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Nataša Prah Head of Unit Head of Unit , Ministry of Finance, Slovenia

Nataša Prah was 11 years a Director of the Budget Supervision Office of the Republic of Slovenia, which is responsible for auditing all EU funds, public internal financial control and budgetary inspection. Now she is working as a Head of Unit, responsible for auditing European Funds. Working for eight years in accountancy and statutory auditing and fifteen further years in public sector auditing, she has accumulated an impressive experience in auditing. She has been awarded the title Verified Statutory Auditor (chartered accountant) by the Slovenian Institute of Auditors as well as a Verified State Internal Auditor (issued by CIPFA) and a Verified State Auditor (issued by the Slovenian Supreme Audit Institution). As a lecturer in the process of acquiring the qualification of Certified Public Accountant and Verified State Internal Auditor, which is performed under the supervision of CIPFA, she is responsible for two modules: Cost Accounting and Auditing Management Performance.

Despina Pachnou Competition expert Competition expert , OECD

Despina Pachnou is a competition expert at the OECD, where she manages the work of the OECD Competition Committee Working Party on International Co-operation and Enforcement. Despina conducts reviews and capacity building in competition and procurement. The reviews cover legal, institutional and operational procurement reforms and mechanisms for the professionalization of procurement and competition authorities’ workforce. Before joining the OECD, she worked as a lawyer in public procurement and corporate transactions, advising companies and public sector bodies in structuring and implementing large scale projects in Greece. Despina has advised the Greek Chapter of Transparency International on transparency and compliance in public contracts.

Francesco Perlini Head of Financial Reporting, Financial Management Service Head of Financial Reporting, Financial Management Service , World Trade Organization

Francesco Perlini is Head of Financial Reporting Unit in the World Trade Organization in Geneva, and is responsible for the relations with External Auditors, role currently played by the Supreme Audit Institution of Germany "Bundesrechnungshof". He was previously a Finance Associate Controller at the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) in Budapest, being responsible for West African Countries undertaking mission on various field duty stations in Africa. He also worked as Auditor for a specialised body of the EU Commission, the European Institute for Information and Technology (EIT) in Budapest. Before joining the International Organisation sector, Francesco was working in Italy as a tax consultant in M&A boutique based in Rome, Italy.

Pratheep Ponraj Senior IT Officer Senior IT Officer , World Bank Group

At the World Bank Innovation Lab, Pratheep Ponraj works on several disruptive technologies including AI, Machine Learning, Geospatial, Augmented Reality among other things. He is also actively involved in several World Bank Group projects in client countries in Health, Education, Water, Justice Sector Modernization, Agriculture and Disaster Recovery in applying emerging technologies to solve sector challenges. He has also published a paper on applying technologies to monitoring public sector service delivery to citizens and address Governance challenges.

George Paraskevaidis Administrator Administrator , Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, Belgium

George Paraskevaidis is Administrator in the Procurement Coordination Unit of the Finance Directorate within DG Administration of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. In this capacity he is responsible for the supervision and follow-up of high value procurement procedures, including the improvement of the planning and optimisation of the procurement process, with a strong focus on the legal framework, tendering criteria and optimal evaluation. In his most recent prior positions, George Paraskevaidis was the Head of Finance and Procurement Unit at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) and the Head of Finance Division at the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR).