Francesca Bria

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 and a Senior Fellow at Stiftung Mercator in Berlin, where she leads the EuroStack Initiative on Europe’s digital sovereignty.

She advises the European Commission and chairs the New European Bauhaus Expert Group to help advance Europe’s Green Deal. She is also a member of Spain’s International Council on Artificial Intelligence. Previously, she served as President of Italy’s National Innovation Fund (CDP Venture Capital), was a board member of RAI, and held the role of Chief Digital Technology and Innovation Officer for the City of Barcelona (2015–2019), where she led the city’s digital transformation and participatory democracy initiatives.

Francesca founded the EU’s flagship DECODE project on data sovereignty and co-founded the United Nations Cities Coalition for Digital Rights. She has advised governments, the UN, and international organizations on innovation policy and its socio-economic and environmental impacts.

She was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and has been recognized by Forbes, F.A.Z., and Politico as one of the most influential figures in tech and digital government in Europe.