Algorithmic Age:
Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law

 

Thematic Conference on the occasion of the Inaugural Meeting of

the Steering Committee for New and Emerging Digital Technologies (CDNET)

 15 April 2026   9:30 AM – 6:30 PM Strasbourg, Palais de l’Europe, Room 1

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 Programme

08:30 – 09:30 Welcoming coffee
09:30 – 10:00 Opening Session

Host: Mr Mario HERNANDEZ RAMOS, Former Chair of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI)

  • Ms Michelle ILIEV, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation, Republic of Moldova
  • Ms Hanne JUNCHER, Director, Security, Integrity and Rule of Law, Council of Europe
  • Mr Gabriel REVEL, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Monaco to the Council of Europe, forthcoming Presidency
10:00 – 12:00 Panel I – Human Dignity and Individual Autonomy in the Age of Advanced Sensing

New sensing technologies increasingly allow continuous inference about individuals’ identity, behaviour and physical or emotional states. Bringing together technical experts, policy practitioners and human rights specialists, this panel will examine both the capabilities and the limits of these technologies and their implications for dignity, autonomy and privacy. Particular attention will be given to real-world deployment contexts and the safeguards needed to protect individuals, especially children and other vulnerable persons.

Moderator: Mr Mario HERNANDEZ RAMOS, Former Chair of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI)

  • Ms Murielle POPA FABRE (online), NLP/ML Expert for AI Policies, Responsible AI Policies and Governance | Computational Neuroscientist | x INRIA & Cornell Researcher
  • Ms Pam DIXON, Fondatrice et directeur exécutif, World Privacy Forum
  • Ms Victoria GRECH, Founder and CEO TRUZENTIA.IO, Advisor to the Scottish Government on AI, United Kingdom
  • Ms Siobhán O’SULLIVAN, Executive Director, Royal Irish Academy, Member of CDBIO
  • Ms Victoria BAINES (online), Professor, Gresham College, author of the Background paper for the Lanzarote Committee on Emerging technologies: threats and opportunities for the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
  • Mr Yoichi IIDA (online), Special Policy Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Japan
12:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 16:00 Panel II – The Rule of Law in the Algorithmic State

Digital technologies are reshaping the information environment in which democratic debate and political participation take place. Bringing together experts from academia, policy, technology and international governance, this panel will explore the real-world dynamics of generative content, algorithmic amplification and synthetic actors in the public sphere. The discussion will focus on how democratic resilience can be strengthened while safeguarding freedom of expression and pluralism.

Moderator: Ms Hanne JUNCHER, Director, Security, Integrity and Rule of Law, Council of Europe

  • Ms Virginia DIGNUM, Professor of Responsible AI at Umeå University, co-chair of the ACM Tech Policy Council, member of UNESCO’s High-Level Expert Group on the implementation of the UNESCO AI Ethics Recommendation, and member of the OECD Expert Group on AI Futures
  • Mr Paul DALY (online), Professor, University of Ottawa, The University Research Chair in Administrative Law & Governance at the University of Ottawa
  • Mr Jean-Luc SAURON, Councillor of State, France and associate professor at Université Paris Dauphine
  • Mr Alejandro FERNANDEZ MUÑOZ, Head of the Office to the Director General of International Legal Cooperation Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with Parliament of Spain, Member of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ)
  • Mr Marcos SALT, Director of the postgraduate Specialization on Cybercrime and Digital Evidence, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires, Former Member of the Bureau of the TC-Y of the Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee Break
16:30 – 18:30 Panel III – Algorithmic Democracy: Opportunities and Risks

Digital technologies are transforming how information circulates, public debate unfolds and democratic participation takes place. From generative content systems to algorithmic amplification and synthetic actors, these developments create new opportunities but also risks for democratic processes. This panel will examine how societies can strengthen democratic resilience while safeguarding freedom of expression, pluralism and open public debate.

Moderator: Ms Tatiana MONNEY, Policy Adviser for the New Democratic Pact, Council of Europe

 

  • Mr Thomas SCHNEIDER, Ambassador, Vice-Director and Co-Director at OFCOM, Switzerland, former Chair and Vice-Chair of the CAI
  • Mr Oreste POLLICINO, Full Professor of Constitutional Law and AI Law at Bocconi University, Italy; President of the Centre for Digital Constitutionalism and Policy (DICOPO)
  • Ms Brittan HELLER (online), Professor, Stanford University, USA, Council of Europe expert for "Freedom of Expression in Immersive Realities: A Feasibility Study"
  • Mr Lucas COSTA DOS ANJOS, General Coordinator for Research and Technology at the National Data Protection Agency (Brazil)
  • Mr David REICHEL, Head of Data and Digital Sector, Justice, Digital and Migration Unit, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
18:30 Closing Session

Host: Mr Mario HERNANDEZ RAMOS, Former Chair of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI)

Ms Mihaela Martinov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the Council of Europe

Mr Matthias KLOTH, Head of the Digital Governance and Sport Department, Council of Europe

 

19:00 – 21:00 Reception hosted by the Organisers

Palais, Restaurant Bleu 

 Speakers

Back Ms Victoria BAINES

Ms Victoria BAINES

Professor Victoria BAINES is Professor Emerita of Information Technology at Gresham College, London’s oldest higher education institution. Her series of public lectures has put citizens back at the heart of decision-making on the future direction of IT, tackling questions such as how the Internet should be governed, what life in the Metaverse might be like, whether we can expect our private communications to stay private, and why making IT more inclusive will make all of us safer.

Victoria has published on cyberspace governance, online surveillance, the future of cybercrime, and the politics of security. Since 2019 she has served as an international expert to the Council of Europe, conducting national and international assessments of online safety, building capacity in states and third countries, and advising on legislative reform.

For several years Victoria was Facebook’s Trust & Safety Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Her work focused on operational support to law enforcement and strategic engagement with policy makers on criminal activity online. Before joining Facebook, Victoria led the Strategy team at Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), where she was responsible for the EU’s cyber threat analysis. She designed and developed the Europe’s flagship threat assessment on cybercrime and scenarios for the future of cybersecurity. Prior to this, Victoria was Principal Analyst at the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). She began her career in law enforcement in 2005 as a Higher Intelligence Analyst for Surrey Police. In 2008, the International Association for Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts recognised Victoria’s work with a global award for outstanding achievement.

Victoria is a Liveryman of the City of London and Court Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. She is a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford and holds a doctorate from the University of Nottingham, UK. She is a Research Fellow at London’s School of Advanced Studies, a former Visiting Research Fellow at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and was a visiting lecturer at Stanford University in 2019 and 2020, where she co-developed the world’s first accredited course in Trust & Safety Engineering.

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 Practical details

Languages and Interpretation: English and French.

Visa Requirements: Travellers are responsible for arranging any necessary visas.

Conference Format: The event will be held in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance by invitation only. It will also be livestreamed on this webpage to allow wider access. Remote participants can view the sessions but will not be able to take the floor or interact with the speakers.

Venue: Palais de l’Europe, Room 1, Strasbourg.

Getting Around: Local transport & useful contacts

Building Access and Registration: Participants can collect their conference badges at the entrance on the first day by presenting a valid ID or passport.

Catering: Welcoming coffee and a coffee break will be served during the conference. Participants are responsible for their own lunch; an on-site cafeteria will be available.