FIONA HILL

Senior Fellow (Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe), Chancellor, Presidential Advisor, Author​

Opening Plenary Speaker

Dr. Fiona Hill CMG is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and Chancellor of Durham University. Hill served as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council from 2017 to 2019, as well as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council from 2006 to 2009. 

​Hill has researched and published extensively on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, regional conflicts, and strategic issues, as well as the link between deindustrialization and political populism. She is the author of the bestselling memoir "There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century" and co-author of "Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin." In December 2023, Hill was recognized by the United Kingdom as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to international relations and in July 2024, Hill was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be an external reviewer for a Strategic Defense Review for the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom. 

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RAMESH SRINIVASAN

Professor, Thought Leader, Author, Adviser

Plenary Speaker

​Ramesh Srinivasan speaks about the intersection of technology, innovation, politics, business, and society. He is a leading voice pointing the way toward a digital world that supports democracy, economic security and business interests. He blends his skills as a leading academic, author, engineer, social scientist, storyteller, policy adviser, and thought leader to shine a light on how technology and innovation, from all quarters and countries, will make a balanced world possible, for all.   His mission is to help repair the disconnect between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us: toward a more democratic internet.
 
He has been a faculty member at UCLA since 2005 in the Information Studies and Design|Media Arts departments. He is the founder of the UC-wide Digital Cultures Lab which offers a unique, people-focused analysis of new technologies working across every continent and dozens of countries across the world. He holds degrees from Stanford (B.Sc in Engineering), the MIT Media Laboratory (MSc), and Harvard (PhD)
 
Ramesh is the author of three books: “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Impacts Our World” (2019 – NYU Press) and “After the Internet” with Adam Fish.
 
In 2024, Ramesh launched a Podcast series called ‘Utopias’ in which he talks with well-known individuals interested in a future that is more equal and just.

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