- 15 JUNE
- 16 JUNE
- 17 JUNE
- Online


This Special Session will engage oustanding policy-makers and key representatives from academia and business in a compelling discussion on the challenges that lie ahead. How can the world recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic? Keynote speakers will offer their forward-looking insights into what the Post-COVID Era will look like.


This session will address the Post-COVID Era from a policy-making standpoint. How can we tackle the Post-COVID Era with adequate and effective policies?
The session is composed of three conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Supporting society and business transforming needs
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Speakers will discuss the much-needed support policy-makers will have to mobilise in order to meet society and business transforming needs.
Speakers:
Audrey Choi, Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, Morgan Stanley
Blair Sheppard, Global Leader, Strategy and Leadership, PwC Network
Noa Gafni, Executive Director, Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation
Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director, European Council on Foreign Relations
Robert Madelin, Chairman, FIPRA International Ltd
CONVERSATION 2 | Post-pandemic border control and foreign policy
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Border control and foreign policy will be tackled, as participants will debate the turn that interdependencies will take in the post-pandemic world.
Speakers:
Bruno Tertrais, Deputy Director, Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique
David McAllister, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament
Jakkie Cilliers, Chairperson of the Board, Institute for Security Studies
Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Lukas Mandl, Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, European Parliament
Marta Lagos, Founder and Director, Corporatión Latinobarómetro
Robin Niblett, Director and Chief Executive, Chatham House
Yanzhong Huang, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations
CONVERSATION 3 | Climate governance and green deals
13:30 – 15:30 CET
As climate change is calling for an urgent and multilateral approach, this conversation’s speakers will discuss climate governance and Green Deals in the Post-COVID Era.
Speakers:
Bjarne Steffen, Senior Research Associate and Lecturer, ETH Zurich
Juliano J. Assunção, Executive Director, Climate Policy Initiative Brasil
Karin Kemper, Global Director of the Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, Global Practice, World Bank
Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation
Renzo Guinto, Chief Planetary Doctor, PH Lab, Philippines
W. John Kress, Distinguished Scientist and Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History


This session will assess how healthcare and frontline medicine will emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Being one of the sectors that was most affected by the crisis, healthcare will be tackled from different points of view.
The session is composed of three conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Post-pandemic changes to healthcare and social welfare systems
16:00 – 18:00 CET
Speakers will discuss how social welfare and healthcare systems will be altered in the Post-COVID Era, as both a consequence and a response to the pandemic.
Speakers:
Agnès Soucat, Director for Health Systems Governance and Financing, World Health Organization
Beatrice Nere, Head of Southern Europe, G7 & G20, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Leslie Curry, Professor of Public Health and Professor of Management, Yale School of Public Health
Penny Dash, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Vikram Patel, Pershing Square Professor of Global Health and Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School
CONVERSATION 2 | Risk assessment and prevention
16:00 – 18:00 CET
Medical risk assessment will be examined, particularly with a focus on how the spread of infectious diseases can be predicted and halted. Can we conceive and design a physical environment that is better suited to disease prevention?
Speakers:
Andrew J. Tatem, Director of WorldPop, University of Southampton
Christopher Dye, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Oxford
James E. Clyburn, Majority Whip, United States House of Representatives
Jeffrey Shaman, Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
John P.A. Ioannidis, C.F. Rehnborg Chair in Disease Prevention, Stanford University
Robert C. Gallo, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Co-Founder & Director, Institute of Human Virology
Tolullah Oni, Clinical Senior Research Associate, MRC Epidemiology Unit; Honorary Associate Professor, University of Cambridge
Wolfgang Philipp, Head of Unit, Public Health, Country Knowledge, Crisis Management Directorate of the European Commission
CONVERSATION 3 | Technological breakthroughs driving medical advances
16:00 – 18:00 CET
This conversation will navigate the technological breakthroughs that are driving medical advances, with participants discussing their vision for the future of healthcare and medicine.
Speakers:
Edward Abrahams, President, Personalized Medicine Coalition
Jennifer Miller, Founder, Bioethics International
Kenji Shibuya, Professor and Director of the Institute of Population Health, King’s College London
Laurie H. Glimcher, President and CEO, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Luciana Borio, Vice President, In-Q-Tel
Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association
Othman Laraki, Co-founder and CEO, Color
Peer M. Schatz, Managing Director, PS-Capital Management GmbH
Yann Le Cam, CEO, EURORDIS – Rare Diseased Europe
Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO and President, CYBERDYNE Inc.
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- Online


This session’s debate will first focus on the impact of the pandemic on the specific market of venture capital. How is it possible to promote innovation and long-term investment through start-ups? Speakers will also discuss how national economies, local businesses, vulnerable workers and households can be supported in the Post-COVID Era. On the global level, speakers will furthermore contribute to the conversation by providing their insights into how trade, commerce and finance will change in the post-pandemic age.
This session is composed of three conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Unlocking society’s benefits through Venture Capital and Start-ups in the Post-COVID Era
13:30 – 15:30 CET
This conversation will focus on the impact of the pandemic on venture capital, proposing different ways venture capital can unlock potential benefits for the global economy.
Speakers:
Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, Harvard Business School
Luisa Alemany, Associate Professor, London Business School
Martin A. Sinozich, Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit, Harvard Business School
Nina Rawal, Founder, Emerging Health Ventures
Paul Murphy, General Partner, Northzone
Ramana Nanda, Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, Imperial College London
Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO, Circulate Capital
Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Saïd School of Business, University of Oxford
Xabier Goenaga, Head of the Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growth Unit, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
CONVERSATION 2 | Supporting national economies, local businesses, and vulnerable workers
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Speakers will discuss how national economies, local businesses, vulnerable workers and households can be supported in the Post-COVID Era. They will also tackle how countries will need to find a balance between funding injections into their economies and avoiding foreign retaliation against such measures.
Speakers:
Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Catherine L. Mann, Managing Director and Global Chief Economist, Citibank
Eric Parrado, Chief Economist and General Manager of the Research Department, Inter- American Development Bank
Gilles Moëc, Chief Economist, AXA Group; Head of Research, AXA Investment Managers
Janet Henry, Global Chief Economist, HSBC
Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Managing Director, Group Chief Economist, Swiss Re
Paul Donovan, Chief Economist, UBS Global Wealth Management
CONVERSATION 3 | Reshaping international economic and financial interdependencies in the Post-COVID Era
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Speakers will contribute to the conversation by providing their insights into how trade, commerce and finance will change in the post-pandemic age. They will provide their informed understanding on this crucial topic by envisioning the future of global markets.
Speakers:
Adam S. Posen, President, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Andrea Conte, Economist, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Dalia Marin, Professor of International Economics, TUM School of Management, Technical University of Munich
Eswar Prasad, Nandlal P. Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy and Professor of Economic, Cornell University
Guntram B. Wolff, Director, Bruegel
Othmar Karas, Vice-President, European Parliament
Sandra Phlippen, Chief Economist of Group Economics, ABN AMRO
Sven Smit, Chairman and Director, McKinsey Global Institute; Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company


How can we make the most out of technological advances in the Post-COVID Era? The need for containment and monitoring measures has certainly found an ally in technology: apps, tracking devices and AI-based technologies of all sorts have served the purpose of flattening the curve.
This session is composed of three conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Evaluating the trade-off between privacy and safety
16:00 – 18:00 CET
As privacy concerns have rapidly emerged and entered the debate, speakers will thus evaluate the trade-off between privacy and safety when monitoring people and tracking the spread of diseases.
Speakers:
David Ferbrache, Global Head of Cyber Futures, KPMG
Drew Simonis, Vice President, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Ian Allen, Co-founder and CEO, Camber Systems
Neal Pollard, Managing Director and Group Chief Information Security Officer, UBS
Rob Wainwright, Senior Partner, Deloitte
Vishal Salvi, CISO and Head of Cyber Security, Infosys
CONVERSATION 2 | Welcoming new ways of working and living and bridging the digital divide
16:00 – 18:00 CET
The debate will take a look at how technology is helping societies reshape the way people work and live, without neglecting that access to remote working and distance learning is not equally available to all people. How can we bridge the digital divide, then?
Speakers:
Amrote Abdella, Regional Director, Microsoft’s 4Afrika Initiative
Antony Walker, Deputy CEO, techUK
Arun Sundararajan, Harold Price Professor of Entrepreneurship and Technology, New York University
Boutheina Guermazi, Director of Digital Development, Department of the Infrastructure Practice Group, World Bank
Klára Dobrev, Vice President, European Parliament
Michael Matlosz, President, EuroScience
Titi Akinsanmi, Policy and Government Relations Lead for West and Francophone Africa, Google
CONVERSATION 3 | Leveraging AI and Big Data to empower people and businesses
16:00 – 18:00 CET
The debate will turn to how people and businesses can be empowered by leveraging AI and Big Data in the Post-COVID Era.
Speakers:
Anand S. Rao, Partner, Global AI Lead, PwC
Edward Hsu, Senior Disruptive Technologies Adviser, World Bank’s Infrastructure Vice Presidency
Mark Purdy, Independent Economics and Technology Advisor
Nicolaus Henke, Chairman, QuantumBlack
Sinan Kayhan Aral, David Austin Professor of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science, Director of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, University of California, Berkeley
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- Online


In what ways will societies differ in the Post-COVID Era? This session will focus on the transformations that societies will experience in the post-pandemic world. The spread of COVID-19 has certainly had an impact on the way people work and live. An increasing amount of social scientific research has looked at the implications of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine measures that have been implemented.
This session will be composed of two conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Factoring in the psychological and sociological implications of COVID-19
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Speakers will assess the psychological and sociological effects on populations, notably on vulnerable people.
Speakers:
Antonis Kousoulis, Director for England and Wales, Mental Health Foundation
Elke Van Hoof, Expert in the Superior Health Council of Belgium, European Parliament
Emma Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Critical Social Psychology, University of Brighton
Frances MK Williams, Professor of Genomic Epidemiology and Hon Consultant Rheumatologist, King’s College London
Joseph Hayes, Wellcome Principal Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry, UCL
Juan C. Palomino, Post-Doctoral Research Officer, Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) and Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI), University of Oxford
Magda Osman, Lecturer in Experimental Cognitive Psychology, Queen Mary University of London
Sabine Verheyen, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament
Sandra L. Shullman, President, American Psychological Association; Managing Partner, Columbus Office
CONVERSATION 2 | Historical and philosophical lessons from post-pandemic societies
13:30 – 15:30 CET
Which historical and philosophical lessons can we draw from post-pandemic societies? Participants will address the Post-COVID Era from a historical and philosophical standpoint, in an attempt to better prepare for the future by learning from the past.
Speakers:
Alexander Bird, Bertrand Russell Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge
David S. Jones, A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine, Department of History of Science, Harvard University
Frank Snowden, Andrew Downey Orrick Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University
James Wilson, Professor of Philosophy, University College London
Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University


This session will explore business concerns in the Post-COVID Era. Speakers will thus discuss best practices and innovation strategies that businesses across sectors should implement to tackle the impact of the pandemic.
This session will be composed of three conversations:
CONVERSATION 1 | Fostering innovation through public-private partnership and data collaboration
16:00 – 18:00 CET
Innovation will be discussed through the lens of public-private partnerships and data collaboration in the Post-COVID Era.
Speakers:
Carl Manlan, COO, Ecobank Foundation
Erik Wetter, Assistant Professor, Stockholm School of Economics; Chairman, Flowminder
Jessica Espey, Senior Advisor, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Matthew Harrington, Global President and Chief Operating Officer, Edelman
Samuel Scarpino, Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
Scott David, Executive Director of the Information Risk Research Initiative (IRRI), University of Washington (Seattle) – Applied Physics Laboratory
Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief of Research and Development, Governance Laboratory, New York University
CONVERSATION 2 | The innovation potential of the Energy sector
16:00 – 18:00 CET
In this conversation close attention will be devoted to the Energy sector and its potential for innovation.
Speakers:
Afnan Hannan, Co-Founder and CEO, Okra Solar
Anes Jusic, Senior Banker, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development
Douglas J. Arent, Deputy Associate Lab Director, Scientific Computing and Energy Analysis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Elvira López Prados, Head of CEO Office – Energy, ACCIONA
Robert R. Denda, Head of Network Technology and Innovation, Enel
William Brent, Chief Campaign Officer, Power for All
Xiangkun Elvis Cao, PhD Candidate, Cornell University
CONVERSATION 3 | Adapting to post-pandemic consumption patterns
16:00 – 18:00 CET
This conversation will focus on how businesses can best adapt to the shifting needs and behaviours that characterise post-pandemic consumption patterns.
Speakers:
Jamie Murray Wells, Industry Head, Retail, Google UK
Leon Pieters, Global Consumer Industry Leader, Deloitte
Maria Ferreira Sequeda, Senior Economist,I NG
Michaela Pagel, Roderick H. Cushman Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
Philippe Gillet, Chief Scientific Officer, SICPA
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