CONVERGENCE 2025

Everything, Everywhere AI At Once
30 October 2025
Conferences

CONVERGENCE 2025 …

… a one-day event held on 30 October in conjunction with project partners, EU-CHECK and CyberSecPro, hosted with the friendly support of the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU at rue Montoyer 21 in Brussels.

…  TDL’s commitment to fostering a sense of community amongst those interested in coming together and sharing ideas about the future of technology as it impacts business and society in Europe

… focussed on the main drivers of digital transformation, from the impact of GenAI to the innovative initiatives that will determine our future.

If you are interested in learning more about Trust in Digital Life, please read our 2026 prospectus and let us know what you think.

Programme

13:00. Lunch

14:00  Welcome

  • Christian Poplutz, Head of Unit, Justice, Rule of Law, Court of Justice of the EU, Hessian Ministry of Justice and the Rule of Law
  • David Goodman, Senior Consultant, Trust in Digital Life

14:15    Skills for the Digital Economy
       Aligning academic and industrial expectations and requirements

This panel looked at the challenges and opportunities in the cybersecurity industry, particularly in relation to talent and skills. While there is a growing pool of talent, the industry’s fast pace and dynamic nature require innovative and agile responses to the workforce and skills gap. There is an important distinction to be made between the workforce and the skills gap, and the need for better mechanisms to ensure that the talent coming through the pipeline is equipped with the necessary skills and abilities.

    • Should companies be more open to hiring non-conventional talent and consider skills-based hiring.
    • Is cybersecurity certification more important than developing a person’s abilities or soft skills?

Speakers:

  • Marc Vael, Chief Digital Trust Officer Esko Trust Center  &  President SAI.BE
  • Spiros Borotis, Senior Produc Manager/Amalyst, Gruppo Maggioli
  • Vanessa Lewis,  Vice President of Recruitment, Nexova Group
  • Wissam Mallouli, Chief Technology Officer, Montimage EURL

Moderator: Christos Douligeris, Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus Research Centre

15:30   Coffee & snacks

16:00   Keynote:  Trustworthiness in AI for Defence

Speaker: Isidoros Monogioudis, Project Officer, European Defence Agency

Our keynote speaker presented the findings and recommendations of the co-authored collaborative whitepaper ‘Trustworthiness for AI in Defence‘ which reflects a ‘food for thought’ approach and reflects the combined view of AI experts and stakeholders from the defence industry, academia and ministries of defence in the context of the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Action Plan on Artificial Intelligence for Defence. It seeks to address the topics of trusted AI and verification, validation and certification requirements analysis and provide the appropriate knowledge of the current global status considering the AI regulations, standards and frameworks for AI trustworthiness. It also recommends the follow-up activities that will further assist the EU Member States and defence industry to better prepare, plan and develop the future AI systems aligned with the identified expectations. 

16:45  GenAI on GenAI: Exploring the state of the interplay between societies and generative AI by 2031

In 2031, the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework, currently being discussed in Brussels, will be at its mid-point. This interactive panel examined how generative AI (GenAI) will have become deeply intertwined with societal development by that date – reshaping creativity, communication and knowledge while also raising new challenges for trust and security. This session considered both the opportunities and risks of GenAI’s growing influence, including its potential to enrich collaboration and understanding, as well as its capacity to spread misinformation, manipulate perception and collect sensitive data. In an experimental and lively format, GenAI models took part in a panel conversation alongside human experts, offering a unique, self-reflective exploration of how these systems perceive and explain their societal role. The conversations aimed to illuminate the need of forward-looking regulatory frameworks that strengthen cognitive security and social resilience, while preserving GenAI’s capacities to serve as a creative and analytical partner that boosts societal productivity and innovation.

Moderator: Afonso Ferreira,  Research Director, CNRS – IRIT (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse)

(This session was offered through a collaboration between Afonso Ferreira (IRIT), Marcos Rodriguez Vega  (University of La Laguna), Iru Expósito (@iruexposito) and Carolina Polito (Luiss University) under the framework of the International Research Network EU-CHECK, funded by the French CNRS.)

18:00   Social hour

18.30   Arrival of guests and welcome drinks

19.00   Welcome addresses:

  • Christian Poplutz, Head of Unit, Justice, Rule of Law, Court of Justice of the EU, Hessian Ministry of Justice and the Rule of Law
  • Svetla Nikova, Chair, Trust in Digital Life; Research Manager, COSIC, KU Leuven

19:10   Panel discussion: Everything, Everywhere AI At Once

Speakers:

Moderator: David Goodman, Senior Consultant, Trust in Digital Life

The evening’s discussion took as its overall theme Everything, Everywhere, AI At Once exploring the perspectives of the expert speakers on the assumption that we are incorporating AI into everything we do – and, if we haven’t already, we will do very soon.

The speakers’ backgrounds pivoted round the emerging technologies and trends, from cybersecurity to digital identity to quantum computing, as well as innovative initiatives, such as the quest for European digital sovereignty, that already impact European businesses and citizens and are certain to do so much further in coming years.

From previous experience, the often unspoken elephant in the room, irrespective of the headline technical or policy domain, is how the use of AI will be accommodated and what its impact will be in the short and long term. Today almost wherever we look we are presented with visions of how artificial intelligence will dominate both our working and personal lives, which, depending on whose proposition it is, could be very exciting or deeply troubling.

It was anticipated that the discussions and the social networking to follow would generate different and enlightening insights and recommendations from the perspectives of technology and policy to that of the individual consumer – and it did not disappoint!

20:30  More socialising!

With the kind support of the Representation of the State of Hessen to the European Union