Dear Colleagues, We are delighted to announce the keynote speakers for the Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference, taking place at the *University of Salerno on 26-27 May 2025*. *Frédérick Douzet*, a leading scholar on the geopolitics of cyberspace and *Paul Timmers*, renowned expert in cybersecurity and digital sovereignty, will deliver keynote addresses during the event. Detailed biographies for both speakers can be found at the end of this email. This is also a friendly reminder that the deadline to submit extended abstracts is *31 January 2025*. Submissions should be made via the conference portal: https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/. This edition's conference theme, *“The rise of digital sovereignty: ambiguities and challenges,”* invites thought-provoking discussions and research contributions. Participants are encouraged to submit abstracts of no more than 500 words, outlining their research question(s), theoretical framework, approach and methodology, and expected findings or empirical outcomes. All abstracts will be evaluated through a peer-review process. Additional information about the conference, including registration fees and logistics, is available at: https://gig-arts.eu/salerno-2025/. We warmly invite you to take part in this exciting event by submitting your research and engaging in the discussions. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Also, don’t hesitate to share this information with colleagues who may be interested in participating. *Keynote speakers biographies:* *Frédérick Douzet *is Professor of Geopolitics at the University of Paris 8, director of the French Institute of Geopolitics research team (IFG Lab) and director of the Center Geopolitics of the Datasphere (GEODE). She has been appointed senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2022 and is the Principal Investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant project DATAROUTES. Frédérick Douzet has been a Commissioner of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (2017-2020) and a member of the French Defense Ethics Committee (2020-2023). In 2017, she was part of the drafting committee for the French Strategic Review of Defense and National Security.
From 2013 to 2018, she was the director of the Castex Chair of Cyberstrategy at the Institute of Higher National Defense Studies (IHEDN). In 2021, she was a member of the Bronner Commission on Disinformation appointed by President Emmanuel Macron.
*Paul Timmers* is a research associate at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, professor at the European University Cyprus, visiting professor at KU Leuven, President of the Supervisory Board Estonian eGovernance Academy, CEO of iivii and partner at WeltWert®. He was a board member of the Digital Enlightenment Forum and visiting professor at several universities and visiting fellow and research associate at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. Paul Timmers was Director at the European Commission where he was responsible for legislation and funding programmes for cybersecurity, e-ID, digital privacy, digital health, smart cities, e-government. At the EC he was also a cabinet member of European Commissioner Liikanen. He worked as manager of a software department in a large ICT company and co-founded an ICT start-up. He holds a physics PhD from Radboud University (Nijmegen, NL), MBA from Warwick University (UK), EU fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill (US), and cybersecurity qualification from Harvard. Best wishes, The Organizing Committee Prof. Mauro Santaniello (PhD) Associate Professor in Political Science ICPC <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/> Director| GIG-ARTS <https://gig-arts.eu/> Coordinator| SWING <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/swing-2025> Scientific Coordinator UNU-CRIS <https://cris.unu.edu/people> Associate Research Fellow | PRIN on Digital Sovereignty <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/internet-and-communication-policy-center-research-areas/digital-sovereignty-in-comparative-perspective-state-authority-corporate-power-and-fundamental-rights-in-cyberspace> Principal Investigator Latest publications <https://docenti.unisa.it/023694/ricerca/pubblicazioni>