joe Pichlmayr fights malware and attacks since 1992 with his Team. He possesses an in-depth knowledge of the malware and malware developer scene and maintains continuous contact with the Virus Labs and CERTS of most of the AV/security software vendors. He also lectures in the field of anti-virus and computer security in corporate networks and protection of critical infrastructures as well as threat intelligence systems.

Markus Schmid

Markus J. Schmid is a lieutenant colonel in the General Staff Service of the Austrian Armed Forces. In Directorate 6, he is responsible for ICT program management of defense-related digital projects. He studied computer science at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt and military leadership at the National Defence Academy in Vienna. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Vienna in the "Interdisciplinary Legal Studies" program. His research focuses on strategic and legal theories of order in the digital sphere, particularly at the intersection of technology, military power, and practical philosophy.

Benedikt Schraik

Benedikt Schraik is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the City of Vienna. He brings over ten years of experience across industry and consulting, combining strategic insight with technological expertise. In his role, he is responsible for IT technology, architecture, data, and governance, driving the modernization of Vienna’s major systems and digital platforms. Through his initiatives, he embeds modern technology approaches and establishes data-driven foundations that enable innovative, citizen-centered services for the people of Vienna.

Andrzej Sidor

Andrzej Sidor is the Head of the Cybersecurity Department at the City of Kraków Municipal Office. He coordinates and supervises the proper functioning of the city's IT systems. He is responsible for monitoring and cyber protection of the city's critical infrastructure. Andrzej Sidor is a graduate of WAT (Military University of Technology), ATR (University of Technology and Agriculture), and AGH (AGH University of Science and Technology). He is a cybersecurity expert who gained professional experience by participating in the development of ICT systems for NATO. He is also an author of articles on cybersecurity in the journal "Pismo Samorządu Terytorialnego Wspólnota". Andrzej Sidor is an expert and consultant with 15 years of experience in information security, specializing in the implementation of legal requirements (National Cybersecurity System Act, GDPR) and standards (ISO 27001, ISO 22301) in public sector entities. He is also an experienced trainer who conducts training for managerial staff and employees of Local Government Units (LGUs), focusing on the practical aspects of implementing the National Cybersecurity System.

Roland Supper

Roland Supper is Head of Group Security at Erste Group Bank AG, a leading European financial institution, where he is responsible for Cyber Security, Data Protection, Physical Security and Business Continuity/Crisis Management. With over 20 years of experience in IT and security, Roland Supper leads a team of 150 experts and drives innovation at the intersection of security, regulation, and emerging technologies. He is currently spearheading initiatives that explore the strategic integration of AI, automation, and next-generation security architectures to future-proof critical infrastructures. Given the disruptive potential of quantum computing, Roland Supper actively engages with quantum security developments and their implications for the financial sector’s cryptographic resilience. Roland Supper is also a passionate advocate for continuous learning and cross-disciplinary collaboration, hosting internal knowledge formats and workshops to translate emerging technologies into actionable business value. His perspective bridges deep technical understanding with strategic foresight – an essential combination in navigating the quantum-secure future.

Bartłomiej Węglarz

As Manager of Smart City and Data Analytics at Kraków City Hall, Bartłomiej Węglarz leads initiatives that leverage data and technology to support evidence-based decision-making and urban innovation. He coordinates the work of the City’s Data Analysts Team, manages data analytics and Smart City projects, and supports departments with reports, dashboards, and custom analyses. His role includes shaping data governance strategy, data standards and BI practices, optimizing data flow processes, and planning the development of city’s information systems. Bartłomiej Węglarz collaborates with municipal units, external partners, and technology providers, ensuring all Smart City initiatives align with strategic goals. He also oversees the Smart City Project Portfolio and reports on the implementation of the city’s Smart City Strategy. He is also responsible for overseeing implementations of smart city initiatives as well as representing the city in international projects and conferences.