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SPEAKER

FARI Academic Director - Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Ann Nowé graduated from the University of Ghent in 1987, where she studied mathematics with optional courses in computer science. She then became research assistant at the University of Brussels where she finished her PhD in 1994 in collaboration with Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. The subject of her PhD is located in the intersection of Computer Science (A.I.), Control Theory (Fuzzy Control) and Mathematics (Numerical Analysis, Stochastic Approximation). After a period of 3 years as senior research assistant at the VUB, she became a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders (F.W.O.). Nowadays, She is a professor both in the Computer Science Department of the faculty of Sciences as in the Computer Science group of the Engineering Faculty.

SPEAKER

FARI Academic Director - Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Tom Lenaerts is full professor in the Computer Science department at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he is co-heading the Machine Learning Group, focussing on machine learning, AI, game theoretical modelling and computational biology. He holds a partial affiliation as research professor with the Artificial Intelligence Lab of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and is affiliated researcher at the Center for Human-Compatible AI of UC Berkeley. He was board member, vice-chair and finally chair of the Benelux Association for Artificial Intelligence between 2016 and 2024 and Director of the Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels between 2017 and 2021. He currently is the Academic Director of FARI, the Brussels AI for Common Good institute and national contact point for the CAIRNE hub in Brussels. He has been publishing in a variety of interdisciplinary domains on AI and machine learning, involving topics related to optimization, multi-agent systems, collective intelligence, evolutionary game theory, computational biology and bioinformatics.

SPEAKER

FARI Academic Director - Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Former representative of the National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS), Gregory Lewkowicz is a professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles, a member of the Perelman Centre, and the director of the SMART Law Hub within the Faculty of Law and Criminology. He is also the academic director at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence for the Common Good (FARI) in Brussels. He teaches the course “Smart Law: Algorithms, Metrics & Artificial Intelligence” at Sciences Po Law School in Paris. Additionally, he lectures at Paris II Panthéon-Assas University and the University of Liège. He is a Koyré Senior Research Fellow in Economic Law and Artificial Intelligence as part of the 3IA Chair at Université Côte d’Azur. He is also a recurring professor in the executive education programs on digital transformation and law at HEC-Paris.

His research pragmatically examines the interactions between law and digital technologies (SMART Law), global and transnational law, as well as the contemporary transformations of law and legal professions. He leads several research programs on algorithmic law and the application of artificial intelligence techniques to the development, analysis, implementation, and enforcement of legal or related norms. He is also involved in multiple research and development projects with public and private partners. Gregory Lewkowicz frequently advises public authorities and companies on digital strategy and regulation.

Gregory Lewkowicz oversees the “Penser le droit” collection at Bruylant Publishing. He serves on the board of directors of the European Academy of Legal Theory and the Brussels Academic Higher Education Pole. He is a member of the advisory board of AI4Belgium and the European Committee on AI (AI Board). He established the Brussels Bar Observatory and chaired the European Incubator of the Brussels Bar from 2017 to 2022.

SPEAKER

FARI Academic Director - Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Geoffrey Aerts was born and raised in Antwerp Belgium, where he also currently resides. He holds a Master’s degree in European and comparative politics from the Universiteit Antwerpen, a Master after master’s degree in Diplomacy and international relations from the Universiteit Antwerpen and a master’s in management science from the Institute for Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp, ITMMA. In 2015 Geoffrey Aerts obtained a PhD title in applied economics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, after receiving a research grant, provided to the VUB Chair in public-private partnerships sponsored by Deloitte, Grontmij and Laga. He currently runs the VUB Business development Academy. Geoffrey Aerts’ academic work has focused on knowledge management/transfer, stakeholder management and project management and has been published in major scientific publications, including Project Management Journal and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics. He furthermore won the triennial Joseph Merlot – Joseph Leclercq prize 2015 awarded by CIRIEC for his work in the field of cooperative economy.

Currently Geoffrey Aerts is working both as an academic, as well as academic director/entrepreneur. In his academic work, Geoffrey Aerts is affiliated with the Business Technology and Operations research group within the Economics and Social science and Solvay Business School department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he conducts research that studies the optimization of research valorization at the university level and the impact of innovation ecosystems within urban regions.