2. Future of Technology: Artificial Intelligence - Present & Future

To kick-off this mini-series on the Future of Technology, we will hear from Vint Cerf, Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist at GOOGLE, and widely known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet," and Gerard de Graaf, Senior EU Envoy for Digital and Head of the new EU Office in San Francisco. They will walk us through the challenges and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence presents, and what the future may hold for this technology.

Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist, GOOGLE
In this role, he is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies to support the development of advanced, Internet-based products and services from Google. He is also an active public face for Google in the Internet world.

Widely known as one of the “Fathers of the Internet,” Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet. In December 1997, President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his colleague, Robert E. Kahn, for founding and developing the Internet. Kahn and Cerf were named the recipients of the ACM Alan M. Turing award in 2004 for their work on the Internet protocols. In November 2005, President George Bush awarded Cerf and Kahn the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work. The medal is the highest civilian award given by the United States to its citizens. In April 2008, Cerf and Kahn received the prestigious Japan Prize.

Cerf is a recipient of numerous awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet.

Cerf holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Stanford University and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UCLA.

Gerard de Graaf, Senior EU Envoy for Digital and Head of the new EU Office in San Francisco
Gerard de Graaf has worked for more than 30 years in the European Commission across a wide range of policy areas. Until his recent appointment, he was director in DG CNECT, responsible for the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts (DSA/DMA), two landmark pieces of legislation which have been recently adopted in the European Union to keep the Internet safe, protect fundamental rights and enhance competition in digital markets. 

Previously, Gerard de Graaf was responsible, inter alia, for the EU’s telecommunications and audiovisual policy (including copyright), cyber security, ICT standardisation, Startup Europe, ICT and green, and  international relations. He has been co-chairing two of the Trade and Technology (TTC) Council Working Groups, on greentech, and on data governance and technology platforms. 

Before joining DG CNECT, he worked in the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, in DG Research and Innovation and in DG Internal Market. From 1997 to 2001, he was trade counsellor at the Commission’s Delegation to the United States in Washington DC. He joined the European Commission in 1991, having worked for the Benelux Economic Union and the Schengen secretariat on free movement within the EU.

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