Isabelle Servoz-Gallucci, Head of the Data Protection Unit of the Council of Europe and Secretary of Convention 108 Committee, was among the speakers opening the 2023 Spring Conference, in Budapest (10-12 May 2023), together with Attila Péterfalvi, President of the Hungarian Data Protection Authority, Zdravko Vukić, Director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, Tamás Sulyok, President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, Andrea Jelinek, Chair of the European Data Protection Board and Wojciech Wiewiórowski, European Data Protection Supervisor. She stressed the unique and remarkable place of Convention 108, which guides towards a new paradigm to safeguard individuals in the digital age while enabling a more intensive exchange of data including in a cross-border context. She also advocated for independent and effective review and supervision institutions in the field of protection of personal data.

The 31st European Conference of Data Protection Authorities, known as ‘Spring Conference’, took place this year in the Hungarian House of Music in Budapest. This year, the topics of the Conference panels addressed new technologies – assessment of the social impacts of the use of new technologies in different domains, on competition law, but also the most recent court decisions on data protection matters, as well as best practices and case studies in enforcement cooperation between EEA and non-EEA countries. Lastly, Data Protection Authorities shared know-how and best practices and explore the importance of well-developed DPO networks for keeping information, knowledge, know-how and best practices up to date.