Tech-Powered Sustainability

Maria José Sousa is a lecturer and researcher at ISCTE/University Institute of Lisbon. She was previously Pro-Rector and a member of the scientific committee of the PhD "in Law and Economics", Università degli Studi del Molise. She is an Advisory Board member of Banco Português de Fomento for Public Policies. She was also a member of the Coordinating Committee of the PhD in Management at the European University, a Senior Researcher at the GEE (Strategy and Studies Office) of the Ministry of Economy Portuguese, and Knowledge and Skills Manager at AMA, IP, Agency for Administrative Modernization (Ministry of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers) and a Project Manager at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, responsible for Innovation Projects and Qualification Assessment and Development Projects. She was President of ISO/TC 260 – Human Resources Management, representing Portugal in ISO - International Organization for Standardization.

Gabriel Osório de Barros is an economist with extensive experience in economics, public policy and digital transformation. He holds degrees in Economics, Public Sector Management and Financial Management, as well as master’s degrees in management and economics and public policies. He completed the Advanced Course in Public Management and the Diploma of Advanced Studies in Public Policy at ISCTE-IUL. He’s held key positions, including Tax Experienced Senior at Ernst & Young, Parliamentary Budget Advisor and Chief of Staff to the Minister for Social Security. He was also Deputy Director, Director of the Economic Analysis Services and Head of the Public Policy Assessment and Planning Team at the Office for Strategy and Studies (GEE) of the Portuguese Ministry of Economy. Currently, he is Deputy Director at PLANAPP – Centre for Planning and Public Policy Evaluation. He has spoken and taught on cybersecurity, public budgets, digital transition, leadership and governance in public administrations.

Stefano da Empoli is the Founder and President of I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness, a leading think tank in Italy and Europe specialized in innovation, particularly in the digital, health, and sustainability sectors. Established in 2005, I-Com has offices in Rome and Brussels and is an active member of international think tank networks GTIPA and PromethEUs. He is also an adjunct professor of Economics at Roma Tre University and Vice President of the Health City Institute, which promotes interdisciplinary collaboration to foster healthier and more sustainable cities. He serves on the scientific committees of various institutions. His more recent work focuses on artificial intelligence and its economic impact. He was a member of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development’s AI expert group between 2018 and 2020 and has authored several publications, including Artificial Intelligence: Last Call (2019) and The Economy of ChatGPT (2023).

Jorge Ferreira is Associate Professor with Aggregation at Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. He earned his PhD in Social Work in association with ISCTE/ISSSL on the theme Social Work and Child Welfare Models. He obtained a Master's Degree in Social Work on the theme Social Intervention and Judicial Intervention in the Problem of Abused Children. He completed a postgraduate course at the Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada - History of Ideas and Major Doctrines in Criminology (ISPA: 1993), attended year zero "Systemic Approach" of the Family Therapy course (Associação Portuguesa de terapia Familiar: 1997), and took the Pedagogical Aptitude and Scientific Capacity tests (ISSSL: 2000) on the subject of Mediation and Social Intervention in Justice.